“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
-2 Corinthians 3:17
Through the breach of one man freedom became accessible to humanity. It wasn’t always like this. There was a time when it was unsafe for man to enter into the freeing presence of God. In His great kindness God wrapped Himself in darkness so that mankind may encounter His person. We see this in the Hebrew nation’s first true encounter with the living God, and again with the establishment of the Law.
“The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.”
-Exodus 20:21
“These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.”
-Deuteronomy 5:22 (see also Deut 4:11, Deut 5:23)
God clothed himself in darkness so that His presence could be experienced without the consequences of death. His demands of Holiness in old times were a calling of closer proximity to himself. “Be holy as I am holy” (Lev 19:2) is not only a call to be like God, but also an invitation into his presence. But since His presence is absolutely holy and mankind is absolutely sinful, death was the only means into encounter. This is where sacrifices played their role in human history.
Most early cultures embraced animal sacrifice (death) to be accepted by God. We see the earliest example in Genesis with Cain and Abel. Now much like Cain, most people want to find acceptance their own way, and so they created their own gods…and with them their own rituals of sacrifice and worship. This was the great achievement of man…at last mankind could feel accepted by “god” through manufactured religion. So, God in His kindness raised up a people to worship Him the way He desired as an example to all nations. He would not settle to be a distant or complacent God.
Listen to this verse from David:
“He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
He rode on a cherub and flew;
he was seen on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness around him his canopy,
thick clouds a gathering of water.”
-2 Samuel 22:10-12 (see also Psalms 18:9-11, Psalms 97:2)
Now this problem remains: God wanted to be completely Himself AND be with mankind. And as time progressed, the nation that God had formed had moved from the base of the mountain (where God dwelled) to new places; closer and closer to the land of promise. So again, God in his kindness wrapped himself up and traveled in a tent with His people. This mobile tent was called a “Tabernacle” (meaning quite simply, “a movable habitation”). Hundreds of years later in the promised land, Solomon, the son of David, built a more permanent structure for God to dwell in. This dwelling was known as Solomon’s Temple, considered one of the wonders of the ancient world.
Listen to this inauguration of the Temple:
“Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.”
-1 Kings 8:12 (see also 2 Chronicles 6:1)
So, God yet again in His kindness enfolds Himself in cloud and descends into a small itty bitty living space called the “Holy of Holies.” Would this be the place where God could be close with mankind? Would this be a safe space where man could encounter God? Sadly, even here death would consume a priest who was not found righteous before God’s perfect and holy presence. From the beginning in a garden with Adam and Eve, at the base of the mountain with His people, even in the encounters of His prophets, God’s presence has been associated with great terror and death. He never wanted it that way. God wanted to be completely himself AND be with mankind…he wanted an end to separation and death…He desires freedom for all His creation.
And the heart of God longs to be completely himself and be with you.
So He made a way…
Mudpies & innocent bystanders 