Dare I publish on God's Word?

I have been considering working as an author for CitiZendium.org, the new public contribution Internet encyclopedia. The first thing I noticed there was that no one had yet published an article about the Bible itself. There is a reasonable article already on CZ's predecessor Wikipedia.com, and one can bring that article forward to CZ easily.

The question remains: am I one to do this work for God's incredible Truth? This Sunday morning I have finally taken time to start my day with God's Word. Usually I am too busy doing selfish or other ultimately useless normal things. I got the feeling it was time to look at a "random" cite in the Word. Without even putting my finger in, I just opened my new NLT version and looked where my attention seemed to belong, to the following:

Then the man led me out of the Temple courtyard by way of the north gateway. We entered the outer courtyard and came to a group of rooms against the north wall of the inner courtyard. This structure, whose entrance opened toward the north, was 175 feet long and 87½ feet wide. One block of rooms overlooked the 35-foot width of the inner courtyard. Another block of rooms looked out onto the pavement of the outer courtyard. The two blocks were built three levels high and stood across from each other. Between the two blocks of rooms ...There was an outer wall that separated the rooms from the outer courtyard; it was 87½ feet long. This wall added length to the outer block of rooms, which extended for only 87½ feet, while the inner block—the rooms toward the Temple—extended for 175 feet. There was an eastern entrance from the outer courtyard to these rooms.
Ezekiel 42:1-9, New Living Translation

The obvious question would be how can this relate to me? Is this a mistaken foolish fake "revelation"? Perhaps the first very important rule when interpreting Scriptures is, "Always look for the full context" in the rest of God's Word.

That context obviously includes the whole vision given Ezekiel from chapters 40 through 48. This is an extremely detailed vision conveying how God's Temple in Jerusalem both was to be when rebuilt after the return of the Israelites, and probably more accurately how absolutely Holy and Real Heaven will be at the end of time. Ezekiel was a prophet to the Israelites during their captivity in Babylon near 587 BC. Some of the passage about that vision tells us:

1. Ezekiel's vision came as follows: "On April 28, during the twenty-fifth year of our captivity—fourteen years after the fall of Jerusalem—the Lord took hold of me. In a vision from God he took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. From there I could see toward the south what appeared to be a city. As he brought me nearer, I saw a man whose face shone like bronze standing beside a gateway entrance. He was holding in his hand a linen measuring cord and a measuring rod. He said to me, “Son of man, watch and listen. Pay close attention to everything I show you. You have been brought here so I can show you many things. Then you will return to the people of Israel and tell them everything you have seen.” (Ezk 40:1-4).
2. “The room beside the north inner gate is for the priests who supervise the Temple maintenance." Ezk 40:45
3. The rooms in Ezk 42:1-9 are for those priests.
   
4. "Then the man told me, 'These rooms that overlook the Temple from the north and south are holy. Here the priests who offer sacrifices to the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. And because these rooms are holy, they will be used to store the sacred offerings—the grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. When the priests leave the sanctuary, they must not go directly to the outer courtyard. They must first take off the clothes they wore while ministering, because these clothes are holy. They must put on other clothes before entering the parts of the building complex open to the public.'" (Ezk 42:13-14)
5. "Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel appeared from the east. The sound of his coming was like the roar of rushing waters, and the whole landscape shone with his glory... I fell face down on the ground." (Ezk 43:2-3)
6. "The Lord said to me, 'Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place where I will rest my feet. I will live here forever among the people of Israel. They and their kings will not defile my holy name any longer by their adulterous worship of other gods or by honoring the relics of their kings... They put their idol altars right next to mine with only a wall between them and me. They defiled my holy name by such detestable sin, so I consumed them in my anger. Now let them stop worshiping other gods and honoring the relics of their kings, and I will live among them forever.'" (Ezk 43:7-9)
7. “'Son of man, describe to the people of Israel the Temple I have shown you, so they will be ashamed of all their sins. Let them study its plan, and they will be ashamed of what they have done. Describe to them all the specifications of the Temple—including its entrances and exits—and everything else about it. Tell them about its decrees and laws. Write down all these specifications and decrees as they watch so they will be sure to remember and follow them. And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness! The entire top of the mountain where the Temple is built is holy.'" (Ezk 43:10-12)
8. No one will enter the sanctuary unless they have a "heart for God" (43:8) and have "surrendered themselves to the LORD" (43:9)
9. Those levites who "strayed away from me to worship idols must bear the consequences of their unfaithfulness. They may still be Temple guards and gatekeepers, and they may slaughter the animals brought for burnt offerings and be present to help the people. But they encouraged my people to worship idols, causing Israel to fall into deep sin. So I have taken a solemn oath that they must bear the consequences for their sins, says the Sovereign Lord. They may not approach me to minister as priests. They may not touch any of my holy things or the holy offerings, for they must bear the shame of all the detestable sins they have committed. They are to serve as the Temple caretakers, taking charge of the maintenance work and performing general duties." (43:10-14)
   
