FROM DAILY DEVOTIONAL 16th July 2013 THE COMING GLORY EZEKIEL 40:1-19 KEY VERSE “And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 40:4). Tennessee Williams, an American playwright very aptly observed that “Caged birds accept each other but flight is what they long for.” In the same way, believers in Christ, like the blessed Abraham, are earnestly longing for a better country… “a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 10:10,16). How gladly such heaven-bound pilgrims receive information regarding the Promised Land. The vision of Prophet Ezekiel which stretches from today’s text to the end of the book must have had a similar cheering effect on the Israelites who were in captivity with the prophet. It was now twenty-five years since they were displaced from their land and fourteen years since Jerusalem and the great temple were destroyed. In their discontent and nostalgic state, Ezekiel, on the twentieth day of the first Jewish month, saw an encouraging vision of a new and more glorious Jerusalem, complete with its temple, priests and altar rising out of the ruins of the former. This passage of the Scripture is termed one of the most difficult. The Jews, it was said, will not allow any one less than thirty years of age to read it. And those who read it are told that though they cannot understand everything in it, “when Elias comes he will explain it.” None should be carried away by the details of the measurements and forms of the envisioned edifice which are not to be taken literally, nor is it needful to labor to unravel the significance of every nuance of it. It is sufficient to know that to Israel of old, it was a revelation of a coming glory – their restoration and the coming of the Messiah. For us, it points to the revelation of the New Jerusalem, the eternal home of true believers, where Christ will be King. As long as we are in this world, we feel like the caged birds and captive Israel. Though earthly joys spring up here and there for us, they are mixed with “light afflictions”. Our eyes are on the weight of glory awaiting us in the better country. THOUGHT FOR THE DAY The best views are not in this world but up in heaven
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 17:59:29 +0000
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