“And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness!” (Ezekiel 43:12a, NLT).

There’s a large portion of Ezekiel where the temple is measured. A measuring rod is drawn, and Ezekiel is taken around and sees all the measurements of everything, and everything is a precise measure. The measure of the length from here to there matches exactly the length from there to here. Things are perfectly symmetrical. There is a precise number of stairs. Everything is laid out just so, precisely, perfectly, down to the adornments, such as palm tree carvings. Ezekiel then sees the throne room, and God’s glory fills the place. Ezekiel is told the law of the temple, that everything, including the area of the mountain it sits on, must be holy.

The New Living Translation puts it this way, “This is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness!” Although there seems to be another temple built for Jesus’ millennial reign, where is Jesus’ temple now? We are God’s temple. Ephesians 2 ends with, “…you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19b-22, ESV). We are the temple, each of us, and all of us. We’re to be absolutely holy. Holy means set apart.

Holy unto the Lord means, set apart for Him. A plate is a plate, but when it is consecrated and set apart for God’s purposes, then it’s holy and is useful for holy acts, like holding the Bread of Presence. We need to keep ourselves from being used for common purposes and be set apart for God to be used for His purposes. In order to be holy, set apart for God, we need to be set apart from the world. Be ye separate. Ask the Lord to make you holy and allow Him to remove the common things from your life.