SHADOWS OF GREAT THINGS TO COME

(Post by: Michelle Hobbs – Blogmas Day Twenty-Nine 2023)

I am writing this blog post a few days after Christmas. That time between Christmas and New Year’s when you are not quite sure what to do with yourself. If your house is like ours, there are the straggling, opened gifts, still in the living room that people haven’t wanted to put away just yet. The unused wrapping paper rolls and the empty gift bags and boxes clutter the garage while waiting to be taken to the attic. The decorations are still up, but they feel a bit sad now, knowing that their big day is over.

There is leftover joy from Christmas Day and an anticipation of a fresh new year, but there is a feeling of melancholy in the air, as well.

I am trying to channel that feeling into a remembrance of the day all of creation was waiting for, the ultimate Day of Atonement, and a longing for the day I will meet Jesus face to face, and all will be made right.

As I was doing my daily Bible reading this morning, my bookmark was in Leviticus 16, The Day of Atonement. In Old Testament times, The Day of Atonement occurred on the tenth day of the seventh month (Leviticus 16: 29:30). On this special day, the High Priest of the Israelites would put on sacred garments and enter the Most Holy Place to make an atoning sacrifice for all of Israel. Leviticus 16:30, “on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sin.”

Remember, the Israelites not only made sacrifices on this Day of Atonement once a year, but they had to offer sacrifices daily to make amends for their sin. There were very specific rules regarding how this was to be done, and very serious consequences when those rules were not followed.

In fact, Leviticus 16 begins with a warning. Verse 2 states, “The LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.””

Just prior to this, Aaron’s two oldest sons died when they approached the LORD in a manner that was outside the law. “Nadab and Abihu, however, fell dead before the LORD when they made an offering of unauthorized fire before Him in the Desert of Sinai.” (Numbers 3:4)  You can read another post we have regarding this topic HERE.

Can you even imagine living under this system of sacrifice? I would have been scared to move! Have no doubt the Israelites knew the Sovereignty of God and took it quite seriously. A sentiment that we should have more of today.

But God, ultimately had a better plan; the very best plan possible!

The Old Testament sacrifices enabled our righteous God to dwell with an unrighteous people. Those sacrifices pointed to the cross. To the offeror, the sacrifices were a confession of his deserving death and the expression of his faith. To God, they were an atonement, a temporary covering for sin.

Those sacrifices were shadows of great things that were to come, of which Christ is the culmination!

With sin, there must come consequences: pain, toil, separation, and death. “The gospel is bad news before it is good news.” (F. Buechner) It is the bad news that we are all sinners. We have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The good news is that without being shown the darkness, we would not understand the need for light.

Friends, Christ’s ultimate sacrifice of Himself on the cross, put an end to the need for the daily sacrifices of the Israelites. He was the ultimate sacrifice of atonement which made full and complete redemption for us with God. The veil that separated us from God was torn. We can now approach His throne with boldness, and we are assured that we will find mercy and help there (Hebrews 4:16).

All you and I have to do to receive this atonement is to confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10: 9). Allow Jesus to be the Lord of your life!

No longer do we need to be afraid to move for fear of breaking God’s law. We do need to remember, though, that He is still a righteous and sovereign God, and we cannot approach Him however and whenever we choose, unless we have the covering of Christ.

So, in this time between Christmas and New Year’s Day, continue your celebration of Christ’s birth. Contemplate the old system of sacrifice, and the amazing fact that Jesus was born to be the ultimate atonement for our sin. Foster gratitude within your heart for Christ’s death, thanking God that we can have a relationship with Him if we are covered by His blood. Revel in the anticipation of the day you will see Him face to face and all will be made perfect.