During out time together, in recent weeks we have been studying the Tabernacle of God; it’s furnishings and rituals that point us to the person and work of Jesus Christ. And as we continue in our study of the Tabernacle of God and we have just crossed the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies and have come into the holy place, where the Ark of the Covenant lies and where the presence of God was (Exodus 25:22). It is a place that is fragrant; a place that is beautiful; a place that is sacred. And it is a place of prayer; a place where man (in a very deep and profound way) connects with God. Now as we have been talking in recent weeks about the work of Christ and just what it means that the veil has been torn and mankind allowed access to this most sacred of places in and through prayer I feel that God is challenging me with this question: Are we as a people (myself included); are we taking advantage of this access to God? How faithful are we being to come into the presence of God every day? This past week has been one of the busiest I can remember in a long time. Between striving to meet a number of deadlines, to keeping on top of my kids’ schedules and the pastoral work I have to accomplish, this week has been almost non-stop. It has been breathless. Now I’m not complaining. I am blessed to be doing so many things that I love. But it difficult at times for me (and what I am finding for others as well) to be as faithful to make sure that the appointment I do not cut short is my daily appointment with God. And yet He is the one (the only one) who can give the breath of life; who can give and abiding joy; and peace. He is the anchor in the midst of all the confusion and if we neglect to keep hold of that anchor, we can get overwhelmed by the storm. And I have spoken with people who (honestly) have allowed ourselves to be separated from His presence for so long that they sometimes don’t know how to find their way back. If that is you today, I want to tell you that I know how you feel; I have been there. But there’s hope; and it begins not with trying to work harder to be religious and do all the right things. It begins with coming into his presence and simply allowing Him to (in that time with Him) to create (or re-create) in you a hunger for him. And as we begin a brief sojourn into the life and ministry of Daniel, we will see this hunger for God and what a difference it made in his life. Now you know that in the story of Daniel we find that many of God’s people had been carried off into captivity in Babylon. And they were cut off therefore from Jerusalem and the Temple. And Daniel is taken into the kings palace to learn Babylonian culture. And yet in the midst of all his chaos, he is able to maintain a relationship with God as an example to God’s people. And he seeks to be a model for God’s people of the repentance they must exhibit in order for God to restore them. He says…. 

Daniel 9:17-19 (ESV)– 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord,[b] make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”

But before we get into the passage itself, I’d like you to think for a minute. I want you to remember a time in your life when you were thirsty? And I don't mean just mildly thirsty. I mean, SO thirsty to where your throat was parched and you could hardly think of anything else except getting a icy...cold...drink. Maybe you came in after a long period of physical labor and drank a cool glass of lemonade.

When I was very very young I remember my parents taking my sister and I to China. And I mean the humidity was scorching and we had been walking a long time and I still remember to this day how absolutely thirsty I was. I don't think I have ever been so thirsty in my life before or since. And I remember my parents finally found a place where we could get a drink and they brought back a large cup of Coca Cola. Now before Coca Cola had seemed like a normal; almost an everyday thing. But not that day. That day that Coca Cola looked like drops of heaven. I am telling you, it looked just like it does in the commercials, with the drops of moisture on the side and the people drinking it in slow motion with looks of absolute satisfaction on their faces. I mean that day I had a tremendous thirst and within a few moments that thirst was quenched in the most satisfying way.

Now looking through scripture I see time and time again that those who received an unusual measure of God's blessing were those who had an unusual hunger and thirst for God. They had an appetite; a longing for God's presence in their lives. Abraham thirsted for God so much that he was willing to leave everything he knew follow God to a strange place. Moses would not lead God’s people without the presence of God and fearlessly yearned and pleaded to even see God's face (even though he knew that might bring him death), and the scriptures talk about the illumination of his face because God allowed to come into the presence of the Lord and speak with him (the scriptures say) “face to face” (the Hebrew is actually “mouth to mouth”; breath to breath). David, whom God calls "a man after His own heart" always sought the Lord in and through prayers and psalms, longing for God as one longs for a best friend. And it was that intimacy with God that caused him to be so zealous when he heard Goliath profane the name of the Lord. All of these men (as well as others in scripture) had a hunger and thirst for God.

