God who dwells in the sanctuary
Psa
15:1
LORD,
who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?
When
the psalmist asked this question, he was assuming something that was
taken for granted: that God dwelt in the temple in Jerusalem.
In Ex 25:8, speaking of the Tabernacle, the forerunner to the Temple,
the Lord said, “have them make a sanctuary
for me, and I will dwell among them.”
Thus the Tabernacle became referred to as ‘the sanctuary'. When Solomon
eventually built the Temple
we find, “He partitioned off twenty cubits
at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling
to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most
Holy Place.”
(1 Kings 6:16) Thus the Most Holy Place (or ‘Holy of Holies' in older
versions) became the innermost place of the Temple referred to as
a sanctuary.
So
what is a ‘sanctuary'? Well do you notice the similarity to the word
sanctify which means to set apart. A sanctuary is a place set
apart for refuge, almost a hiding place. There is this sense to it
– a place where God comes to dwell among men and women but is yet
hidden away, a place where you have to go to seek Him out. Again and
again in Scripture there is this sense of God being hidden away because
of His holiness. Thus this ‘Most Holy
Place', the innermost part of the Temple,
was special and “only
the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year,
and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the
sins the people had committed in ignorance.”
(Heb 9:7) For most of the time the Jews simply referred to the whole
of the Temple
as ‘the sanctuary'.
But
notice also the reference to God's holy hill. Yes, Jerusalem
was sited on a number of hills and the
Temple was
located on one of them. A hill is a distinct prominence, a feature
that stands out, a feature that requires effort to be climbed. Often
in Scripture there is reference to the mountain of the Lord (usually
Sinai) and the picture is of ‘going up' to the Lord, a symbolic picture
of God being higher and separated off from the ordinary day to day
life. The Temple
is on a holy hill, a hill that is separated off for the purposes of
God. We saw previously in Psa 2:6 “I have
installed my King on Zion,
my holy hill.”
God's dwelling place on earth was in an elevated location that required
effort to get to.
Thus
David asks the question, who is worthy to live in the holy Temple
on this holy hill? He then goes on to
give a list of requirements of righteous behaviour that would be required
of such a person. Yes, it was moral behaviour that gave access to
God. The list of things that follow in the psalm are indeed a good
list to attain to, but what about when we fail? This is where Scripture
needs to be read as a whole. Failure was an accepted part of the life
of Israel,
and God provided for that by the sacrificial system. To approach God
you had to come with a sacrifice that was given, first as means of
your sin being transferred to it and to be carried into death (sin
offerings), and then as a sign of your desire for friendship with
the holy God (fellowship offerings).
When
Jesus died on the Cross at Calvary,
something particularly significant happened: “At
that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to
bottom.”
(Mt 27:51). That immensely thick curtain that separated off God's
refuge from His people, was divinely split (it was too thick to be
done by a man). Suddenly the way is open into God's presence because
Jesus has dealt with all causes of separation from Him in us. No longer
do we have to strive to achieve worthiness to come to God, no longer
do we have to appease with sacrifices. The sanctuary is opened to
us by Jesus. Hallelujah!
Response:
Thank the Lord that He has made an open access to Himself
for you. It simply requires you to turn towards Him and seek Him in
prayer, and instantly, whether we are aware of it or not, we have
His attention.