Every Experience is Part of the Journey to Know Him

In Chapter 42, Ezekiel continues his guided tour of the New Temple. 

Ezekiel 42:1 (ESV) Then he led me out into the outer court, toward the north, and he brought me to the chambers that were opposite the separate yard and opposite the building on the north.

The order of Ezekiel's tour of this New Temple is the exact opposite of the instructions God gives to Moses in Exodus for designing the tabernacle. In Exodus, the design starts from the inside out, beginning with the Ark, the Holy of Holies, and so on. In Ezekiel, the tour given to the prophet begins on the outside and makes its way in. 

The first Tabernacle showed who was kept out. The new Temple is focused on bringing people in. The first Tabernacle brought people fear. The New Temple brings people near. 

God is setting the stage for a redemption far larger than just the nation of Israel. Through Christ, all nations will have the opportunity to experience the blessing of knowing the Lord intimately. 

In our English Bibles, the word "Passage" is repeated throughout the chapter. The word is translated from two different Hebrew terms. 

First in verse 4: 

Ezekiel 42:4 (ESV) And before the chambers was a passage inward, ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits long, and their doors were on the north.

The Hebrew word here is "mahalak," which is often translated as "journey" in the scriptures. The idea presented reveals how our knowledge of the Lord is a journey and not simply an experience. 

Later in the chapter, we find a second word translated as "passage" in English. 

Ezekiel 42:10–12 (ESV)  In the thickness of the wall of the court, on the south also, opposite the yard and opposite the building, there were chambers 11 with a passage in front of them. They were similar to the chambers on the north, of the same length and breadth, with the same exits and arrangements and doors, 11 with a passage in front of them. They were similar to the chambers on the north, of the same length and breadth, with the same exits and arrangements and doors, 12 as were the entrances of the chambers on the south. There was an entrance at the beginning of the passage, the passage before the corresponding wall on the east as one enters them.

The Hebrew here is "derek," which carries the nuance of a journey's direction. In other words, walking with God is leading somewhere more intimate, more knowledgeable, more closely than we understand. 

Now I have learned in my life that Christian faith brings many different experiences to our lives. Sometimes we love one particular experience over others and determine that experience to be the only time God was close. But what if every experience was a new way to get close to God? What if even our hardships and trials were experiences in the journey leading us toward intimacy with the Father? Guess what! They are. Nothing in your life is NOT working out for your good - the knowledge of God. 

However, one similarity between the operation of this Temple and the original Tabernacle is that the priests dress before they enter the holy of holies. 

Ezekiel 42:14 (ESV) When the priests enter the Holy Place, they shall not go out of it into the outer court without laying there the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They shall put on other garments before they go near to that which is for the people.”

There was no approaching God without the right covering. And that covering was separate and distinct from all others. That covering for us is Christ Himself. We are clothed in His righteousness. But we forget. And to that end, Paul calls on us to remember to dress ourselves in Him. 

Romans 13:14 (ESV) But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

It is only in His righteousness that we can stand against the wickedness around us, which seeks to dwell with us through the flesh. His power and not ours brings us close to Him and makes us flee from sin.