OUR SANCTUARY IN EXILE

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on February 7, 2021 under 2021 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; February 7, 2021 from Ezekiel 11:16

Theme: God is able to be a sanctuary to His people even when they are far away from the physical place of worship.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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Throughout our time of being limited in our contacts with one another, we’ve suffered many different kinds of things along the way. It’s been particularly hard not to be together in our familiar place of worship.

But it hasn’t been some kind of great accident in the sovereign plan of God. Our good heavenly Father still remains the same. He is still reigning upon the throne; and the work of advancing His kingdom still goes on. He has not changed one bit. And what’s more, it’s still true that “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28).

The big question in it all, though, is this: When this is all over and we are back together again—how will we have changed? Will we have grown closer to Him and been made stronger in our trust in Him as a result? Will He have gained more of our devotion to Him—even if we were not able to be together in the church building? I certainly hope and pray so.

I’ve been thinking about this question for a long time. And I thought about it again recently when I read a story in the Old Testament prophecy of Ezekiel. It tells of how the people of Judah and the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem were driven from their homeland. They were separated from the temple—and from the holy sanctuary of God that was in it—for a long period of time. They lived as exiles in a foreign land for 70 long years—almost an entire lifetime. The regular patterns of their worship had been taken from them; and they were no longer able to depend upon the physical sanctuary for the strength and stability of their relationship with God.

But God had made this promise to them in Ezekiel 11:16. He told the prophet;

“Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone’” (Ezekiel 11:16).

This is a promise, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that you and I can draw encouragement from in our own time of seeming-exile. Just like those ancient Jewish people, we too are—for a time—separated from the regular patterns of worship that we’re used to. And it may still be a while before we are able to safely gather back into the church building and worship together as we’d like to. For the time being, we can’t depend on those outward, physical helps in our faith that we’ve depended on before. But we can still grow spiritually, and can even be made stronger in our relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ as a result of it all.

And that’s because even when they are far away from the place of worship, God Himself will be a sanctuary—a holy place of sacred worship and renewal—to His people.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; the story behind the giving of this promise is important to know. It’s a story that had its beginning in another prophetic book—that is, in the Book of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah had been called by God—about 600 years before the time that Jesus was born into the world—to be a prophet and to warn the people of Jerusalem that the time of God’s judgment was coming. Jeremiah told them that God was going to send the fearsome Babylonians to conquer them and destroy the city and the temple. They would go into captivity in Babylon for 70 years because of their sinful rebellion against Him. And then, after that time, they would be brought back and restored to their city. And God, through His prophet Jeremiah, warned the people of Jerusalem not to resist the king of Babylon. They were told that the Babylonians were God’s instrument of discipline to them; and that they were to submit to His will for them and go willingly into exile. In fact, in Jeremiah 29, the prophet urged them to settle in to Babylon for the long-haul—to build houses, and plant gardens, and to raise their families, and to pray for the peace of the cities in which they live; “for in its peace you will have peace” (Jeremiah 29:7).

But in Ezekiel 11, we’re told that some of the leaders of the people in Jerusalem were resisting this command from God. There were twenty-five leading men in the city of Jerusalem who had gathered themselves together at the eastern gate of the city—being led by two chief leaders named Jaazaniah and Pelatiah. God had also made Ezekiel a prophet, and had revealed a vision to him of those men in Jerusalem. God told Ezekiel;

“Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city, who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses; this city is the caldron, and we are the meat’” (Ezekiel 11:2-3).

Even though God had said for the people to go with their Babylonian conquerors and build houses in the land God was sending them, these arrogant citizens of Jerusalem refused to obey. They tried to convince the people of Jerusalem that it was not time to ‘give up’ and build houses in a foreign land. They felt that so long as they stayed in Jerusalem, they were safe. The city—after all—was where the temple of God was. They spoke of the city as if it were an iron pot that protected them—and that they themselves were the choice meat in the pot. They were brutal and aggressive in their refusal to obey God—and they put many of their fellow citizens of Jerusalem to death. And what’s more, because they considered themselves the choice citizens of the city, they looked upon those who went away to Babylon as being like worthless scraps that the butcher would throw away. “Good riddance”, they thought. “They’re not fit to remain in the city and be in the safe iron caldron with those of us who are the choice cuts of meat.”

Even though Ezekiel was far away in Babylon with those who had been exiled, God—as it were—lifted him up and brought him in a vision to Jerusalem; and had him tell these men;

“‘Thus you have said, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind. You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain.’ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the meat, and this city is the caldron; but I shall bring you out of the midst of it. You have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you,’ says the Lord God. ‘And I will bring you out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and execute judgments on you. You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord’” (vv. 5-10).