And I had to ask myself this week, "Do we hunger and thirst for God like that?" And I have come to realize a very important truth: that the mark of true follower and servant of God is a heart that is hungry for Him.

Now how do we become hungry? One scholar I read said the most amazing thing about this hunger for God. He said that hunger for God does not come from anything we do. It is something God gives us, usually in small measure. Now what happens is that if we feed that hunger in and through a strong devotional life and prayer, that hunger will develop; it will grow. And we develop through those spiritual disciplines an appetite; a yearning for God. We desire Him more and more and He reveals Himself to us in greater and greater measure.

But what happens to people who don't satisfy that hunger when God gives it to them? That person is not quite as hungry for God the next time. And after several times that hunger begins to slowly fizzle out until eventually that hunger; that appetite disappears entirely. Now a person like this may still go to Church, but all their religious activities become empty rituals because they are no longer hungry for God. And these kinds of people actually tend to cause the most trouble to the Body of Christ; even more than those who are enemies of the Gospel of Christ. Because they have no hunger for God and therefore have no hunger for the things of God. Church has become a social gathering for them rather than that place where they meet with that very God who can give them living water; the bread of life and quench their starving hearts with Himself. 

I mean the very first thing that Jesus does in his ministry, is to go out into the desert and suffer hunger for 40 days. And he does this to show his future disciples; to show those He would be ministering to how much your hunger for God should be like (and even surpass) your hunger for food. He even says later in John's Gospel: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. (John 4:34) I mean Jesus wants to show us that there is no greater thing you can develop than a strong appetite for God.

Now ask anybody who has gone any significant length of time without food. When you begin eating food again, the capacity to eat that food is greatly reduced. You may have a desire to eat a lot, but find that you are able to take only a few bites. And there is actually a medical reason for this. If you do not eat for an extended period of time, your stomach actually begins to shrink. And the longer you go without eating, the smaller your stomach will shrink. Even though the desire to eat may be there, you are no longer able to take in the portions you want to and think you can.

And you see that is exactly what can happen in our relationship with God. We can ask Him to make us hungry for Him, but often when He gives us that hunger, we don't satisfy it. And as we continually deny God our time, our stomachs (our capacity to consume His spiritual blessings) shrink. We have other responsibilities; other activities that we allow to take His place and eventually we find ourselves exhausted with life; we are tired and worn out; unable even to cope with everyday things because we have...no...fuel; we are spiritually starving. And if we are to become strong again, we must turn to God. This is why the Psalmist writes…

Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

And I mean this idea of hungering and thirsting for God permeates all throughout scripture. You never find happiness and fulfillment without God. And you never find God until you first have a hunger; a desire for Him (whether you realize it or not).

Jeremiah 15:16a (ESV)
16 Your words were found, and I ate them,
    and your words became to me a joy
    and the delight of my heart,

Psalm 34:8 (ESV)
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
     Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Psalm 42:1-2 (ESV)
1  As a deer pants for flowing streams,
    so pants my soul for you, O God.
2  My soul thirsts for God,
    for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?

Psalm 119:103 (ESV)
103 How sweet are your words to my taste,
    sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Psalm 143:6 (ESV)
6  I stretch out my hands to you;
     my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah

John 6:35 (ESV)
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Are you beginning to see it? Those who develop a hunger and thirst for God are those who most richly receive Him.

Now in our passage this morning Daniel has been taken into captivity and has resolved in and throughout his captivity to keep hungry for God and for God alone. And because he has developed a healthy appetite for God, God has showered him with blessings even in the midst of difficult circumstances. And God can do that in you life and in my life as well. Let us come into his presence so that we will find grace and mercy to help us in our hour of need. Amen.

During out time together, in recent weeks we have been studying the Tabernacle of God; it’s furnishings and rituals that point us to the person and work of Jesus Christ. And we have moved in our study past the altar of incense and come to the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, wherein lay the Ark of the Covenant, where the presence of God came and rested upon (Exodus 25:22). And it is on that veil that I would like to dwell on a little bit longer during our time together today…

Exodus 26:31-33 (ESV)-- 31 “And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 32 And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. 33 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy”

Not long ago Tanya and I were traveling internationally and therefore had to adventure our way through a number of international airports. And sometimes it is so fascinating, as you are sitting at your gate waiting for your next flight, to observe other people from other cultures as they go about the same business that you are. And they do so using different languages, different customs, and of course wearing different dress. And I remember one airport in particular had a high concentration of Middle Eastern men and women, (most of whom were Muslim) and some of whom dressed ultra conservatively. Muslim women in particular would sometimes wear veils that would completely cover their faces to where you could only see a tiny sliver of their eyes. The only other skin that you could see was that of their hands and sometimes feet. 

