Today's Passage: Ezekiel 40-41

Ezekiel 40 marks the final major transition in the book of Ezekiel.  This final "section" focuses on Israel's restoration back into it's kingdom.  The five chapters before this we see God's plan for returning His people to their land, but here we are beginning to read about how they will return to power.

It's been a while since we have had a passage like this (lots of measurements and instructions), but it's always exciting for me to read and know where they are in scripture.  Not because I want to make my own 1:1 model of the temple or anything, but because verses like this can help to debunk the opinion that many have that the Bible is a collection of myths and fables.  Why?  Well if you were to take any of what we now call mythological stories or fables you would find several reoccurring themes.  One of course would be that they would not title themselves as a myth or fable because these genre didn't exist when they were written. Second, they would consist of a single character that endured the length of the story.  But one characteristic that you wouldn't find is this: myths and fables very rarely if every make mention of time (years, days, reigns etc.) or measurements of any kind.  The reason for this is probably more obvious than you think, these elements slow down the story telling and distract from the main point... Unless you are trying to accurately document the historical events from a time period.  It is passages like these that substantiate the Bible as a history book (fact) and not a collection of myths or fables (fiction).

So the next time you read a passage that you find yourself saying "why was this even important to write down" remember it's there because it's true.