Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Audio Link: https://www.spreaker.com/user/reachmanyradio/thoughts-in-worship-09-26-2017

This is devotional thought number 13 in our devotional series, “Removing the Veil: Sanctuary Living in the 21st Century.” Our subject is: Making the Distinction

Here’s the question for consideration: Could God have been teaching about the priesthood as Moses was preparing to climb the mountain to receive the sanctuary blueprint and the Ten Commandments on tables of sapphire stone?

“And the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them.” (Exodus 19:24).

I hope you understand the fineline I am attempting to walk between giving you a full-on Bible study and making quick application for daily living. I am a Bible teacher, and would love nothing more than to break down the entire context of each verse, along with the use of terms in their original language, but I recognize it’s not practical with so few words. Please prayerfully invest the time you need to understand as much as possible from the topics we will briefly cover; deal?

From today’s Scripture focus we see that YHWH rejected Moses’ argument that the people didn’t need to be reminded to avoid the border of the mountain at all costs. God understands human nature. We seldom get the memo, even after repeated counsel, much less with one warning. So, Moses went down and reminded the people not to cross the line he made at the base of the mountain. If they did venture onto holy ground, they would be destroyed. Even then, God was not willing that any should perish (I hope you did not think mercy’s a New Testament principle).

Apart from God’s mercy here, I find it intriguing that He had begun teaching the people various elements of the sanctuary by example, before He taught them by instruction/blueprint. In the near future, YHWH was going to teach the people about the Outer Court, Holy Place, and the Holiest of All. We will not go into the details of each at this juncture, but will revisit them in due time. Briefly, the people of God were to enter through the east gate, which was arrayed in colors representing the righteousness of Christ and the holiness of the Law. Upon entry, they were in a sort of courtyard (for lack of a better way of saying it), where sacrifices for sin were to be given, the priests were to be prepared and washed, to enter the first apartment of the sanctuary called the Holy Place. In this apartment much happened, to include:

1. Application of the ceremonial/substitutionary/sacrificial blood
2. Special communion with God for the priests
3. Representation of God’s people’s prayers by the priests, before the veil into the Holiest of all
In the Holiest of all, on the west side of the sanctuary, was where the presence of Almighty YHWH (blesseded be His name) descended to commune with the people through the ministry of the high priests. Again, we will get into more details about this at the appropriate time. Not only this, but once per year, the high priest entered a ministry wherein God cleansed the sin record of all who had been confessing their sins/offering acceptable sacrifices throughout the year. As God’s people confessed their sins, there was a record of them, which was not held against them as long as they remained in fellowship with God. And once per year, on the Day of Atonement (AKA Yom Kippur - Google it), God miraculously expunged the sin record of all who continued in relationship with Him. This is actually part of the reason the Bible says the accuser of the brethren is cast down. When God does...