Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Pastor Heather…
Good morning. Welcome to morning prayer. I’m Heather Sibinski and I’m one of the pastors here at Living Word.
The theme today is the holy of holies…
I wanted to share something and then I really want to go back into this flow of worship. Because I do feel Goke is trying to take us somewhere today. And he and I didn’t talk about what we were going to talk about, but what I felt led to share today was about the Holy of Holies. And this is right where his worship is driving into that same theme today. So we know that’s the Holy Spirit.
The Wall is the closest they can get to the holy of holies…
I’ve shared a couple times already recently that I went to Israel the beginning of this month. And I had the honor of being able to go into Jerusalem, up to the Western Wall and pray. And as I was standing there, I’m looking around and watching all these really devout Jews. And they have their Torahs out. And they’re bowing and they’re praying. They won’t turn their backs to the wall. They back up when they’re done praying. They back away from the Wall because there’s such honor there. And people are writing prayers and sticking them in the cracks of the Wall. And some of you know this tradition. And some of you are watching and you don’t. To them, that Wall represents the closest they can get to what was the Holy of Holies. The Temple of Solomon. then the temple that Herod built, the one that Jesus went to. So that represents how close they can get to what used to be the Holy of Holies, the temple where they would go to worship.
Symbolism in the ritual of the holy of holies…
And so I wanted to read a couple things about the Holy of Holies because there’s so much symbolism to what that was in the Old Testament, to what Jesus fulfilled in the New Testament. So it’s really important for us as Christians to see those parallels.
In the Old Testament, only the High Priest was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies, doing so exclusively once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. And he would enter the inner most sanctum to sprinkle sacrificial blood on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant to atone for the sins of Israel.
Ritual of the high priest in the holy of holies…
So the high priest would have to wear special white linen garments rather than his usual ornate, priestly garments. He had to bathe and he had to offer a sin offering for himself first. The structure was a thick, heavy veil separated the holy place, from the inner chamber which was the Holy of Holies. And that housed the Arc of the Covenant, the Torah, and Aaron’s rod that budded.
The danger of approaching irreverently…
It represents the direct dwelling place of God’s presence. The strict regulations emphasized the holiness of God and the danger of approaching Him irreverently. The high priest’s entry was a temporary ritualistic act contrasted with the ultimate permanent atonement that Jesus made for us.
Sprinkling blood on the mercy seat…
So when he went in, like I said, what he would do is he would make atonement for the sins of Israel. They would sacrifice a bull for his own sins and his household. Then he would take incense. We were just talking about that. So that the cloud covered the mercy seat, symbolizing God’s presence. Then he would sprinkle blood on and before the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. And then he would present the blood of a goat for the sins of the people, sending the scapegoat into the wilderness to carry the sins of Israel.
Jesus went into the heavenly holy of holies—once and for all…
Obviously, we know that Jesus went into the most holy place once and for all by His own blood. When Jesus died, we know that that veil was torn, that separated us from that place of the Holy of Holies symbolizing that access to God was now open.
So think about that…
In the Old Testament, the Jewish men were required to go to the temple three times a year for the major pilgrimage festivals. And these were called the three pilgrimage feasts. All adult Israelite males were required to appear before the Lord. Women and families often went as well. But the men were required to go.
This is why Jerusalem was so crowded when Jesus was crucified, because it was Passover.
These feasts served as purposes for worship and sacrifice, unity for Israel, remembering God’s acts of salvation, and offering thanksgiving for harvest.
We can come into His presence whenever we want…
So real quick, I’m going to tell you the three feasts. And why am I saying this? Because we can go into the Holy of Holies, the presence of God, whenever we want. And I want you to think… First, it was just the high priest; one time a year. That was it. And then I want you to think of the Jews and all over Israel and maybe even beyond had to make this pilgrimage three times a year. We can come before His presence whenever we want. We don’t have to walk anywhere. We don’t have to go anywhere. We can. But we don’t have to.
And I think it is so important for us to just reverence that and realize how much we can take that for granted and how important it is to just reverence that and to recognize the privilege that it is to be able to do.
