Ezekiel 43-45

[wolfpurplemoon]

If Ezekiel shows the people of Israel God's architectural plans for a new temple, they will be ashamed for all their sins and start building it.

God's back to asking for animal sacrifices, the fact that God used to want all these sorts of things and then changed his mind really does nothing for his all-knowing reputation. It makes total sense if you realise that the bible was written by people over many centuries and their beliefs and needs changed over that time, but if you see it as the true word of an all-knowing God you have to make a lot of excuses to explain it away.

Something I should have pondered before in the books that first mentioned circumcision: when God says that the uncircumcised desecrate his temple if they are allowed to enter, does he mean to include women in that? Can women even enter into the covenant if they can't be circumcised?

God doesn't like sweaty priests, and they have to wear different clothes in the inner court of the temple and change when they go out to the people so they don't transmit holiness to the people, it does sound like a terrible thing to transmit to the people. It sounds back to front to me, if you have a place you wish to keep sterile then you clean yourself and change your clothes when you go in to stop bad stuff from entering the clean place, cleanliness can't contaminate other things.

Comments

Old covenant

[(Anonymous)]

Read the new testament, its the new covenant that were under now that is the law of Love and a new found hope that that love derives from because God loved you and me so much who knows why but that's not for us to know right now that's why it is by grace we are saved through faith in Jesus Christ. That whoever believes in Him as Gods only son will not spend eternity in he'll under Gods wrath but have an eternal relationship that is always seeking Gods will for us as we seek to knowles and more about Him to better love Him and better desire Him! I know I just hopped All around and left thoughts unfinished but I'd beg you to pray and read you Bible and build that relationship between you and Him there is Boone better in the entire world and of all it's history that can talk to you about wheo God is and His plans for your life better than... Himself! I'm prAying now that He would soften your heart torecieve his message to turn from an evil way of life and believe in the good news of Jesus Christ! And I thank Him in advance for the good work He is going to use you for Alleluija! Praise God!

Re: Old covenant

[wolfpurplemoon]

Please use more punctuation, I can't follow you with so many run on sentences.

I'll read the New Testament when I get to it, only a few more weeks to go of the Old one.

Re: Old covenant

[liedownlovely.livejournal.com]

I'm prAying now that He would soften your heart torecieve his message to turn from an evil way of life and believe in the good news of Jesus Christ!

wow. an evil way of life. really? how can you say that about someone you don't even know?

wolfpurplemoon, you gain more of my respect every time you post for not reacting to these kinds of comments. you're amazing.

Re: Old covenant

[wolfpurplemoon]

Thanks, but it is difficult to respond when comments are written like that one! I hadn't even picked up on the line you did, it seems that Christians have a very different definition of evil from the rest of us...

Re: Old covenant

[liedownlovely.livejournal.com]

unfortunately, growing up spewing stuff like that, i think i know what the commenter meant. generally (at least in the denomination i grew up in), worshipping any other god/dess/no gods means you're exalting Satan, who is every 'false' god/belief. and also evil.

of course i could be wrong. it's been a few years since i've been in the mainstream Christian scene. and i had a hard time reading the run-on sentences.

but again, yeah. i admire you so much. i'd just keyboard mash like ASDFGHJKL; every time i got a comment like that. love, hate, good and evil are very strong definitions, and calling someone who is an atheist 'evil' just because they're an atheist is wrong. if you openly said you shot kittens and drowned puppies, that'd be slightly different.

jfc.

[zteccc.livejournal.com]

Again, the temple and its design are the post-apocalyptic temple, the prophecy does not apply to Ezekiel's contemporaries. More accurately, the temple could have applied to the people in Ezekiel's time if they had wanted to repent at that time, but they did not. The directions for dedicating the altar were old covenant directions. They applied to Ezekiel's contemporaries under the law that they knew and understood if they had chosen to build it and attempt to return to the covenant at that time.
The chapter does not say that showing them the design will make them ashamed and they'll start building it. It says that they may be so ashamed (they also may choose not to acknowledge it), and if they are, as a whole, (e.g. if they decide to repent their sins and turn back to God), then will be the time to build it. Again, this refers to a time when people will be united in their intent towards God (post apocalypse).

A bit about sacrifices. Sacrifices could be anything, not just animals. People sacrificed produce, grains, etc. as well. Most of us focus on the animal sacrifices because they disturb us. A sacrifice was actually a sort of feast. A person making a sacrifice would be publicly declaring that he wanted to follow God. A small portion of the sacrifice would be burned and the remainder was cooked and eaten by the priests and the family of the person offering the sacrifice. To a great extent, a sacrifice was a feast time; a celebration of the renewing of the covenant between the person making the sacrifice and God (all of this assumes that the person was sincere in the purpose of the sacrifice). Sacrifices were offered for many reasons, to thank God was the ideal reason, however people would also sacrifice to atone for sins, to celebrate certain occasions and to renew their commitment to the covenant.
Today, we have feasts, with meat (if we are not vegans), for some of these same occasions. We celebrate publicly with a meal including meat. We have meals of thanksgiving with meat (especially in the U.S., but really in many cultures). We have traditions of thanking God with our meals (if we so believe). So really, the only change has been the ritual at the temple and the burning of a small portion for God.

That said, all of the old covenant rules and rituals do indeed go away under the new covenant. The new covenant is exactly that, something new. I cannot speak as to why the Jewish faith no longer requires these sacrifices; but from the Christian standpoint, the symbolism of these actions no longer makes sense in light of the change. Jesus replaced the sacrifice, and the need for sacrifice by sacrificing Himself for us. Jesus fulfilled the law (to complete its purpose, so it no longer needed to be followed). So anything that was in the Law of Moses no longer applies to Christians because the law and its purposes has been fulfilled. It is not that God's requirements changed, but that the law had run its course.

[zteccc.livejournal.com]

At the time (again, see my prior statements on the law being fulfilled), the law limited the priesthood to only males. This too has been superseded by the new covenant and the restriction no longer remains (there is still some disagreement on this in many Christian churches). Also, the term circumcised, as used by the Jews, including Ezekiel, referred to people of the Jewish faith. Abraham was told to circumcise the men of his household as part of his agreement with God. Jews required a foreigner who wanted to marry a Jewish woman to be circumcised to show commitment to God (and let's face it, if a man is willing to do that, he's probably pretty committed to the woman as well). The term uncircumcised referred to a non-Jewish person. That does not mean that someone checked to see if the circumcision had actually happened, but they verified that the person was a professed Jewish person before they could enter the temple.

"God does not like sweaty priests". Sometimes you really make me smile. The passage refers to keeping things pure. Yes, sweat is mentioned, but in context, the passage is talking about the holy part of the temple and it was really an admonition to remember how pure and clean things were supposed to be kept, even sweat drops would violate the purity of the inner courtyard. As to the clothes, fine linen was expensive (because it was hand woven) and outfits of linen would be rare. Because of this, such clothing was to be treated with care and would not have been worn in public where it could be soiled or torn. You're right about the clean room idea. The priests would change into those clothes prior to entering the inner courtyard and would change out of them, into normal clothes when leaving. It is not about keeping the holiness in the temple (another smile), but about keeping the sanctity of the holy place.

God gives indication of the divisions of Israel and admonishes its rulers to be honest and fair with the people. Rules about holy days and offerings for those days are laid out.