Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watchword for today is taken from Leviticus Ten verse Three, “This is what the Lord said: Through those who are near me I will show myself holy, and before all the people I will be gloried,” (NRSBV). The historic background to this verse is the offerings that the priest made before the Lord at the altar: namely the sin offering, the burnt offering and the peace offering. The priest, Aaron, prepared the offerings as the Lord commanded him through Moses, and lifted his hands to blessed the people. Then he and Moses went to the Tent of Meeting to pray. As they came out of the Tent, they lifted their hands and blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord, the cloud of his presence, also called the Shekinah, appeared and affirmed visibly the presence of the Lord. Before the Lord’s presence, fire appeared and consumed the offering that was prepared on the altar. The assembly fell to the ground as a sign of awe and worship as they experience God’s miracle acceptance of the sacrifice by his holy fire. Later, Aaron’s two sons took the sacred censers and put fire and incense on these, and then, despite the fact that the Lord did not command an offering from them, they approached the altar and offered fire they ignited themselves. Suddenly they were consumed by fire and died. Aaron, their father was devastated, but said nothing against the consuming fire, for he realized the wrongful deeds of his sons, who were ordained as priests.
Moses instructed the priestly family to remove the two dead priests, Aaron’s sons, from the sanctuary. Moses explained that the presence of God, and the duty of sacrificing atonement offerings on behalf of the people, are matters of life and death. No one can stand before God and perform self-ordained sacred services to mock or test God, or in order to try and gain admiration from the assembly. The presence of God is a scared and awe-inspiring state. The holiness of God was experienced by those present as God’s presence, accepting the various offerings with a visible holy fire, coming down from heaven. This fire demonstrated the forgiveness of sin, through God’s act of super-natural power over the elements, and the reality of the fallen state humanity.
When Jesus Christ came and carried the penalty of the sin of the world in his own body on the cross, for us, the conditions and prescriptions that were given to Moses in the Commandments, were completely fulfilled. For Christ, because he was sinless, did not have to make an atonement sacrifice for himself before he could enter into the sanctuary to sacrifice on the altar, like the Old Testament Priests had to do. Jesus Christ, is the perfect sacrifice for all, his death consumed the need for the continuous offering of blood sacrifices, for Jesus has become the atonement, sin and peace offering for the world. He descended into hell and suffered the burning anguish of sin as he ministered and conquered death and hell, sin and condemnation. We do not have to fear death when we come to the altar of God, for through the death of Christ, the division, the curtain between the sanctuary and assembly, has been opened. We can approach God boldly, we have confidence, for we wait with trust and hope. We have been sanctified through the blood of Jesus. Our worship offerings of obedience, love and awe are accepted by God, as we bow with reverence to proclaim Christ as Lord of all.
The Apostle Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians, in Chapter Three verse Sixteen, wrote, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you,” (NRSVB). Just as the glory of God was present in the Meeting Place, pointing to the presence and acceptance of God regarding the assembly worshipping him; so is he present today, in all his glory and power, living in each one of the faithful who professes his Name. God sees us as unique dwelling places of his presence, peace and glory. The physical buildings of worship, despite their beauty and impressive stature, do not surpass the value and beauty of the precious human temples that worship and love God. The faithful believers are those who display his grace and glory in a dark and lost world. The light of the Lord’s shines from within the dwelling place that he has made within you.
Father, we thank you that you have opened the sanctuary to reveal your love and grace to us. You have invited us to come closer and look at the Cross and behold the sacrifice that has been made on our behalf. We thank you for your Son and his perfect gift of atonement for us, Amen.