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The Holy of Holies

by Jerry Ousley  
11/17/2017 / Christian Living

            Have you ever found yourself in the company of great men?  It happened to me once years ago.  Our congregation was in its first year and we had converted the barn of our assistant pastor into a place of worship.  Our congregation numbered around twenty people.  A special gathering was taking place in one of the larger churches of our denomination in central Indiana and we had been asked to join them.  We took as many from our congregation as wanted to go, rented a van and packed it full.  We arrived a little late because the service was just beginning.  The only seats available were on the very front row so our little group was escorted to the front and we took our seats feeling very conspicuous.

 

            Then it happened.  As pastor I was invited to sit on the platform with the other pastors.  I felt very uncomfortable because, well I was probably the newest pastor there and felt very insignificant.  The pastor of the host congregation was privileged to serve in a very large and beautiful building and boasted a congregation in the hundreds.  I was seated next to the special speaker; a man I knew from Bible College days.  He had been one of my instructors several years before.  Now he was the vice president of the denomination and was destined to serve as president for a short time.  Farther down the line was another individual who was in charge of the entire Great Lakes District – a five state area.  So here I sat amongst all these “greats” and me an obscure young man with a congregation that wouldn’t fill up a single one of their Sunday school rooms whose auditorium was a converted barn!  I felt fidgety and out of place but I tried to not let it show to the others. I didn’t feel worthy to be there.  The Holy of Holies was such a place … a place that no human on his own was worthy of being.

 

            We’ve been looking at the Tabernacle and how it represents our own Christian life and growth experience.  We’ve talked about the Outer Court and the first room of the Tabernacle called the Holy Place.  We saw how the Outer Court represents our initial experience with the Lord with the altar and the laver.  We spoke of the Holy Place which contained the Table of Showbread (representing the Word of God), the Candlestick (representing the Holy Spirit in our lives) and the Altar of Incense (representing our prayer and worship).  Now it is time to step into the Holy of Holies.

 

            This room was only visited by the High Priest and only at certain times.  He was to be clean, wear special clothing and be worthy with the sacrifices for his sin already being made.  If he went in unworthy he would be instantly killed.  This was the place where God’s presence dwelt.  It had to be like entering a room where you didn’t belong.

 

            In this room was the Ark of the Covenant covered by a golden lid called the Mercy Seat.  It was looked down upon by two golden angels facing each other with wings touching above.  It must have been a grand experience to enter that room in which the presence of God filled it like a misty smoke.

 

            The Ark of the Covenant contained three items; the tables of stone whereupon was written the Ten Commandments, a pot of manna representing God’s provision for the people, and the rod of Aaron that God had made to bud and blossom proving that he had been chosen by God as the High Priest. It represented God’s leadership.  The Mercy Seat was sprinkled with blood and the two golden angels looked down upon all of this. 

 

            Today, of course, we don’t have such rooms in our church buildings.  We are allowed to come before the presence of God because of the blood of Christ.  In fact Hebrews 4:16 tells us that we can come boldly before the throne of grace to find help in time of need.  After we have come to the Lord by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, entered into the Holy Place allowing the Holy Spirit to fill our lives, eating of the bread of the Word of God and worshipping Him with our prayers we are ready to move into the presence of God.  It is a special privilege.  We don’t have to go to a special building to do this and we don’t need another individual as our intercessor because Jesus Christ has become our intercessor.  Despite our sin, our failure, and our faults the angels of Heaven look down on the Mercy Seat where Christ’s blood covers our sin.

 

            The next time you need help from God go to His tabernacle found spiritually in the provision of Jesus.  Enter boldly into the room that contains God’s law, provision and leadership and worship Him.  He is the Holy of Holies and He won’t let you down!

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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