This happened quite literally. The Babylonians eventually came, captured the king of Judah and these leaders, and brought them out of the city, and carried them into the town of Riblah, which was by the far edge of the land of Israel near Syria. There, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon sat on his judgment seat and brought judgment upon them; and then had many of them slain before him. As God tells those rebellious men in verses 11-12;

“‘This city shall not be your caldron, nor shall you be the meat in its midst. I will judge you at the border of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor executed My judgments, but have done according to the customs of the Gentiles which are all around you’” (vv. 11-12).

Then a shocking thing happened. As Ezekiel spoke these words from the Lord—as if to give confirmation to the certainty of what God was saying—one of those two chief leaders, whose name was Pelatiah, suddenly died. So much for those self-proclaimed ‘choice cuts of meat’ who refused to obey God! After this promise was fulfilled, the Babylonians then burned down the city of Jerusalem, broke down its walls, and destroyed its temple. It sat as a heap of ruins for 70 years. We can also say, so much for what they considered to be their safe ‘caldron’!

But what about those who obeyed and submitted themselves to the Babylonians and who remained faithful to God? Would there be no hope for them, now that they were driven far away from the temple? Well; God had a word for them too. Ezekiel wrote;

Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Get far away from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.’ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone”’” (vv. 14-16).

He would not abandon them. He would, in fact, be “a sanctuary” to them. The same Hebrew word that is used here for ‘sanctuary’ is the one that’s also used to describe the most sacred place in the temple—the holy place. God Himself would be that ‘holy meeting place’ to them wherever He sent them.

And He also had a future for them. And what He told them about that future shows just how much He would truly be ‘a sanctuary’ to them. Ezekiel was told;

“Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God”’” (vv. 18-20).

God speaks here in the same kind of language that He spoke in the Book of Jeremiah about the glories of the ‘new covenant’ that He would make with the people of Israel—a covenant that would actually transform them. In Jeremiah 31:31-34, He said;

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

When they went to the old temple, all that they could do was go to a building—a structure that sat on a place upon the ground. But God promised to be a very present sanctuary to them in their exile—wherever they were sent. And that promise would consist of their being brought into a relationship with Him that would change them from within.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; this speaks of the new covenant that God has brought about for us through the ministry of Jesus Christ for us—who the New Testament tells us is the Mediator of this new covenant through His blood. It’s not based on our being in a ‘place’ such as the city of Jerusalem; or on our worshiping God in a specific building such as the temple. It’s not based on any earthly thing or on anything dependent upon our works. Rather, it’s based on what God—in grace—has done for us through Jesus His Son. In this new covenant, Jesus has washed all our sins away by His sacrifice for us on the cross. And in it, God has—by faith—placed the Holy Spirit in us who transforms us from the inside out. The Spirit of God indwells us and lives the life of Jesus in and through us. The Spirit gives us a desire to walk in holiness before the Father—from within our minds and hour hearts. And He seals us forever as God’s own people.

That is what God promised, through Ezekiel, that He would do one day for His people. And that is what He did for them—and for us—through His Son Jesus Christ. Can you think of a greater description, then, of what it means for God to be ‘a sanctuary’ to His people?—no matter where they may be?—no matter what may be their circumstances?

That’s what God promises to be to us. A sanctuary—wherever we are. Even in the situation that we’re all in presently.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; look again with me at Ezekiel 11:16.

God told Ezekiel to speak of those who had been taken away from the city of Jerusalem—and away from the temple—“Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries …” And do you notice in this that God does not say that the disobedient people who remained in the city of Jerusalem drove them away. Nor does God say that the Babylonians carried them away. Instead, God clearly said that He Himself “cast them far off among the Gentiles” and that He Himself “scattered them among the countries”.

And this leads us to remember an important truth about God’s people …

1. GOD MAY PERMIT THEM TO BE SCATTERED FOR A WHILE FOR THEIR GOOD.

These particular Jewish people obeyed God and submitted themselves to His hand in sending them away to Babylon. But just think of how hard this would have been for them. They would have had to say goodbye—most likely for the rest of their natural lives—to the city of God that they loved. They would have had to say goodbye to their familiar homes, and their businesses, and their cherished social relationships; and most of all to the beloved temple of God. They would have had to say goodbye for a while to the ministry of the priests within the temple, and to the worship and rituals and ceremonies, and even to the familiar walls and structures that had historically constituted their worship of God. They would have had to say goodbye to any physical nearness to the most sacred structure within the temple called ‘the Holy of Holies’.

