THE HOLY CHAMBERS FOR THE PRIESTS In this chapter he talks about the following: 1- The holy chambers for the priests 1-12. 2- Their uses 13-14. 3- The outer dimensions of the whole structure 15-20. 1- THE HOLY CHAMBERS FOR THE PRIESTS The prophet Ezekiel enjoyed the entry into the sanctuary, that represents the place for the communal worship; and the Holy of the Holies, that he saw without entering it; as it represents the atoning work of the Lord Christ, that brings us in Him to the bosom of God the Father. Now the Spirit brings him out into an outer building toward the north, and into another toward the south, that include the chambers for the priests, that he calls the “holy chambers” (Ez 42:13). These chambers are inside the walls of the temple, although they have their holy status; yet are amalgamated with the building of the temple itself and is complementary to it. They represent the private worship in the inner chamber. The true spiritual worship, namely, the unity with God, in His Son, by the Holy Spirit, is not realized by either the communal worship or the private worship alone; but is realized through the worship as one integral life, practiced by man together with the congregation, as one of its living member; and also practiced with his family, and privately in his retreat, without separation from his fellowship in the congregation. This is our Church concept of the life of worship. It is one life lived by the believer, sharing with his brothers in worship, through his personal secret relationship with God; and worshipping in his inner chamber as a living member in the holy congregation, namely, there is no duplication in worship: communal and individual, but it is one integrated unit. The building is more spacious in the middle than below, then becomes more spacious in the higher part; as the wall becomes thinner the higher it gets, to give the higher stores more space. As we said in the previous chapter, the higher man rises by the Holy Spirit, the lighter will the weight of the needs and earthly temporal desires of the body (the wall) becomes; and the more spacious for love will the heart be. The presence of 3 stores (Ez 42:3, 6): lower, higher, and a middle one, reminds us of what Origen1 says in his talk about the three kinds of interpretation of the word of God: the bitter literal interpretation, that represents the lower store, with its narrow space and very thick walls, as it makes the soul narrow, and the mind less spacious, while the body becomes heavier. In the spiritual interpretation, on the other hand, the soul sets forth into the inner chamber of the Groom, to recognize His secrets; the heart becomes spacious with love; and the body will not represent a real burden on it. The third kind of interpretation, namely the moral, stands in the middle. According to Origen, these three kinds of interpretation correspond to the ark of Noah with its three stores: the lower store for the unclean animals; the middle one for the clean animals; and the uppermost store where Noah and his family dwelt in the heights in a fellowship with God. If the whole building was paneled inside with wood, to appear as one unit - one . 1 ا رجع للمؤلف: آباء مدرسة الإسكندریة الأولون؛ العلامة أوریجینوس - الكتاب المقدس ، طبعة 1980 5 body in the crucified Christ; those numerous chambers, amalgamated with it, proclaim that in the glory, although we all represent one body, yet, “one star differs from another star in the resurrection from the dead” (1 Cor 15:41). Indeed everyone rejoices in being in the Bosom of God the Father, united in His Son, by the Holy Spirit; and rejoices for the glory of his brothers, for the sake of the exalted nature of love that works in us there with no hindrance. Yet, “There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars” (1 Cor 15:41). In heaven, St. Mary the Theotokos appears with more glory than all the earthliness and the heavenliness. And the apostles, the disciples, the prophets, and the martyrs have their glories for the sake of their sufferings, and their testimony to God even till blood, and so on. The Lord says: “In My Father’s house are many mansions” (John 14:2). That is why everyone of us strives, not to surpass his brothers in glory, but to reach a deeper fellowship with God, and to unity in Him, so as to reach to “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13). 2-THEIR USES The priests used those chambers for two things: a- To eat the most holy offerings and come closer to God. b- To keep the garments in which they minister. It is as though the goal of our encounter with the Lord Christ in our chambers, is to enter into a fellowship and a practical experience with God. To eat and get fulfilled with His word, to grow every day in the new life, that became ours in Him. And also to get clothed with Christ, as a garment of righteousness, by whom alone we can encounter God the Father, to receive our prayers, our fasting, and all our worships, in our Lord Christ Jesus. 3- THE OUTER DIMENSIONS OF THE WHOLE STRUCTURE He measured the dimensions of the whole structure to find it very spacious: 500 measuring rods on every side; a square building like the one seen by St. John the beloved (Rev 21); that can accommodate the whole humanity; where everyone can find a place for himself. Despite its great space, that proclaims the extent of God’s longing to gather in it all humanity; Yet He made for it a wall, “to separate the holy... from the common” (Ez 42:20). God’s love, His long-suffering, and the great width of His kingdom, does not mean that the unworthy - the slothful and the unrepentant - can freely enter into it. 6 AN INSPIRATION FROM THE BOOK OF E ZEKIEL 42 A WORSHIP IN THE INNER CHAMBER What is that outer building annexed to the temple, But the personal worship in the inner chamber, that goes hand in hand with the communal worship?! Teach me to worship You among the congregation; And to encounter You in secret! Among the congregation I shall keep my personal relationship with You; And in my inner chamber I shall keep praying for the sake of the congregation! What are these three stores of the outer building? But the ladder that lifts me up to enjoy unity with You?! Lift me up from the narrow and thick lower store. Lift me upward to enjoy the spacious heart and the light spirit! Grant me the two wings of a dove, to fly up to heaven! What are the priests doing in that building? They eat the most holy offerings, they are allowed to eat; You are the heavenly Bread! And they put on the holy garments. You are our eternal Garment! By You we are fulfilled; and in You we hide; You O Lover of mankind!
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