Take Me In

My heart has been heavy all day. Good stuff, just weighty.

This past week, I have been studying the Tabernacle with my kids. I've studied the Tabernacle several times throughout highschool and college. In 7th grade at HCA, I had to make a Tabernacle (with the help of my daddy). My junior year of college while studying Hebrews with some girls, I once again did an indepth look at the Tabernacle. I have heard countless talks and songs about the Tabernacle. I can tell you all about the pieces of furniture, exactly where everything was located, what the furnishings were made of, the types of fabrics they used, etc.

But today as I explained the connection between the OT and NT to my precious 8 year old children, it really hit me. What would it have been like to be an Israelite thousands of years ago? To have been slaves in Egypt for 400 years and watch God miraclousy free you. To be caught in a terrible cycle of sin and regret. To sacrifice animals for your sins, yet it never really clear your conscience. To not be allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, but to have to send the High Priest in for you. To sit outside the Tabernacle, hoping forgiveness would come. Hoping your offering would be pleasing to God. Hoping it would be enough.

Sacrifice after sacrifice, day after day, year after year...it was never enough. The law required blood, because blood signified death. And death showed that some price had been paid for the sin. I can't imagine the remorse, the guilt, and helplessness they must have felt as they wandered and hoped that a better way would come. A more reliable attonement. A true forgiveness.

I closed out the lesson by playing the song "Take Me In" It is one I have heard over and over again, and often skip when playing my AD album. But today tears were brought to my eyes, as I sang the simple lyrics with my kids:

Take me into the holy of holies
Take me in by the blood of the lamb
Take me into the holy of holies
Take the coal, touch my lips, here I am

Take me past all the people, past the altars, even past the priests. I want rightousness. I want God's presence. I stand in awe of a God who provided a better way. A better sacrfice. A better Savior. Hallelujah!