Drawn Near

Hi, and welcome to this daily encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

My name is Kirsten Holmberg, and I titled today's reading Drawn Near. In the wake of the coronavirus, retrieving something from my safety deposit box required even more layers of protocol than before. Now I had to make an appointment, call when I arrived to be granted entrance to the bank, show my identification and signature, and then wait to be escorted into the vault by a designated banker. Once inside, the heavy doors locked again until I'd found what I needed inside the metal box.

Unless I followed the instructions, I wasn't able to enter. In the Old Testament, God had specific protocols for entering part of the tabernacle called the Most Holy Place. Behind a special curtain, one that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, only the high priest could enter once a year. Aaron and the high priests who would come after him were to bring offerings, bathe, and wear sacred garments before entering.

God's instructions weren't for health or security reasons. They were meant to teach the Israelites about the holiness of God and our need for forgiveness. At the moment of Jesus' death, that special curtain was torn, symbolically showing that all people who believe in his sacrifice for their forgiveness of sin can enter God's presence. The tear in the tabernacle curtain is reason for our unending joy.

Jesus has enabled us to draw near to God always. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Leviticus 16, verses 1-5. The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the Lord. The Lord said to Moses, Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come, whenever he chooses, into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die.

For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover. This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy Place. He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He is to put on the sacred linen tunic with linen undergarments next to his body. He is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. From the Israelite community, he is to take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. Let's pray. Thank you, Jesus, for making it possible for us to be drawn near to God always. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.