David Diga Hernandez - How to Enter God's Presence

Before I begin with the lesson, I want to say very briefly that this is not the new set; this is just a transition set as we prepare to move to the new studio. Many of you invested in Project DTV, and all the funds have come in. We will be in the new set very soon. As I mentioned, this is just a transitional set for temporary use. It looks like something out of the year 2100; it’s not exactly what we want, but, as I said, this is a transitional set—it’s temporary. We will be in the new one soon.

Now, let’s get right into the lesson. In the Old Testament, the people of God, the Israelites, would have a high priest offer sacrifices to God on their behalf for their sins. This individual was anointed and appointed to enter into what was called the Holy of Holies in the tent of meeting or the tabernacle. There was a certain structure reflective of what God gave to Moses; Moses actually saw the structure in heaven. The tent of meeting and the tabernacle are actual replicas of a structure that exists in the heavenly realm.

When God gave this to Moses, He provided very specific instructions on how to build it. To simplify, there is a lot to this— in fact, I could do a whole series on the tabernacle—but I want to briefly simplify this concept for you. There was the outer court, the inner court, and the most holy place, or the Holy of Holies. Each different aspect of the tabernacle served different purposes, but the most important place in that structure was the Holy of Holies. This is where the glory of God physically dwelt with the people.

In the Book of Leviticus, chapter 16, verses 1 and 2, we read: «The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who died after they entered the Lord’s presence and burned the wrong fire before Him.» By the way, Nadab and Abihu were destroyed because they offered strange fire before the Lord; they offered fire that was man-made instead of the fire that came from heaven. In verse 2, «The Lord said to Moses, 'Warn your brother Aaron not to enter the most holy place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses. If he does, he will die.'» In other words, he can’t just enter and exit at will—there’s a process to this.

The Ark’s cover, the place of atonement, is there, and read this—this is amazing: «I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover.» Leviticus, chapter 16, verse 17, says, «No one else is allowed inside the tabernacle when Aaron enters it for the purification ceremony in the most holy place. No one may enter until he comes out again after purifying himself, his family, and all the congregation of Israel, making them right with the Lord.»

So, Aaron and, later, other high priests would serve as mediators between the people of Israel and God. They would enter into the most holy place and go about the appropriate procedures that God had described in the Book of Leviticus to bring about the forgiveness of sins. However, this was only temporary. You notice here that there’s a structure; you notice here that there’s a system—entering into the presence of God at this time. In fact, God took this so seriously that people who did not reverence His presence in the Old Testament were killed.

1 Samuel, chapter 6, verse 19, says, «But the Lord killed 70 men from Beth Shemesh because they looked into the ark of the Lord.» The people mourned greatly because of what the Lord had done. Now think about this: just by looking at it, just looking into it, they were destroyed. Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments made of fir wood, with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. But when they came to the threshing floor of Nachon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it—in other words, the ark was almost knocked over. He reached out his hand to catch it.

In verse 7, «The anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence, and he died there by the Ark of God.» Imagine this: everyone is worshiping, they’re celebrating, they’re enjoying the presence of God when, all of a sudden, a man drops dead before them simply because he was irreverent toward God’s presence. That’s how serious this was. God was very strict about who could enter and who could not. When Moses would go to the mountaintop, the people would stay at the bottom, trembling in fear. Moses would talk to God on that mountain, and he had fellowship with Him, but others had to stay behind.

Now I want you to consider just how serious this situation was; this was the very glory of God. However, we know that this is an Old Testament idea, this is an Old Testament concept about how the people approach the presence of God. Now, before the Holy of Holies was a curtain or a veil; no one was allowed to go behind that curtain without first going through the system, without first going through the proper procedures. It was a very meticulous set of rules that they had to follow.

Now that veil, that curtain, represented the separation between God and man. Only certain people could enter; only the mediator could do certain things. But in Mark, chapter 15, verses 33 through 38—and this is the crucifixion narrative—we see something very powerful. Let’s read it: from the sixth hour until…