KEEP YOUR DISTANCE

When God told Joshua to have the people follow the Ark of the Covenant wherever it went, they were also told to stay 3,000 feet away from it. Why was that the case? The ark represented the presence of God and in the Old Testament the teaching regarding the presence of God was to keep your distance. Why was this the case? Because God is holy and man is sinful. That's why when the temple was built and the Ark of the Covenant sat in the Holy of Holies, only the high priests could go in once a year to offer a sacrifice for the sins of Israel. That all changed with the cross because when Jesus died on the cross the temple veil was ripped in two showing that we now had access because Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. No longer is the command to keep your distance. Now the book of Hebrews says we are to draw near and come boldly to God. Why the change? Because the cross had the final word and the final word is that we can be forgiven. We can be cleansed through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. There is no need to keep our distance any longer. Through Christ, we can now boldly approach God as often as we desire.