There are important spiritual messages to be learned from every part of Ezekiel's detailed description of a temple that has never been built, lessons that are vital for every Christian today. These are the focus of the current series of devotionals: LESSONS FROM EZEKIEL'S TEMPLE. If you have missed any parts of this series, you can read previously published lessons on-line at www.scripturalnuggets.org/folder6/lessons_from_ezekiels_temple.htm .
Lessons From Ezekiel's Temple, Part 10:
The Temple Chambers, Part C:
The People's Chambers
Last week, in Lessons from Ezekiel's Temple, Part 10B,
we discovered that the presence of the sacrificial rooms in Ezekiel's
temple, along with their tables, utensils and hooks, are to remind us of
Jesus' sacrifice for us. They also serve to remind us that a Godly life will
demonstrate an abundance of sacrifice, and that sacrifice will come not from
our overflow, but from what we think we need for ourselves. Finally, when
God receives our sacrifices, He may not use them the way we intended for
them to be used. Instead, they are often processed and changed so that they
can be used, in His utmost wisdom, to the maximum of His glory.
Today's lesson takes a look at the meaning and importance of the third type
of rooms found in Ezekiel's temple: The People's chambers.
"Then he brought me into the outer court. There I saw some rooms and a
pavement that had been constructed all around the court; there were thirty
rooms along the pavement. It abutted the sides of the gateways and was as
wide as they were long; this was the lower pavement. Then he measured the
distance from the inside of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner
court; it was a hundred cubits on the east side as well as on the north."
(Ezek 40:17-19 NIV)
By far the most numerous of the rooms described in
Ezekiel's temple are the rooms in the outer courts. In the above passage, we
see reference to 30 of them, and they are all identical in size and cubic in
shape. Interestingly however, the Bible does not describe the use of these
rooms, as it does the priests' chambers and the sacrificial chambers. But
because we know that only priests could enter into the inner court, we can
speculate that these chambers were for the ordinary people who attended the
service of the temple.
What does this mean for us today?
Two weeks ago, in Lessons From Ezekiel's Temple, Part 10a, we learned that
when we accept Jesus into our hearts, we are considered priests and we have
access to the inner courts. We know then, that these rooms in the outer
courts are not for us. Instead, they serve to remind us that our temple
hearts must have room for everyone.
We are admonished numerous times throughout the New Testament alone to love.
There is the admonition to "Love your neighbor" (see Matt. 19:19,
Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27, etc); to "Love your enemies" (Matt 5:44, Luke
6:27, etc.); and to "Love your wives" (Eph 5:25, Col 3:19, etc).
These numerous little chambers in the outer court can serve to remind us
that we are to love everyone.
The fact that the rooms are identical reminds us that
not only does God love and treat everyone equally, but we are to do the
same! God loves the lost as much as He loves those who are covered with
Jesus' blood. He will do anything to bring the lost into the Kingdom of God,
and we must do the same. Remember the stories of the Prodigal son, the lost
coin, the lost sheep? Jesus admonishes us that: "In the same way your
Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be
lost." (Matt 18:14 NIV). All of these rooms in Ezekiel's temple can
serve to remind us of all the lost ones we are in contact with everyday, and
how much God wants us to bring them home!
Speaking of Heaven, Jesus told His disciples: "In my Father's house are
many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You
know the way to the place where I am going." (John 14:2-4) These little
chambers in Ezekiel's temple can also serve to remind us that God has room
in Heaven for everyone, and that He will come again!
Finally, there is also a message of humility in this
text. Remember what David tells us in the book of Psalms? "Better is
one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a
doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked."
(Ps 84:10 NIV) These little chambers in the outer courts are to remind us
that anything we do for the Lord, no matter how humble, is more important
than anything else we could possible do on Earth.
Enough to ponder, but do ponder this: Although we are given very little
information about these little chambers in the outer courts, they serve to
remind us of many important lessons. They remind us to love everyone and
treat them equally. They remind us to continually be about our Father's
business of spreading the gospel and saving lost souls, and finally, they
also remind us of the importance of humility!
Join us next week for another important lesson from Ezekiel's temple:
Lessons from Ezekiel's Temple, Part 10d: The Side Rooms of the Temple
God bless each of you as you seek to draw closer to Him!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Mother of two teens, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, www.scripturalnuggets.org , with Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org .