DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 12:
WORD OF WISDOM
God didn't just give us grace to get us started. God gives us grace to keep
us going!
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DAILY DEVOTION
Does "I'm Busy" Describe Your Life?
Here's One Question That Can Change That By Joshua Straub
A friend of mine brought up an insightful thought the other day about the
modern day greeting in America. In years past when somebody asked how you
were doing, the most common response was, "I'm good." More grammatically
correct folks would say, "I'm well."
Today, the most common reply is, "I'm busy."
The latter statement couldn't be truer of Christi and me the last few years.
Particularly when we were in the trenches with a newborn and a two-year-old
demanding our attention. With fuller days and less sleep, we tried to make
the most of the middle of the night stillness, sitting awake rocking our
newborn daughter.
This may sound strange, but there's a part of me that enjoyed the stillness
of 2:30AM-just God and me.
I remember one night sitting alone on the glider, rocking our daughter back
to sleep. In prayer, I apologized to God for not noticing him during the
busy parts of my day. I asked him to show me ways of feeling less busy.
He then brought to mind a conversation I had earlier that day with my good
friend, Eric-who described to me the most challenging question he was ever
asked.
"Would you recognize if God stopped speaking to you?"
Thinking about this question actually made me thankful to God for keeping me
awake in the stillness of 2:30AM. Most other nights, I'd be moaning and
groaning. But on this night, I was grateful for his presence.
That's when a passage came to mind I want to leave you with, especially if
your immediate response to a greeting includes the word "busy."
In the passage, Elijah was alone in a cave in the middle of the night when a
word of the Lord shows up and asks him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
He replied, "I have been very zealous for the Lord God."
Look at what Elijah is then commanded to do: "Go out and stand on the
mountain in the Lord's presence."
God challenged me at 2:30AM to consider how well I hear him in my
busyness-no matter if I have a newborn and a toddler, business meetings,
deadlines, social media, conferences, school plays, homework, lunches to
makes, children to feed, groceries to get, people to follow up with, an oil
change, and the list goes on.
He kept me awake in the middle of the night to ask, "In the noisiness of
life, will you still hear me?"
Elijah heard God. But not as we expect.
"A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering
cliffs before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the
earthquake.
After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. When Elijah heard it,
he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of
the cave. [i]
Life is noisy. Do you recognize the Lord's soft whisper?
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Ezekiel 41-44New King James Version (NKJV)
Dimensions of the Sanctuary
41 Then he brought me into the sanctuary[a] and measured the doorposts, six
cubits wide on one side and six cubits wide on the other side-the width of
the tabernacle. 2 The width of the entryway was ten cubits, and the side
walls of the entrance were five cubits on this side and five cubits on the
other side; and he measured its length, forty cubits, and its width, twenty
cubits.
3 Also he went inside and measured the doorposts, two cubits; and the
entrance, six cubits high; and the width of the entrance, seven cubits. 4
He measured the length, twenty cubits; and the width, twenty cubits, beyond
the sanctuary; and he said to me, "This is the Most Holy Place."
The Side Chambers on the Wall
5 Next, he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits. The width of each
side chamber all around the temple was four cubits on every side. 6 The
side chambers were in three stories, one above the other, thirty chambers in
each story; they rested on ledges which were for the side chambers all
around, that they might be supported, but not fastened to the wall of the
temple. 7 As one went up from story to story, the side chambers became
wider all around, because their supporting ledges in the wall of the temple
ascended like steps; therefore the width of the structure increased as one
went up from the lowest story to the highest by way of the middle one. 8 I
also saw an elevation all around the temple; it was the foundation of the
side chambers, a full rod, that is, six cubits high. 9 The thickness of the
outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits, and so also the remaining
terrace by the place of the side chambers of the temple. 10 And between it
and the wall chambers was a width of twenty cubits all around the temple on
every side. 11 The doors of the side chambers opened on the terrace, one
door toward the north and another toward the south; and the width of the
terrace was five cubits all around.
The Building at the Western End
12 The building that faced the separating courtyard at its western end was
seventy cubits wide; the wall of the building was five cubits thick all
around, and its length ninety cubits.
Dimensions and Design of the Temple Area
13 So he measured the temple, one hundred cubits long; and the separating
courtyard with the building and its walls was one hundred cubits long; 14
also the width of the eastern face of the temple, including the separating
courtyard, was one hundred cubits. 15 He measured the length of the
building behind it, facing the separating courtyard, with its galleries on
the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits, as well as the inner
temple and the porches of the court, 16 their doorposts and the beveled
window frames. And the galleries all around their three stories opposite the
threshold were paneled with wood from the ground to the windows-the windows
were covered- 17 from the space above the door, even to the inner room,[b]
as well as outside, and on every wall all around, inside and outside, by
measure.
