271. A Little Sanctuary
Ezekiel 11:16 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.
Even though the Jews were in exile in foreign countries among unbelievers, the Lord promises that He Himself will be to them as a little sanctuary. There is no longer a nation, a king, a city or a temple; so where is our God? The surprising good news is that He is with you where you are, and His presence with you is like a little sanctuary. You don’t need a stone temple to house your God. Worship takes place anywhere you are, for the Lord is there.
We, too, are in exile in this world. We are not in our home in heaven with God, but we live among a world of heathen afar off. We admit that it is the Lord who has cast us off; our sin has separated us from God and from Home. But the Lord promises not to leave us alone in a foreign land, the world. He will be with us always and everywhere. The Lord is to us as a little sanctuary. A sanctuary is a holy place set apart for the worship of God. The sanctuary now is the heart of the believer; there God has made a home, a church, a holy place, and a place of worship. We will have a new outlook about ourselves when we understand our bodies as “temples” of the Holy Spirit. Each believer’s body is a little sanctuary. There is a place we may go to find a safe place even in the midst of the sin and evil, corruption and filth, strangeness and foreignness, and dangerous lies and temptations of the world.
Jesus says to the woman at the well in Samaria, “But the hour is coming, and now is here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” The Jews learned, the woman learned, and we learn that God is not confined to any place; He is with us and in us and we may truly worship by faith anywhere we are. The Lord who saves is with us inside to make a sanctuary of His Presence. This promise enables us to pray, worship, and believe even while we are surrounded by problems. The problem-solver is with us.