Ezekiel chapter 44. There MUST be Restoration!
In previous chapters God focused on restoring the Temple and now in this chapter He is focused on restoring the people that serve within the Temple.
The priests who previously served in the Temple were actually serving other gods and not the Lord God. So the Lord said they could no longer serve in the restored Temple except the faithful priests from the Zadok family. God's desire was to see the priests restored into holiness.
We're all called to serve the Lord and to do so in holiness. And those who step into a position of serving must take it seriously. If servant hood is purposely done in an unholy manner, then one should step down from their position and be restored before stepping back into a serving position. Let me give a real life example:
Every so often, a pastor is caught with a porn addiction or commits adultery with another man's wife. When this occurs, they are asked to step down from their pastoral position, not because they are a “Rotten Sinner” but because they need to be restored into a right holy relationship with the Lord. Once restored, they can serve again.
We can't get LAX about our faith walk. Churches put men and women in leadership positions who are involved in sexually immoral behaviors and think it's okay. The people in the church allow it.
An individual will never quit sexually immoral behaviors as long as the church makes them feel “it's okay.” There has to be restoration! Asking someone to step down from a position should be temporary. They are not to be punished and banished from the church, but lovingly restored with the Lord so they can serve again, but do so in holiness.
Okay, we all have our secret sins we keep in the closet. I'm not saying, therefore, none of us should be serving in the church.
There's a difference between these two attitudes: 1) I'm living in sin and it's okay versus 2) I'm a sinner and I know it and God is helping me be restored.
#1 excludes confession of sin, repentance from sin, and restoration.
#2 is all about humility, daily surrendering ones sins to the Lord, daily confession of sins, and a daily desire to repent of sins and be restored to the Lord.
I'll never be a perfect servant for the Lord but while I'm serving I want the attitude of #2 and not #1. #2 allows for restoration while #1 does not. The person with the #1 attitude is the ones that need to step down from leadership and be restored.
What I think is really admirable is when the #2 person gets to the point where they realize their sin is getting out of control and they step down on their own to get the help they need before stepping back into the position of leadership.
Leviticus 18:22, God said be holy because I the Lord your God am holy.
RESTORATION: Where do we need restoration?