Different and the Same - Part 3
When the prince enters, he shall go in by way of the porch of the gate and go out by the same way. But when the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, he who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And he who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. No one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered but shall go straight out. When they go in, the prince shall go in among them; and when they go out, he shall go out [Ezekiel 46:8-10].
Our last study noted significant differences between the prince and the people. Let’s continue with this topic now.
The prince is the Lord Jesus, Who is simultaneously both God and man. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes. He is always the same holy Person. Accordingly He cannot get into a rut and fall into a quagmire of ritualism and tradition. He can enter and exit the same way because He cannot become bogged down and perfunctorily go through the motions of religion.
The same cannot be said about sinful man. We are prone to finding a comfy corner and hanging out, doing the same old same old day after day. We don’t want to think and study and grow, at least not for long. We are finite, limited, and easily tired out, so we put forth a smidgeon of effort and then hasten to find a place of rest.
The history of mankind exposes man as ritualistic, apathetic, and feckless. We consolidate the Word of God into a set of dos and don’ts, establish a given format for church services to be repeated with no variation each week, and crown tradition as king.
This is where the provision comes in, of all the people entering through one gate and exiting through the other. God, you see, never changes. He enters and exits the same way always, and it is the right way, not simply a rut He is stuck in.
But man cannot exist this way or he will fall prey to rote religion and give no thought to God. He will turn the worship of God into activities and programs, all functioning thoughtlessly and carried out mechanically. The end game of man’s worship will become the activities and programs themselves, and God will no longer enter the picture. Man will wind up worshiping activities and programs, church, rather than God. Our god will then be church!
This is the spiritual truth taught by the contrasts between the prince and the people. They used separate gates and they entered and exited following different criteria. The reason is that the prince is qualitatively different than the people. The prince is God, and God is quite different than man and doesn’t suffer from our limitations.
Not to become distraught, dear friends. We still have a third spiritual truth taught in the quoted text. The prince and the people enter and leave the Millennial Temple together. The spiritual truth here is that the prince and the people are inseparably bound together in covenantal relationship. Though they are qualitatively different, they nonetheless are inseparable in their relationship.
The prince is the Lord Jesus and the people are those who know Him and love Him. The Lord Jesus is not only God: He is also truly man. He is one of us! He goes in with us, leaves with us, and remains with us. God and man are inseparably bound together by the God-man, Jesus Christ.
Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. He is faithful even when we are not. He and we are inseparable. Nothing can separate us from the love of God given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing.
This is cause for the loudest hallelujahs to ring out across the earth! Let’s take our leave now and go to Him for a time a rest and fellowship. I’ll race you to the prayer closet.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Our last study noted significant differences between the prince and the people. Let’s continue with this topic now.
The prince is the Lord Jesus, Who is simultaneously both God and man. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes. He is always the same holy Person. Accordingly He cannot get into a rut and fall into a quagmire of ritualism and tradition. He can enter and exit the same way because He cannot become bogged down and perfunctorily go through the motions of religion.
The same cannot be said about sinful man. We are prone to finding a comfy corner and hanging out, doing the same old same old day after day. We don’t want to think and study and grow, at least not for long. We are finite, limited, and easily tired out, so we put forth a smidgeon of effort and then hasten to find a place of rest.
The history of mankind exposes man as ritualistic, apathetic, and feckless. We consolidate the Word of God into a set of dos and don’ts, establish a given format for church services to be repeated with no variation each week, and crown tradition as king.
This is where the provision comes in, of all the people entering through one gate and exiting through the other. God, you see, never changes. He enters and exits the same way always, and it is the right way, not simply a rut He is stuck in.
But man cannot exist this way or he will fall prey to rote religion and give no thought to God. He will turn the worship of God into activities and programs, all functioning thoughtlessly and carried out mechanically. The end game of man’s worship will become the activities and programs themselves, and God will no longer enter the picture. Man will wind up worshiping activities and programs, church, rather than God. Our god will then be church!
This is the spiritual truth taught by the contrasts between the prince and the people. They used separate gates and they entered and exited following different criteria. The reason is that the prince is qualitatively different than the people. The prince is God, and God is quite different than man and doesn’t suffer from our limitations.
Not to become distraught, dear friends. We still have a third spiritual truth taught in the quoted text. The prince and the people enter and leave the Millennial Temple together. The spiritual truth here is that the prince and the people are inseparably bound together in covenantal relationship. Though they are qualitatively different, they nonetheless are inseparable in their relationship.
The prince is the Lord Jesus and the people are those who know Him and love Him. The Lord Jesus is not only God: He is also truly man. He is one of us! He goes in with us, leaves with us, and remains with us. God and man are inseparably bound together by the God-man, Jesus Christ.
Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. He is faithful even when we are not. He and we are inseparable. Nothing can separate us from the love of God given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing.
This is cause for the loudest hallelujahs to ring out across the earth! Let’s take our leave now and go to Him for a time a rest and fellowship. I’ll race you to the prayer closet.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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