18 And it was made with cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub
and cherub. Each cherub had two faces, 19 so that the face of a man was
toward a palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion toward a palm
tree on the other side; thus it was made throughout the temple all around.
20 From the floor to the space above the door, and on the wall of the
sanctuary, cherubim and palm trees were carved.
21 The doorposts of the temple were square, as was the front of the
sanctuary; their appearance was similar. 22 The altar was of wood, three
cubits high, and its length two cubits. Its corners, its length, and its
sides were of wood; and he said to me, "This is the table that is before the
Lord."
23 The temple and the sanctuary had two doors. 24 The doors had two panels
apiece, two folding panels: two panels for one door and two panels for the
other door. 25 Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the doors of the
temple just as they were carved on the walls. A wooden canopy was on the
front of the vestibule outside. 26 There were beveled window frames and
palm trees on one side and on the other, on the sides of the vestibule-also
on the side chambers of the temple and on the canopies.
The Chambers for the Priests
42 Then he brought me out into the outer court, by the way toward the north;
and he brought me into the chamber which was opposite the separating
courtyard, and which was opposite the building toward the north. 2 Facing
the length, which was one hundred cubits (the width was fifty cubits), was
the north door. 3 Opposite the inner court of twenty cubits, and opposite
the pavement of the outer court, was gallery against gallery in three
stories. 4 In front of the chambers, toward the inside, was a walk ten
cubits wide, at a distance of one cubit; and their doors faced north. 5 Now
the upper chambers were shorter, because the galleries took away space from
them more than from the lower and middle stories of the building. 6 For
they were in three stories and did not have pillars like the pillars of the
courts; therefore the upper level was shortened more than the lower and
middle levels from the ground up. 7 And a wall which was outside ran
parallel to the chambers, at the front of the chambers, toward the outer
court; its length was fifty cubits. 8 The length of the chambers toward the
outer court was fifty cubits, whereas that facing the temple was one hundred
cubits. 9 At the lower chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one
goes into them from the outer court.
10 Also there were chambers in the thickness of the wall of the court toward
the east, opposite the separating courtyard and opposite the building. 11
There was a walk in front of them also, and their appearance was like the
chambers which were toward the north; they were as long and as wide as the
others, and all their exits and entrances were according to plan. 12 And
corresponding to the doors of the chambers that were facing south, as one
enters them, there was a door in front of the walk, the way directly in
front of the wall toward the east.
13 Then he said to me, "The north chambers and the south chambers, which are
opposite the separating courtyard, are the holy chambers where the priests
who approach the Lord shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall
lay the most holy offerings-the grain offering, the sin offering, and the
trespass offering-for the place is holy. 14 When the priests enter them,
they shall not go out of the holy chamber into the outer court; but there
they shall leave their garments in which they minister, for they are holy.
They shall put on other garments; then they may approach that which is for
the people."
Outer Dimensions of the Temple
15 Now when he had finished measuring the inner temple, he brought me out
through the gateway that faces toward the east, and measured it all around.
16 He measured the east side with the measuring rod,[c] five hundred rods by
the measuring rod all around. 17 He measured the north side, five hundred
rods by the measuring rod all around. 18 He measured the south side, five
hundred rods by the measuring rod. 19 He came around to the west side and
measured five hundred rods by the measuring rod. 20 He measured it on the
four sides; it had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five
hundred wide, to separate the holy areas from the common.
The Temple, the Lord's Dwelling Place
43 Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east.
2 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east.
His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His
glory. 3 It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw-like the
vision which I saw when I[d] came to destroy the city. The visions were like
the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. 4 And
the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces
toward the east. 5 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner
court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
6 Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while a man stood beside
me. 7 And He said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of My throne and
the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the
children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy
name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their
kings on their high places. 8 When they set their threshold by My
threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and
Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed;
therefore I have consumed them in My anger. 9 Now let them put their
harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I will dwell
in their midst forever.
10 "Son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be
ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. 11 And if
they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design
of the temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire
design and all its ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down
in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its
ordinances, and perform them. 12 This is the law of the temple: The whole
area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of
the temple.
