Most Holy place
“The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was”(Exodus 20:21).
Understanding God means understanding the illogical ways and the acts of God. We consider logic to be that pattern of reasoning which can be understood by the human mind. Most of the holy men in the Bible as well as in the history of the Church have been called to higher levels of glory through obedience to the call of God which appeared apparently illogical.
“The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.” (Exodus 20:21). God who is in the darkness! is a very strange reality to digest, especially for a man like Moses, because his first calling for the ministry had started with the vision of God who is in the midst of the fire: “There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.” (Exodus 3:2). For Moses, the issue was not whether there was darkness, or loneliness, or being at a great distance from his home town, but the presence of God.
Christian growth basically depends on obedience to the ‘request’ of God which can be done only by faith. Faith is obedience to seemingly illogical things like the call to walk on the water, (Matthew 14:29), or giving food to the crowd in the wilderness in the absence of any known sources(v.16). But why are these not commandments but rather requests? Whether we like it or not, everyone must obey the commandments. Such obedience is related to our salvation. But God’s requests are rather meant to offer us promotion to higher realms of glory, but with our choice. “And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.” (Luke 5:3 KJV). When Peter obeyed by moving the ship ‘a little from the land,’ he was led further into the deep: “Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” (Luke 5:4KJV).
Just as in the Christian life, there are also different progressive levels in the life of prayer. When Jesus entered Gethsemane, He formed three different groups from among His disciples. The first group consisted of all the disciples except James, John, Peter, and Judas Iscariot. “And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray.” (Mark 14:32). Then there was the second group, consisting of James, John and Peter, with Jesus. The second group went a little further: “And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy.” (v.33). On the third level was Jesus: “And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.” (v.35).
Even though God will guide and enable us by His grace to reach the utmost desire of God, it is our choice whether we want to go further into the inner chamber of the Holy of Holies. Many do not want to enter because they have almost settled down where they are. An example seen in the Bible is when God called His people out from the bondage of Pharaoh with the divine desire of enabling them to enter and dwell in the Promised Land of Canaan. After 40 years, they had almost reached Canaan, but some of them were ‘at peace’ in the place where they were and did not want to go further up into Canaan proper. “Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle…Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan.” (Numbers 32:1, 5)
Settling down is not a passive word but an active word with a different sense -the activity of backing out from moving on. Usually, we worry about our people who are backsliding, but not about those who are not pressing on to ‘enter the land’. The writer of Hebrews says: “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance…” (Hebrews 6:4-6). While discussing apostasy, it is startling that he has not started with the usage of ‘fallen away’, rather he begins with those who are not ‘moving beyond’: “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!…Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God” (Hebrews 5:12; 6:1).
The chief peculiarity of the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle was that it was the place where the presence of God resided–there was little noise unlike the Outer Court, no external light unlike in the Holy Place, and no human presence, unlike both the Outer Court and the Holy Place. There is only the presence of God and the gentle whisper of God. “After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” (1 Kings 19:12).
God wants each of His children to go forward in the life of prayer. We may ask, especially those who are busy in the ministry of God, “How can I spend more time in prayer when I have a lot of things to do?” Pressing on to enter the inner chamber of God, we think, is to spend all the time in prayer. And we conclude that this kind of prayer can be left to those who are called for the ministry of intercession. Surely, we say, we cannot pray like them, because they are carrying a greater burden and have more grace for prayer. But let each one of us take this truth to heart, that unless he first sharpens his axe, a wood-cutter must work much harder and longer to finish his work.
Every servant of God must always remember, especially when there is increased responsibility and a wider extent of ministry, that it is“… not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6). Paul was a man of prayer and we see in many parts of his epistles that ‘I pray continuously’ (Colossians1:9; Ephesians 1:15; 1Corinthians 1:9-10). But Paul is more known among us, and probably in his own time, for evangelization than prayer. He was busy in the ministry, often along with an earthly job, probably working more than many of us. “Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you” (1 Thessalonians 2:9). “And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” (2 Corinthians 11:28).
Somebody said: ‘When you work, you work, but when you pray, God works’. This is a truth that Satan knows and uses far more effectively than most Christians. Hence he will gladly provide anything, even a ‘ministry’, to destroy the prayer life of a believer, and especially that of the ministers of God.
Dear saints, remember the warning:“The end of all things is near. “Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.” (1 Peter 4:7).