Now stay at the entrance of the Tabernacle day and night for seven days, and do everything the LORD requires. If you fail to do this, you will die, for this is what the LORD has commanded.” [Leviticus 8.35]
On this date in 2025, I wrote the article Dive In The Deep End. It is good start to understanding what is presented here today.
When Jesus died on the cross, why was only the veil (curtain) in the Temple torn? If we follow the "Age of Grace" ideology today, the entire Temple should have been destroyed, correct? Oh wait, Jesus in fact predicted the Temple's entire destruction (Matthew 24.2, Mark 13.2, and Luke 21.6) and, in fact, history reveals that it was completely destroyed in 70 AD at the hands of Roman forces led by Titus (Wikipedia).
So, why the progression? Why was not the destruction of the Temple completed when the veil was supernaturally torn?
First, let us consider what Jesus said about the Law:
“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven! [Matthew 5.17-20]
Now why would Jesus say this? Does this not completely go against everything our popular "Age of Grace" teaching promotes? In fact it does except if we consider it in the understanding of progression.
When a child grows up and leaves home, parents often lament that their child "forgets everything they learned" when that child makes some wayward choices. Sadly, the problem is not so much that the child "forgets" as it is that the child "never learned." The Bible actually bears this out:
Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. [Proverbs 22.6]
If we can see it, what Jesus said about the Law is not optional. Understanding the Law is part of the progression of Kingdom citizenship.
Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. [Galatians 4.1-5 NKJV]
To "stay at the entrance of the Tabernacle day and night for seven days" provides insight that there is indeed something to the idea of progression. Seven days represents completion which is the outcome of progression. The Leviticus passage above also provides insight into the gravity of following the progression: "If you fail to do this, you will die."
The unlearned wayward child is proof that the guardianship and stewardship of the Law is every bit as necessary as Jesus said it was. There is indeed a progression to Grace. That progression teaches God's children that life hangs in the balance of Jesus Who accomplished the purpose of the Law and the Prophets. What is the opposite of life that hangs in the balance of Jesus? Death. Jesus spoke of life in sober terms:
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. [Matthew 7.13-14]
Jesus did not come to abolish the Law and Prophets, but to accomplish their purpose. There can be no understanding of Christ for salvation apart from understanding His relationship to the Law and the Prophets. Salvation is based on faith in Christ Jesus Who, accomplished the purpose of the Law and the Prophets. Faith in any other "Jesus" is the "broad way" Jesus warned against. If Jesus is indeed part of our lives, the Law and the Prophets are part of our lives. Passages like the subject passage above from Leviticus have great meaning to us. While we are not constrained by the Law and the Prophets, we are constrained by Jesus (Who is constrained by the Law and the Prophets).
Although by our inherent sinful nature at birth we are destined to die, the progression to that day of death is supernaturally altered for those who are in Christ (John 10.10). It is their earthly distinction as children of God. But God's children will never know or understand this unless they know and understand the Law and the Prophets and Jesus as their fulfillment. In fact, the "Jesus" known by those ignorant of the Law and the Prophets (wayward sons and daughters) is not Jesus of the Bible, the eternal Son of God.
Too harsh? Jesus didn't think so (see Matthew 7.13-14 above) and Leviticus gave us insight that failure to do what the LORD has commanded launches a death sentence. Oh yeah, every detail of the Tabernacle (and eventually the Temple) points man to God through Jesus Christ.
Father, I am amazed how Your Word fits together so completely. Help me to see that maturity in Christ is a progressive process. Help me also see that failure to progress in Christ is deadly (just as You warned Adam and Eve of death - that was a progression itself). Help Christians today understand that the progression of death they experience today is not the distinction You desire for Your children. Show us more... And may Your glory be seen in us as we are in Christ. So be it.
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