God's Holy Mountain
There is only one holy place on the earth that God chose to put His name and to make His dwelling place on earth.(Ezekiel 43:12) Yes, I know that now every believer has the Holy Spirit, and our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. However, we are not a physical place on the earth like Mount Moriah or Mount Zion is in Jerusalem. It was there Abraham was sent to sacrifice His son of promise, Isaac, but God provided a ram. It was there God told the people of Israel to build the Temple, so He could reside in their midst. It was near there that Jesus hung on the Cross as our Sacrificial lamb, and when He breathed His last breath, the veil of the Temple was torn in two pieces. The Temple was destroyed completely in 70 AD by the Romans, but one day it will be rebuilt in a much larger form for the Millennial reign of Christ on the earth. It is that Temple God showed Ezekiel and told him to write down the plans for the Jewish people to use in the future. I believe we can learn from this important detail in the Bible.
The word holy means to be "set apart." When God makes something holy, that thing is set apart from other things like it for a special purpose. That mountain in Jerusalem is holy. It is set apart from all other mountains as God's dwelling place on earth. The Jewish people were instructed not to offer sacrifices at any other location. Therefore, when God allowed His holy Temple to be destroyed in 70 AD, He was sending a signal to Israel that the Old Covenant was over. When the veil was torn at Jesus' death, God was showing that He was changing things, so that His Spirit would dwell in people who would trust Jesus Christ, as Lord. He was showing the Jewish people that Jesus is the Only Way to salvation, the Perfect Sacrifice for sins, once for all. Then, when this Millennial Temple is rebuilt, each sacrifice done by the people will point to Jesus as He sits on the throne reigning over the world from that very spot. They will see what they missed, and how God had been so good to point to Jesus in everything.
Today, every Christian is holy. We are set apart from all other people to be used by God to accomplish His mission on earth, which is to share the truth of Jesus Christ and the Good News of the Gospel with all people. We are the only ones who will do this, and if we fail, the word of salvation will not get out to the people who really need to hear. That is the main reason we are saved, not to sit in church, but to serve the Lord.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezekiel 44-46.
The word holy means to be "set apart." When God makes something holy, that thing is set apart from other things like it for a special purpose. That mountain in Jerusalem is holy. It is set apart from all other mountains as God's dwelling place on earth. The Jewish people were instructed not to offer sacrifices at any other location. Therefore, when God allowed His holy Temple to be destroyed in 70 AD, He was sending a signal to Israel that the Old Covenant was over. When the veil was torn at Jesus' death, God was showing that He was changing things, so that His Spirit would dwell in people who would trust Jesus Christ, as Lord. He was showing the Jewish people that Jesus is the Only Way to salvation, the Perfect Sacrifice for sins, once for all. Then, when this Millennial Temple is rebuilt, each sacrifice done by the people will point to Jesus as He sits on the throne reigning over the world from that very spot. They will see what they missed, and how God had been so good to point to Jesus in everything.
Today, every Christian is holy. We are set apart from all other people to be used by God to accomplish His mission on earth, which is to share the truth of Jesus Christ and the Good News of the Gospel with all people. We are the only ones who will do this, and if we fail, the word of salvation will not get out to the people who really need to hear. That is the main reason we are saved, not to sit in church, but to serve the Lord.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezekiel 44-46.