Now the use of the veil stretches back into ancient times. But in ancient times the use of the veil was far less constrictive (generally speaking) than it has become since the birth of Islam and the Koran many years after the death and resurrection of Christ. But even in ancient times “the veil was regarded from ancient times by women of character as indispensable.” And there were many different kinds of veils and headdresses, which varied from one another in style. [In patriarchal times wives (Gen. 12:14) and young women (24:15) went about, especially when engaged in their household duties, without veils; and yet in early times the betrothed veiled herself in the presence of the bridegroom ({as Rebekah did when she approached Isaac in Genesis} 24:65), and lewd women veiled themselves ({as revealed to us in Genesis} 38:15) {with the account of Judah and Tamar in order to conceal their identity, as Tamar did.}.]

Now whatever your reason for wearing a veil (in order to be modest because you are moral or to conceal your identity because you are immoral), it is a very clear way of saying, “You don’t have access to me. My face (the essence of my personhood and who I am is reserved for somebody else. Access to my face is a level of relationship not available to you.” 
And in scripture we find that God Himself reveals that there is that same kind restriction on access to His face. It says in…

Exodus 33:18-23 (ESV)-- 18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

This is why you might say, when God visited His people in the Tabernacle, He wore a veil. You may have never heard it put quite like that before, but that is what is going on. God wears a veil, which is seen in the Tabernacle, separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy place. It was a barrier that could not be crossed save by the High Priest, and that only once a year on the Great Day of Atonement, when he would sprinkle the blood of the Sin Offering on the mercy seat, and burnt incense within the veil (Lev 16:1).

Now the blood of the Sin Offering was of course a temporary sacrifice for sin. You will remember that because man sinned in the Garden of Eden, we were cut off from the presence of God. Because we partook of The Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil, we could no longer partake of The Tree of Life, which was a manifestation of the presence of God. So the first thing we lost in the Garden was the presence of God; we lost the Tree of Life, which caused us to begin to experience this new abnormal reality called death. And Adam and Eve are forced out of the Garden. And what is placed to guard the way back to the Tree of Life? It says in…

Genesis 3:24 (ESV)-- 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Now it is no coincidence then that it says of the veil in…

Exodus 26:31-33 (ESV)-- 31 “And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it.

So the cherubim woven onto that veil (and which were also incorporated in the mercy seat itself) may have reminded and represented to those who saw them that those cherubim that had been placed in the Garden were (in a sense) still in place; access to God (to the Tree of life) was still barred. And God was not trying to shut Israel out because He didn’t wasn’t to be close to them; the reason He had the Tabernacle instituted at all was so that He might be near His people. But rather it was to protect his people (who were still under sin and were themselves sinful) from coming into His presence and (because of His holiness) getting killed. The veil was a means of protection. But we know that as close as God was, it was not close enough. He wanted to dwell not only with His people, but in them. And in order for that to take place, we needed to be cleansed of our sin. Before we could come into His presence, the veil (the barrier) needed to be crossed (every pun intended).

And it is crossed in and through the obedience of Jesus. Jesus lived that fully obedient human life that we ourselves were never able to live. And He did it in our very flesh. He succeeded where Adam failed and through His obedience in our very flesh and in His death on the cross. He tears that holy veil away because He lived a perfect human life and His humanity was therefore perfect. And the tearing of humanity; his flesh it what saved us. In fact, the writer of Hebrews reveals how what the veil actually represented was the flesh/humanity of Jesus Christ. He says in…

Hebrews 10:19-20 (ESV)-- 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,

Remember Jesus’ last moments on the cross. It says in…

Mark 15:37-39 (ESV)-- 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. “38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

