“The Lord is there…” --Ezekiel 48:35
I just finished reading Ezekiel and was wondering a bit about all those cubits and all those details about walls and widths and columns and chambers and gates, that whole new temple thing that seem to take up so much of the final chapters of this strange book. Starting in chapter 40 and through the end of chapter 42 we get all these measurements. This wall or this gate or this alter is so many cubits by so many cubits, etc etc. It begins to feel like an architectural plan more than a prophetic book. Even St. Jerome was troubled by the strangeness of this section. He hoped readers would not find them “frivolous” but admitted that they made him feel like he was knocking on a locked door[1]. So many specific measurements, it begins to feel overwhelming. I am certain many readers are tempted to simply skip ahead—to the good stuff! Why not? This temple (as described) was never built, and according to many commentators, never intended to be built. It was symbolic; representing to the reader an ideal or a vision of God’s eternal temple. Something like that. And so, once we get the idea—it’s big and its stately and it’s glorious—why bother with the minor details: like how many inner and outer rooms and how many steps and how many columns, etc. etc? What’s the point? Because there doesn’t really seem to be one…
But, I have to ask the same question—only with a little less exasperation in my voice: What’s the point? Because I am certain, in God’s word, there always is one.
And here is what I would propose: Consider the sparrows. Are not five of them sold for two pennies and yet not one is forgotten before God. (cf. Luke 12:6 & Matthew 10:29-31). Jesus reminds His disciples again and again that the little things (and the little ones) matter; assuring them that every hair on their head is numbered by God. In other words: details matter.
But why?
I’ve been thinking about that. I wonder if it has something to do with love? When I first fell in love with my wife, everything she did fascinated me, every opinion she had, every whim, every idea, every song she sang or book she read, every flavor she liked… I wanted to know. I wanted to know whether she liked mustard or ketchup on a hot dog, wanted to know which Beatle she liked better: John or Paul, popcorn with butter or without, The Post or The Chronicle… I hungered to know everything about her. And every little detail mattered. Everything she shared with me—including her preference for ketchup on a hot dog (eek)-- was just one more reason to love her. And I remembered them. Because I was in love, every detail mattered.
I wonder if –in some way—God isn’t reminding us of that here in this lengthy list of seemingly meaningless measurements and boundaries. Is God reminding us that everything matters. Everything we do, everything we think, all of it matters. Because we matter. Because God loves us, not just collectively, but each and every single one of us individually. He loves us so much that He knows the number of hairs on each and every one of our heads. And, even knows the number that fell out on the bathroom floor this morning.
One more thing to note. The book of Ezekiel ends with these words:
“The name of the city in future must be: The Lord is there.”
The Lord is there… In the new Holy City, this symbolic city that Ezekiel describes. The Lord is there. This city where every detail matters, where every small act is intentional. Where even the measurement of a wall or the height of a step, matters. Everything matters. Because everything and everyone is important—is loved. The Lord is there—in that place of love.
What if we lived that way? What if we rose from bed every morning certain that everything we were going to do that day mattered, not matter how large or small the thing was. Everything from making the coffee to answering the phone, from saying hi to a neighbor, to waving at the UPS guy. From going for a walk to picking up the trash by the curb. All of it, each act, each humble little deed of kindness or compassion, done with love and humility… everything matters. What if we lived with that much love? What kind of witness would we be for the world?
I think if we lived like that, people might look at us and say: The Lord is there.
I guess what I am saying is this: when you are listening to God, pay attention and don’t skip over the boring parts, even in life. Because quite often that is exactly where God is waiting to meet you…
