Ezekiel 41 Devotional

A Table Before the LORD

“There was an altar of wood three cubits high and two cubits square. Its corners, base, and sides were of wood. And the man told me, “This is the table that is before the LORD.””Ezekiel 41:22 (BSB)

The guide now leads Ezekiel into the temple itself. He measures the outer sanctuary, then goes on into the inner room and announces that this is the Most Holy Place (41:1-4). The walls and doors are paneled in wood and carved with cherubim and palm trees, each cherub with the face of a man turned toward one palm and the face of a young lion toward the other (41:16-20).

Amid all the measuring, the guide stops to name one object. A wooden altar stands in the sanctuary, and he calls it the table that is before the LORD (41:22). In the very place of God's holiness there is a table, set in his presence. The holiest room in the vision is not empty space kept at a distance. It is furnished for nearness. Hebrews says believers can now come boldly into God's presence because of Jesus' blood, by a way he opened through his own body (Hebrews 10:19-20). Because of him, you are not kept outside. You are welcome before God.

To think about: Do you tend to approach God as someone kept at a distance or as someone welcome at his table, and why?