You know I have been to a number of weddings in my lifetime, as I am sure that you have as well. And some of them can be very elaborate and well-planned out. And there is a remarkable symbolism inherent in a lot of the rituals we engage in during a wedding ceremony. And the highlight of every wedding ceremony is no doubt that incredible moment when the bride comes down the aisle (face covered with a veil) towards her prospective groom, who is waiting in anticipation for her. And then comes that moment when they exchange vows and commit to a deeper relationship of service and love. And the minister tells the groom he can kiss the bride. And so her face is unveiled and they kiss for the first time as man and wife. Why did the veil in the temple tear? Because it was the moment that all of humanity had been waiting for since the creation and fall of the world into sin; the moment the veil was lifted so that we could again share a relationship with God that is as close as a kiss. It is the moment that we are enabled (through the torn body of Christ represented by that torn veil) to enter into the presence of God.

The moment Jesus’ body is torn, the veil in the temple is torn. And as the writer of Hebrews points out in Hebrews 9:12, Jesus is our High Priest; yet the first High Priest to make atonement with His own blood rather than the blood of animals. He is both victim and High Priest. And He crosses into the Holy Place (heaven) in order that we also might gain entrance to heaven through faith in Him.

Now what God has been speaking to me in this passage is really a challenge. And that is, “Am I taking advantage of my access to God as much as I should be?” Am I coming into His presence on a regular basis. Am I drawing from Him the strength that I need for my day; for my family and my ministry? Or do I treat lightly the amazing gift that Jesus gave me in and through the shedding of His blood. Am I denying myself the strength and renewal He wants to give me and that can be found in and through simply coming into His presence? I am challenged by the words of…

Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

Are you exercising your privilege of access to God? Today I encourage you to come into the presence of God; and not just today, but everyday. Take time to come into the holy of holies and experience the life-giving presence of Jesus Christ, who can restore your life; who can renew your strength; who can make you mount up with wings as eagles. Take advantage each and every day of the awesome privilege we have of coming into the presence of God. Amen.

Our scripture today comes from Exodus 26:31-33. It reads…. 

“31“And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 32And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. 33And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy”

As we continue in our study of the Tabernacle of God and move past the altar of incense, we come to the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, wherein lay the Ark of the Testimony, where the presence of God was (Exodus 25:22). And it was a barrier that could not be crossed saved by the High Priest; and that only once a year. Therefore it was a symbol of our separation from God; not because God didn’t want to have fellowship with us (indeed, that is why the Tabernacle was built; because He wanted to be in the midst of His people); but it was because He is holy; and we (because of our sin) are unholy and therefore unable to dwell in the presence of a holy God. Yet God intended that barrier to be temporary, as He had plan to redeem us from our sins with the blood of His Son in order that we might be allowed into His presence and have direct access to Him.

Some time ago I was Skyping my wife from Israel, and it was funny because I was telling her the various places we had been and the things we had been doing. And (never having been to Israel before) it was just strange for me to say things like "We had lunch on top of Mount Carmel" or "We had a worship service in a boat on the Sea of Galilee." I mean it kind of sounds silly, doesn't it? I mean it's kind of like saying we had a picnic in Narnia or Mordor. I always knew these Biblical places were real, but they had become real to me in a new way. The whole experience  was just unreal. 

But my favorite part of the trip was coming to Jerusalem. Our team joined in a long tradition of making a pilgrimage to the holy city. During the time of Christ, those living in the land had to come to Jerusalem 3 times a year to worship and offer sacrifices at the Temple. And Jesus (who obeyed every jot and every tittle of the Law) would have done this as well. 

Now once you get up to Jerusalem, you find that all around the temple there are literally around a thousand small ritual baths called Mikvehs in which you would dip yourself three times in order to be made ritually clean before you went into the temple to offer sacrifices. And these Mikvehs are used all over the Holy Land for ritual clean-ness, but there is a high concentration of them around the Jewish temple. So you would make yourself clean, then enter the temple.

