Safe Access to God’s Glory in the Old Testament

Lutheran Life Lectures
Concordia Theological Seminary
St Catharines, Canada, 15-16 February, 1998

A.	CLOUDED GLORY

1.	Our legacy of glory from Israel in Romans 9:4

a.	Glory as the manifestation of God’s gracious presence

b.	Glory of pagan gods revealed through their idols

c.	The Lord’s glory as his gracious hidden presence

d.	Pagan taunt: ‘Where is your god?’

2.	The gift of God’s presence in Exodus

a.	Appearance of the glory cloud in Ex 13:21-22
•	The presence of the Lord with his people
•	The use of the glory cloud to both conceal and reveal his presence
•	The cloud as light to God’s people and darkness to his enemies (14:20).

b.	Settlement of the glory cloud on Mt Sinai in Ex 19:16-18
•	The division of mountain into three zones like the tabernacle: top, body, foot
•	The voice of God from the cloud which reveals his name and his law
•	The entry of Moses into the cloud to receive instruction for building the tabernacle in 24:15-18.

c.	Location of glory cloud in the tabernacle in Ex 40:34-38
•	The presence of God’s glory in the Holy of Holies
•	The covering of whole tent with a cloud
•	The tabernacle as a mobile Mt Sinai
•	Later location of glory cloud in Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:10-11)

3.	The tabernacle as God’s earthly residence

a.	Holy of Holies as his private quarters
•	Inaccessible place of absolute darkness
•	Ark with the mercy seat and cherubim as God’s throne
•	Name: ‘dwelling place’ which is translated as ‘tabernacle’

b.	The Holy Place as God’s work place, his office
•	Focus on altar of incense
•	Place for God’s daily meeting with the priests
•	Name: ‘tent of meeting’.

c.	Altar with courtyard as place for public audience
•	Place for presentation of the daily burnt offering
•	Place for meeting with his people

d.	God’s residence with his people as the goal of the exodus. See Ex 29:46: ‘I ... brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them’.

4.	The revelation of God’s glory

a.	Prohibition of idols as the means of access to God’s glory (Ex 20:4-6).

b.	Use of the holy name: Yahweh
•	Gift of his proper name to Moses in Ex 4:13-15
•	This is my name forever,
			       and this is my remembrance for all generations.
•	Gift of access to himself
•	Proper name as means for address of God and proclamation of his presence
•	The revelation of God’s glory through his name in Ex 33:18-34:7
•	Request of Moses for disclosure of God’s glory (33:18)
•	Sight of back rather than face (33:20-23)
•	Proclamation by God of his name for access to his goodness, mercy and grace (33:19; 34:5-7).

c.	Appearance of glory at the altar in Leviticus 9:1-24
•	Disclosure of glory by hole fire from God at the inauguration of the divine service (9:24)
•	Appearance of glory as Moses and Aaron blessed the people (9:23)

d.	Reflection in the face of Moses in Exodus 34:29-35
•	Veiled face in normal life
•	Unveiled face when speaking to God and to the people
•	Glory revealed by speech to the ‘ear’ rather than sight to the eye

5.	God’s hidden glory in Christ

a.	The dwelling of God’s glory in the humanity of Jesus (John 1:14; Col 2:9)

b.	The revelation of God’s glory in the face of Christ (2 Cor 4:6)

c.	The mystery of glory: Christ present among us and in us (Col 1:27).

B.	
STRANGE SERVICE

1.	Introduction

a.	The ‘service’ in Romans 9:4 as part of our legacy from Israel

b.	Origin of Christian term: ‘the divine service’

2.	The Purpose of Pagan Worship

a.	In most pagan religions people were regarded as the ‘slaves’ of their gods.

b.	The people served their gods by supplying for their needs
•	Temples as the palaces of the gods
•	Provision of food and drink with sacrifices
•	Provision of entertainment with incense, music and dance

c.	In return for their services the gods looked after their slaves.

