Lesson 74 - Junior

Memory Verse

Notes

Through the Holy Place

We have not yet considered the room in the Tabernacle known as the Holy of Holies, or the Holiest of All. This room was fifteen feet square and fifteen feet high, separated from the Holy Place by a heavy linen curtain of blue, red, purple, and gold. We want to note particularly that there was no way into this room except through the Holy Place. No one could enter except the high priest, and he only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. We know he had to be holy and sanctified with blood before he could enter the Holy Place; and on the Day of Atonement he put on special linen clothes to be sure they were clean before he entered the Holiest of All.

There was nothing in the room except the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tables of stone, the Ten Commandments, the visible will of God. The Ark was in the form of a chest overlaid on the outside and the inside with pure gold. The cover was of solid gold, and was called the mercy seat. Cherubims of solid gold were placed at both ends of the mercy seat, facing each other and looking down upon the mercy seat. Here in a cloud dwelt God's holy Presence, between the cherubims ([PS:80:1];[PS:99:1]).

There was no light in the Holiest of All. But did they need a light when God was there?-In Revelation we read of the New Jerusalem: "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it:-for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof" (Revelation 21:23).

Day of Atonement

On the Day of Atonement when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies he must take with him some of the blood from the sin offering, (some of which had been put upon the golden altar) and some holy fire and incense from the golden altar. He bowed low to pass under the veil as he reverently and fearfully entered into the presence of God. The smoke of the incense, rising as continual prayer and praise, was a protection between him and God's awe-inspiring presence: "And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not" (Leviticus 16:13).

We have seen that we must be holy, sanctified, the Blood upon our hearts, before we can enter into the Holy Place. Our prayers are rising continually in praise and consecration as incense burning upon the altar. We continue to plead the Blood over our lives to keep us clean. But there is still more for us.

Power in Latter Days

The high priest entered the Holiest of All once a year, but he always had to come out again because "the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing" (Hebrews 9:8). The Holy Spirit had come upon holy people under the Law, anointing them for special purposes, but the anointing only continued for the time being. The general outpouring of the Holy Ghost that would bring power for service was reserved for the latter days of which Joel spoke: "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh" (Joel 2:28). Peter verified that on the Day of Pentecost when he proclaimed to the people, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:16). The Spirit had come upon all the people in the upper room who wee gathered in one accord to wait the promised Comforter, and they spoke in other tongues as a witness that the Holy Ghost had baptised them. This caused great excitement among those who heard them, but Peter assured them it was the fulfilment of prophecy, the power for service upon men and women, old and young, Jew and Gentile, "whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord."

The Veil Rent

Something happened between the dispensation in which the high priest went into the Holiest of All once a year, and the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost fell on the people in the upper room. After the Children of Israel were settled in the Promised Land a Temple was built upon the same general plan as the Tabernacle, which contained the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. There the Ark of God rested beyond the veil with all the sacredness it had commanded in the Tabernacle. The same rituals were performed by the priests as in the wilderness.

Then Jesus came to fulfil the Law. There was no more need for the sacrifice of lambs, because Jesus was the Lamb of God; no more need of the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement, because Jesus became our scapegoat. Jesus suffered without the gate to sanctify His people with His own Blood, so there was no more need of the sin offering. And the instant He died on the cross, that heavy veil, woven of red and blue and purple and gold threads, was rent from the top to the bottom, opening the way into that sacred interior which God's Presence dwelt. Paul tells us that the veil typified the flesh of Jesus, and when His body was broken for us we could enter into a new and living way, something greater than any of the Old Testament saints had been able to enjoy.

The Better Dispensation

The high priest took the blood of the sin offering and entered into the Holy of Holies fearfully; but we can now take the Blood of Jesus, which has saved and sanctified us, and enter into the Holiest with boldness ([HEB:10:19-20]). All through the book of Hebrews Paul tells us that the new dispensation is greater than the old. The Tabernacle was a picture of God's plan of redemption, and Jesus came to fulfil it. Today we have a better sacrifice than that of animals ([HEB:9:23]).

To All Men

The Israelites were God's chosen people, and they were entrusted with the oracles of God. Through them His Word was given to the world. But when Jesus through His death opened the way into the Holiest of All, everyone was free to enter into the fullness of salvation. (Full salvation includes the baptism of the Holy Ghost, as well as justification and sanctification.) "All flesh," of which both Joel and Peter spoke, is now at liberty to come and enjoy holy communion with God, and have His abiding presence in their lives every day.

When Jesus was saying Good-by to His disciples He promised them the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. The Lord said that the Spirit was abiding with them then, but after He had gone away the Spirit would come upon them and would abide in them ([JHN:14:17]). We know that the baptism of the Holy Ghost had not been given to the disciples before Jesus died, because He said, "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you: but if I depart, I will send him unto you" (John 16:7). And of the Comforter He spoke: "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). May every sanctified heart pray earnestly to receive that abiding Presence of the Holy Ghost which will make him a shining light in this world, and give him power for effectual service.

Questions

1. Where was the Holiest of All?

2. How could one enter? (Who, when, and under what conditions?)

3. What happened to the veil when Jesus died? How did that affect us?

4. When did the outpouring of the baptism of the Holy Ghost begin?

5. Why do we need the baptism of the Holy Ghost? Who can receive it?