Now this is something that Jesus no doubt did many times when He came to the Temple. In fact I saw more than one first century Mikveh (still there) that Jesus could've used. But what is ironic is that Jesus didn't need to be cleansed. He was the ultimate cleanser. And we see this over and over throughout the Gospels. Jesus touches the unclean. I think of the unclean woman who had an issue of bleeding touching Jesus (a Rabbi). She could have been stoned for that. But instead of her uncleaness passing to Jesus, His cleanness passed to her and she was made clean. And you have to understand this, because Christ's touching of people like her stretches beyond just mere healing. For us, that's the big event. But the touch goes beyond that and reaches even so far as to make them ritually clean; acceptable in God's sight and in the sight of those in their community, in which they can once again be accepted.

But what I want you to really remember is that Jesus didn't need to be cleansed. He was the ultimate cleanser. And His deepest work of cleansing he performs on the cross. 

One of the most incredible experiences of my life took place on our visit to Jerusalem. We were visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a massive Church that is built on top of the cite where Jesus Christ was most likely crucified and buried. We always think of them as two separate places; that Jesus’ body was carried some distance away. No, Jesus was buried almost in the same place He was crucified. This is confirmed in…

John 19:41-- 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid.

Now as you can imagine, there was quite a crowd in that Church. And me and my group were standing in line waiting to pass by what is believed by many to be the very rock upon which Jesus was crucified. And though it was under a plastic enclosure, there was a cutout through which you could reach your hand and touch the rock. And I remember coming to that place, kneeling, and touching that rock. And let me tell you, that was a memorable experience. I could have stayed there for hours; to be by the place where my Lord was crucified; at the foot of where that old rugged cross actually stood. But because of the line I had to quickly move on. And after that I wandered to a different part of the Church and down to a lower level. And I ended up joining my uncle who was looking at one site in particular. It was kind of an interesting display, but I didn’t know what it was, so I asked my Uncle and he told me that it was the tomb/grave of Adam. Not the real grave obviously; nobody knows where the real one is, but one that was meant as a representation. And the whole notion seemed kind of strange to me, so I asked my Uncle why it was there. And he explained to me that it was for the symbolism. You see what I hadn’t realized is that we had come directly under the cite I had just been to where I had gotten to touch the place where Christ’s cross had stood. The tomb of Adam was set up directly under that cite because they were trying to communicate something theologically. The blood of Christ, shed on that cross flowed down from the cross, into the ground, all the way down to Adam’s tomb where it touched and cleansed **that original sin he brought into the world. And, in a sense, Adam’s tomb was the very foundation of the cross because without that original sin, there would be no need for a Savior. We have to understand Adam and what his sin brought into the world before we can understand Christ and what He undid.

I want you to ask yourself a question. Is it a coincidence that both the sin that destroyed the world and the obedience that saved it both began in a garden? Ever since I had the privilege of walking in Gethsemane, I have wondered that very thing. The truth is, we have to understand what happened in the Garden of Eden (where Adam said, “My will be done”) before we can understand what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane (where Jesus prayed, “Thy will be done.”), because it was through the obedience of Jesus where Adam had slipped that the grace we are offered in Christ Jesus finds its power. The healing of the Garden of Eden begins in the Garden of Gethsemane. Paul understood this, which is why he wrote in…

Romans 5:19-- 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

You see it is that obedience of Christ that undoes the sin of Adam. Original sin/Adam’s sin can be cleansed in your life and in mine through the work of Jesus that he did on the cross. And the immediate result of that sacrifice is seen in…

Mark 15:37-39-- “37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last”.
“38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Now the temple was destroyed not long after Christ’s death; just as He had predicted. And this presents a problem for the Jews because they no longer have the Holy of Holies where the presence of God dwells. The closest thing they have to the Holy of Holies is the western wall of Jerusalem, which you have heard is called the Wailing Wall. Jews from all over the world come to pray at that wall because that wall is the closest they can ever get to God. I mean, can you imagine?

For Jews that barrier of the Law; that veil is still there. They are still separated from God. They don't believe the Messiah has come and while we are waiting for His second coming, they are still waiting for His first. They have missed it. And I got to share the Gospel twice on that trip to Israel; once with a Jew on the way there and again with a Jew on the way back, showing them from scripture how Jesus Christ fulfills the prophecies spoken about Him in the Old Testament, particularly Psalm 22, which gives almost a line by line description of the crucifixion of Jesus, mirroring those final events surrounding His death. But they don't accept it because for them the Messiah is a conqueror, not one who surrenders; not one who lays His life down (and I had a Jew tell me that from his own lips).

