Coming Close!

At last the Tabernacle 
was in place, 
curtains hung, 
priests consecrated. 
And in one awesome moment 
your glory, Yahweh, 
moved in. 

Not even Moses 
(who saw you  
on the mountain) 
could enter now. 
Your presence packed the tent 
with holy danger, 
essence of you 
made visible 
to sentient humans: 
fire, a mass of cloud 
residing, lifting, 
shifting terror into hearts. 

"Don't come too near! 
"Don't touch! 

Perhaps a girlchild, 
curious, 
crept near the tent 
to see what secrets 
might be leaking 
through the violet- 
and red- and blue- 
etched curtains 
holding you in, 
people out. 
But access was barred. 
No way in for her! 

Her mother's hand 
would have pulled her back. 
"Not there, dear one! 
It is Yahweh himself 
come to live among us, 
come to guide us 
with his Presence. 
Any who go near 
undesignated, 
unprepared, 
will die!”  

See the ringing robes
on Aaron? 
See the oil drip  
from his beard? 
Only he can go 
inside, into 
the holy place 
where God lives. 
Stay back -- 
watch from here!" 

Your glory 
was so close, 
so unknowable 
except by peripheral vision... 
but now you have become 
Immanuel, 
God with us! 

And I, girlchild, 
can run into the place 
where you  live 
and, fearless, 
call you "Daddy." 
And you, on  the mercy seat, 
forgive my brazen heart, 
my unawareness of  
your majesty, 
my ignorance of glory 
(pressed down, 
running over). 
You wisely wait to show me 
inklings of the truth 
when I can bear it 
and still come close, 
chosen, set aside for you, 
no curtain now 
between us!

We are free to enter the Holy Place and talk personally to King Yahweh, our Father! It was not that way until Jesus changed the rules.

In 2001 (when I wrote “Coming Close”), Moïse and I were translating Exodus. The construction of the temple brought us multiple challenges as we tried to make the complicated details comprehensible in Nyarafolo. Before that, I had never had to digest how important it was that the place representing the Presence of the Holy One be completely “set apart.” It was literally inaccessible to ordinary people. Only designated priests, washed with water right there at the temple, clothed in prescribed garments hung with bells to announce who they were, and only when they had offered the required sacrifice for sin did they have the right to enter the Most Holy Place behind the curtain—and only at certain times. In Exodus 40 we are told that after the tabernacle had first been set up by Moses, not even Moses  could enter when the glory of Yahweh descended and filled it, confirming his approval and his Presence.

But when Jesus died, an incredible miracle happened that showed that he truly is the Way to God, the one who gives access to the Holy One. He was suffering on the cross, and creation was definitely reacting:

⁴⁴ It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. (Lk. 23:44-46 NIV)

That curtain that separated ordinary people from God’s Presence was torn! His self-sacrifice paid for sin once for all, and now we who have accepted that forgiveness can freely enter his Presence, drawing near to our God and Father! It is because he has made us “holy,” consecrated, set apart for him.  A new way into the Most Holy Place has been created. The author of Hebrews makes this truly explicit:

¹⁰ For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. ¹¹ Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. ¹² But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. ¹³ There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. ¹⁴ For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. ¹⁵ And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says, ¹⁶ “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” ¹⁷ Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.” ¹⁸ And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.

¹⁹ And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. ²⁰ By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. ²¹ And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, ²² let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.  (Heb. 10:1 NLT)

That says it all. Let us draw near—go right in—entering freely into God’s Presence whenever we want, delighting in his loving welcome! He is never too busy to receive us. And that applies to us individually and also when we are in a crowd, praying. Ever since the curtain was torn, the one prerequisite is that each person has accepted the complete forgiveness offered to them. So “let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusing him!” There is just one great High Priest, and he is our Abba, “Daddy”!

Did you go in today? He is never too busy to receive you. It is true that his glory as Eternal King is beyond anything we can imagine or handle on our own. But he has made us welcome by Jesus’ sacrifice and our acknowledgement of its essential work on our behalf. What a privilege—not to be neglected or held lightly!