Continuing to read in Ezekiel and it’s got me thinking about the temple. The bottom line is — after all the specs and details of how to build it, how to furnish it, and who can enter it — that the temple was meant to house the glory of God so that God could be in the midst of His people.

The temple’s predecessor, the tent of meeting, did just that. When the “pack-it-up-and-carry-it-with-you” mobile temple of the wilderness wanderings was set up, then the cloud would cover it and “the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” (Ex. 40:34-35). When Solomon built the “permanent” version David envisioned, upon its completion and consecration “a cloud filled the house of the LORD . . . for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD” (1Kings 8:10-11). And, when the people’s rebellion and sin had fully tested God’s patience and provoked God’s wrath, the glory left the temple (Ezek. 10).

So, it shouldn’t be surprising that when God tells Ezekiel to prophecy of a future temple, it is so that the glory would again be present.

Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of His coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory. . . And I fell on my face. As the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple, and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever.”

(Ezekiel 43:1-7a ESV)

Yeah, I think it’s pretty safe to say that where the temple is, the glory will be found. Not because of any intrinsic beauty or worth found in the temple itself, but because God has sovereignly and graciously determined the temple to be the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people.

Where the temple is, it will be filled with the glory of God. And where the glory of God is, God is in the midst. Noodle on that for a bit.

And then chew on this . . .

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

(Ephesians 4:19-22 ESV)

A holy temple . . . a dwelling place for God . . .

That, my friends, describes the household of God, it portrays the church.

Think about it. The church — the body of believers you gather with each Sunday — is the temple, a dwelling place for God. Not built with brick and mortar, but with living stones (1Peter 2:5) and the Holy Spirit. And as the temple it is filled with the glory of God.

Yeah . . . every Sunday . . . whether you recognize it or not . . . when you come together to worship — offering the sacrifice of praise, receiving the living word, and breaking the bread of holy remembrance — there glory is there. ‘Cause that’s what the temple of God does, it houses His glory, it is His dwelling place.

If we are not aware of God in the midst on a Sunday morning, it’s not because He’s not there, it’s because we don’t have eyes to see and ears to hear. If we just go through the motions then we’ve missed that it really is God moving. If we but “faithfully” endure that 90 minutes every week, then it’s because of our low expectations. If it’s boring, it’s because of our unbelief.

But if the church is the temple — and it is — then behold the glory as you gather. See His presence in Your midst through the fellowship, the prayer, the preaching, and the Lord’s Supper.

If the church is the temple — and it is — then ask God as you head to church on Sunday, “Don’t let me miss the glory.”

By the gift of His grace. For the glory of His praise.