3.	The purpose of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt
		See Ex 4:22-23; cf. 3:12; 7:16; 8:1, 20; 9:1; 10:3.

a.	Service of the Lord as his first born son

b.	The range of the verb ‘to serve’ (‘abad) in Hebrew
•	Cultivate and work the ground
•	Work for father, employer or king
•	Work as a slave for a slave owner
•	Perform prescribed ritual or act of devotion for a deity

c.	Explanation of Israel’s service to God by Moses
•	Going on a pilgrimage to a holy place for a festival (Ex 5:1; 10:9)
•	Presentation of sacrifices for a holy banquet (Ex 3:18; 5:3; cf. 5:8, 17; 8:8, 25-29; 10:25)

d.	Pun: slavery to Pharaoh v service of the Lord

4.	The nature and purpose of Israel’s daily service: see Exodus 29:38-42

a.	Presentation of lamb as the public sacrifice each morning and evening
   	Splashing of blood against the altar before the entry into the holy place for the burning of incense
    	Burning up of the lamb, with its cereal offering as ‘pleasing aroma to the Lord’
         Blessing of the people by the priest (see Lev 9:22-23; Num 5:23-27)
    	Eating of most holy bread by the priests in a holy meal

b.	Unified order with three main parts
•	Introductory rite: disposal of blood before entry into the sanctuary
•	Main rite: burning up of sacrifices on the altar before the meal
•	Concluding rite: provision of a meal for the priests

5.	The purpose of the daily service

a.	The service as a whole.
See Exodus 20:22-24
•	God speaks to his people from heaven at the altar.
•	An altar can only be built where God has revealed himself by name (eg. Gen 12:7; 26:23-25; 35:1).
•	There they can invoke him by name in proclamation and in prayer.
•	There he comes to them via the sacrificial ritual rather than through an idol.
•	There he grants them the blessings listed in Leviticus 26:3-13
•	Rain and good harvests
•	Security and victory
•	Fertility and affluence
•	God’s gracious presence and ready availability.

b.	The main parts of the service

•	The purpose of the blood rite: atonement
See Leviticus 17:11: The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
•	 Safe access of unclean people to their holy God through the rite of atonement with its application of blood on the altar for burnt offering
•	 Ransom of their lives by the blood of the animal
•	 Bearing of their iniquity by the priests (Exod 28:38; Lev 10:17)
•	 Cleansing from impurity with the blood
•	 Forgiveness of unclean people for acceptance by God and access to his blessing
•	The purpose of the burnt offering: audience with the Lord as their heavenly king: see Exodus 29:42-45
•	The Lord’s meeting with his people to receive their petitions (cf. 2 Chr 7:12-16
•	The Lord’s consecration of the tent the priests and the people by his presence
•	The Lord’s residence among his people to care for them as their God
•	The purpose of the meal: priests as God’s guests like royal courtiers as at the king’s table together with his sons
•	Table fellowship as royal courtiers at the Lord’s table (Ex 23:14-17)
•	Acceptance by God (Lev 19:5)
•	Eating and rejoicing in the Lord’s presence (Deut 12:7)

6.	Our divine service together with Jesus

a.	Jesus is our high priest and liturgist in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb 8:1-2)

b.	He is present with us to serve us in his Holy Supper (Luke 22:24-27).

c.	His blood cleanses our consciences so that we can serve the living God (Heb 9:13-14).

d.	Through his flesh and blood we have safe access to God the Father in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb 10:19-22).

e.	With Jesus as our high priest we can approach our heavenly King boldly and safely to receive pardon for sins and help from him without any fear of his wrath (Heb 4:16).

C.	BORROWED HOLINESS

1.	The power of God’s holiness

a.	My dream of a dance with lovely girl: fear of exposure v longing for reflected radiance and beauty

b.	Power of the sun: life giving and life threatening

c.	Holiness: borrowed state and power

2.	The source of holiness

a.	The Lord as the only inherently and permanently holy being: see Isaiah 6:3
    Revelation of himself as holy and call for his people to share in his
      holiness (Lev 19:2; cf 11:44, 45; 20:7, 26; 21:8)
    Gift of his holiness to his people and his priests (Lev 22:32; cf. Ex 31:13; 
      Lev 20:8; 21:8, 15, 23; 22:9, 16; Ezek 20:12; 37:28).

b.	Participation in God’s holiness through involvement in worship: see Exodus 29:43-44
    Sanctification of tabernacle, priests and people by God’s glory
•	Communication of holiness through the most holy things (eg. altar Ex  29:37)
•	Reception of holiness by performance of prescribed rites (Lev 20:7-8)
•	Connection of holiness with God’s presence in the divine service.