Now for us, the story is different. We have hope. We don't trust in Holy sites, relics, or laws. Because we know that the veil is torn. Because of what Christ did on the cross, we no longer have a barrier that separates us from God. We have direct access to the Father. Why?

Because Jesus Christ is our Mikveh. It is in and through Him that we are made clean in God's eyes. We are baptized in His blood, which washes us white as snow. We have direct access to the place where God dwells. He is the One through whom we are made clean, Holy, and acceptable in God's sight. And we need to remember to never take that cleansing or that direct access to God for granted. It is a gift beyond all gifts. And seeing these Jews still enslaved to that Law has made me realize just how much we often take those things for granted. We have access to God. Yet are we taking advantage of that access; are we really praying without ceasing. We ought to; for ourselves, our families, our Church; for our nation and yes for the nation of Israel that they may come to know that same hope that we have. Let us commit to do this. Amen.

Exodus 30:1-10 (ESV) The Altar of Incense-- 1 “You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 A cubit[a] shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth. It shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And you shall make a molding of gold around it. 4 And you shall make two golden rings for it. Under its molding on two opposite sides of it you shall make them, and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it. 5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 And you shall put it in front of the veil that is above the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is above the testimony, where I will meet with you. 7 And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it. Every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it, 8 and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations. 9 Do not offer on this altar any other incense or any burnt offering or grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it. 10 Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering for the generations to come. It is most holy to the Lord.”

As we continue in our study of the Tabernacle of God, we come to this altar of incense, which was placed before the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, wherein lay the Ark of the Testimony, where the presence of God was (Exodus 25:22). And on this altar Aaron was instructed to burn incense every day, both in the morning and at twilight.

And in Scripture, incense is often associated with prayer. David prayed, “May my prayer be set before you like incense” (Psalm 141:2). In the book of Revelation, in John’s vision of heaven, he sees that the elders around the throne “were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people” (Revelation 5:8; cf. 8:3). As Zechariah the priest was offering incense in the temple in Luke 1:10, it says “all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.”

The altar of incense, then, is seen to be symbolic of the prayers offered to God by His people. And it is interesting, the incense was supposed to always be kept burning; which means also that just as it’s fragrance doesn’t wain, neither should the prayers of God’s people. We are to pray (as Luke 18:1) state, continually.

Early African believers were earnest and regular in private devotions. Each one reportedly had a separate spot in the thicket where he would pour out his heart to God. Over time, the paths to these places became well worn. As a result, if one of these believers began to neglect prayer, it was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly remind the negligent one, "Brother, the grass grows on your path."

It is easy to let the grass grow on our spiritual paths. And when we are confronted with questions about how faithfully we are walking with God and spending time with Him in devotions, we instantly come up with a whole list of excuses. And we instantly try to pass the blame onto someone or something else (like our busy schedules). 

But then we get upset when we find that we have an empty life. And sometimes people even blame God. They might ask, “God, why don’t I sense your presence. Why do you always feel so distant.” But you know I think God often responds back, “How much time did you spend reading your Bible this week?”
“None.”
 How much time did you spend in prayer?”
“None.”
You see, we have to realize that the responsibility for any spiritual dryness in our lives (not ordinary trials, but by dryness I mean a breakdown in the relationship); we have to realize that the fault is not God’s, but ours. He is always there, waiting to bless us. It’s just that often times we don't take the time to receive that blessing.

There is something about prayer that really tests our character. It is called a spiritual discipline because it requires just that: DISCIPLINE!!! You don’t always feel like praying. And in fact Satan doesn’t want you to pray either and will try to bring up every  distraction possible in order to keep you from praying because He knows there is nothing more dangerous to the gates of Hell than a Christian humbling himself/herself before the throne of God. Because when we pray, God moves.

