The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 217

Ver. 16.-God the Sanctun,ry of his people. "Yet will I be to them as a little Sanctuary in the countries where they shall come." Instead of" as a little Sanctuary," it is better to translate,·" a Sanctuary for a little." The assurance given in the text seems strange at first. The Lord Jehovah will bea Sanctnary to his people. He is the grand Object of worship: how, then, can he be the place of worship? The exiles in Babylon were far removed from all the joyous privileges of public worship; from their temple, with all its precious and sacred associations, they had been ruthlessly sundered. They had long forsaken God, and at length they became a prey to their enemies. And  on. xr. 1-25.] THE DOOK Oll' THE PROPHET EZEKIEL, 211 i in tbie idolatroue country, while the inhabitants of Jerusalem were dividing them, ann boasting their own security, Jehovah promises the captives that he himself will be to them a Sanctuary, and in himself ho would C()mpensate them for the loss of their religious privileges. All those blessings which they had been accustomed to a>sociatc with the sanctuary ho would bestow upon them. I. TnE SANCTUARY WAS A PLACE OF REFUGE AND SAFETY, Through centuries men bad been accustomed to take refuge in sanctuaries from the enemies or persecutors by whom they were pursued, and there every life was held to be inviolably secure. Tho most implacable foe was compelled to recognize the security afforded by the holy place (cf. 1 Kings i. 50-53). So Jehovah promises to Israel to be to them a sacred and inviolate asylum from all dangers in the land of their captivity (cf. Isa. viii. 14; xxxii. 2; Ps. ix. 9; :xlvi. 1, 7, 11). 'l'he Lord was a Sanctuary for bis scattered people-a Sanctuary from the storm of persecution, from the oppressions of their conquerors, and from the rage of their enemies. He still sustains this relation to his people. He is still "a Refuge for us." How blessed that in a life so stormy as man's often is, God is a Sanctuary unto him I Let us hldc ourselves in him. II. THE SANCTUARY WAS A PLACE OF COMMUNION WITH GoD. There God manifested himself to bis people, and made communications of bis will to them (cf. Exod. xxv. 22; Numb. vii. 89). So that the promise to be a Sanctuary unto his people was a promise of communion with himself; that, though they were driven from the temple of their fatberland,~yet in their exile God would still commune with them. This assurance involves more than we sometimes recognize. If we commune with God we must receive his thoughts, "How precious are thy thoughts unto rue, 0 God I" etc. Communion with God involves the realizatim of his gracious presence. In fellowship there is always friendliness. "Henceforth I call you not servants," etc. (John xv. 15). Ilow inspiring and blessed it is to feel the friendly presence of God with us! We may always have this sanctuary of communion with the Highest. In all the rush and roar and turmoil of a busy and troubled life we may realize the safety and comfort of the sanctuary of the Divine presence. We may ba.ve a Gerizim or a Zion which none can behold but God and the angels. We may have a holy of holies in our poor hearts, which we may carry with us into the Babylon of the world's business and strife. UL Let us take hold of the principle involved in the text, which we take to be THAT THE LOSS OF EVEN THE MOST PRECIOUS POSSESSIONS IS MADE UP TO US BY GOD OUT OF TIIE FULNESS WHIOH DWELLETH IN HIM, IF HE IS OUR PORTION. The promise of the text involveu as much to the exiles in Dabylon. If the Lord is our Portion, he will afford us blessed compensations for any privations we may be called to sustain. Let us tako illustrations of this. There are times when some of the people of God are subjected to loss of property; their natural comforts are much diminished ; many of the enjoyments of life, which they bad regarded as essential to their happiness and almost to their life, are taken away; and they have painful misgivings as to bow they shall bear these privations in the future. ,ve dread to meet the shock of reduced position and straitened circumstances. Dut when the shock comes, we find full compensation in God. His grace sustains us. His peace grows within us. His com- forts delight our soul. He is "the Strength of our heart, anu our Portion for ever." We are enabled to say, with St. Paul," I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, there- with to be content," etc. (Phil. iv. 11-13). 'l'he Divine compensations are also given in painful bereaveme11ts. In your home there was a beautiful and beloved child ; you held that child as a most precious gift of God; your very worship of God became more impassioned and devout as you thought of that living and dear revelation of bis good- ness to you. Your child was to you "a little sanctuary; " through bis beloved life you drew nearer to God. Yet God took your child away from you; and oh, the anguish of your desolate heart I Perhaps you were in danger of thinking more of the child than of God, of loving the gift more than the Giver, of prizing the sanctuary more than the God of the sanctuary. And so God took away the child whom you almost idolized, At first you were sorely afflicted, but God said, "I will be to thee a Sanctuary," and gradually the troubled heart became still, and wns calmed and comforted. And now by his own lovo God makes up to you for your great loss. And in ccming years, when you imagine you will lack the tender filial ministries you had ant:tipated from your child, he will more than supply the deficiencies by the arrangement.a of his own in.finite  212 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL, [on. xx. 1-25.