The high priest having meticulously followed all the required steps for ceremonial cleansing, left the holy place and slowly made his way to the brazen altar to offer the appropriate sacrifices for the Day of Atonement.
Heads swung quickly about as searching eyes swept the room. Noises rising from narrow streets crowded with religious pilgrims were suddenly inaudible before the rushing sound of a celestial wind that invaded the upper chamber.
Clad only in a white linen garment, the high priest drew back the heavy veil in front of the holy of holies and was immediately enclosed by the glory of God.
When the body of missionary-explorer David Livingstone was laid in Westminster Abbey, a British journalist wrote, “Let marble crumble ~ this is Livingstone!” It is hard to conceive of living stone.
Today many people are confused by the differing sects and denominations of Christendom. This is not a new situation. During the days of the New Testament, Judaism also was divided into many various sects.
In a spirit of reverence, we loose the shoes from off our feet, part the veil and enter onto the sacred ground of the holy of holies to gaze upon the small golden ark of the covenant.
If I had been asked to write the epitaph of Moses, I would have written something like this: “Moses, God’s lawgiver, is dead,”’ or “Moses, God’s miracle-worker, is dead,” or “Moses, God’s statesman, is dead,” or “Moses, God’s judge over Israel, is dead.”
The multicolored veil embroidered with the images of cherubim hung elegantly between the holy place and the holy of holies separating the priest from God’s glorious presence.
Light from the golden lampstand illuminated the table of showbread causing it to sparkle with a dazzling beauty as the small ornately tooled table stood stately on the right side of the holy place.
Cleansed after washing at the brazen laver the priest reverently made his way a few feet towards the tabernacle entrance. His heart pounded with…
With hands splattered with blood and with feet soiled from the dust of the tabernacle court, the priest moved quickly but reverently…
The tabernacle stood in all its pristine glory with the twelve tribes camped around it. How inspiring it must have seemed to the Israelites as they…
“I’ve been to the mountain, and I have seen the glory of the Lord,” would be the testimony of Moses if he were here today. Just think of the piercing words Moses heard when God thundered from Mount Sinai, “. . . Come up to me . . . .” (Ex. 24:12).
To the Jew of the first century, these words were saturated with great significance. For the Christian of the twentieth century, far removed from the historical context, it is often read over quickly as part of a cumbersome and boring genealogy.
Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered.
A surprising number of phrases and expressions and everyday sayings are derived from the Old Testament and are used over and over by the man in the street without being aware in most instances that he is using Old Testament language.
All of the provisions which God made with Israel were made for the ultimate benefit of the whole earth. This required the coming of a Messiah to offer the supreme sacrifice for sin; once for all;
For centuries men have thirsted after a utopian society – an era when peace, righteousness, justice and equity would exist for all men. Mankind has feverishly endeavored to purge the world of war, famine and sickness.
From the top of the Mount of Olives Jesus would have a panoramic view of the spectacular and familiar surrounding landscape. Five miles to the south and snuggled in the Judean hills lay Bethlehem – city of His birth.
For reasons not fully known to us, and in an unprecedented move to seek a solution to the Mid-East unrest, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt has broken from the league of Arab nations.
As this Christmas season approaches, men the world over will look back two thousand years to the Incarnation of the Son of God. But for more than four thousand years men living on the other side of the Incarnation looked forward to that same event.
It was a cold wintry night. I could hear the wind whistling through the trees as I walked my post. What I wouldn’t have given for a little warmth and a hot cup of coffee. Guard duty in the army can be a very lonely experience.
The term “Christian” means “one who is a follower of Christ or Messiah”. As the title “Messiah” or “Anointed One” is a Jewish term…
One day, perhaps soon, a man is going to appear on the stage of human history. He will successfully navigate a meteoric ascendency to international power…