[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY SEPTEMBER 12

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY SEPTEMBER 12

NOTE: I started using my new email address for today's "Donnie Daily Gems",
but I have heard from some of you saying you didn't get it. So, I am
resending it from my old email address. If this is the second one that you
have received, please forgive the duplication. Just be patient with me while
I'm trying to get this all worked out.

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MEMORY SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK

Haggai 2:9
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith
the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of
hosts.

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THOUGHT OF THE DAY

My belt holds up my pants and my pants have belt loops that hold up the
belt. What in the world is really going on down there? Who is the real hero?

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DAILY DEVOTION

Hope for Meaning

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of
death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God,
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my
beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the
Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:55-58

For forty-five years, Queen Elizabeth I ruled over England, navigating the
religious and political wars that were raging and guiding her nation to a
period of success and prosperity. It is said that when Elizabeth I was
dying, her final words were, "All my possessions for a moment of time." Her
power and her wealth and her fame could not extend her life. It is futile to
seek purpose and meaning in human endeavors. Solomon wrote, "I have seen all
the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and
vexation of spirit" (Ecclesiastes 1:14).
Yet as Christians we do not live "under the sun" without a hope for
eternity. That is why Paul ties together our confidence that our work for
Christ has a lasting value with the victory of Jesus over death. This world
is not all there is. Those around us who are living only for what they can
see will one day realize that it has all been for nothing. For them, death
represents an ending which takes away everything they have. That is not true
for believers, and we must not forget it.
If we lose the hope that our work for the Lord has lasting meaning and
value, we will be weak and wavering in our commitment to Him. Death came
into the world because of sin, and it is the natural end of human life. Yet
because Jesus rose from the dead, we can face the future with certainty
rather than fear.
The things of this life quickly vanish, but the things which are eternal are
worthy of our love and work.

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DAILY BIBLE READING

Ezekiel 41-44
41 Then the man brought me to the main hall and measured the jambs; the
width of the jambs was six cubits[a] on each side.[b] 2 The entrance was ten
cubits[c] wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were five
cubits[d] wide. He also measured the main hall; it was forty cubits long and
twenty cubits wide.[e]

3 Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the
entrance; each was two cubits[f] wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and
the projecting walls on each side of it were seven cubits[g] wide. 4 And he
measured the length of the inner sanctuary; it was twenty cubits, and its
width was twenty cubits across the end of the main hall. He said to me,
"This is the Most Holy Place."

5 Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was six cubits thick, and each
side room around the temple was four cubits[h] wide. 6 The side rooms were
on three levels, one above another, thirty on each level. There were ledges
all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms,
so that the supports were not inserted into the wall of the temple. 7 The
side rooms all around the temple were wider at each successive level. The
structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the
rooms widened as one went upward. A stairway went up from the lowest floor
to the top floor through the middle floor.

8 I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the
foundation of the side rooms. It was the length of the rod, six long cubits.
9 The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick. The open area
between the side rooms of the temple 10 and the priests' rooms was twenty
cubits wide all around the temple. 11 There were entrances to the side rooms
from the open area, one on the north and another on the south; and the base
adjoining the open area was five cubits wide all around.

12 The building facing the temple courtyard on the west side was seventy
cubits[i] wide. The wall of the building was five cubits thick all around,
and its length was ninety cubits.[j]

13 Then he measured the temple; it was a hundred cubits[k] long, and the
temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits
long. 14 The width of the temple courtyard on the east, including the front
of the temple, was a hundred cubits.

15 Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the
rear of the temple, including its galleries on each side; it was a hundred
cubits.

The main hall, the inner sanctuary and the portico facing the court, 16 as
well as the thresholds and the narrow windows and galleries around the three
of them-everything beyond and including the threshold was covered with wood.
The floor, the wall up to the windows, and the windows were covered. 17 In
the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary and on
the walls at regular intervals all around the inner and outer sanctuary 18
were carved cherubim and palm trees. Palm trees alternated with cherubim.
Each cherub had two faces: 19 the face of a human being toward the palm tree
on one side and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on the other. They
were carved all around the whole temple. 20 From the floor to the area above
the entrance, cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the main
hall.

