Ezekiel 42 & 43 -- Pay Attention To The Entrances And Exits

A friend of mine, Ronnie Hill, preached a sermon on these chapters maybe 14 years ago, and I’ve never forgotten a link he’d made from chapter 40.  When Ezekiel had first been taken to the Temple in this vision, 40:28 says, “Then the man brought me through the south entrance.”  At the beginning of chapter 43, it says, “Then the man led me to the outer east gate way, and I saw the glory of the God of Israel …”

In verse 10 and following, Ezekiel is told, “Tell the people about the Temple so they will be ashamed of their sins.  Let them think about the plan of the Temple and how it is built.  Show them its exits and entrances…”

What Ronnie had begun to understand with those instructions was that Ezekiel had entered through the south entrance, then the Word of God had said to leave through the east entrance, and in doing so, Ezekiel encountered the glory of God.  Why were the entrances important?  Ronnie said that once You encounter God, you can’t LEAVE the same way that you came in.

That’s what God wants for us – He wants us to be so changed by one encounter with Him that we won’t go back to what we were.  We will instead be forever changed, and that change will lead us to live a changed life different that the one we’d led before.

Father, as always, Your timing is so perfect.  Over the last week or so, it seems like I’ve been exposed to too much of life as it once was, just in the people I’ve been around in the ordinary course of life.  I was beginning to feel too comfortable around it all, and it was having an impact on me.  Thanks for reminding me that I have encountered You, and because of that, I’m different now, filled with Your Holy Spirit.  As a result, I can’t go out the same way that I came in.  Thanks for this “booster shot”.  It seemed like my defenses were getting low.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford