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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for December 8, 2010
“A Great Moment of High Drama”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
This is one of my favorite moments of high drama in all the Bible.
Jesus is hanging on the cross, and the end is near.
We pick up the story in Matthew chapter 27. It says that Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and He gave up the ghost. He yielded up His Spirit. He died.
Now listen to verse 51. “Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom…”
Then the story goes on, and it doesn’t say anything more about that dramatic moment. So what’s the big deal? A veil was torn, so what?
First of all, it was a really big veil, more like a curtain. Picture a huge curtain like you might see at a stage play. It was thick and heavy and fancy, and basically permanent; serving more like a wall than a curtain. So now we’ve gone from a little veil that our mothers wore on windy days to a wall of cloth.
The tearing of your typical veil might not be a big deal, but the tearing of a permanent wall? That’s a big deal.
So what was the purpose of the veil? It kept people out of what was called the Most Holy Place in the temple. No one was allowed in there, except the High Priest, and he only one time per year to offer the sacrifice for the sins of the people.
In Leviticus 16 even the High Priest was told not to just go wandering in to the Most Holy Place, “lest he die,” the Lord said, “for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.”
In other words, God is there, so you stay out (except for once a year). And the huge veil was the dividing wall. That’s the way God planned it in the Old Testament, and that’s the way it still was throughout Jesus’ life.
And then Jesus died, and at the same time He died, that cloth wall was torn in two, starting at the top, by the way.
Was it just a coincidence? Was it merely symbolic? Did it serve a practical purpose? The Bible offers no explanation for the tearing of the veil.
However, we can gain insight by studying Hebrews chapters nine and ten. In fact, I recommend you get out your Bible and study Hebrews nine and ten for yourself.
Chapter nine starts by pointing out that God’s first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. In that earthly sanctuary was the Most Holy Place, as we’ve been talking about.
Verse seven points out that the High Priest went behind the veil and entered the Most Holy Place one time per year, and we already know all this, right? But then comes some fresh insight in Hebrews nine verse eight.
It says that the Holy Spirit was trying to show us something. The Holy Spirit was showing us that the way through the veil and into the Most Holy Place was still hidden from us as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning.
What brought about a major malfunction of the old system? The tearing of the veil! It’s hard to have a secret Most Holy Place without the veil that blocks it off. So when Jesus died, and the veil was torn, it was the end of their current practices, at least until they could repair or replace the veil.
But in reality, it really was the final end of that old way of dealing with God. The death of Jesus and the tearing of the veil marked the end of the old covenant with God and the beginning of the new covenant.
Jesus put an end to the old sacrificial system by becoming the final, perfect sacrifice. He entered the real Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, it says in Hebrews 9:12, and obtained eternal redemption; not annual or periodic redemption, but eternal redemption.
Verse 15 says Christ is the mediator of a new covenant! Verse 28 says Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.
Hebrews 10:10 says that we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Now listen to what verses 19 through 22 say, and keep in mind that old veil that blocked us out of the Most Holy Place in the temple. They say that we now have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place ourselves, by the blood of Jesus, our great high priest! A new and living way has been opened up for us, and we can now come close to God!
Here is a word for you: access. Through Jesus Christ, we now have access to God the Father! Look at Ephesians 2:18, which literally says that. Through Jesus and by the Spirit we have access to the Father.
Ephesians 3:12 says that through Christ Jesus our Lord we have access to God and may approach Him with freedom and confidence.
Hebrews 4:16 says we can come boldly before God’s throne of grace!
And how do we do that? By calling out to Him. By drawing near to Him in prayer and worship and praise and thanksgiving. God is Spirit, so there is not some physical place you can go to have access to Him; but you can have access to Him anywhere because of the work of Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.
And it’s all symbolized in that great moment of high drama that took place when Jesus died on the cross – when that massive temple veil was torn completely in two.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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