c.	The mystery of God’s holiness: see Exodus 15:11 and 1 Samuel 2:2

    Its incomparable character
    The inadequacy of abstractions such as sinlessness, moral perfection,
       separateness, and transcendence
    Representation through the symbolism of the tabernacle
    Proclamation in praise (eg. Ps 99)

3.	The nature of holiness: see Leviticus 10:10

a.	Definition of holiness by contrast with three other states
    Something holy = what is divine or permeated by God’s presence
    Something common = what is created and so permitted for human use
    Something clean = what is in right order as something common and fit 
      for God’s presence and participation in his holiness
    Something unclean = what is disordered and perverted in the order of 
      creation and so forbidden for human and divine use.

b.	The impact of God’s holiness

	Sanctification	Purification

(God)

Holy
	
Clean
and
Holy	
Clean
and
common	
Common
and
unclean	
(Demons)

Unclean	

   	The creation of three composite, dynamic states of being in this world: clean-holy, common-clean, common-unclean
   	Four religious activities: purification and sanctification by God v profanation and defilement by humans
   	Establishment of four zones at the tabernacle: the holy of holies, the holy place, the courtyard, the outside world

c.	The operation of God’s holiness in the divine service
   	Impurity as the demonic opposite of holiness
   	Communication of impurity and holiness through physical contact
   	Incompatibility of impurity with holiness, like darkness with light.
   	Destruction of what is unclean if brought into God’s holy presence, like petrol with fire.
   	Need for separation from impurity and ritual purification before admission to God’s holy presence
        Sanctification of clean people and things by God’s presence
        Degrees of holiness from the degree of proximity to God

d.	Purpose of sanctification
      Precondition for access to God’s gracious presence:  Leviticus 10:3:
When I am treated as holy by those who approach me,
I appear in glory before all the people.
	Access to God’s presence as priests and priestly people (Num 16:1-7).
	Reception of blessings from God (Lev 26:1-13).

4.	The difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament

a.	Purification
•	Old Testament
•	Purification of bodies for admission to an earthly sanctuary
•	Purification with the water for cleansing for lesser impurity and the blood of the sacrifices for greater impurity
•	New Testament
•	Purification of consciences as well as the body for admission to the heavenly sanctuary (Heb 9:14; 10:22)
•	Purification by the water of baptism (Eph 5:26) and the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7).

b.	Sanctification
•	Old Testament
•	Sanctification of the bodies of the priests for service in the earthly sanctuary (Ex 29:20-21)
•	by proximity to the Lord’s presence (Ex 29:42-44)
•	through the most holy things:
•	God’s word and name (Lev 20:8)
•	the holy anointing oil (Ex 30:29; Lev 8:10-13)
•	sprinkling with	the blood from the sacrifices (Ex 29:19-21)
•	the meat and bread from the most holy sacrifices (Ex 29:31-34)
•	for the reception of earthly blessings (Lev 26:1-13)
•	Sanctification of the bodies of the Israelite through God’s word and their participation in the divine service (Lev 20:78)
•	New Testament
•	Sanctification of the whole being of all God’s people as priests in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb 4:16; 10:19-22; 12:22-24; 1 Pet 1:2, 14-16; 2:4-9)
•	By their union with the risen Lord Jesus (1 Cor 1:2, 30; Phil 1:1; 4:21) and faith in him (Acts 26:18)
•	their anointing of the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:16; 1 Cor 6:11; 2 Thess 2:13; 1 Pet 1:2)
•	through the holy things (means of grace):
•	God’s word and name (John 17:17; 1 Cor 6:11; Eph 5:25; 1 Tim 4:5)
•	the blood of Jesus (Heb 10;29; 13:12) and his body (Heb 10:10, 14)
•	for the reception of heavenly blessings (Eph 1:3-4).

5.	Conclusion

a.	Our call to holiness (1 Thess 4:7)

b.	God’s education for us for fuller participation in his holiness (Heb 12:10)

c.	God’s total sanctification of us for eternal life (1 Thess 5:23-24)

D.	THE PERFORMANCE OF VICARIOUS PRAISE IN THE DIVINE SERVICE

1.	Introduction

a.	No preaching at the temple apart from the psalms sung by the choir.

b.	Problem: ritual function and theological significance of praise in the sacrificial liturgy.

