50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. (Mat 27)
30 And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount. 31 And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made... 33 And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. 34 And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. (Exod 26)
The purpose of the veil divided the space in the tabernacle between the holy and most holy places. It hedged-off the Holy of Holies from regular day-to-day holiness. On one side were the worshipers and on the other side only God on His Mercy Seat. To obtain entry, Aaron, and later the priests, had to prepare themselves by ritual cleansing and holy living. If they were imperfect, they would die within and would need to be pulled from the presence of God by a cord.
Cherubim on the vale would as always were there to "keep the Way of the Tree of Life" (Gen 3:24). That "Way" was the Doctrine of Christ (Heb 6:1) wherein Christians leave its principles and go on to perfection. Those principles are the Ten Commandments. Perfection is for those who live according to this passage: "
Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son" (2 John 1:9). Perfection, then, is moving beyond the precepts of the Ten Commandments, and living according to the manner of the Father and Son. How was that? Just as mankind was designed back in the Garden; "in the image of God" and in "our image" (Gen 1:27) and without any guidance but to serve and preserve God (dress and keep).
The rent, or torn, veil did just that. Knowing that mankind could not maintain "The Testimony" within the ark, Jesus's death made that unnecessary. (The "testimony" was the Covenant with God illuminated by the Ten Commandments.) Just as Jesus died, the veil was torn, and those dead in Christ arose. Jesus's death for mankind made him mediator, priests were no longer necessary, and perfection was obtained by willingness to live as God designed mankind.
Jesus, a priest on the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4; Heb 6:20), could be served directly, and Christians became "royal priests" sacrificing directly to Jesus (1 Pet 2:9). Jesus's death changed only one thing: He paid the price so that Aaronic priests no longer need not. We, of the royal priesthood, present ourselves as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1). Jesus died for us; then, we choose to live for him! Lambs cannot do that, but new living creatures can. That is the perfect sacrifice.
No comments:
Post a Comment