In past years as I read the Bible from the beginning to end, there were numerous occasions when I called my Pastor to tell him of the struggle I was having making it through books like Leviticus. If I’m honest I would have to admit, parts of the bible can be rather boring. But as my Pastor always said “God is in the details, and He honors obedience in reading His word.”
As I was reading the portion of scripture in Ezekiel where God is describing the details for building His temple, I knew it was going to be a struggle to keep my attention, so I prayed for the Lord to help me stay focused and I asked Him to speak to me through what I was reading.
I love the history of Israel so I googled “God’s temple in the book of Ezekiel,” to see what images would come up. As I studied the pictures and read the specifications on how the temple was to be built I came to a part where it talked about palm trees and cherubim being carved in the wood for decoration, I paused and wondered why God chose palm trees.
I went online and looked at some commentaries on Ezekiel 41:19, but it wasn’t until I looked at what the palm tree symbolized that the scripture came to life for me. On the Wikipedia website, the palm represents victory, triumph, peace, and eternal life, which are all blessings, and attributes of the power of God.
In the days of the Old Testament the temple and the Arc of the Covenant represented the presence of God. Today, if you are a child of God through the blood of Jesus which washes away your sins, then you are the temple of the Holy Spirit of God, and for that reason His presence rests in you.
As a result of His Spirit in you, you now have the victory over sin and evil, which makes you triumphal. He gives you peace and eternal life as a reward for your love of his one and only son, Jesus Christ.
Reality is we won’t always find every part of the Bible interesting, however, the next time you find yourself in that place, pray. God is faithful to open your spiritual eyes to what you haven’t seen before. Also, if you dig deep and explore His word through commentaries and concordances, you might just learn something new about the details of God’s heart.
