Is there a "way" to approach our Creator? Is there any information He gives us regarding this? The answer is Yes! Perhaps you have read the book of Leviticus many times and thought "man, this is almost as hard to read through as Numbers!". Well, the book of Leviticus and the Tabernacle shows us many things including the method we must use to approach Yahweh our Father. The Scripture tells us that YHWH (God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) would dwell with His people in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle. He would come and reside above the Mercy Seat in the inner most room in the Tent (Holy of Holies), Only the High Priest was allowed in this area of the Tabernacle, and only once per year at Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) when the sins of the nation would be forgiven as the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the Yom Kippur sacrifice upon the Mercy Seat between the Seraphim. But before we get too in-depth there, lets start from the outside and move in.
The Tabernacle, in one level of understanding, represents the method required to enter into the presence of the Holy One of Israel. Now we know from the book of Hebrews that Yeshua (Jesus) is the High Priest. Only He is able to go into the Divine Presence. He is the intermediary between YHWH and us. We cannot be a High Priest, but YHWH does say Israel is to be a nation of priests. Exo 19:5 ‘And now, if you diligently obey My voice, and shall guard My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession above all the peoples – for all the earth is Mine – Exo 19:6 ‘and you shall be to Me a reign of priests and a set-apart nation.’ Those are the words which you are to speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl." and Rev 5:10 and made us sovereigns and priests to our Elohim, and we shall reign upon the earth. The Priests did enter the Holy Place, which is the outer room of the tent. So how did the priest prepare to enter the Holy Place? This is where we see how we need to approach our Creator. The first thing one must do to enter the Holy Place is to desire to. Then, we must enter the outer courtyard of the Tabernacle. There is only one entrance, and it is a narrow gate. The parallel here is that one must "repent" or turn back to Yahweh and start the journey through the narrow gate or narrow way. John the Baptist preached repentance, to turn from sin (1 John 3:4 sin is lawlessness.). He preached to turn back to God (YHWH). So once we decide to turn back to God we start walking toward him. He can only be found in His Holiest Place. So we choose to enter through the narrow gate and into the outer courtyard. Once inside the courtyard we first come to the altar of burnt offering. Now when the priest prepares himself to actually go into the Holy Place he must first offer a sacrifice on the altar of burnt offering. (See diagram above). The whole offering is burnt on this altar. It is a picture of us needing to offer our whole selves to Him. To sacrifice our desires, thoughts and whole beings for Him. Yeshua taught this when He said, "The first commandment is to Love Yahweh your God with all your heart, mind and being." The hymn that says "just as I am without one plea..." really isn't true. We must change the way we are and give up our own ways for His ways. Next, the Priest would wash his hands and feet at the laver. (see diagram above). This is called a "mikvah" or immersion. John the Baptist did not invent a new practice with baptism, this practice was given by YHWH to His people much, much earlier. Most Christians know that this baptism, or mikvah, is a sign of cleansing ourselves and following the way of our Creator. So after we repent of our own desires and way of life, sacrifice our entire being to follow our Creator and King, we then wash ourselves by getting rid of all the filthiness. We cannot enter into the Holy Place without doing this. If the Priest did not follow the sacrifice and mikvah correctly they would die when entering the Holy Place. This is symbolic of the fact that we cannot enter into Yahweh's Holy Place by doing it our way, only His. To enter into the Tent of Meeting the Priest also had to put on special clothing, made of white linen. White linen garments are mentioned many times in the Scriptures. We must wash ourselves, be clean, and put on holy garments, meaning living a pure Torah observant life. When the Priest would enter the Holy Place they had various tasks to perform, such as keeping the Menorah lit, new showbread to place and placing incense on the altar of incense. The Holy Place requires a much more in-depth study, so I will concentrate on the altar of incense. The Priest would bring in coals from the outside Altar of Burnt Offering and place it on the Altar of Incense, which sat next to the curtain separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, where God's Shekinah (Holy Presense) would dwell above the Mercy Seat. The Priest would then place incense on this Altar. The smoke from the sweet incense would go up and permeate into the Holy of Holies. In Rev. 5:8 the incense is called the prayers of the saints. In Revelation John was seeing the actual Tabernacle in Heaven. We know that the earthly Tabernacle was a representation of the actual. So the picture here is that the Priest offers up incense that is pleasing to YHWH our Creator. It represents the prayers of the Priest and people. It is interesting to note that the coals came from the Altar of sacrifice which is where the Priest started his preparation. It is a picture of prayers mixed with the sacrifice of His people to serve Him and Him alone. So what happens when prayers are offered without sacrificing ourselves, our desires and our way of living for His? If the Priest offered the incense (prayers) without using the coals from the Altar of Burnt Offering (sacrifice) then it would have been a "strange fire" before YHWH, against the direct Command on how the Priest was supposed to approach Him. In Lev 10 it says Lev 10:1 And Naḏaḇ and Aḇihu, the sons of Aharon, each took his fire holder and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and brought strange fire before יהוה, which He had not commanded them. Lev 10:2 And fire came out from יהוה and consumed them, and they died before יהוה. Lev 10:3 Then Mosheh said to Aharon, "This is what יהוה spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me let Me be set-apart! And before all the people let Me be esteemed!’ " And Aharon was silent. Aaron's sons died because they attempted to approach Yahweh in their own way and not the way God had commanded them. Our prayers must be given with sacrifice and right living. The Scripture tells us in James (Yaakov) 5:16 "The prayer of a righteous one accomplishes much". And in Pro_15:8 The slaughtering of the wrong ones Is an abomination to יהוה, But the prayer of the straight is His delight. Pro_15:29 יהוה is far from the wrong ones, But He hears the prayer of the righteous1. Footnote: 1See 28:9. Pro_28:9 He who turns away his ear from hearing the Torah, Even his prayer is an abomination1. Footnote: 1See also 15:29, Isa. 59:1-2, John 9:31, 1 John 3:22. This short paper is only a very rudimentary glimpse into the Tabernacle and what God is trying to teach us regarding how we should live and how we should approach Him. We encourage you to take to heart what our Loving Father has given to us. It is directions on how we need to come near to Him. Yes, He wants us to come to Him but it must be His way not our own. Let's not be like Nadab and Abihu and try to approach Him our own way. Please do not ignore the first 2/3 of the Scriptures and believe it is no longer relevant to us. As Paul told Timothy in 2 Tim 3: 2Ti 3:14 But you, stay in what you have learned and trusted, having known from whom you have learned, 2Ti 3:15 and that from a babe you have known the Set-apart Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for deliverance through belief in Messiah יהושע. 2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is breathed by Elohim and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for setting straight, for instruction in righteousness, 2Ti 3:17 that the man of Elohim might be fitted, equipped for every good work. The Scriptures Paul was talking about is the Tanak, or what some call the "Old Testament". It is not old, it is still in effect and to be used per Paul's admonition above. Please harken to our Father's directions and approach Him the way He lovingly teaches us to. Shalom
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