{"id":75740,"date":"2020-06-09T22:41:54","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T19:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=75740"},"modified":"2020-06-09T22:41:54","modified_gmt":"2020-06-09T19:41:54","slug":"god-is-there-in-the-middle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/god-is-there-in-the-middle\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cGod Is There\u201d – In The Middle"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"75740","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":66417,"related_cahpter":"500","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Silently addressing our fears of abandonment\u00a0\r\n\r\n","content":"

Ezekiel and the exiled Judeans in Babylon lived through an incredible trauma. Many had thought that God would always protect them and God\u2019s holy city, but this was not so.<\/span><\/p>\n

Apparently disgusted by all of the people\u2019s iniquities, God abandons the people, Jerusalem, and the Temple, giving them over to the unmerciful hands of their enemies. In one of the most poignant scenes of the book, Ezekiel has a vision of God\u2019s presence leaving the Temple (Ezekiel 10). God\u2019s people feel utterly abandoned.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abandonment and fear of abandonment are two of the most painful experiences in human life. As young children, we are entirely dependent upon the care given to us by our caretakers. If they abandon us, we will die.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we get older, we are usually less physically dependent on direct care from others. However, the fear of being abandoned is no less intense. Most of us are forced to deal with our own feelings of abandonment when relationships break down or when loved ones die.<\/span><\/p>\n

God addresses the people\u2019s feelings of abandonment head on in our chapter. At first glance, this chapter seems concerned with the proper allotment of land, i.e., which groups get which land. However, this chapter is fundamentally about the location of God in relationship to the people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judah is the seventh of Israel\u2019s twelve tribes allotted land, occurring at the land allotment midpoint. Adjacent to the territory of Judah there is a sacred reserve of land for the priests and \u201cthe Sanctuary shall be in the middle of it\u201d (verse 8).<\/span><\/p>\n

This phrase \u201cin the middle of it\u201d is used again to refer to the location of \u201cthe LORD\u2019s Sanctuary\u201d (verse 10), the city itself (verse 15), and the location of the sacred reserve of land including the Temple (Sanctuary) in relationship to the future prince (verses 21-22).<\/span><\/p>\n

God is showing the people God\u2019s location. God is located in the Temple, in the middle of the sacred reserve, in the middle of the city, in the middle of the prince\u2019s allotment, between Judah and Benjamin, in the middle of all the tribes of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the last line of the chapter and of the entire book of Ezekiel, we learn that the new name of Jerusalem will be \u201cThe LORD is There\u201d (verse 35). There will be no doubt during this time where God is. God is in the middle of God\u2019s people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking back, perhaps God never fully abandoned the people and instead hid God\u2019s presence. Regardless, God still honors the people\u2019s feelings of abandonment and reassures them of God\u2019s continuing presence. Perhaps God has always been located in the middle of God\u2019s people \u2013 what changes is our ability to perceive that.<\/span><\/p>\n

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