In the old testament days, going to the inner courts for worship was a prerogative of priests alone. People couldn’t really go to the inner sanctuary to worship God and unite in spirit with Him, one to one. The scriptures describe in the book of Exodus (32:30-32), that Moses used to go in the presence of the “HOLY OF THE HOLIES”, to intercede for the Israelites, sought God for them, prayed for them and even repented for their share of sins.

(Shash Grewal(Shashwati) is a philanthropist and a social worker, who tries to reach out to hurting hearts with scriptural blessings and kindness.)

Israelites were not behaving responsible. They were getting more and more dependent on Moses to do their share. And they wasted their idle time in whining, complaining and looking back and cribbing over what blessings in terms of ‘food’ they had in their past(when in bondage) and what they missed( in their freedom). Sounds a bit weird.
It makes me wonder, if I fall sick, and my fellow brother or sister, takes medicine on my behalf, would I be healed? Simply NO. I have to take the medicine MYSELF, for my own healing.

So practically Israelites never learnt to “worship’.

(Shash Grewal(Shashwati) is a “Scriptural Motivational Writer, who explain’s life’s, common principles, in a very lucid manner so that the younger generation can relate to the solutions, She offers through her writing, to all the problems they face on a daily basis.)

But they couldn’t be blamed entirely for this attitude, because historical evidence clearly records, that whoever entered the ‘HOLY OF THE HOLIES’ unprepared, would simply die. Period. Because sin couldn’t be found in the presence of the HOLY, and all were found sinners, because truth is, they all fell short of His Glory.
So only option the people and congregation had was, only the high priest could enter, on their behalf with a rope tied around his ankle according to the divine instructions, and worship in the presence of the HOLY ONE, and if found dead inside(because of his sins in the eyes of God), could be dragged out of the sanctuary with the help of the rope. Various versions of the same claim have been found in Christian and Jewish circles.

(Shash Grewal(Shashwati) is a scriptural Motivational Writer, Speaker, Spiritual Teacher, Preacher and an Evangelist.)

But the fact that the high priests were worshipping on behalf of congregation, has been found on records. So Israelites were behaving irresponsible, knowing that priests were to worship and they had no responsibility of knowing how to ‘worship’.

Its so true for our current scenario too, if we observe closely. Invariably all religions are dependent on priests to worship on behalf of us. We feel if we pay offerings and do as per instructions of the priests of various cultures, we are free from all punishments for our sins. So aren’t we behaving exactly like the irresponsible Israelites of Old Testament?

We know the New Testament, as arrival of Jesus (as the old testament predicted), His ministry , His apostles works, and how the good news of the Gospel, was spread all across the world, by His followers. The most important event of New Testament was Crucifixion of Jesus.

During Lifetime of Jesus,, the holy temple in Jerusalem was the centre of Jewish religious life. The place where animal sacrifices were carried out (innocent animals are still sacrificed in many parts of the world today, sadly. Whereas the truth is, once Lord Jesus was crucified for mankind, “It was done away with”, and sacrifices of innocent animals weren’t required any further, since “Jesus was the spotless lamb offered for mankind”) and worship according to the law of Moses, were followed. Hebrews (9:1-9) tells us that, in the temple a ‘veil’ separated the Holy of Holies—the earthly dwelling place of God’s presence—from the rest of the temple, where men dwelt. Only the high priest was permitted to go beyond this veil once each year (Exodus 30:10) for atonement of all Israelites.

When Jesus died, the veil was torn, signifying God”s Spirit refused to dwell in a temple made with hands(Acts 17:24). God was through with the temple and religious systems. And the temple and Jerusalem were left desolate (destroyed by Romans ) in A.D.70, just as Jesus prophesied in Luke 13:35. As long as the temple stood, it signified continuation of the Old Covenant. But now, once the veil was torn, new Covenant was being established (Hebrews 8:13). So now Christ is the superior High Priest, and as believers in His finished work, we partake of His better priesthood, and we can now enter the Holy Of Holies through HIM. So basically just by our faith in HIM and His work on the Cross, we can enter the presence of God, inspite of our failures and our weaknesses.

Tearing of the veil, was symbolic of broken body of Christ, that He laid down for us sinners, that we may be able to worship the “supreme Omnipotent One’. Made so simple , by such an intense and selfless act of love by Jesus’.

Let us not be irresponsible anymore. Let us learn how to worship, and how to walk in faith, that our faith brings glory to His name and His works in and through our lives
“It is done”……

Blessings!!