Feast of Passover…
So the Jews would go for Passover. And we all know the story of Passover. If you don’t, take time to look it up and read it. It’s beautiful. And obviously it symbolizes Jesus. They had to put the blood on their mantle to keep them safe. And Jesus is our Passover Lamb. And He died on the Passover, once and for all. Our Passover Lamb!
Feast of Pentecost…
And then they would go on Pentecost, which was their harvest. This was 50 days after Passover, and it celebrated the first fruits of the harvest. And we all know what happened on Pentecost. On Pentecost, that’s when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the believers and the tongues of fire over each one of them. When the children of Israel were coming out of Egypt, He would lead them by a cloud by day and by fire by night. And now you see these individual little fires. We each get our own little fire of the Holy Spirit that guides us, that lives inside of us. So the symbolism of that, right?
Feast of Tabernacles…
And then the last time they had to go was Tabernacles, which is a feast. That represents God dwelling within us. Tabernacles. The people lived in temporary shelters to remember His presence, to remember how He was with them. And, obviously, Jesus stood during this festival and invited people to come to Him for living water. Ultimately, points to the future when God dwells with His people forever.
Jesus became our sacrificial Passover Lamb…
So think of just the beauty of all that symbolism, all the sacrifices that had to be made, the animals that had to be killed. And the pilgrimage and everything they had to go through just to come and to watch one man go into the Holy of Holies for them. They couldn’t go. One man. The high priest could go. And Jesus went and became that sacrifice so that we could go into that holy of holies. We could go into the presence of God. That veil was torn and made a way for us.
Aanticipation of going to Jerusalem…
When we were in Israel, it took us about two and a half hours on a bus to drive from the Sea of Galilee. And you think that’s kind of where Jesus did most of His ministry was around the Sea of Galilee to Jerusalem. Two and a half hours. As I’m sitting on that bus, I was like, “This is a very long trip.” Can you imagine doing it by foot or doing it on a donkey or how a camel, however, they got there in those days. Can you imagine taking your whole family and being like, “Here we go.” And I just think of like the excitement and the anticipation of coming to Jerusalem. The holiness of that moment. And I imagine Jewish families telling their kids, “This is why we’re doing this. This is why we’re going.” And telling those stories as they travel about those feasts and God’s goodness.
So if they were walking, it would probably take them about three to four days by foot. And they would usually travel about 15 to 20 miles a day.
Ascending up to Jerusalem…
And the last part, of course, of the journey was the dramatic ascent from Jericho up to Jerusalem. And we all know the story about Jericho, too, right? How those walls fell. So Jericho is about 850 feet below sea level. And Jerusalem is about 2,500 feet above sea level. So you always go up to Jerusalem. You always ascend. Just like when we go into His presence, right? We are ascending up into the Holy of Holies.
Keep all that in mind while you worship…
So if we could, keeping this in mind, keeping the privilege that we have to be right now in the presence of God, that He wants to be with us, that He paid such a price so that we could be in His presence, that we could experience being in the Holy of Holies. We are that temple now, that He dwells in. And we can be in His presence anytime.
It is a privilege to come into His presence…
So let’s go back into worship. And I just want you to think of that: think of the privilege it is to come into the presence, into the Holy of Holies. And when I was standing there at the Western Wall, I was watching and I put my hand on that wall. And I said, “I thank you, Father, for the Shekinah glory at Living Word Christian Center.” That was my prayer. That that glory, that presence that dwelled in the Holy of Holies, that it comes here in a way that’s so powerful that we can all experience that tangible presence of God.
But it takes a washing of our hearts, a cleansing of our minds, putting on those white garments like the priests did. And we’re righteous because of what Jesus did. And so we just receive that washing now… that washing of the blood of Jesus that cleanses our hearts, that renews our minds.
Prayed…
And we welcome your presence, Father, and we thank you that we can come into your presence at any time.
Because of what Jesus did for us.
And so now we do that, Father.
We come into your presence with thanksgiving and praise for all that you’ve done.
And we welcome you.
Let this be our holy of holies—our hearts, our temples, our spirits is your dwelling place.
Thank you that you chose us to be your dwelling place, your holy of holies.
And so now we ascend into your presence.
We make that ascent now into your presence.
