20230114

beyond and permeating

Ezekiel 41:12-20 (JDV)

Ezekiel 41:12 Now the building that faced the house yard toward the west was seventy cubits wide. The wall of the building was five cubits thick on all sides, and the building’s length was ninety cubits.
Ezekiel 41:13 Then the man measured the house; it was 100 cubits long. In addition, the house yard and the building, including its walls, were 100 cubits long.
Ezekiel 41:14 The width of the front of the house along with the house yard to the east was 100 cubits.
Ezekiel 41:15 Next he measured the length of the building facing the house yard to the west, with its galleries on each side; it was 100 cubits. The interior of the great hall and the porticoes of the court –
Ezekiel 41:16 the thresholds, the beveled windows, and the balconies all around with their three levels opposite the threshold – were overlaid with wood on all sides. They were paneled from the ground to the windows (but the windows were covered),
Ezekiel 41:17 reaching to the top of the entrance, and as far as the inner house and on the outside. On every wall all around, on the inside and outside, was a pattern
Ezekiel 41:18 carved with cherubs and palm trees. There was a palm tree between each pair of cherubs. Each cherub had two faces:
Ezekiel 41:19 a human face turned toward the palm tree on one side, and a lion’s face turned toward it on the other. They were carved throughout the house on all sides.
Ezekiel 41:20 cherubs and palm trees were carved from the ground to the top of the entrance and on the wall of the great hall.

beyond and permeating

Craigie writes “In a literal sense, God’s presence cannot be focused and limited to a single spot in the world; there can be no geographical or architectural constraints on a deity who is transcendent. But a too casual view of a God who is both transcendent and immanent, both beyond the world and yet permeating every part of it, has certain dangers. On the one hand, God may seem to be so distant as to be not really present; on the other hand, the belief in his presence everywhere may lead us to take it for granted. The nature of the temple and its innermost sanctuary in Ezekiel’s vision strikes a balance. God is indeed present in the world, but that presence should not be recognized casually; it is a holy presence, an extraordinary privilege, and to be treated with appropriate awe” (Craigie, 284).

Our lives should present the same kind of balance. We need to be genuine, without a hint of hypocrisy or show. But we should also present lives that cannot be fully explained by what is now. We should leave people with a taste of the beyond.

Craigie, Peter C. Ezekiel. Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 1983.