SCENE 5

TRANSCRIPTION

PHINEHAS: Grandpa Aaron, why can’t we eat today? 

AARON: Phinehas, today is the most holy day of the year, Yom Kippur. It is the day where we humble ourselves, seeking God’s forgiveness for all of our sins.                                                                                              

PHINEHAS: Are you going to make sacrifices today?

AARON: Yes, several special ones. Today’s sacrifices will be for my sins and the sins of our entire nation. Normally when I make sacrifices, it is on behalf of an individual for something they did wrong, some sin they committed. Today it is for our entire nation. BUT Every.sin.requires.a.sacrifice.

PHINEHAS: (in amazement) Wow! That must be a lot of animals to sacrifice today!

AARON: (chuckles, young Phinehas is starting to get it) “There is no way we could offer enough sacrifices to cover all our sin. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to truly take away sin. God tells us that the soul that sins will die. We offer sacrifices in faith, trusting that God’s justice is somehow satisfied. We have to do this every year. I wish there was a way to truly cover all our sin once for all.. 

PHINEHAS: You have to do this every year? 

AARON: Yes. In fact  today we will select 2 goats. One goat we will lay our hands on and confess all our sins over it. This goat will be the scapegoat and carry our sin into the wilderness. The other goat will be sacrificed as a sin offering and its blood will open the way that I may enter the Most Holy Place.

PHINEHAS: What’s the Most Holy Place?

AARON: (with solemn reverence) Oh, my grandson, it is the most special place in all the world! It is the innermost room of the Tabernacle. But I’m getting ahead of myself. You remember the Outer Court?

PHINEHAS: Of course! That’s where the cool knives are for the huge bronze altar and all the blood and sacrifices. 

AARON: (chuckle) Yes! But the next area you haven’t seen, the Holy Place. Only the priests can go here, but one day you’ll get to. As soon as you enter, your eyes are drawn to the majestic menorah, the 7-flamed golden lampstand. 

PHINEHAS: (butting in) And 7 is God’s perfect number right?

AARON: Yes, 7 is God’s number of perfection or completion and the menorah is the perfect light of the world. Next to it is the Table of Showbread, where we would put out 12 loaves of bread each week, reminding us that God provides for our every need, and that we cannot live on bread alone but must feed on the Word of God. There is also the altar of incense, a smaller altar where I offer incense representing our prayers that are a sweet fragrance to God. 

Then there is the veil to the Most Holy Place.

PHINEHAS: What’s the veil?

AARON: Hmmmm. The veil is a thick curtain separating the Holy Place from the MOST HOLY PLACE. On it are 2 terrifying cherubim angels.

PHINEHAS: (startled) Terrifying?

AARON: Yes, terrifying. They are not evil, but they are a fierce warning NOT to go past the veil into the Most Holy Place. They guard the glory of God, just like the 2 angels that guarded the entrance to the Garden of Eden. Entering into the Most Holy Place was to go into the very presence of God, and no one can enter on their own. Our sin separates us and excludes us from God. On this day, I can only enter because I come with the blood of a sacrifice. 

PHINEHAS: Are you scared, grandpa?

AARON: (pauses, breathes deeply…) Yes. God sees everything, my heart, my motives, my pride. Next to God’s perfect holiness, I’m a sinful man. I will come with the sacrifice, but what if it is not enough? My sons, Nadab and Abihu, your uncles, were killed by the Lord because they tried to serve God on their own terms and didn’t follow His commands exactly. 

PHINEHAS: Wow. [ponders the gravity] What’s it like inside the Most Holy Place?

AARON: Inside the veil is the glorious Ark of the Covenant, beautifully crafted of hammered gold. On Mount Sinai I had tried to make something to honor God by fashioning a calf of melted gold, but I was worshiping God on my own terms. Thinking now about Nadab and Abihu, I didn’t realize the grace that God allowed me to live after such a foolish action. God doesn’t want an image or an idol to represent Him, because NOTHING truly can represent Him. 

PHINEHAS: Is the Ark made of solid gold?

AARON: The Ark is a box made of acacia wood and covered with hammered gold. The wood representing humanity and the gold, representing God’s deity and perfection. It was to be hammered and beaten. 

NARRATOR: Isaiah later wrote, “Messiah will be crushed for our sins, beaten so we could be whole, whipped so we could be healed.”

AARON: On top of the Ark is the Mercy Seat. It has 2 angels with outstretched wings guarding the very presence of God. When I enter, I must sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the Mercy seat to atone for my sins and the sins of the people. It is only because of God’s mercy that I am even alive. So many times He has rescued me from my enemies and from myself. God chose  me to be the High Priest, though I don’t deserve it. I am not worthy, but I look to a future Messiah that will be the perfect mediator between God and man, one who ever lives to intercede for my weakness. 

PHINEHAS: So the Most Holy Place is really all about Messiah and what He would do?

AARON: Yes, but not just the Most Holy Place, the entire Tabernacle points us to Messiah and His Work.  

NARRATOR: Have you, like Aaron, tried to worship God on your own terms and in your own way? Have you created your own idols?

Years later King Solomon built the temple following the model for the tabernacle. It was a truly amazing monument to our God; however…as time went on, the kings and ultimately, the nation’s people began to worship idols in hopes of gaining financial blessing, bountiful crops, and love, even to the point of sacrificing their babies. The people bowed down to idols of job promotion, power and success. Eventually, EVEN THE PRIESTS began to store their idols in rooms in the temple. At one point, God could no longer tolerate their sin; and so, He gave them over as slaves to a pagan king in the land of Babylon. That king would force them to bow before a 90 foot statue of himself.