My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. James 1:2-3 NKJV.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Romans 11:33.

Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. John 15:4.

In our chapter, Ezekiel 40, Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, is reassuring the exiles that the temple will be rebuilt. In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city – on that very day the hand of the Lord was on me and He took me there. In visions of God He took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.” v. 1-4. In the notes below it said: “Whether the temple is literal or symbolic, it seems clear that this is a vision of God’s final perfect kingdom. This gave hope to the people of Ezekiel’s time who had just seen their nation and its temple destroyed with no hope of rebuilding it in the near future. The details given in this vision gave the people even more hope that what Ezekiel saw had come from God and would surely happen in the future.” There are 49 verses in this chapter describing the measurements and details of the temple building. I can imagine architects and builders can better appreciate all of the details and envision what it would look like. For the exiles it would have been an affirmation that God had not left them and worship of Him would be restored. And for us?

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. As we experience our own deep need for answers this world cannot provide, we experience something profound. We are not our own. We long for what is missing. And nothing less than the truth will do. That becomes the fertile ground within our soul ready to receive God and be with Him. And as we begin our personal walk with Him we find the connection that has been missing. It’s a slow walk. A walk of trust. It takes trust to take His hand. And when we do, we begin to experience His love guiding us forward. And slowly and surely, we begin to experience His love as necessary to our well-being and He is at the center of everything, not just the core of us but of all things. And slowly and surely He helps us see that this walk with Him is to be treasured. And then, glory of glory – we begin to appreciate that each person we love has their own walk with God at their pace together. And not just those we love but all people. Can we begin to grasp what Jesus, the Son, did when He came to live among us? And then He told those following Him that He was their sacrifice and they couldn’t understand this hard teaching. From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that You are the Holy One of God.” John 6:66-69. The temple would be rebuilt after the 70 years of exile. But temples of stone do not last. Some of His disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another, every one of them will be thrown down.” Luke 21:5-6. That temple of stone, too, would be destroyed in 70 A.D. Because what Creator God is building is so much more precious. Our personal walk with Him with His Spirit guiding us.