21 The main hall had a rectangular doorframe, and the one at the front of
the Most Holy Place was similar. 22 There was a wooden altar three cubits[l]
high and two cubits square[m]; its corners, its base[n] and its sides were
of wood. The man said to me, "This is the table that is before the Lord." 23
Both the main hall and the Most Holy Place had double doors. 24 Each door
had two leaves-two hinged leaves for each door. 25 And on the doors of the
main hall were carved cherubim and palm trees like those carved on the
walls, and there was a wooden overhang on the front of the portico. 26 On
the sidewalls of the portico were narrow windows with palm trees carved on
each side. The side rooms of the temple also had overhangs.

The Rooms for the Priests
42 Then the man led me northward into the outer court and brought me to the
rooms opposite the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall on the north
side. 2 The building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits long and
fifty cubits wide.[o] 3 Both in the section twenty cubits[p] from the inner
court and in the section opposite the pavement of the outer court, gallery
faced gallery at the three levels. 4 In front of the rooms was an inner
passageway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits[q] long.[r] Their doors were
on the north. 5 Now the upper rooms were narrower, for the galleries took
more space from them than from the rooms on the lower and middle floors of
the building. 6 The rooms on the top floor had no pillars, as the courts
had; so they were smaller in floor space than those on the lower and middle
floors. 7 There was an outer wall parallel to the rooms and the outer court;
it extended in front of the rooms for fifty cubits. 8 While the row of rooms
on the side next to the outer court was fifty cubits long, the row on the
side nearest the sanctuary was a hundred cubits long. 9 The lower rooms had
an entrance on the east side as one enters them from the outer court.

10 On the south side[s] along the length of the wall of the outer court,
adjoining the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall, were rooms 11
with a passageway in front of them. These were like the rooms on the north;
they had the same length and width, with similar exits and dimensions.
Similar to the doorways on the north 12 were the doorways of the rooms on
the south. There was a doorway at the beginning of the passageway that was
parallel to the corresponding wall extending eastward, by which one enters
the rooms.

13 Then he said to me, "The north and south rooms facing the temple
courtyard are the priests' rooms, where the priests who approach the Lord
will eat the most holy offerings. There they will put the most holy
offerings-the grain offerings, the sin offerings[t] and the guilt
offerings-for the place is holy. 14 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."

15 When he had finished measuring what was inside the temple area, he led me
out by the east gate and measured the area all around: 16 He measured the
east side with the measuring rod; it was five hundred cubits.[u][v] 17 He
measured the north side; it was five hundred cubits[w] by the measuring rod.
18 He measured the south side; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring
rod. 19 Then he turned to the west side and measured; it was five hundred
cubits by the measuring rod. 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.

God's Glory Returns to the Temple
43 Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, 2 and I saw the glory of
the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of
rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory. 3 The vision I saw
was like the vision I had seen when he[x] came to destroy the city and like
the visions I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown. 4 The glory
of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east. 5 Then the
Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of
the Lord filled the temple.

6 While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from
inside the temple. 7 He said: "Son of man, this is the place of my throne
and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the
Israelites forever. The people of Israel will never again defile my holy
name-neither they nor their kings-by their prostitution and the funeral
offerings[y] for their kings at their death.[z] 8 When they placed their
threshold next to my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with
only a wall between me and them, they defiled my holy name by their
detestable practices. So I destroyed them in my anger. 9 Now let them put
away from me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings,
and I will live among them forever.

10 "Son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may
be ashamed of their sins. Let them consider its perfection, 11 and if they
are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the
temple-its arrangement, its exits and entrances-its whole design and all its
regulations[aa] and laws. Write these down before them so that they may be
faithful to its design and follow all its regulations.

12 "This is the law of the temple: All the surrounding area on top of the
mountain will be most holy. Such is the law of the temple.

