Ezekiel is a fascinating book in the Old Testament. Hey, you
might call it weird. I call it fascinating. There’s room for all of us here.
I love that it is full of imagery and instructions for
building the Jewish temple and lots of the religious activities. The other day
as I was reading I was reminded of the car license plate holder my daughter
used to have. Okay, so you’re right. That is weird.
But not totally weird—hear me out. See, there was this band
she liked called They Might Be Giants and she liked one of their songs so much
that a friend had the license plate holder custom made for her with the title
of that song on it. “Can’t Drive Out the Way We Drove in”.
There were cars in the
Old Testament, you’re asking? No, of course not. Although there was a Honda
in the New Testament. You know, where it says the disciples were all together
in one Accord.
(crickets chirping loudly)
But seriously, I believe everything in the Bible means
something. God gave those instructions for a reason. Most of His reasons may be
beyond my comprehension in this world but I am seeing a little picture here
that reminded me of that song title. The people are told in chapter 46 verse nine
that when they come to the temple to sacrifice, they weren’t to go out the same
way they came in. Literally in by the north door and exit through the south and
vice versa. I wonder, did those people consider why God gave those
instructions? I imagine some of them did. I’m talking more than just crowd control
measures, although that's certainly necessary at times. I mean, here they were
bringing sacrifices in worship. That had to be pretty significant. After all, sacrifice
indicates giving up something valuable. So going out a different door than the
one they came in seems more meaningful to me than just some weird thing.
What does it mean for me thousands of years later? Could
this also be a foreshadowing of when God gave up something more valuable than
anything we could ever give?
Is it possible that when we meet God at that ultimate
sacrifice—His son, Jesus, giving up his life on the cross, who counted
everything loss for our gain, we receive something even more valuable? I think
so. In the victory Jesus Christ had when He exited the tomb, we experience the
change from living death to living life. We leave that encounter a different
way than we came in.
Having pretty much avoided the church scene for a couple of
years and now starting to get back into it, I don’t want to go in the door of a
building and come back out, same old same old. It’s my desire that my life
exhibit that encounter even better than having it written on my license plate
holder. Not in my physical appearance or what I wear or how many church
programs I get involved in. But in how I view myself and others and God. Hope
that’s not too weird.
Have you had that encounter? In what ways are you different
as a result?
An open gate invitation.
