Ezekiel 44:7-8

A terrible thing had happened in *Israel. God had specially chosen the people in *Israel. He separated them from the other nations. He gave them his law. And he gave them his promises. But the people had not obeyed him.

God had separated them from the other nations. But they wanted to be like those nations. So they invited foreigners into their nation. And they even took those foreigners into God’s *holy *temple.

These were not foreigners who wanted to serve God. If a foreigner wanted to serve God, that foreigner could join the *Israelites. But first, he had to receive *circumcision. That act showed that he wanted to obey God. And it showed that he was joining God’s people (Genesis chapter 17). That foreigner would then benefit from the special relationship between God and his people. However, it was not just the foreigner’s body that needed *circumcision. The attitude of his heart – today we might say ‘his mind’ – needed to change too (Romans 2:29). He needed to love God with his whole heart. Then that foreigner could *worship God at his *temple.

But God was speaking about foreigners who had not received *circumcision. They were not loyal to God. Both their bodies and their hearts proved that. But they were in the *temple. In fact, they even had control over the *temple.

Originally, the *Israelites probably allowed such foreigners into the *temple in order to impress them. The *temple was a splendid building. Later, the *temple became a place where people *worshipped foreign gods (chapter 8). Perhaps then the priests of these gods took control over the *temple. In the end, foreigners from Babylon entered the *temple in order to destroy it. Then they had complete control over the *temple. This happened because God’s people allowed it to happen. They had made their *sacrifices. (Compare Micah 6:6-8.) But they were not loyal to God.