The Great Altar Restored
13 "These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits,[ab] that cubit
being a cubit and a handbreadth: Its gutter is a cubit deep and a cubit
wide, with a rim of one span[ac] around the edge. And this is the height of
the altar: 14 From the gutter on the ground up to the lower ledge that goes
around the altar it is two cubits high, and the ledge is a cubit wide.[ad]
>From this lower ledge to the upper ledge that goes around the altar it is
four cubits high, and that ledge is also a cubit wide.[ae] 15 Above that,
the altar hearth is four cubits high, and four horns project upward from the
hearth. 16 The altar hearth is square, twelve cubits[af] long and twelve
cubits wide. 17 The upper ledge also is square, fourteen cubits[ag] long and
fourteen cubits wide. All around the altar is a gutter of one cubit with a
rim of half a cubit.[ah] The steps of the altar face east."

18 Then he said to me, "Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
These will be the regulations for sacrificing burnt offerings and splashing
blood against the altar when it is built: 19 You are to give a young bull as
a sin offering[ai] to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who come
near to minister before me, declares the Sovereign Lord. 20 You are to take
some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four
corners of the upper ledge and all around the rim, and so purify the altar
and make atonement for it. 21 You are to take the bull for the sin offering
and burn it in the designated part of the temple area outside the sanctuary.

22 "On the second day you are to offer a male goat without defect for a sin
offering, and the altar is to be purified as it was purified with the bull.
23 When you have finished purifying it, you are to offer a young bull and a
ram from the flock, both without defect. 24 You are to offer them before the
Lord, and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a
burnt offering to the Lord.

25 "For seven days you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering;
you are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without
defect. 26 For seven days they are to make atonement for the altar and
cleanse it; thus they will dedicate it. 27 At the end of these days, from
the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and
fellowship offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the
Sovereign Lord."

The Priesthood Restored
44 Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, the one
facing east, and it was shut. 2 The Lord said to me, "This gate is to remain
shut. It must not be opened; no one may enter through it. It is to remain
shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. 3 The
prince himself is the only one who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the
presence of the Lord. He is to enter by way of the portico of the gateway
and go out the same way."

4 Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the
temple. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling the temple of the
Lord, and I fell facedown.

5 The Lord said to me, "Son of man, look carefully, listen closely and give
attention to everything I tell you concerning all the regulations and
instructions regarding the temple of the Lord. Give attention to the
entrance to the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary. 6 Say to
rebellious Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough of your
detestable practices, people of Israel! 7 In addition to all your other
detestable practices, you brought foreigners uncircumcised in heart and
flesh into my sanctuary, desecrating my temple while you offered me food,
fat and blood, and you broke my covenant. 8 Instead of carrying out your
duty in regard to my holy things, you put others in charge of my sanctuary.
9 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart
and flesh is to enter my sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among
the Israelites.

10 "'The Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray and who
wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin.
11 They may serve in my sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple
and serving in it; they may slaughter the burnt offerings and sacrifices for
the people and stand before the people and serve them. 12 But because they
served them in the presence of their idols and made the people of Israel
fall into sin, therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand that they must bear
the consequences of their sin, declares the Sovereign Lord. 13 They are not
to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my
most holy offerings; they must bear the shame of their detestable practices.
14 And I will appoint them to guard the temple for all the work that is to
be done in it.

15 "'But the Levitical priests, who are descendants of Zadok and who guarded
my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to
minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat
and blood, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 They alone are to enter my
sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before me and
serve me as guards.

17 "'When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen
clothes; they must not wear any woolen garment while ministering at the
gates of the inner court or inside the temple. 18 They are to wear linen
turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They
must not wear anything that makes them perspire. 19 When they go out into
the outer court where the people are, they are to take off the clothes they
have been ministering in and are to leave them in the sacred rooms, and put
on other clothes, so that the people are not consecrated through contact
with their garments.

20 "'They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but they
are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed. 21 No priest is to drink wine
when he enters the inner court. 22 They must not marry widows or divorced
women; they may marry only virgins of Israelite descent or widows of
priests. 23 They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and
the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the
clean.

