A twice-daily sacrifice. For generations. Sacrifice required. A LAMB, one year old: sacrificed so that the Lord could meet with His people. And He promised to meet and speak to them there…but only after a sacrifice.

Exodus 29 details the instructions: 

“Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year-old day by day regularly.” (v. 38) 

“It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.” (v. 42)

But then Jesus came and changed everything. 

Jesus: THE LAMB. 

Not for a special day or some other consecration (like a bull or ram) but a LAMB for the daily consecration that brought relationship.

When John the Baptist saw Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God”, do you think perhaps he referred to this sacrifice?

No sacrifice was needed after the LAMB of GOD gave His life and then was resurrected.

No more sacrifices needed.

Which made me realize what a big deal it must have been for the new believers in Jesus’ day to say that He was the final sacrifice.

No more sacrifice jobs for the priests, no more “free” portions for them to eat. No more “safety net” of a sacrificial animal for their sins.

What were they to do with all that extra time?

And what of the curtain in the temple that ripped from top to bottom when Jesus gave up His spirit on the cross? Did the priests frantically tack it back together to “put God back in His place”?

God moved closer and humanity struggled to push it all back to comfortable separation.

Like the Israelites begging for slavery again instead of freedom. (Exodus 14)

Or begging Moses to speak to God and not them because they were terrified. (Exodus 20)

Or the people begging Jesus to leave after He healed the demon-possessed man. (Mark 5)

God wanting to reach out and touch His creation and yet His creation cringes and backs away.

How might these stories have changed if, in each case, His creation leaned in toward God when He reached out for them?

And what about me? 

Is there a place in my life where I am tacking the curtain back together, keeping God a safe distance away? Am I afraid of the changes I perceive I’ll have to make if God has free reign in me? If I see Him “face-to-face” rather than only through a guided Bible Study or a movie or a friend or a sermon?

What would happen in my own life if I quit cringing when God reaches out to me? 

What about you?