God’s Temple

READ: EZEKIEL 40:1-19; 1 CORINTHIANS 3:16-17

Chapters 40-42 of the book of Ezekiel may not seem very interesting at first glance. All three chapters are a tour of a future temple. An angel led Ezekiel through this temple in a vision. There are many, many specific measurements included—enough that you may get bored. There is a measurement for everything in the temple, each room and each doorway. There are also specific details mentioned, like carvings of palm trees, cherubim, a lion’s face, and a human face.

So, if they aren’t very interesting chapters, why am I telling you about them? Well, because of a sentence in 2 Corinthians 6:16: “For we are the temple of the living God.” There are other verses that say the same thing—that we are God’s temple. Isn’t that amazing? In the Old Testament, the temple was where God’s presence dwelt with His people, and then His presence came fully when Jesus, God the Son, came and lived among us. In fact, Jesus even called Himself a temple when He predicted His own death and resurrection (John 2:19-22). Now, if we know Jesus, His Holy Spirit lives in us, so our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Not only that, but the Spirit unites us with other believers, building us together into His temple, the church (1 Peter 2:5). And someday Jesus will return to make the whole earth His temple—His dwelling place with His people (Revelation 21:1-5).

God loves us so much that Jesus came to die on the cross for us and rise from the dead so He could dwell with us and we could spend eternity with Him. And if He took the time to talk about the specific measurements of each room and doorway of the temple, how much more does He care about the details in our lives? Matthew 10:30 tells us that God knows how many hairs are on our heads! That sounds like a pretty specific detail for God to care about. He wants you to know that no detail about your life is too little for Him to care about. He wants you to know you can go to Him about every little detail of your life, and the big moments too. • Kimberly Brokish

• How does it make you feel to know that God cares about all the details of your life? Consider taking a moment to talk to Him about any part of your life that comes to mind, big or small, good or bad…even though He already knows it all, He loves listening to everything you have to say.

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 1 Corinthians 3:16 (NIV