10. The rooms for the priests are also where they change clothing. "'They must take off the clothes they wear while ministering to me. They must leave them in the sacred rooms and put on other clothes so they do not endanger anyone by transmitting holiness to them through this clothing.'" (43:19)
11. "'They will teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is common'" (43:23)

I fear to engage in interpreting the above. It is so Concrete and Holy all at once, and I am so faithless and sinful. Yet I must do so, because it is clearly Given to me since it came that way. It is clearly an Answer about those who interpret God's Word, clearly an Answer about what I am to do regarding publishing on God's Word.

Can anyone require an Answer more clearly about the task of interpreting God's Word? How Utterly important it is to attend to context and detail, in true Humility. To have a real Heart for God. I am truly in Awe, and must return to this later.

(04/27)
So I have had over a week. But have not thought much about the above. Clearly that was truly an Answer meant for me to know, but what does it mean?

• Am I one to do this (CitiZendium) work for God's incredible Truth? Who else but one who takes such a passage seriously, and tries to do so with humble attention to the Context.
• However, I only come back to something so obviously Important a week later without having given it real Study. I must get ready for work now. I therefore have failed so far to make myself ready. Today truly studying this is my task, and "coincidentally" God has cleared my plate of distractions, all my family is out of the house including my wife. No excuses, Tim!
  
• 4:30pm Errmm. The day is closing. I made a stab at getting chores done, and here I am again nearing time to do something with my church and still haven't finished this.

Points of interpretation:

1. God and interpreting His Word is a VERY Holy task. Full of detailed reality, full of responsibility to my own and other folks' relationship with the Almighty Eternal One.
2. For me one key passage is 43:10-14. Here we have Levites (but not priests) who not only worshipped false idols, but led others to do so. AND WE HAVE THEM caretaking God's Temple at the end of time ! Wow. They cannot do the greatest things God has for the faithful Levite priests, but they can help run daily operations. Is that Forgiveness?
   
3. It was the rooms for the specifc priests who manage maintaining the Temple that God brought my attention to, but it is not clear why. I hesitate to make an obvious assumption because one should not interpret scripture with a lack of humility.
   
4. When Y2K was a serious concern regarding our electrical power grid, I twice received Isaiah 50:4-11 by radio and email the same week a man who was to discuss Y2K software projects with me became infected in his leg with the flesh-eating bacteria. Isaiah 50:4-11 includes, "The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will.... If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God. But watch out, you who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires. This is the reward you will receive from me: You will soon fall down in great torment." In hindsight, God clearly did not mean that Y2K should be a concern, but that folks were worshipping themselves by how they prepared for it, and that entire scripture apparently applies specifically to my own responsibility as one who has tried to understand His word. With that as a context for the above, it seems my question is answered.
   
5. The context for this passage includes other passages of the Bible, especially those He has shown me in one way or another. Knowing God requires getting close to Absolute Holiness, which is clearly dangerous in itself, but only if you haven't accepted the only Holiness He offers: the blessing that comes with beginning to know what He did on that cross. When you have understanding you have responsibility to share that understanding. And having it means Life Eternal in the presence of the Source of all Good things.
6. I see no wiggle room here about my responsibility to publish on the Bible. If I am not ready it is because I have not fully asked Him to make me ready, and persist in turning to meaningless idols instead.