The Daily Fountain Devotional Thursday, August 11, 2022
The Daily Fountain Devotional Thursday, August 11, 2022
Thursday, August 11, 2022
TOPIC: THE RETURNING OF GOD'S GLORY TO THE TEMPLE
TEXT: Ezekiel 43:1-12
1 Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: 2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. 3 And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. 4 And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. 5 So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.
6 And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me. 7 And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places. 8 In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger. 9 Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.
10 Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. 11 And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them. 12 This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.
The Daily Fountain Devotional Thursday, August 11, 2022
INTRODUCTION TEXT
After restoration of Israel in their land, God proposed to live among them. The book of Ezekiel begins with an awe-inspiring vision of God's glory. Chapters 8-11 describe how the glory of God progressively departed from the temple and the land of Israel because of the sins of the people. Israel's past evil had created a world in which God could no longer be present among them; a world in which God's presence could not be known. The prophet concludes with another awe-inspiring vision: God's glory, power and love filling the temple again. Now God's glory and presence returned to the temple.
In the Old Testament, God had a temple for His people, but in the New Testament, God has His people for His temple. Christians are expected to drop their old ways of life (v.9) because they are now a new set of people (2Cor. 5:17). They should destroy every of their earthly members (Col. 3:5). Just as God is holy, so Christians are to be holy (Lev. 19:2). Christians will only be holy when they are devoted to God and separated from sin. We should desire above all else to see God's glory manifested within the church through the operation of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Lord, let Your glory be seen through me in Jesus' Name. Amen.