2.	The divine institution of sacred song: see 2 Chr 29:25-26, 30

a.	Lack of mandate in the law of Moses for liturgical music and song

b.	God’s command for its institution by David through Nathan and Gad.

c.	David as the second great cult founder after Moses.

d.	Authorisation of first psalter by Hezekiah.

3.	The organisation of the Lord’s song by David: see 1 Chr 25:1-8

a.	Three guilds with heads responsible to David: Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman

b.	Twenty four master musicians

c.	Twenty four shifts with twelve musicians per shift

d.	Roster of 288 trained musicians from a pool of 4,000 candidates.

4.	The nature of sacred song: see 2 Chr 29:27-29 (cf. 1 Chr 16:4-6, 37-42; 23:2-5, 25-32

a.	Location of the choir
    before the altar for burnt offering at the temple
    on the steps from the outer to the inner court

b.	Musicians
    Levitical singers: twelve
    priests with silver trumpets: two

c.	Instruments
•	Cymbals for leader: announcement of song.
•	Lyres and harps: accompaniment of song.
•	Trumpets: signal for the advent and presence of the heavenly King

d.	Ritual function
    Synchronisation with presentation of public burnt offering: meeting
between God and Israel.
•	Signal for congregational prostration and acclamation.

5.	The royal character of sacred song

a.	David as the leader of the nation in the performance of praise. 
See 1 Chr 16:7: Then on that day David as head made provision for 
thanksgiving to the Lord through the hand of Asaph and his associates.

b.	David’s appointment of the choir to perform praise victoriously on his behalf and under his direction (1 Chr 25:7)

c.	David’s call through the choir to all Israel and the nations to join with him in the praise of the Lord

d.	David’s continuing performance of sacred song through the choir even after his death
See 1 Chr 7:6: The Levites also (stood at their posts) with the instruments for the song of the Lord that David had made for giving thanks to the Lord ... whenever David offered praises through their ministry.

6.	The theological function and significance of the Lord’s song

a.	Proclamation of God’s presence and access to his grace.
See 1 Chr 16:4 (cf. 1 Chr 16:7-36): David appointed certain of the Levites as ministers before the ark of Yahweh, to proclaim, to confess (thank), and to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel.
•	Proclamation of the Lord’s mercy and goodness by David through the choir on behalf of Israel and the nations
•	Proclamation to Israel and the nations as subjects of the Lord and beneficiaries of his providence.

b.	Prophetic proclamation of God’s word
See 1 Chr 25:1 (cf 25:3): David and the officers of the army also set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with lyres, harps, and cymbals.
•	Inspiration of musicians by God’s spirit for the performance of the Lord’s song in the service.
    Proclamation of God’s word which announced his presence and activity in the divine service.

c.	Invocation and announcement of God’s glory: see 2 Chr 5:11-14
    Note the addition of 11b-13a to the account in 1 Kings 8:10-11
•	The story of Lord’s entry with his glory into the temple made by Solomon
•	The appearance of the glory cloud associated with praise rather than the presence of the ark
     The emphasis on the combination of instrumental music with the song
        of praise and thanksgiving
      The disclosure of God’s hidden glory audibly to the congregation at the
        altar by the glorification of him in the liturgical song of praise.
      The performance of praise with music and song as the proclamation of
        God’s gracious hidden presence and response to it
      The connection of thanksgiving and praise with God’s presence

7.	The church as the earthly choir in the heavenly sanctuary: see Ephesians 1:3-14

a.	The institution by Jesus of the Lord’s Supper as the Eucharistic offering in the church (Luke 22:17-20; 1 Cor 11:23-26).

b.	The risen Lord Jesus as the messianic leader of the church in its performance of praise (Heb 2:11-12)
    The call by Jesus to the gentiles to join with him and the Israelites in
      glorifying and praising God the Father (Rom 15:7-12)
    Our infilling with the Holy Spirit for the performance of praise (Eph
      5:18-20).
     Our offering of thanksgiving (Rom 1:8; 7:25; Col 3:17), glory (Rom
       16:27; Eph 5:20; 1 Pet 4:11) and praise (Heb 13:15) to God the Father
        through Jesus and together with him.
      Our reign on earth together with Christ through praise and prayer (Rev
        5:8-10)

c.	The combination of the earthly church with the angels in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb 12:22; cf. Rev 5:11-14; 19:5-8) in praising the living God (1 Pet 2:9)