Scripture Daily

Context No. 2280 of 4322 · Ezekiel

Context · Reflection

Ezekiel 44:1-9: in context

1Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looks toward the east; and it was shut. 2The LORD said to me, “This gate shall be shut. It shall not be opened, no man shall enter in by it; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered in by it. Therefore it shall be shut. 3As for the prince, he shall sit in it as prince to eat bread before the LORD. He shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out the same way.” 4Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and behold, the LORD’s glory filled the LORD’s house; so I fell on my face. 5The LORD said to me, “Son of man, mark well, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I tell you concerning all the ordinances of the LORD’s house and all its laws; and mark well the entrance of the house, with every exit of the sanctuary. 6You shall tell the rebellious, even the house of Israel, ‘The Lord GOD says: “You house of Israel, let that be enough of all your abominations, 7in that you have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when you offer my bread, the fat and the blood; and they have broken my covenant, to add to all your abominations. 8You have not performed the duty of my holy things; but you have set performers of my duty in my sanctuary for yourselves.” 9The Lord GOD says, “No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners who are among the children of Israel.

In Ezekiel's vision of the restored temple, God gives a warning about who may enter his sanctuary. He rebukes his people for having brought in foreigners uncircumcised in heart and in flesh, to be in his sanctuary and profane it, offering God's bread while breaking his covenant. No one uncircumcised in heart, God says, shall enter my sanctuary. The concern is not merely outward, uncircumcised in flesh, but inward, uncircumcised in heart; God will not have his holy things approached with the outward form but without the inward reality.

The phrase uncircumcised in heart points to God's deepest concern: not the outward form of religion but the inward reality. God rebukes the bringing into his sanctuary of those uncircumcised in heart, those who had the outward form, perhaps even circumcised in flesh, but not the inward reality, a heart truly given to God. And he says such approach profanes his holy things. To approach God's holy things, his worship, his sanctuary, with the outward form but without the heart, is not to honor them but to profane them. God wants the inward reality, the circumcised heart, not merely the outward observance. This searches the reality of our own approach to God. It is possible to have the outward form of religion, to participate in worship, to keep the observances, to go through the motions, while the heart is not truly given to God, uncircumcised in heart. And God warns that such outward participation without inward reality does not honor him but profanes his holy things. Real circumcision, Paul says, is of the heart, by the Spirit, not merely outward; and God desires the heart, not merely the form. This people honors me with their lips, Jesus laments, but their heart is far from me; the outward form without the heart is empty, even offensive to God. This calls us to bring not merely the outward form of worship but the inward reality of a heart given to God. We can attend to the outward observances of faith, worship, prayer, service, while our hearts remain uncircumcised, not truly given to God, going through the motions without the inward reality. And God warns that this profanes rather than honors his holy things. What he desires is the circumcised heart, the inward reality of a heart truly his, not merely the outward form. This does not mean the outward forms are unimportant, but that they must be joined to the inward reality; worship without the heart is empty. This searches whether we approach God with the heart or only the form. Do we participate in worship and religion outwardly while our hearts are uncircumcised, not truly given to God? God warns against bringing the uncircumcised in heart into his holy things; and he calls us to bring not merely the outward form but the inward reality, a heart truly circumcised, given to him. Let us approach God's holy things not with the outward form alone, which profanes them when the heart is absent, but with the inward reality of a heart given to God, so that our worship honors him rather than profaning his holy things with an empty formalism that has the form but not the heart.

Do I approach God's holy things, his worship, prayer, and service, with the outward form while my heart remains uncircumcised, not truly given to him, going through the motions without the inward reality, and can God's warning against bringing the uncircumcised in heart into his sanctuary, which profanes rather than honors, move me to bring not merely the outward form of worship but the inward reality of a heart truly given to God, lest my religion become an empty formalism that has the form but not the heart?

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