Holy Places

Ezekiel's tour of the Temple continues in chapter 45 and we come to the new "Holy of Holies". 

Ezekiel 45:1–2 (ESV) “When you allot the land as an inheritance, you shall set apart for the LORD a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent. 2 Of this a square plot of 500 by 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it.

Every Bible passage about the Temple has a common theme. The Lord's people were to set apart a sacred space in three sections where they met with God. Ezekiel has this understanding reiterated to him here in Chapter 45. There is to be a place for the Lord, a holy district. This district was set apart for worship. Within that space was an even holier place. The priests would occupy the space outside of that holy place to act as an intermediary between the people and the Lord. 

Ezekiel 45:3–4 (ESV) And from this measured district you shall measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 4 It shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the LORD to minister to him, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.

It's part of the problem of sin. Humans know they cannot come before God on their own. They need a go-between. It's still inherent in the human heart even after the New Covenant was inaugurated that declared a priesthood of believers. As a Pastor, I have a regular sense that people see me as their intermediary. And while in preaching and teaching that is true to an extent, the reality is all of us have equal access to the presence of God. 

1 Timothy 2:5 (ESV) For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

Yet that soiled conscience won't embrace this truth fully. This is why we must read the scripture. 

How many men of God were chosen from the ranks of the ordinary? Peter fished, David watched sheep, Matthew collected taxes. Amos was an over-shepherd. The Lord continuously used ordinary men to lead people back to Himself. 

As New Covenant believers, we have to see this role as our own. The Lord has set us apart to be those intermediaries between the lost and the Lord. We have a ministry of reconciliation according to Paul. God is making His appeal through us. 

Here in Ezekiel 45 we see a key truth necessary to embrace our intermediary identity. The chapter begins to unpack the seven regulations for God's priests in the holy place. This chapter sets out the first three: 

First is a demand for just standards (45:9–12). Second are offerings for the prince (45:13–17). Third are regulations for the feasts (45:18–25). Order is to come back to the place where God's priests dwell. Our witness to the world will be the ordering of our lives according to God's standards. The holy place must be a distinct place where we do not act as we want. We live as He wants. 

When the world sees it, they will know it is different, and it is different because the Lord is there. 


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