And what’s more, they would have had to go, instead, to a strange land that did not worship or honor the God of Israel at all. They would have been surrounded by idolatrous images and temples to false gods. They would have heard languages that they didn’t know, and seen strange-looking people, and be persuaded to eat forbidden and unclean food, and heard strange and offensive songs and expressions. They themselves would have been looked upon with contempt by the people of Babylon; and would have had to become their servants. They would have felt the pressure to abandon their Jewish heritage and forms of worship, and to fit in and conform to this strange pagan world. They would have been mocked and humiliated and made an object of entertainment; like it says in Psalm 137—

By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept
When we remembered Zion.
We hung our harps
Upon the willows in the midst of it.
For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
And those who plundered us requested mirth,
Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” (Psalm 137:1-3).

And God makes it clear that this was from Him. It was He who sent them away and scattered them—in order to punish them; but eventually to refine them and perfect His glory in them.

Dear brothers and sisters; you and I should see our present circumstance in something along the same lines as that. It may not be, for us, a matter of exile into a foreign land. It may not have been brought about because we had sinned against God. But it is—nevertheless—something that separates us from our usual and familiar forms and places of worship. We miss those things. But God has sovereignly permitted all of this—at this time—for His own glory and for our own good.

If we’re not able to be together right now in our familiar place and patterns of worship—if we are having to meet together in unusual ways at a distance—it is only for a while. And it’s ultimately in the hand of God. He has permitted it to occur; and whatever happens is only what He permits for our ultimate good—and for His glory. We shouldn’t fuss against Him for it. Instead, we should accept it from His hand and submit to His will. When this time of trial is over—and after it has accomplished what He wants accomplished in us—we will be back together again.

And God willing, we will be better for it.

* * * * * * * * * *

But that’s not all there is to the story. As the rest of Ezekiel 11:16 tells us, God went on to say, “yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.” It may be true that God permits His people to be scattered for a while; but it will not be to their ultimate hurt because …

2. HE PROMISES TO BE A SANCTUARY FOR THEM WHEREVER HE SENDS THEM.

The translation that I’m using has it that God would be “a little sanctuary” for His people during their time away. And if that’s the correct way to translate it, then God would be saying that though they were not near the great temple that they were used to—and that, in fact, God would permit that temple to be destroyed and all of its items and articles to be carried away by the Babylonians—He would nevertheless be a ‘little’ tabernacle to them.

But other translations put it in a different way. They have interpreted the word “little” as being applied to the time or circumstance of their exile. They have it that God would be a sanctuary for them “for a little while”. And that is the better way to understand this. For God to take them away from the physical temple and then become their sanctuary was not a movement from something big to something little—from something great to something less. It’s a movement from something temporal to something greater and far more fulfilling. But even then, He is that ‘sanctuary’ for them in their exile for a short time—a definite period—until they would be brought into the greater glories of the new covenant.

And that’s the case for you and me; dear brothers and sisters. Wherever it may be that God sends us—whatever our situation is in this fallen world—our God is our secure ‘sanctuary’. He is our ‘holy place’ that sustains us and feeds our souls during our time of sojourn on this earth. Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in us, we have fellowship with God through His Son Jesus Christ in a greater way than could ever be had in the temple. We are taught and ministered to by Him through the Scriptures in a way that is greater than the priests could ever have taught and served the people. We receive mercy and grace in a way that is greater than could ever be shown to us through the offerings and sacrifices. We who live in this fallen world as Jesus’ followers are made holier, by God being our ‘sanctuary’, then could ever have happened through the rituals and ceremonies of the temple.

But it is only for a little while; because one day, we will see Jesus as He is—and then we will be like Him. We will share in His glory forever. And the Bible tells us that in the eternal New Jerusalem that will be our home forever, there is no temple;

“for the Lord God almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Revelation 21:22).

* * * * * * * * * *

So, dear brothers and sisters; even though we are in a time when we are separated from one another as a congregation—prevented from joining together in the familiar way of worship in our familiar church home—this can still be a time of great growth and spiritual enrichment for us. It’s because our God promises to be a sanctuary to us.

Let’s embrace that promise from God; and in this current time of trial—in this current seeming-exile—let’s grow deeper in our love for Him and love for one another. Let’s make sure we enter into the fullness of fellowship with God that He has made possible under the new covenant through Jesus Christ; and let’s encourage one another in that fellowship.

Let’s together let God be our true sanctuary—just as Paul learned to do;

… I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:11-13).

EA