Temple Veil Rent in Twain
By Robert Garner
Rutherford County
Imagine three hours of darkness over all the land [earth-G1093] as an earthquake broke up the ground and fragmented the rocks. The graves were opened and bodies arose. Our glorious Savior of mankind, Jesus Christ the LORD, on the cross of crucifixion, cried with a loud voice to His Father in heaven. The Holy Spirit departed from Jesus as he “yielded up the ghost, and behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom”, Mathew. 27:50, 51.
Jerusalem where the temple is located was known as the holy city. The temple contained the ark of the testimony, a wooden chest which contained the tablets of stone on which were written the Ten Commandments. The temple symbolized the Old Testament ceremonial laws which were observed by the congregations of Israel. Exodus 24:12,” and the LORD said unto Moses, come up to me in the mount [mountain], and be there: and I will give thee tablets of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.”
The temple building which contained the ark represented God Almighty. At the entrance to the temple was a veil [curtain] separating the court from the holy place. For ease of clarification let’s call this vail curtain #1. A second veil curtain #2, separated the Holy place from what was known as the “Holy of Holies”. Through the veil of curtain # 2 was the Holy of Holies; the most holy place in the temple where the ark was located covered by the mercy seat. Only a high priest could enter through the veil into the “Holy of Holies” once a year to make an atonement (to cover, pardon for obtaining forgiveness of sin).
The high priest would sprinkle the blood of a lamb on the mercy seat of the ark. The blood represented Christ’s blood of being washed from our sins. Revelation 1:5, “and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.”
When the Holy Spirit departed from Jesus, God ripped the veil from top to bottom exposing the most holy place, the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies suddenly became a place that was no longer holy. That act by God of tearing the veil in twain opened the fellowship of God to anyone seeking his redemption and forgiveness of sin. The priestly duties in the temple ended forever. A priest was no longer needed to worship God Almighty. The death of Christ put an end to all of National Israel’s ceremonial laws. The temple was no longer a holy building, Jerusalem was no longer the holy city. The era of National Israel ended as God’s official representation of the Kingdom of God on earth.
Symbolically equal to the space within the veil, the Holy of Holies, embodies heaven as the house of God. Also, figuratively the body of Christ “through the veil” is figuratively Christ’s flesh. Hebrews 10:20, “by a new and living way, which he [Christ] hath consecrated [to renew- dedicate] for us, through the veil, that is to say his flesh.”
The coming of Christ Jesus began the development of the Christian church congregations. When Christ Jesus was crucified, and the veil was rent in two, the world entered into the era of the New Testament church age.
The Comforter is God the Holy Spirit which departed from Christ “when he yielded up the Ghost”. After Christ had risen from the dead, before returning to his Father in heaven Christ speaks to his apostles in John 16:7 & 8; “Nevertheless I tell you a truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you.; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”
At Pentecost in 33 A.D., 3000 souls were saved from eighteen different nations. Those saved individuals went back to their fatherlands and started the New Testament Christian Church of God. They were no longer identified with the temple in Jerusalem or the synagogues.
The church of the living God, all of those washed by the blood of Christ, Jews and Gentiles, people out of every nation, kindred, and tongue, are those identified with the Jerusalem above. Galatians 4:26 “but the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” The new holy city coming down from God is spiritually constructed with living stones (1 Peter 2:4) chosen by God and are precious. Revelations 21:1, 2, “and I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride for her husband.”
In times past, Christ was hidden behind the veil written on tablets of stone, worshiped by ceremonial laws. Now the salvation of Jesus Christ is written on the fleshy tables of the heart. 2 Corinthians 3:3.
Happy Easter to all my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus; Yes, He Has Risen!
Your comments are always appreciated. Contact email; valleygravel@outlook.com
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Robert W. Garner and his wife live in Union Mills, Rutherford County, NC. He’s a Christian Bible study researcher/writer/coach allied with other Biblical Scripture investigators unaffiliated with any church denominations. Their Scripture research spans 600 years of Christian Bible languages which include English, Hebrew, and Greek. As God Almighty commands in 1 Corinthians 2:13 we search the scriptures; “not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but what the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual with spiritual”; which is a scripture with scripture.
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