Ez. 45-46
Gotta say, I’m still at a loss with all of this temple stuff. And I’m still curious as to why all of these structure and service details were supposed to make the house of Israel ashamed. I feel like I’m missing something.
Another curious thing in this morning’s passage – “When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and he who enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: no one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead.” (Ez 46:9). I find this to be an odd detail. The only thing that comes to my mind as to why this should be is that nobody who comes before God leaves unchanged. You don’t go back to where or what you were. I have no idea if this has anything to do with the actual intent of this directive, but it is an interesting thought.
1 John 2
If we truly love God and abide in Christ, what does that look like in our lives? John says it many ways. We keep God’s commandments (vs 3), we walk in the way that Christ walked (vs 6), we love our brother (vs 10), we do not love the world (vs 15), we confess Jesus as the Son of God (vs 23), and we practice righteousness (vs 29). This is not a checklist of specific behaviors. It is a description of an overall attitude and an underlying motive. Remember that we are not sent out by God the same way we came in to Him.
I think all of John’s statements boil down to one basic thing. When we truly love God and abide in Christ we no longer do things out of our own selfish interests. Instead, we choose first what we believe is pleasing to God and second what is best for those around us. I don’t mean that we don’t take care of ourselves. Our bodies are God’s temple, after all. I am likewise not saying that we give others whatever they want. People’s own selfish desires aren’t what’s best for them, though I’m not talking about being their moral compass, either.
There is a lot of misconception about what it means to love others. Again, it is not a list of specific behaviors. And it is not something that comes naturally to us. The good news, however, is that God gave us His Holy Spirit so “you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie – just as it has taught you, abide in Him.” (1 John 2:27b).