“My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore”–Ezekiel 37:27-28
Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
On this final day in August, another Monday that the Lord has granted us in His grace, we want to find our encouragement in the pages of the ancient prophecy of Ezekiel.
Of course, Ezekiel was a prophet of God during the horrible years of the Babylonian captivity of Israel. Israel had proven to be a persistently wayward and disobedient people, and this despite the Lord’s constant calls to repentance and almost inconceivable patience with them. Sadly, no repentance came, and the tragic consequence was the loss of literally everything that had once identified them as the Covenant people–their land, their temple, their language, and their culture.
Not only did the Lord raise up Ezekiel to preach to the exiled nation in a way that explained what had happened to them and why, the prophet was also to preach and prophesy about a glorious day of restoration and salvation that would surely come for Israel. While the book of Ezekiel is sprinkled throughout with images and promises of this restoration, the vision of chapter 37 stands out for its depiction of the spiritual resurrection of the once dead nation.
But in verses 24-28 of that chapter there is another remarkable image of salvation and restoration for the nation. A second and greater “ David” will one day come to reign over them as a sovereign, yet most loving, “ shepherd.” He will bring “ peace” to them, return them to their “ land,” “ multiply” them exceedingly, and will “ be their prince forever.” And then, we find in verse 28 this amazing promise: that the “ sanctuary” of the Lord will forever be “ in their midst”!
So how does this centuries-old word from Ezekiel encourage us today?
Well, let me begin by asking you a question or two:
Where is Christ our Lord now?
And, where are you, His child, and each of us who belong to His Church?
According to this promise, our Sovereign Lord is to be found in the midst of those whom He has redeemed! In fact, His temple, “ sanctuary,” or dwelling place, is among us right now! This Old Covenant Word has been fulfilled in our Savior, who now dwells with us by His Spirit until the day that He will come again in power and glory! We, the richly beloved sheep of His pasture, are His “ sanctuary”!
And then, as to where we are, the answer is that we are always in His presence! We are never left alone! He is always with us as our Shepherd, Provider, Protector, and Deliverer, and we are always under the shelter of His mighty love and power! We never do anything absent from Him. We never experience anything apart from His presence! And, with the echo of this Old Covenant Word in the background, our Lord has declared to us that He is “ with” us “ always to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20), and that He will “ never leave” nor “ forsake” us (Hebrews 13:5).
Whatever we shall face today as our Father’s will and purposes unfold for us, we will experience in the presence of Jesus our Lord! Be it blessings, tribulations, victories, pains, deliverances, or sufferings, they will come to us as our Savior and High Priest stands with us! We might even say that we will experience them while ‘in the sanctuary’! No place could be sweeter! No place could be safer! No place could be more fulfilling! For, as the Scripture says, “ in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).
I pray that you will know the comfort, peace, joys, and security of being in His presence today. And may His amazing grace sustain you as together we sing . . .
“ Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Hallelujah! What a friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.”
I love you all so much!
Mike