Yechezkel Perakim 39–48

The sefer begins with a description of the Holy Throne of Hashem and the angels surrounding it. This description vividly portrays the distance between mankind and the ethereal word of the angels. Why are we unable to live a life of pure service to Hashem like angels? Why must we make mistakes in the maze of this physical world?

The Navi is shown visions of the Beis Hamikdash being made into a place of idol worship and seeing the people of Hashem betraying Hashem in His own house. These visions are interspersed with meetings with angels, causing us to feel the distance between man and Hashem even more acutely.

Once the House of Hashem is shown to no longer be a place of the revelation of Hashem and the people are also no longer servants of Hashem, we reach the climax; the land is taken over by Bnei Yisrael’s enemies. However, Bnei Yisrael are not wiped off the face of the earth, despite their many sins, although they face more wars. These wars were a part of Hashem’s love for us and were necessary for us to turn back to Hashem.

Then we receive the news that there will be another Beis Hamikdash and the people will return and live again like the servants we yearn to be. We will be brought back to life. We are told the name of the great city where the revelation will be, where the Kohanim will offer sacrifices, where the Leviim will sing their songs and where Bnei Yisrael will go to. That city is called "Hashem is there". The message we are being shown is that we have the chance, the honor, of serving Hashem in the great way that the angels do, and like angels, we can also engender a great revelation of Hashem’s Presence. At times, we even have a better chance than the angels, for angels have no free will and so are unable to achieve spiritual growth, but we have free will and thus can grow and overcome obstacles and challenges!

We must remember this when we read about the depths we have sunk to: the deeper the pit we dig for ourselves, the higher we can climb. We can rebuild any connection, and any sin can be wiped out.