"Holy" (Ch. 12) & "A Meal with God" (Ch. 13)

Created to Draw Near: Our Life as God’s Royal Priests

by Edward T. Welch

 

“Holy” (Chapter 12)

 

Set Apart

• “Holy” found everywhere in conjunction with priests of God.
• Holy days, places, objects, and people
• Set apart by the Lord and for the Lord

God’s Classification System

 

Leviticus 10:10 NIV

¹⁰ so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean,

• Holy
• Common
  • Clean
  • Unclean

 

An Orderly Universe

• Separated light from darkness
• Separated water from water to form the sky
• Separated water from land

A Holy Nation

• Separated types of seed in fields
• Separated kinds of fabric from garments
• Separated clean and unclean foods

“These unusual expressions of distinctions and order were a bridge to the deeper order in which God’s people were to belong to him and separate themselves from sin. Sin is an alien kind that should not mix with those created in God’s image.” - Edward Welch

“Death, too, sin’s constant companion, is alien to the God of life, so we are not surprised that priestly laws contained taboos against anything that had ties to death.” - Edward Welch

The Clean and Unclean

• Clean - welcomed and could draw near
  • Free to worship at the temple gates and enter the courtyard
  • Included in the community
• Unclean - unwelcome and remain far away
  • The unclean were farther from God and closer in proximity to death.
  • Excluded from the community

“The unclean person’s only hope was that God would do something to redeem him or her from uncleanness, and he did. The entire sacrificial system was intended to point the way from death toward the life giver himself. The unclean were purified or cleansed.” - Edward Welch

The Holy

• Near to God
• Set apart from the rest of creation
• Honorable because the Lord brings them near to himself

From Unclean to Holy

• Since the Fall, God is reclaiming the unclean and making them clean and holy.
• Consecration, Sanctification
• Sacrifice was the way to cleanse and make holy.

 “The purpose of humanity is to be brought near to God as a holy people.” - Edward Welch

• Left to ourselves, we are unclean.
• Sin and death (sin’s colleague) are our problem.
• God has made a way for forgiveness of sins through sacrifice.
• His mission is to draw us close to himself and give life.
• He takes the unclean and makes them clean.
• He takes the clean and makes them holy.

“A Meal with God” (Chapter 13)

“You know that God has accepted you when he invites you to a meal.” - Edward Welch

Exodus 24:9–11 NIV

⁹ Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up ¹⁰ and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. ¹¹ But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.

 

One Way, His Way

• It is by grace that we draw near to God.
• It is by God’s word and command that we draw near his way.

Divine Hospitality

• The feet of God - a partial view of God’s presence
• A covenantal meal, prepared by God

​“‘Come, live under my protection, enjoy a meal with me; it is my honor to treat you; let’s talk.’ That’s the gist of the Lord’s Table. It gets to the heart of priestly privileges and pleasures, and it is a recurring event where heaven and earth meet.” - Edward Welch

First of Many Meals

• Priests shared a meal from the sacrifices presented to the Lord.
• People who brought a peace offering shared in a meal with the Lord from that offering.
• Those who remained faithful to the Lord received an invitation to a soul-satisfying and free banquet (Isa. 55:1–6).
• Jesus himself gathered the most unlikely and unworthy to eat with him.

Mt. Sinai, the Tabernacle, and the Lord’s Presence

• Mt. Sinai was like a vertical tabernacle.
• The people were at the base in the outer courtyard - they saw the cloud of God’s glory.
• The elders were invited farther up into the inner courtyard - they saw the Lord’s “feet.”
• Moses was invited up to the summit to the Most Holy Place - He would later see God’s “back.”

What about Us?

• We have the coming of Jesus who revealed the Father to us.
• But there is even more to come.

1 Corinthians 13:12 NIV

¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.