The last section of Ezekiel reminds me of sections in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. These last eight chapters contain architectural and sacrificial details—not the most exciting reading! However, today’s reading is like a guided tour of a brand-new temple. A man with a bronze face is the tour guide, and with a rod and string in hand, he shows Ezekiel the size of this new temple. It is significantly bigger than Solomon’s.
This vision happens about twenty-five years into Ezekiel and the other exiles’ captivity, fourteen years after the fall of Jerusalem. This is certainly long enough to start wondering if God has forgotten them. They have many more years of captivity yet ahead—seventy years in totality. What a reminder to these exiles that this vision gives that God is not done with them, that He has a plan, and that He has been thinking about them! Though today’s reading was full of dimensions and details, it reminded me of Jeremiah’s verse in a letter to the exiles. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11, ESV)
Have you ever had hard seasons in life? Perhaps you have been laboring away under a heaviness of some kind? Ever wonder if God has forgotten about you even though you know that is impossible? You may wonder if there is a future and, if there is, what that looks like. Notice what God says—The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. (Psalm 33:11, ESV) Even in moments like this, God’s plan for our lives is still full of expansion, dimension, and detail—to give us a future and hope. Let us rejoice in this, our God!
Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Ezekiel 40-41.