Take Me In

A girl I work with brought a cd today (we’ve been listening to an average of 7 hours of music a day –that’s without the breaks), Kutless. I had never listened to them. It was their worship cd called “Strong Tower” and I found myself loving it, really. I borrowed it from her tonight and I thought I’d share with you the lyrics of one of the songs. It is called “Take me in”

Take me past the outer courts, into the holy place
Past the brazen altar, Lord I want to see your face
Pass me by the crowds of people, the priests who sing your praise
I hunger and thirst for your righteousness, and it’s only found in one place
Take me in to the holy of holies
Take me in by the blood of the Lamb
Take me in to the holy of holies
Take a coal, touch my lips, here I am

I love powerful songs, and for me, the phrase I love the most is “Take me in by the blood of the Lamb”. We don’t talk or think much about the temple and how it relates to our own salvation. The temple was a really special place for the Jews and even the gentiles from its first construction, when it was called the Tabernacle, in the desert. It was not just a special building, it was a holy place, no gentile was allowed in, and the farther you got in, the more “holy” you had to be. Priests ministering had to be “ceremonially clean” and all the sacrifices and gifts had to be in good shape, healthy, perfect. You would never get to the “Holy of Holies” unless you were the high priest that year, and you would have gone in there only once a year to offer blood for your own sins and those of the people. I don’t know much about this Holy of Holies, but I am sure that every Jew had a great and holy fear for this place, God’s resting place.
If someone would have sung a song like “Take me in” in Jesus’ times, I am pretty sure people would have started to stone him or bring him before the religious authorities. How could someone ever think of entering the famous Holy of Holies? It was probably something people did not think about, maybe people were extremely afraid of being in the presence of God, they had heard of many stories about the holiness of God and things that happened to people who did not “follow the rules” in the temple or with the ark. “God is holy and you’re not. So don’t even think of going there!” was probably what lots of people thought.
I think it is truly amazing that we can make songs like this and sing such things like “take me in to the holy of holies”. If we’d be Jews it’d be really wrong 2000 years ago, but being gentiles, like most of us are… people would have thought we’d be out of our minds, totally crazy or demon possessed maybe.
It might seem foolish to Jews who don’t believe in Jesus as their Messiah right now to hear Christians sing such songs, but we know the Messiah Jesus came, died for our sins, was raised from the dead and opened the heavy, think curtain that separated the “holy place” from the “Holy of Holies” inviting all –Jews and Gentiles alike- to approach God, being purified not by the blood of goats or calves, but by the holy blood of the Son of God, God Himself.
Isn’t that amazing that we can come to the Holy of Holies, into the presence of God?!

“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” Mat.27:50-51

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is His body, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having out hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water…” Heb.10:19-22

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