THE REVELATION OF AN OT MYSTERY WHICH HAS LIBERATED ME

The message of the Hebrew Scriptures was shrouded in mystery, like clouds that hide the sun. It therefore became the role of the New Testament to reveal what had remained hidden in the Old:

·       When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit…to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:4-5, 8-10 ESV)

Even the Hebrew Scriptures testify to the fact that God has His secrets (Deuteronomy 29:29). To emphasize this fact, God had placed one object in the Holy of Holies that even the High Priest would be struck dead if he looked upon it. Only on one occasion could he enter the Holy of Holies, and that was on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, and only after elaborately sanctifying himself. So that he would not be able to see this forbidden object, the wings of the Cherubim were spread over it, and the High Priest would enter only as billows of blinding smoke arose from his censor:

·       “And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony [the Ten Commandments], so that he does not die.” (Leviticus 16:12-13)

How odd! The “mercy seat,” also called the “atonement cover,” was the place the High Priest would go to request the Lord’s mercy for the children of Israel. It appropriately covered the Ark of the Covenant of the Law, as if to protect Israel from its damning curses (Deuteronomy 27:26; Romans 3:24-26). Why then would the sight of this cover be forbidden with the treat of death? Besides this, there was only one other thing that Israel could not look upon without being struck dead – the face of God – as God had warned Moses, when Moses had requested to see the glory of the Lord:

·       "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live." (Exodus 33:19-20 NKJV)

What did God mean by this? He had revealed that He is a Spirit and, therefore, has no body, and could not be seen anyway (1 Timothy 6:16; John 1:18). At this time, God revealed His nature to Moses. However, He did not reveal His Face. I think that this is because the face generally tells us more about a person than does his foot our leg. Instead, it seems as if God would hide His face to represent that He is hiding His most cherished secret – that He would pay the price for the sins of the world. It was this revelation, not a literal face, which was to be carefully guarded at the threat of death.

Nevertheless, God did reveal Himself in cryptic ways. Psalm 25 assures that to those who fear Him, He will reveal His covenant. However, the Mosaic Covenant had already been revealed to all Israel. Therefore, the Lord must be talking about another covenant, a secret covenant:

·       The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. (Psalm 25:14)

It seems that this must have been the future Messianic Covenant, which had not been as clearly revealed as it is now through the NT. What indication do we have that this Covenant had been kept secret? The Messiah Himself had also been a carefully kept secret as was the Covenant:

·       …The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. (Isaiah 49:1-2; 51:16)

Why would the Messiah, along with the ultimate atonement, remain hidden in the folds of the Hebrew Scriptures? I’d like to suggest that He had to remain hidden so that the Mosaic Covenant wouldn’t be prematurely deprived of its authority. It was under this Covenant that the Temple, the blood offerings, and the Levitical Priesthood had to dominate the Israelite religion until the Cross, the atonement of God. Under this final Covenant, the priests would make atonement for Israel, confessing Israel’s sins upon perfect innocent animals:

·       “He (the High Priest) shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.” (Leviticus 16:32-34; Ezekiel 43:20; 45:20)

Nevertheless, our Lord cryptically revealed to His prophets that something greater would follow (Amos 3:7; Psalm 40; Isaiah 53). GOD HIMSELF WOULD PROVIDE THE ULTIMATE ATONING OFFERING:

·       "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people." (Deuteronomy 32:43 NKJV)

What was the nature of this mysterious offering? Clearly, it wasn’t a matter of another animal. Job had been making many animal sacrifices, but they failed to accomplish God’s purposes. Instead, the prophetic Elihu revealed to Job that a special offering had to be procured through an intermediary:

·       If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him, and he is merciful to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom [a redeeming payment]; let his flesh become fresh with youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’; then man prays to God, and he accepts him... (Job 33:23-26)

Even the righteous Job would require an unspecified ransom, a vicarious atoning payment for his sins. This would be a payment that no man or priest could possibly fulfill:

·       Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit…But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. (Psalm 49:7-9, 15)

Since a priest could never provide such a payment, nor could an animal suffice, God would have to pay the atoning price, as many verses suggest:

·       Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake! (Psalm 79:9; 65:3; 19:14; Hosea 13:14)

This must have been confusing to the average priest, who had been designated to provide the atonement. Why should he provide the atonement if God will provide it? Why should the Mosaic Covenant even be maintained? However, the commands of Moses prevailed. Nevertheless, this Covenant played an indispensable role in God’s worldwide plan of salvation, a red carpet for the coming glory of the promised Messiah:

·       But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:22-24)

The Cross was the culminating glory and revelation of our Lord, an act that proved beyond any doubt that God loves us beyond understanding (Romans 5:8-10; Ephesians 3:16-19):

·       And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:23-24; 13:31)

How can it be that the moment of His greatest disgrace and humiliation could become the very moment of Christ’s glory? This was when He proved His love for me!

I had been suffering from decades of devastating depression and self-loathing. Then panic attacks utterly disabled me. It felt to me as if God hated me. Against my will, it seemed as if He was the greatest deceiver and sadist. Perhaps He created us for His perverse entertainment. How could I prove otherwise? I couldn’t until it became plain that He had really, really, really died for my sins, even when I was His bitter enemy.

This understanding liberated me. I became convinced that He REALLY loves me. A deceiving sadist would never have died for me. I am so grateful that this great mystery has been revealed and that we can now confidently approach our Savior:

·       Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22)