24 "'In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges and decide it
according to my ordinances. They are to keep my laws and my decrees for all
my appointed festivals, and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.

25 "'A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person; however,
if the dead person was his father or mother, son or daughter, brother or
unmarried sister, then he may defile himself. 26 After he is cleansed, he
must wait seven days. 27 On the day he goes into the inner court of the
sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, he is to offer a sin offering[aj]
for himself, declares the Sovereign Lord.

28 "'I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are to give them
no possession in Israel; I will be their possession. 29 They will eat the
grain offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt offerings; and everything
in Israel devoted[ak] to the Lord will belong to them. 30 The best of all
the firstfruits and of all your special gifts will belong to the priests.
You are to give them the first portion of your ground meal so that a
blessing may rest on your household. 31 The priests must not eat anything,
whether bird or animal, found dead or torn by wild animals.

Footnotes
Ezekiel 41:1 That is, about 11 feet or about 3.2 meters; also in verses 3, 5
and 8
Ezekiel 41:1 One Hebrew manuscript and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts
side, the width of the tent
Ezekiel 41:2 That is, about 18 feet or about 5.3 meters
Ezekiel 41:2 That is, about 8 3/4 feet or about 2.7 meters; also in verses
9, 11 and 12
Ezekiel 41:2 That is, about 70 feet long and 35 feet wide or about 21 meters
long and 11 meters wide
Ezekiel 41:3 That is, about 3 1/2 feet or about 1.1 meters; also in verse 22
Ezekiel 41:3 That is, about 12 feet or about 3.7 meters
Ezekiel 41:5 That is, about 7 feet or about 2.1 meters
Ezekiel 41:12 That is, about 123 feet or about 37 meters
Ezekiel 41:12 That is, about 158 feet or about 48 meters
Ezekiel 41:13 That is, about 175 feet or about 53 meters; also in verses 14
and 15
Ezekiel 41:22 That is, about 5 1/4 feet or about 1.5 meters
Ezekiel 41:22 Septuagint; Hebrew long
Ezekiel 41:22 Septuagint; Hebrew length
Ezekiel 42:2 That is, about 175 feet long and 88 feet wide or about 53
meters long and 27 meters wide
Ezekiel 42:3 That is, about 35 feet or about 11 meters
Ezekiel 42:4 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew and one cubit
Ezekiel 42:4 That is, about 18 feet wide and 175 feet long or about 5.3
meters wide and 53 meters long
Ezekiel 42:10 Septuagint; Hebrew Eastward
Ezekiel 42:13 Or purification offerings
Ezekiel 42:16 See Septuagint of verse 17; Hebrew rods; also in verses 18 and
19.
Ezekiel 42:16 Five hundred cubits equal about 875 feet or about 265 meters;
also in verses 17, 18 and 19.
Ezekiel 42:17 Septuagint; Hebrew rods
Ezekiel 43:3 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts I
Ezekiel 43:7 Or the memorial monuments; also in verse 9
Ezekiel 43:7 Or their high places
Ezekiel 43:11 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew
manuscripts regulations and its whole design
Ezekiel 43:13 That is, about 21 inches or about 53 centimeters; also in
verses 14 and 17. The long cubit is the basic unit for linear measurement
throughout Ezekiel 40-48.
Ezekiel 43:13 That is, about 11 inches or about 27 centimeters
Ezekiel 43:14 That is, about 3 1/2 feet high and 1 3/4 feet wide or about
105 centimeters high and 53 centimeters wide
Ezekiel 43:14 That is, about 7 feet high and 1 3/4 feet wide or about 2.1
meters high and 53 centimeters wide
Ezekiel 43:16 That is, about 21 feet or about 6.4 meters
Ezekiel 43:17 That is, about 25 feet or about 7.4 meters
Ezekiel 43:17 That is, about 11 inches or about 27 centimeters
Ezekiel 43:19 Or purification offering; also in verses 21, 22 and 25
Ezekiel 44:27 Or purification offering; also in verse 29
Ezekiel 44:29 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of
things or persons to the Lord.