(REFLECTIONS ON EZEKIEL 42:1-20)
On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall separating East Germany from West Germany was dismantled marking the beginning of German reunification and the eventual end of the Cold War. Built in 1961, the Berlin Wall was a symbol of the Cold War between communist Eastern Europe and democratic Western Europe. Let the walls fall down!
In today’s Scripture, we also see a wall. This wall separated the holy from the common,
20 So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall around it, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.
We also see a symbolic wall, that separated the holy precincts and the outer court,
4 Once the priests enter the holy precincts, they are not to go into the outer court until they leave behind the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they go near the places that are for the people.”
In Christ, the walls have been broken down. Once divided as Jews and Gentiles, clean and unclean, all are united as one in Christ Jesus. Let the walls fall down. In the church, we are brothers and sisters in Christ, sons and daughters of the Lord Most High. However, do we still have walls set up to divide and separate based on social economic status, theology, language, worship preference, etc.?
Walls are not for us to build up, for we are to accept and love the stranger with the love of Christ. How can we be a good neighbor, the Good Samaritan, if we keep setting up walls to divide and to keep out? Let the walls fall down.
It is only when we let the walls fall down that we may fulfill God’s call. As it states in Micah 6:8,
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Let us take a good look in the mirror and seriously consider if we are builders of walls, or if we by the grace of God are willing to let the walls fall down. If we desire to be a people that shares the Gospel of Christ with the world, that can bring this message of hope to those that do not know Christ, and to be unified as church, then we can’t try to hand select who we let in the wall, and who we keep out with the wall.
It is not easy to let the walls fall down. Even though we may know in our heads that we should love the stranger and love the enemy, but many times we are unable to break down our walls because they give us a sense of safety and security. However, may we learn in Christ to face our insecurities rather than to give up our freedom in Christ in order to hold on to the walls that divide us.
Let the walls fall down is symbolic of our faith and trust in Jesus, to give our lives, our worries, our concerns over to Him, and let His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Ezekiel 42
0 Comments