Prayer: Father, You are in the details of our lives. You give direction and structure to us through Your word and prophetic messengers. Instruct me today. Amen.
Reading: Ezekiel 42 key: vs. 1-2 “He led me out to the outer courtyard toward the north. He brought me to the chamber that was opposite the separate area and opposite the building toward the north. The length of the building with the door on the north was 100 cubits and the width was 50 cubits.”
Attention: Beginning with chapter 40, Ezekiel has been given a guided tour of the New Temple to be constructed by the decree of Cyrus in 538 B.C. According to Ezra the returning exiled Hebrews were given financial aid from Babylon to rebuild the Temple (Ezra 1:1-4). This temple was called Zerubbabel’s Temple, as he is named by Ezra (2:2) as being among the leaders returning from exile.
There is a whole story about the struggles of construction stoppage and restart. Yet the work was accomplished. According to Ezra 3, Zerubbabel (a Davidic prince) and Jeshua (the high priest), rebuilt the altar and in their second year laid the foundation of the Temple. The differences between Solomon’s Temple and Zerubbabel’s Temple “have to do with furniture and courtyard arrangements or gates. The ark of the covenant was never replaced (Jeremiah 3:16). Josephus said the holy of holies was empty and was now separated from the holy place by a veil instead of a door. There was only one seven-branched lampstand, as had been true of the tabernacle. The importance of the new temple was that it became a symbol of the Lord’s holiness and the religious center of life for the new community. It was completed in 515 B.B. and dedicated with great joy (Ezra 6:14-16).” (Information gleaned from the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary pg. 1566-1567).
Tomorrow Ezekiel declares the return of God’s glory to the Temple. I find the descriptions of detail which God gives Ezekiel through His messenger fascinating. God is still relating to men and women, sons and daughters, old men, and old women, the same today and even in a greater way, according to Acts 2. I hope you are experiencing the intimacy of God.
Action: I choose to relate with the sovereign, personal Adonai.
Yield: I choose to yield to the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit.
Engage: I choose to engage with the Holiness of God.
Relationship: I choose to live in holy, intimate relationship with Adonai.
Prayer: Father, thank You for the record, wisdom, instruction which I find in Your Word. Thank You for the scriptures which direct my path. Thank You for the intimate ways to relate with me and Your followers. Amen.
Memory Verse: Acts 2: 16-18 “But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ says God, ‘that I will pour out My Ruach on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on My slaves, male and female, I will pour out My Ruach in those days, and they shall prophesy.” TLV
Music Video: Vous Worship—When You Speak https://youtu.be/dXgpUyt6KoQ?si=XJ7Tr4rYhtZGbk5U
Remember, “Abide in Yeshua, today!”