November 25, 2020: Day 95 – Ezekiel 43

Ezekiel is transported away from the temple to a location where he is able to witness it and all of its splendor.  Keep in mind, this is a vision, the temple is still destroyed and nothing has been done to restore it.  But Ezekiel is tasked with giving the people a vision and a hope that it is God’s plans to restore the temple.  He then takes Ezekiel back into the temple and he hears the voice of God who is residing in the holy of holies.  The place where, as he says: “the place for the soles of my feet.”  God is so comfortable in the holy of holies that he has taken off his outdoor shoes, stripped off his socks, and is walking around barefoot inside his home.  Now that is a definition of home.  If you are guest somewhere you may take off your shoes, but you would never take off your socks.

Look at vs.11 and you see a conditional command to Ezekiel which is: “let them be ashamed of their iniquities…when they are ashamed of all that they have done…then…”  There is a sense that God is going to come and reside in his home not just whenever, but only when the people recognize their iniquities and are willing to not worship and bow down to false idols.  Those kings who encouraged them to depart from the ways of the Lord have been buried and their history is behind them.  Now, and only now once you have become ashamed of your past and how you departed from the ways of the Lord, now I can come home and take my shoes and socks off and reside with you.