Worship
“‘“When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed festivals, whoever enters by the north gate to worship is to go out the south gate; and whoever enters by the south gate is to go out the north gate. No one is to return through the gate by which they entered, but each is to go out the opposite gate. The prince is to be among them, going in when they go in and going out when they go out.”‘”
Today’s Text: Ezekiel 46:1-15 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
The worshippers could only enter the sanctuary from the north or south gates. And then they would have to exit through the opposite gate that they entered. The prince, on the other hand, could enter and exit only through the east gate. And apparently, the prince had to stay with the worshippers all day, because worshippers would be coming and going all day.
These rules for worship don’t make much sense from a human perspective. From a spiritual perspective, they make abundant sense, though.
First, Israel was under the rule of the Persian Empire by this time. And so the “prince” would have been the appointed governor of Palestine. However, according to God’s promise, the prince would always come from the line of David (Ezekiel 34:24; 37:25). And so the “prince” is really, what is called, a type of Christ—that is, a precursor that foreshadows the coming Messiah.
Second, the one-way flow of the worshippers signifies how they would enter the sanctuary as sinners but leave the sanctuary as righteous, because their sins had been atoned for. Basically, the one-way flow represents repentance: Don’t return in the way of sin.
And we don’t really want to read too much into the text, but maybe it’s OK to read into the text a little bit to help us to understand the nature of our own worship.
The fact that the prince had to be there all day with the worshippers reminds us of how Christ is fully present in our worship, too.
Also, the temple area that was prophesied to Ezekiel is large. (The temple itself had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and would not be rebuilt for many years.) The length from north to south (or vice versa) would have been about 275 yards. “Passing through” the whole length of the temple grounds would have given the worshippers an opportunity to experience the full scope of God’s majesty. Of course, they would also have had the opportunity to run into old friends, acquaintances, and family, as well as to make new friends and acquaintances.
In our worship, we should enter the sanctuary with those things in mind. We should enter with a keen sense of coming into the presence of God. We should worship with the expectancy that Christ will be there when we enter and when we exit. We should remember that all of our sins have been atoned for—past, present, and future. Therefore, Jesus, through His sacrifice, has released us from our bondage to sin, and we should not go back that way again. And we should enter the sanctuary with joy in the fellowship of the saints—all those who are familiar in our community and those who are new.
Father, You are good, and You are worthy of all our worship—heart, soul, strength, and mind. Because of faith, let our worship be pleasing to You. Through Your Spirit, fill us up with a keen sense of Your presence, and fill us up with joy in the company of the saints. And be glorified through our celebration. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
