What God Requires

Today I read Ezekiel 40:30-42:17 and 1 John 2:7-27. My favorite verses are:

Ezekiel 42:14 When the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the utter court, but there they shall lay their garments wherein they minister; for they are holy; and shall put on other garments, and shall approach to those things which are for the people.

1 John 2:25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

God has requirements for those who serve Him. In the Old Testament there are a number of chapters devoted to descriptions and measurements and rules relating to the temple in Jerusalem. It is, quite honestly, rather boring to read. And yet God in His wisdom determined that the information was important for us to know. I believe that He is pleased with order and beauty. We can see in His creation that everything has its place; if planets orbited haphazardly around the sun and other stars, they would “crash and burn”. The earth that we live on is exactly the right distance from the sun to be able to sustain human life. It has a definite sequence to days and nights and months and seasons and years. God gave very specific instructions to men and women who worked in building and furnishing the temple where they would worship Him. It was not to be shoddily put together, but it was to be of a particular size and order that would make it a place of beauty. God was also concerned that His house not be defiled by irreverent behavior. He required the priests to go so far as to have a change of clothes when they ministered to Him in the Holy Place. Then when they left that place and returned to the court where the people were, they had to take off the holy garments and leave them behind. They put on other garments to minister to the people. I think that sometimes we become thoughtless in our treatment of things pertaining to the worship of God. If it didn’t matter how we approach His house, I don’t think He would have so much of the Bible devoted to instructions for its use. The next time you go into a church building, think about the God it represents. Approach the building and the Lord of the building with respect. The very short verse that I chose from the New Testament tells us something very important about the God of the temple. He has promised eternal life to those who receive Him. Now, in light of the whole discussion of the temple, think about the dwelling places He has built for us to live in eternally in heaven. I think that we cannot even begin to imagine the magnificence we will find there.