Where Spiritual Comfort is Found

Ezekiel 43:10

Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern.

And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.

Take the word ashamed to mean something akin to under conviction or repentant.

Ezekiel was to preach to Israel and show them their iniquities. He was to preach clearly enough, plainly enough and passionate enough that the house of Israel would become ashamed of their iniquities.

But he was not to leave them there.

·       If they were ashamed

·       If they did come under conviction

·       If they did desire to repent

Then Ezekiel was to provide for them an answer. God had a remedy for their iniquity. He only waited until they were in a spiritual place prepared to hear it.

Ezekiel was to show them

·       The form and fashion of the house of the Lord

·       The forms thereof

·       The ordinances thereof and all

·       The laws thereof

And in those forms and ordinances and laws, they would find comfort and peace with God.

Those forms of the house of the Lord; those ordinances and laws, were all meant as a picture to point Israel (and other peoples) to the salvation that is offered in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. What they could do, and what they do still today as we read the Old Testament, is lead us to look toward the one sacrifice that can taken away all sin forever.

We need a preacher who is unafraid to speak up, to proclaim the Word of God so plainly that we cringe under the conviction of our sins. We need that same preacher to hasten his message on to the cure for our conviction – the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need Him to be honest with us concerning our faith. It is not ours to mold and shape into any form we like. Our peace, our comfort will be in fully understanding the purpose, the doctrines and the expectations of the Lord

·       For salvation and

·       For sanctification after salvation