Posted: 7/20/05
Explore the Bible Series for July 31
Make sure that God is in the details of your life
• Ezekiel 43:1-12
By Dennis Tucker
Truett Seminary, Waco
The final section of the Book of Ezekiel (chapters 40-48) is the climax to the entire book. Most of the texts describe—in sometimes excruciating detail—the dimensions of a new temple complex. Section after section of the new temple complex is described cubit by cubit. For most contemporary readers, such an ending appears less than climactic. Yet there is much in this final section that warrants consideration. Perhaps these chapters may be best approached through a series of questions, leading us to some theological affirmations.
What is the point of the section?
The fourth and final vision in the Book of Ezekiel centers on a temple, but it is by no means only about the temple. Instead, chapters 40-48 actually present a vision of what Israelite society should resemble.
In this vision, the Israelites will be living in their perfectly restored homeland, with an ordered (and holy) life, under the leadership of a perfectly ordered temple complex. Such a vision of the future stands in stark contrast to the disarray experienced during the exile. During exile, the people of God were dispersed and scattered among various regions, the land was scorched, leadership was displaced and the temple was razed to the ground. The vision of chapters 40-48 holds out hope for the sovereign work of God. Such a vision trumps the oppressive reality of their immediate circumstance.
Is there a reason for all the detailed measurements?
Some read chapters 40-48 and assume that really what they are reading is in effect a building plan—the dimensions for how large the temple should be when the exiles return to the homeland. Yet if one reads carefully there are virtually no vertical measurements provided—only the length and the width of areas. Ezekiel never actually is told to build this structure, nor is he told the community should build it when they return from exile. Perhaps then, the purpose of the measurements in Ezekiel 40-48 is not to provide a building plan but actually to mark out sacred space—in essence, to visualize the idea of holiness among God’s people.
In chapter 8, Ezekiel recounted the abominations present in the temple complex. The notion of holiness and sacred space gave way to idol worship and corruption in the temple complex. Ezekiel’s vision in chapters 40-48 suggests that one means to correct past sins is to lay out carefully the dimensions of and access to sacred space.
In chapter 8, God departed from the presence of his people because of their lack of holiness, their inability to live as God’s people in God’s presence. In chapter 43, however, God announces in verse 9, “Now let them put away from me their prostitution (or “idolatry,” NRSV) and the lifeless idols of their kings and I will live among them forever.” The implication is that if people truly understand the idea of holiness—and its requisite demands—they will change from worshipping “lifeless idols” and serve the God of life instead. If so, God promises to live among them forever.
At the conclusion of the entire section (48:36), following a lengthy description of the tribal portions in chapter 48, Ezekiel states, “And the name of the city from that time on shall be The Lord is There.” The vision is not about a building—the vision is about a presence.
What can be gleaned from these chapters?
Ezekiel’s temple vision serves a pastoral function. It suggests a disordered, dislocated and disoriented community such as Ezekiel’s can experience the transforming, healing work of the Holy One of Israel. The attention to detail presented in the chapters serves to paint a vision in painstaking detail—to offer a vision of a future upon which God’s people can hope. In Hebrew, the idea of “waiting” is connected with the idea of “hoping.” To wait, in essence, is to hope and to hope is to wait. The vision of the newly ordered world suggests to Ezekiel’s readers that their hope is worth the wait. Further, it suggests reality can be transformed when God is in our midst.
Beneath the lengthy descriptions of cubits and spans in the biblical text, there lies a certain yearning for the presence of God. The people of God did not simply yearn for a building—they yearned for the presence of God. In modern Christianity, we have frequently asserted that “God is not confined to a place.” Yet in our attempts to explain that we can meet God anywhere, we have lost the need to experience God everywhere.
Perhaps the concluding vision in Ezekiel could rekindle in us a desire to long for the presence of God. And perhaps then, we too would return home from our long exile.
Discussion question
• Can you recall a time when God’s presence especially was real to you?
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