Let's Start Praying More (Part 4)

ENTERING THE HOLY OF HOLIES

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place (literally the Holy of Holies) by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies wash with pure water.” (Heb 10:19-22, NASB)

The writer of Hebrews makes an amazing analogy in the ninth chapter between the “holy place” (Heb 9:2) and the “Holy of Holies” (Heb 9:3). The full impact of this analogy between the present world and the world to come is lost on the reader because of inconsistencies in the English translation. At least four times in the ninth chapter and once in the tenth chapter (Heb 9:8, 9:12, 9:24, 9:25 and 10:19), the dual Greek words “hagios hagios,” translated as “Holy of Holies” in Hebrews 9:3, is translated as “holy place.”

The holy place included the front of the temple with the menorah, the table, and the sacred bread, (Heb 9:2). The room inside the holy place that contained the the ark of the covenant, (Heb 9:4), was called the “Holy of Holies” since the presence of the LORD God dwelled there about the ark between the cherubim. When believers pray we enter into the “Holy of Holies”, as it is written, “We have confidence to enter the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus.” Jesus even alluded to the Holy of Holies when He told His disciples,

“When you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” (Matt 6:6)

The Holy of Holies is the “inner room” in the temple behind the “door,” which is the veil of the temple. This same veil was torn at the time of the crucifixion opening the way for the believer to stand before the presence of the LORD in the Holy of Holies.

The significance of the Hebrew writer’s words is difficult to overstate. The Holy of Holies was the most sacred place on earth from the time the tabernacle was constructed in the wilderness until the destruction of the second temple. Only one person could enter the Holy of Holies and then only one time a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Judgment. Believers have that opportunity ever day, at any hour, in any place, for any length of time. As opposed to the High Priest who could not delay for any longer than required to perform the service in the Holy of Holies, believers can remain for whatever time is necessary to empty our hearts before the LORD.

In Hebrew thinking, we should see ourselves as standing before the Divine Presence when we petition the LORD God. This is consistent with the view of the Hebrew writer since the presence of the LORD God and His throne resided above the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies as seen by Ezekiel, (Ezek 10:1-4). Maimonides, the middle-age codifier of Jewish law, wrote that the one who prays should, “regard himself as if he were standing before the Divine Presence.” (Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd Edition, Vol 16, page 459)  Although the LORD is Omnipresent residing in all places in this world, it is His “Shechinah” Presence that we stand before when we pray.

The understanding that we enter the “Holy of Holies” is consistent with the words of Paul who said believers have been “raised up with Him, and seated…with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Eph 2:6). In the same letter to the Ephesians Paul used as a proof text, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men,” (Eph 4:8).  Like the original "host of captives", believers “have confidence to enter the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus.”

(Scott - From Austin)