Behind the Veil
Posted By admin on July 22, 2011
After God brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, he gave Moses the plan for the tabernacle. The tabernacle was the place where He (God) could meet with His people Israel. It was a type or shadow of the true tabernacle in heaven. The tabernacle of Moses had an outer court, an inner court called, “the holy place,” and the most holy place called, “the holy of holies.”
Every Israelite in covenant with God could come to the gate of the outer court and the priest could offer their sacrifices upon the brazen alter. God set apart the tribe of Levi to be ministers of the tabernacle. Their duties were to set up and to take down and to carry the tabernacle and its furnishings.
The Levites had access to the outer court where the brazen alter, and the laver of water were, but only the priests, the sons of Aaron were allowed to enter the inner court. In the inner court were the altar of incense, the table of shew bread, and the golden candlestick. There was a veil that separated the inner court from the holy of holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant where the presence of God dwelt. Only the high priest could enter the most holy place and that once a year on the Day of Atonement to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people.
Today all of the people of God (i.e born again believers) have the privilege to be in His presence. Not just once a year or on Sundays, but to live continually in His presence. However, so few believers under the new covenant take full advantage of this awesome privilege to fellowship with Him. Though it is a fact that God dwells in them, they don’t live in the conscious reality of His indwelling presence, and because of this they often live frustrated and defeated lives.
Many Christians live like the majority of the Israelites under the old covenant. Most of the Israelites never enjoyed the privilege of going into the outer court of the tabernacle. Likewise today, there are many Christians who live (as it were) on the outside of the outer court of the spirit. When there is a need, they bring their offerings and sacrifices to the gate of the outer court and expect the preacher to offer it up to God for them.
There was nothing wrong with the Israelite doing this, but under the New Covenant we all can know God and come to Him on our own. These believers expect someone else to do their praying, their studying, and even their believing. They know about God, and are satisfied with their limited experience with Him. These believers relish in the fact that they have had an encounter with God, but they fail to realize that by stopping at their experiences, causes them to live empty and frustrated lives. These are the Christians who say, “thank God that I’m saved,” and “I’m glad I don’t have to go to hell.” They are unable to recognize the glorious reality that Christ is their lives here and now. These believers are characterized by the need to satisfy themselves, which is often echoed in prayers like “bless me, give me, and help me,” and their theme and alma mata is, “pray for me.”
There is nothing wrong with a child of God asking for prayer or for God’s help, but our prayer life should be more than an S.O.S. to heaven. Prayer is a response to the Father’s love within us and not just a means to get Him to do something. Therefore when we are led of the Spirit our lives are not self-centered, but Christ-centered. Thus when we abide in God’s love not only are we blessed, but He (God) also bless others through our lives according to His will and purpose.
There Christians are like the Levites who are ministers of the tabernacle. They have access to the outer court (of the Spirit so to speak). They see the meaning of life in what they do. They take care of the physical burdens of the church, the cleaning, the washing, the fixing, the carrying, and the business. They even give of their finances. However they are so busy carrying out the tasks of the church that they never experience intimacy with God, and miss His purpose for them. (I am by no means saying that these tasks have no place, but rather that they should be kept in their proper place).
However unlike the Levites who by God’s ordinance could not go in past the outer courts of the tabernacle, these believers have chosen to remain in the outer court. They like to be recognized by what they have done. They are often very proud, and because of their pride, they never go beyond the outer court of the Spirit, and even God himself resists them (see James 4:6).
In the book of Luke we read; “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the feet of Jesus and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, Lord, do You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me. And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38-42).
Notice in contrasting the lives of Martha and Mary in Luke 10 that Martha was busy with much serving, while Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear His words. Luke tells us that Martha was distracted with much serving. Her focus was not on Jesus, but rather on working for Him. This too is true in the lives of many Christians today. They are so busy working for God that they have no time to hear what He is saying. Like Martha they often become frustrated when (in their eyes) others do not seem to labor as hard as they themselves do.
Under the New Covenant, God does not call believers to work for Him, but rather to allow Him to work in us, and through us as His own very sons and daughters. It is when we sit at the feet of Jesus (so to speak) and feed upon His Life (the living word), that our lives are transformed and we are conformed into His image. It is there from the position of resting in God that we work with Him by allowing HIM to work in us and through us.
Then there is another group of believers, whom I liken to the priests under the old covenant. They have pressed beyond the outer courts of the spirit and have entered into the inner court. These are those who have recognized that the new birth is only the beginning of the Christian life.
Although these Christians have allowed God to bring them into a deeper awareness of the Spirit than most Christians, they have failed to recognized that it is Christ through the Holy Spirit who is the all in them. I liken these believers to the priests under the old covenant who only go as far as the inner court. They do not go beyond the veil into the most holy place. This group of believers is satisfied with the manifestations of the Spirit rather than intimacy with God who gives these manifestations. They are always seeking after the anointing rather than HE who anoints. They crave God’s power, and His gifts rather than to abide His presence. They experience spiritual activity at the expense of unlimited fellowship with the Father.
There is nothing wrong with wanting God’s power, His anointing, or gifts in themselves, but there is a problem when the gifts are the end, and are magnified above the giver. These Christians have moved from the outer courts into the inner court of the spirit and have camped there. Like the believers that live in the outer court of the Spirit, they too are often proud. The spirit of pride makes them think that they are superior to other Christians because they have spiritual gifts, but they fail to realize that no gift or experience can substitute for God Himself. Therefore we must move (so to speak) beyond the outer court of the spirit, past the inner court and into the most holy place and there abide where we can continually enjoy fellowship with the Father in His presence.
Once a year on the Day of Atonement, only the high priest could go behind the veil into the most holy place before the presence of God to offer sacrifices to atone for the sins of the Israel. This was not a joyous occasion for the high priest, but a dreadful and dangerous experience. To go beyond the veil improperly was as it were to enter a death chamber. The high priest’s garment had bells and pomegranates around its border so that when he ministered in the holy of holies, the other priests could hear him as he moved around carrying out his duties.
If the high priest ministered inappropriately, or if he had sinned without being cleansed, he fell dead in the presence of the Lord. Therefore they attached a rope to his leg so that if the bells and the pomegranates ceased to ring, (indicating that he was dead) they pulled him out of the most holy place for thy dared not enter.
The last group of believers consists of those who are not just satisfied with an touch or an encounter. They are not satisfied with an experience or a gift — they want God Himself. They want to know Him. They want intimacy with the Father. This group of Christians is similar to the high priest in that they have gone beyond the veil and have entered the very presence of God.
However unlike the high priest who went behind the veil once a year, they have recognized the truth that every Christian is in God, and God is in them through the Holy Spirit. These believers have seen the reality of the fact that Jesus died for us. They have also embraced the truth that Jesus was buried and arose from the dead for us, and now lives unto God for us.
This means that we were crucified, buried, and raised from the dead with Him. These Christians have believed the report that Jesus ascended into heaven into the holy of holies with His own blood and has obtained an eternal redemption for us. This means that Jesus has satisfied God’s righteous justice for us (Christians) and as us and is now seated at the right hand of the Father living unto God for us (ever-living to make intercession).Therefore the apostle Paul declared that we are seated in heavenly places in Him (Christ).
So now every Christian can abide in the presence of God without fear, without condemnation, without shame as righteous as Jesus Himself because He (Jesus) is our righteousness. II Corinthians 5:21 tells us; “For He made Him who knew no sin to be made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
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