In the old testament, priests were appointed by God for men(Heb 5:1)
The Levites were appointed to be priests. Their duties were :
1.To minister to the Lord( Exodus 28:1- Now take Aaron your brother,and his sons with him,from among the children of Isreal,that he may MINISTER TO ME AS PRIEST…..
2. To minister for the people(Heb 8:3)
The tabernacle where they ministered was a shadow type of what was in heaven, there was an outer court, called the Holy Place where daily burning of incense was made.
Also,there was The Holy of Holies or The Holiest of all,The presence of God was contained in this place,this was where The ark was kept,and also the mercy seat.
There was also ‘the veil’,that separated the Holy place from the Holiest of all.
Other priests ministered in the Holy place but the Holiest of all was different, no one could come into God’s Presence, only the ‘high priest’ came in and it was once in a year,and he had to come with the blood of bulls which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people,it was called sin offering.
(Leviticus 16:2-3 : and the Lord said to Moses,tell Aaron your brother not to come at simply any time into the Holy Place inside the veil,before the mercy seat which is on the ark,’LEST HE DIE’ for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place with the blood of young bull as a sin offering and of a ram as a burnt offering.
After killing bulls and rams,Aaron would sprinkle the blood on all the children of Israel and all the vessels of the sanctuary to atone for sins, because without the shedding of blood,there is no remission of sins(Lev 16:14-19).
The high priests were always afraid to enter into the veil(the Holiest of all) because they had weaknesses also, and it takes a pure man to appear before God.For He is Holy.
So,this went on and on until Christ came.Do not forget,everything don’t in the old testament was only a shadow of what was to come, (Heb10:1)
So, Christ came as a high priest, (Heb 5:5), appointed by God,for men.
Since every priest always had something to offer,which must necessarily be blood to atone for sins, He entered the Holiest of all with His own blood, made Himself the sin offering,(2 Cor 5:21- He became sin…) the levitical high priest had weaknesses but He didn’t because He was holy,innocent,undefiled,seperate from sinners( Heb 7:26).His own offering was more excellent than theirs.
The other high priests came yearly but He came and died once and for all because it is appointed for a man to die once.
The other high priests cleansed the flesh of men with the blood of bulls,but they still had the consciousness of sin because the blood of bulls could not take away sin.Jesus cleansed our body and also purged our conscience.
The levitical high priests ministered in earthly tabernacle, Jesus offered Himself in the heavenly tabernacle, a temple not made with hands.
The levitical high priest only had access into God’s Presence once in a year,no other person could enter.
Jesus entered, tore the veil and became The Way for ALL to come into God’s Presence. His blood is our access card,as long as God sees His blood,we cannot be denied.His blood is eternally efficacious, it means our access is unlimited.
The Levitical high priests went into the presence with fear,but we have boldness to enter that presence through His blood.
Heb 10:19- therefore brethren, HAVING BOLDNESS TO ENTER THE HOLIEST BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.
The veil which was the partition between the Holy place and the Holiest of all where God was, was torn when Christ died on the cross.
(Matthew 27:50-51- Jesus when He had cried our again with a loud voice yielded up His spirit and behold, THE VEIL OF THE TEMPLE was torn in two from top to bottom….)
He broke the middle wall of partition that separated us from God’s presence.
Sin was what denied us access,Jesus condemned sin in His flesh, to as many that would come through Him,God will in no wise cast out.
Have this understanding that the blood of Jesus cleanses your sin and also purges your heart from sin consciousness.
The Levitical high priests were mediators between God and men, Jesus became the mediator of a much more better covenant.
Jesus came to reconcile us to the Father, to bring us closer, we are no longer afar off, His blood paved the way into His presence. I beseech you therefore, be reconciled to God.
BELIEVE in your heart that Jesus is the son of God and that God raised Him from the dead and CONFESS Him as your Lord and Saviour, this is your access into His presence.
