The Miracle of the Rent Veil

Driving home: Therefore, as long as that thick veil was there in the temple, there by divine direction, it was a symbol that free and unfettered access to God, was not yet possible.

To convey the substantial nature of the temple veil, Martin notes that it was 'about the thickness of a man's hand,' contrasting it with the common idea of a thin veil.

What was its function? In answering these questions, we are seeking to grasp the form of the message of the rent veil. Here are the facts in brief. In the temple, there was a thick veil which separated the ordinary area of the priest's functions, called the holy place, from the holy of holies, or the most holy place, to understand, to understand from both the biblical materials, and the additional confirmation from some of the ancient writings, that that veil was about the thickness of a man's hand. When we think of a veil, we think of something thin,

12:02 - 12:53 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Therefore, as long as that thick veil was there in the temple, there by divine direction, it was a symbol that free and unfettered access to God, was not yet possible.

Rabbinical traditions suggesting it took 'as many as 300 people to put it into its proper place' illustrate the extreme heaviness and significance of the temple veil.

but not this veil. This veil was thickly woven, extremely heavy. Some rabbinical traditions say it may have taken as many as, 300 people to put it into its proper place. And it was that thick veil that separated the place of the priest's daily and monthly ministrations from that unique and distinct annual visit, the other side of the veil, into the most holy place, the day of atonement.

12:55 - 13:35 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Therefore, as long as that thick veil was there in the temple, there by divine direction, it was a symbol that free and unfettered access to God, was not yet possible.

The practice of attaching bells to the high priest's garment, so those outside would know he was still alive, illustrates the mortal danger of entering God's presence unprepared and the strict separation the veil represented.

And on that occasion, a priest, the high priest in particular, who had properly prepared himself, a very elaborate ritual of personal cleansing and sacrifice for his own sins, would take blood, and would lift the corner of that heavy veil, and slip into that awesome place of the immediate presence of God, there to offer that blood on behalf of the people of God. But no one had more occasion, than the end of the day, the anointment, and no one other, and not even the priest, unless he had duly prepared himself according to divine. If he dared come unprepared, he would be struck dead. And for th...

13:35 - 14:57 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The tearing of the veil is presented as God's act of dismantling the entire Levitical system, rendering its rituals and priesthood obsolete because Christ's perfect sacrifice has…

The analogy of dismantling a car by throwing sand into its engine illustrates how God, by tearing the veil, struck at the very heart of the Levitical system to render it utterly useless and dismantle it.

This veil in the temple, there at Jerusalem, well, having looked at the form of the message, secondly, the heart of the message, now then, thirdly, the application of the message of the split or the rent veil, and what I want to do is, first of all, to give a word of crucial instruction, then a word of urgent invitation, and then a word of sober admonition. First of all, a word of crucial instruction. When God sets the veil in the dismantling and the ultimate abrogation of the whole Levitical system. You see, if you're out to dismantle a car, make it of no use, and see that it ends up in the j...

26:35 - 27:55 Read in full sermon