JEWISH CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS.
By F. C. Gilbert
The Sanctuary and Its Services.—Continued.
As we pursue our journey in the court, we find that just beyond the laver is a hanging of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine-twined linen. This curtain is called the door into the holy place. Before the priest could minister to the Lord he had to enter through the door into the holy place, for he could gain admission in no other way. How appropriate a lesson we learn from this door. It is Christ who is the door, by which we enter to minister unto the Lord. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. . . . Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. . . . I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:1–9. Yes, Jesus is the door, the entrance which leads us to God. He is also the way to lead us along, after we have found the door. “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” And how blessed it is that the undefiled should walk in the way. If we are only led and guided by Jesus, we shall always find the entrance to God, and will ever be able to go in and out, and find plenty of pasture. For through him we are led to God to receive forgiveness of sins. Through him we receive the peace of God, which comes as a result of pardon. Through him we receive the Spirit of God, which is a seal to us that we have received peace and power, because all our sins are forgiven. By him we are led into the green pastures of his Word, and by the still waters of his Spirit. Having entered through the door, we have the privilege of exploring the heights, lengths, depths, and breadths of the love of God, and of knowing that kindness which passeth all knowledge. Through him we become real children of God, and partakers of all the promises. Through him we enter into the heavenlies, and sit down on the same throne with him, and by faith see the work he is doing for us. O, what a door we have to enter, and what opportunities that opening does afford us! And this all comes through Jesus. He only is the door; there is no other way by which we can secure these things. He has been delegated from God to make us know that this is so. And this is why he says that all others who came before him, and taught another way, were thieves and robbers, and were bent on spoiling the sheep instead of leading them to God. And this is what modern Judaism has done, in teaching the way of salvation as it has, as will be seen when these points are taken up in subsequent articles. What a beautiful and impressive truth the priest must have learned each time he went into the holy place to burn incense or offer the offerings unto the Lord! How his heart must have thrilled with joy at the thought of being led to God by the true door, and that through Jesus, the Messiah, the service was made acceptable to the Lord! Surely the Lord made ample provisions in the days of Israel for them to know the Gospel of the anointed Messiah, the real sacrifice for God. Passing by for a little while the things in the holy place, we find that there was another partition which separated the holy place from the most holy, and called the vail. This was also made of the same material as the door, the significance of which material has been noted in article 6. The ministrations in both these places were conducted at different times, and only on a certain day in the year was the high priest alone permitted to enter into the most holy, beyond the vail. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy-seat, which is upon the ark.” Lev. 16:2. But, thanks be to God! there is no need of a vail to-day between God and his people, and the lesson taught there has done its work most effectively upon the heart of every priest of God. When Jesus was on the cross, while the sun hid its face in sympathy with its Creator, frowning upon the wicked deed done by the persecutors, the vail of the temple was rent from top to bottom; and ever since that time no temple on earth has been rebuilt, and consequently no part of the ministration of God8has ever been hid from the view of the Christian. The vail was another of God’s reminders to teach men that Jesus is the way to God. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh.” Heb. 10:19, 20. Nor was this designed for one class only; but that all might be led to God. “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us.” Eph. 2:14. How great is his love to take in all classes; so that in him there is neither Jew nor Gentile, bond nor free, male nor female; but ONE in Christ Jesus! The Jews still have the vail over their faces, because they do not see how it has been taken away; but the child of God sees clearly, without any object to dim the full light of the glory of God. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor. 3:18. And this is accomplished by God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shining into our hearts, to give to us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Chapter 4:6. What is there good that is not found in Jesus? God has removed every obscurity which tended to darken the mind, and has now allowed us to behold him as he is in all his glory, through the blessed Jesus. Surely God could do no more for us than he has done. Nor is this all that is taught by the hangings. It is true that Jesus is the door, as well as the way, to lead us to God, but he has given us the privilege of leading others to him, that they too may realize the beauty of the truth. The people received their knowledge of the inner workings and parts of the sanctuary as the priests informed them, thus making them workers together with the Lord. So we also are made co-workers with God, in declaring to the lost world the knowledge of the true God, and his Son Jesus Christ, and what people may find in him when they have been led to him. May we all, dear readers, be workers for him, that we may work together with him.