“Adonai spoke with Moshe after the death of Aharon’s two sons, when they tried to sacrifice before Adonai and died; Adonai said to Moshe, “Tell your brother Aharon not to come at just any time into the Holy Place beyond the curtain, in front of the ark-cover which is on the ark, so that he will not die; because I appear in the cloud over the ark-cover.”-Leviticus 16:1-2
The starting verse of Leviticus 16 makes it abundantly clear just how dangerous the High Priest’s job is.
Hearkening back to chapter 10 when in an instant YHVH killed Aaron’s two sons Nadav and Avihu for offering strange fire, the Lord makes it clear that no priest is allowed to enter into the chamber of His HOLY presence (the Holy of Holies), minus His express permission to do so.
At this point in Leviticus, the death of Aaron’s two sons (who had just been ordained as priests at the time) was fairly recent.
Now I want you to brace yourself because I’m about to overturn a common gentile church teaching that is just NOT true.
The idea that Yeshua believers today have access into the Holy of Holies is hogwash.
It is not true and it is NOT TRUE metaphorically, allegorically, symbolically or any other way you may want to try and put it.
Blood-bought Yeshua believers simply cannot enter into the Holy of Holies.
In the New Testament, believers appear to be given the same status as “common priests”.
If this is true (and I believe it is), that would mean they are only allowed to go as far as the HOLY PLACE or the outer chamber of the Holy Sanctuary.
The Holiest of Holies is set apart for ONLY YHVH and for His chosen Mediator, the High Priest.
Let me say that again.
ONLY the Father and His designated Mediator, the High Priest are allowed access into the Holy of Holies!
Got it?
Common believers are permitted to go as far as the Holy Place, but no further.
When our current sin-stained bodies are transformed in the future that will change, but until then we cannot get any closer to the Lord than the Holy Place.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“For the Messiah has entered a Holiest Place
which is not man-made
and merely a copy of the true one,
but into heaven itself,
in order to appear now on our behalf
in the very presence of God.”
-Hebrews 9:24
I don’t need to go near the Ark I have Yashua and according to the word believers went we pass we will be home with Him
Amen!
What is the significance of the tearing of the curtain in the Temple, between the Holy and Holy of Holies, at Yeshua’s sacrifice?
My first response would be that Yeshua paved the way for direct fellowship with the Father. But it was Him that went into the Holy of Holies and did this. We do not, neither is it necessary for us to do so. The designated High Priest has his Work assigned to him by God and we have ours. Shalom.
In relation to the curtain to the Holy of Holies, I was wondering about this verse in Matthew 27:50-51 “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.” Is this the same curtain referenced in Leviticus 16?
I don’t think we have direct access to the Holy of Holies; only Jesus, as our High Priest does. However, I would contend that its a distinction without a difference, as we have direct access to the High Priest.
If you believe in the validity of objective truth, I think it’s an important distinction to make.
I am surprised because I have never encountered the idea that Christians would, or ever should, enter the Holy of Holies! Rather, our faith is placed in Yeshua, who has entered the heavenly Holy of Holies on our behalf. The curtain was torn because in Yeshua, ALL believers, Jew or Gentile, now have access to commune directly with G-d through faith in High Priest Yeshua. The earthly Holy of Holies was no longer needed once Yeshua paid with His own blood. A Christian who entered the Holy of Holies would essentially be telling God “I am fit to represent myself and don’t need a high priest.” That would be akin to telling God “I don’t need High Priest Yeshua.” What a terrifying thought!
Very good points made Kay! Thanks for sharing.
What about the 25 elders sitting around God
In the vision John is given ?
What about “blessed are the pure in heart FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD”
Don’t see any contradiction to what I wrote here.
When it comes to us not entering the holy of holies what about Hebrews 10: 19 & 20. 19 Therefore brothers and sisters since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus. 20 By a new and living way opened for us through the curtain that is his body. I’m not saying we don’t need Jesus because he is our high priest. It Does say we are heirs with Jesus of the Melchizedek order as is Jesus.He is still king of kings and Lord of lords but it gives us a closer relationship with him to worship the heavenly father and him.
Awesome. I see no rebuttal was made because “check mate.” 🙂
Yup. Check mate. One simply can’t argue with the unchangeable and unbreakable patterns established in the Torah.
Do you mean Christ’s atoning sacrifice was not enough for man to be in communion with the Heavenly Father? How do you reconcile these passages?
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; (1 Cor 6:19)
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you–unless, of course, you fail the test? (2 Cor 13:5)
Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. (Hebrews 3:1)
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. (John 14:23)
With all due respect this article seems awfully familiar to Lesson 23 of Leviticus of Seed of Abraham Ministries,Inc. Torah Class from Tom Bradford. Please cite the original author of this work.
Hi Gabriel, I love Tom Bradford’s Torah Class. I’ve already mentioned in other places that I get a lot of inspiration and make a lot of outlines for my articles based on the information he has on his site. And this article as you pointed out is a perfect case in point. However, I would say it is far from a word-for-word rendering as you seem to be implying. Keep in mind this information is well explained in many other Bible commentaries, many of which I’m sure Mr. Bradford accessed when he created his great studies. And also keep in mind that ideas CANNOT be copyrighted. Think about George Lucas obviously getting the idea for Star Wars directly from the great Japanese movie director Akira Kurosawa. Or do you think Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook site is something unique? He “stole” the idea directly and pretty much identically from some other dudes who were trying to create a Harvard social networking site.
On this note, I should also let you know I borrow ideas liberally from Robert Alter’s tremendous Torah commentary. Credit has also been given in those cases as well. I leave you this variation of a quote from Picasso: “Amateur artists borrow, great artists STEAL”. Of course, the true meaning of this quote is there is really nothing new under the sun and we are always liberally borrowing from each other. Be blessed and shalom.
Hebrews 10:19
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
How about this passage then? It states that believers in the New Covenant Era can enter the Most Holy Place through the blood of Yeshua?
I would say it is metaphorical. If the. It says we enter through the blood of Yeshua. Again, this is metaphorical, meaning that Yeshua enters into the Holy of Holies and with his own blood (metaphorically speaking here), he atones for our sins. Shalom.
You initially wrote…
“It is not true and it is NOT TRUE metaphorically, allegorically, symbolically or any other way you may want to try and put it.
Blood-bought Yeshua believers simply cannot enter into the Holy of Holies.”
I assume you have retracted this statement and reconsidered your beliefs to align with scripture, sir.
Have not retracted.
This is true.