No Black Out Dates
and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.” Leviticus 16:2 csb
It amazes me that people spend thousands of dollars on Disneyland passes, yet are still blocked out during certain times of the year. Perhaps you are one of those people, and this is in no way a slight against you, but rather a reflection on the park. I’m sure they have their reasons high volume, parking limitations, staffing, and so on.
In Leviticus, God tells Moses that there was only a specific time when Aaron, the high priest, could enter the Holy of Holies the dwelling place of the Ark of the Covenant. Even though he was the high priest, anointed and ordained, he couldn’t just come in whenever he wanted. The day he could enter was only once a year, called the Day of Atonement, or the Day of Covering, what we know as Yom Kippur. On that high holy day, Aaron would make atonement for the sins of the nation.
Aaron and the people had to wait an entire year to have the nation’s sins atoned for. That’s a long time, a long season of anticipation for something so important. But in the Gospels, we are told that when Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple—the thick curtain that separated the priests and the people from God’s presence was torn from top to bottom. Jesus atoned for mankind once and for all. Because of that, we no longer have to wait a whole year to seek covering for our sins and failures.
Hebrews 4:16 tells us that we can now come boldly to the throne of grace at any time. There are no blackout dates. We don’t have to wait for a specific time of year. Because of Jesus’ work on the cross at Calvary, access is always open. What a relief it is to know that every day God is ready and waiting to pour out His mercy (Lamentations 3:22–23). There is no reason to delay seeking forgiveness. The Lord Jesus is ready without hindrance, to provide covering.
Agape,
Frank