Watchman Nee was a very famous 20th century missionary to China. And once he shared the story of when he and a group of others were ministering on [an island off the South China coast. There were seven in the ministering group, including a sixteen-year-old new convert whom he calls Brother Wu. The island was fairly large, containing about 6,000 homes. {However} …Preaching seemed quite fruitless on the island, and Nee discovered it was because of the dedication of the people there to an idol they called Ta-wang. They were convinced of his power because on the day of his festival and parade each year the weather was always near perfect.
"When is the procession this year?" young Wu asked a group that had gathered to hear them preach.
"It is fixed for January 11th at 8 in the morning," was the reply.
"Then," said the new convert, "I promise you that it will certainly rain on the 11th."
At that there was an outburst of cries from the crowd: "That is enough! We don't want to hear any more preaching. If there is rain on the 11th, then your God is God!"
Watchman Nee had been elsewhere in the village when this confrontation had taken place. Upon being informed about it, he saw that the situation was serious and called the group to prayer. On the morning of the 11th, there was not a cloud in the sky, but during grace for breakfast, sprinkles began to fall and these were followed by heavy rain. Worshipers of the idol Ta-wang were so upset that they placed it in a sedan chair and carried it outdoors, hoping this would stop the rain. Then the rain increased. After only a short distance, the carriers of the idol stumbled and fell, dropping the idol and fracturing its jaw and left arm.
A number of young people turned to Christ as a result of the rain coming in answer to prayer, but the elders of the village made divination and said that the wrong day had been chosen. The proper day of the procession, they said, should have been the 14th. When Nee and his friends heard this, they again went to prayer, asking for rain on the 14th and for clear days for preaching until then. That afternoon the sky cleared and on the good days that followed there were thirty converts. Of the crucial test day, Nee says: The 14th broke, another perfect day, and we had good meetings. As the evening approached we met again at the appointed hour. We quietly brought the matter to the Lord's remembrance. Not a minute late, His answer came with torrential rain and floods as before.
The power of the idol over the islanders was broken; the enemy was defeated. Believing prayer had brought a great victory. Conversions followed. And the impact upon the servants of God who had witnessed His power would continue to enrich their Christian service from that time on.]

God wants to move through our prayers. But our prayer must begin with belief. We have to believe in God’s character; that in His nature He is holy, righteous, just, and loving. We have to believe in His ability. And thirdly, we have to believe in His willingness to act on our behalf. And that is where many of us fall short, I think. We believe in God’s character (though sometimes that skewed); we believe in His ability (most of the time); but we don’t often believe in the willingness of God to help us; I think we often times believe Him to be too big or too far removed from us to care about our little problems; when the reality is that He WANTS to be involved in our problems; He WANTS to work miracles; He WANTS to right down to the tiniest circumstance, help you to live victoriously. All we have to do is take the time ask; to offer up our prayers.

Now another thing that we cannot miss about the altar of incense is that it had to be purified. The blood of the sacrifice had to be applied to it in order to atone for it. And in fact the fire itself was to be brought from the altar of sacrifice itself. So you have this remarkable connection between the altar of sacrifice and the altar of prayer. It is in and through the sacrifice of Jesus that our prayers have value and are effective. And it is in and through Christ that our prayers are considered acceptable to God. And not only that, but it is not only our prayers that are represented. It is also Christ’s prayers for us. 
As the altar of incense stood before the holy of holies where the presence of God dwelt, so also Christ stands before the Father, continually offering intercession on our behalf.

Romans 8:34 (ESV)-- 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

When I went to the Sea of Galilee, our guide pointed out to us, up on a hill Jesus probably had climbed many times, a secluded cave that overlooked the Sea of Galilee. Our guide told us that that may have very likely been one of Jesus’ lonely places; where He withdrew to pray. And I was in awe that I was looking at what very well could have been one of the places Jesus had His devotions; that quiet time with the Father. That may have been the place where Jesus looked out and saw the disciples struggling with their boat in the storm. Incredible!

But imagine that one day you climb that hill and find your Lord and Savior sitting there praying. He says, come join me. And you both kneel together and you quietly listen to Him pray as you both look out over the Sea of Galilee. How awesome would that be!!! Or let me me ask you this; would you ever be able to pray the same way again?

Robert McCheyne (a 19th century minister in the Church of Scotland) once said this: “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” And we know that he is praying for us as well.

Today I want to encourage you to recognize the reality that Christ is praying for you. And if He loves you enough to pray for you, He is willing to answer those prayers you offer to Him that are in line with His perfect will for your life. Engage with Him in prayer today and He will be able to bless you and use you mightily. Amen.