I tore "the veil" for you to come close
There's no reason to stand at a distance anymore
You're not far from home (Out of Hiding by Steffany Gretzinger)
I've had this song on repeat for weeks now; the lyrics is just amazing. I've done two dance ministrations to it but I still can't get enough. The whole album is FIRE, y'all should check it out.
Today I read Leviticus 15 and 16. Quite frankly, it's been rough reading through the book of Leviticus. I resist the urge to say that it's boring but today when I sat down to read my Bible, I told God that I refuse to zoom through the chapters without getting any understanding.
I like to write when I read my bible (both in my journal and directly in my Bible). I know I enjoyed a chapter when I have written all over it. Well I just flipped through my Leviticus thus far and there is barely anything written down except for today.....
Leviticus 16 speaking about the Day of Atonement. I'm just going to give a run down of the chapter.
Because our uncleanness (AKA our sins) can kill us. Remember Aaron's sons who offered strange fire to God.... well fire consumed them and they died. When the people defiled the tabernacle of God, it led to instant death.
"Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house." - Leviticus 16:6
Aaron had to make atonement for his own sins and that of his family before he could atone for the people's sins. When he was done with that, he would kill one goat and sprinkle its blood behind "the veil" on the mercy seat as a sin offering for the people to God.
For the second goat, Aaron would place his hand on the goat's head and literally name all the sins of the people so the goat can bear those iniquities before it is sent into the wilderness.
"And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness." - Leviticus 16:21
And when I was reading this whole list of what Aaron had to do on the day of atonement so the people's iniquities can be forgiven, all that ran through my head was "Didi you don't have to do this."
The fact that when Jesus died on that cross... when He said "It is finished," it truly was finished. That veil was TORN!!! I don't need to watch Aaron go behind any veil to atone for my sins, I can come into the presence of my father! Because Jesus presented Himself as the great high priest, because He is the perfect sacrifice, I have direct access to God.
What is the veil? The veil is where the priest would sprinkle the blood of animals to symbolically transfer the sins of the people to the sanctuary. So whenever someone would bring a sin offering, the blood gets sprinkled on the veil (and the horns of the altar of incense). The Day of Atonement is observed to cleanse the sanctuary of the accumulated sins and it's done once a year. Now imagine that veil being torn? It means I don't have to make atonements for my sins to enter the presence of God because that price has been paid once and for all.
Can I plead with you about something? Please don't take what Jesus did on that cross for you for granted. I want you to know that when He was taking his last breath, He was thinking of how you could now enjoy a close relationship with God.
He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west." - Psalm 103:12
as the east is from the west." - Psalm 103:12
That is what He did for you and me. Let us not relent in our pursuit of that intimate relationship with our father. If He didn't care for us, He wouldn't have sent Jesus.....
Love and Peace always..
Oh and who said the bible is boring again? I stand corrected LOL.
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