Dimensions of the Altar
13 "These are the measurements of the altar in cubits (the cubit is one
cubit and a handbreadth): the base one cubit high and one cubit wide, with a
rim all around its edge of one span. This is the height of the altar: 14
from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits; the width of the
ledge, one cubit; from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits;
and the width of the ledge, one cubit. 15 The altar hearth is four cubits
high, with four horns extending upward from the hearth. 16 The altar hearth
is twelve cubits long, twelve wide, square at its four corners; 17 the
ledge, fourteen cubits long and fourteen wide on its four sides, with a rim
of half a cubit around it; its base, one cubit all around; and its steps
face toward the east."
Consecrating the Altar
18 And He said to me, "Son of man, thus says the Lord God: 'These are the
ordinances for the altar on the day when it is made, for sacrificing burnt
offerings on it, and for sprinkling blood on it. 19 You shall give a young
bull for a sin offering to the priests, the Levites, who are of the seed of
Zadok, who approach Me to minister to Me,' says the Lord God. 20 'You shall
take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the
four corners of the ledge, and on the rim around it; thus you shall cleanse
it and make atonement for it. 21 Then you shall also take the bull of the
sin offering, and burn it in the appointed place of the temple, outside the
sanctuary. 22 On the second day you shall offer a kid of the goats without
blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they
cleansed it with the bull. 23 When you have finished cleansing it, you
shall offer a young bull without blemish, and a ram from the flock without
blemish. 24 When you offer them before the Lord, the priests shall throw
salt on them, and they will offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.
25 Every day for seven days you shall prepare a goat for a sin offering;
they shall also prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without
blemish. 26 Seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify
it, and so consecrate it. 27 When these days are over it shall be, on the
eighth day and thereafter, that the priests shall offer your burnt offerings
and your peace offerings on the altar; and I will accept you,' says the Lord
God."
The East Gate and the Prince
44 Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces
toward the east, but it was shut. 2 And the Lord said to me, "This gate
shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because
the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. 3 As
for the prince, because he is the prince, he may sit in it to eat bread
before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and
go out the same way."
Those Admitted to the Temple
4 Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; so
I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord;
and I fell on my face. 5 And the Lord said to me, "Son of man, mark well,
see with your eyes and hear with your ears, all that I say to you concerning
all the ordinances of the house of the Lord and all its laws. Mark well who
may enter the house and all who go out from the sanctuary.
6 "Now say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord
God: "O house of Israel, let Us have no more of all your abominations. 7
When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in
flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile it-My house-and when you offered My
food, the fat and the blood, then they broke My covenant because of all your
abominations. 8 And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but you
have set others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you." 9 Thus says the
Lord God: "No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh,
shall enter My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children
of Israel.
Laws Governing Priests
10 "And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who
strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. 11
Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, as gatekeepers of the house and
ministers of the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice
for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them. 12
Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of
Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have raised My hand in an oath
against them," says the Lord God, "that they shall bear their iniquity. 13
And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near
any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bear
their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14
Nevertheless I will make them keep charge of the temple, for all its work,
and for all that has to be done in it.
15 "But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My
sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come
near Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the
fat and the blood," says the Lord God. 16 "They shall enter My sanctuary,
and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My
charge. 17 And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner
court, that they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them
while they minister within the gates of the inner court or within the house.
18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their
bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.
19 When they go out to the outer court, to the outer court to the people,
they shall take off their garments in which they have ministered, leave them
in the holy chambers, and put on other garments; and in their holy garments
they shall not sanctify the people.
20 "They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long, but
they shall keep their hair well trimmed. 21 No priest shall drink wine when
he enters the inner court. 22 They shall not take as wife a widow or a
divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel,
or widows of priests.
23 "And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the
unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. 24 In
controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My
judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed
meetings, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths.
25 "They shall not defile themselves by coming near a dead person. Only for
father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister may
they defile themselves. 26 After he is cleansed, they shall count seven
days for him. 27 And on the day that he goes to the sanctuary to minister
in the sanctuary, he must offer his sin offering in the inner court," says
the Lord God.
28 "It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I am their
inheritance. You shall give them no possession in Israel, for I am their
possession. 29 They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the
trespass offering; every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 The
best of all firstfruits of any kind, and every sacrifice of any kind from
all your sacrifices, shall be the priest's; also you shall give to the
priest the first of your ground meal, to cause a blessing to rest on your
house. 31 The priests shall not eat anything, bird or beast, that died
naturally or was torn by wild beasts.
Footnotes:
a.Ezekiel 41:1 Hebrew heykal, here the main room of the temple, sometimes
called the holy place (compare Exodus 26:33)
b.Ezekiel 41:17 Literally house, here the Most Holy Place
c.Ezekiel 42:16 Compare 40:5
d.Ezekiel 43:3 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Vulgate read He.
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James VersionR. Copyright C 1982 by Thomas
Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
