How Can You Approach God?
Introduction
The more I study it, the more I love it. The Book of Hebrews appears to be addressed to Jewish Christians. It is written in a way that seems strange to our modern ears – the language is steeped in the Old Testament. It deals with this vital question: How can you approach God?
The author’s answer is: through Jesus, our Great High Priest. The high priesthood of Jesus is the pinnacle of the letter. It is the only New Testament document that expressly calls Jesus a Priest. The priestly work of Jesus is hinted at elsewhere, for example, the ‘high priestly’ prayer of Jesus in John’s Gospel (John 17) and the ‘beloved disciple’s’ description of Jesus as ‘advocate with the Father’ (1 John 2:1). But it is here in the book of Hebrews that the theme is taken up and expounded.
Psalm 119:153-160
ר Resh
153 Look on my suffering and deliver me,
for I have not forgotten your law.
154 Defend my cause and redeem me;
preserve my life according to your promise.
155 Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not seek out your decrees.
156 Your compassion, Lord, is great;
preserve my life according to your laws.
157 Many are the foes who persecute me,
but I have not turned from your statutes.
158 I look on the faithless with loathing,
for they do not obey your word.
159 See how I love your precepts;
preserve my life, Lord, in accordance with your love.
160 All your words are true;
all your righteous laws are eternal.
Commentary
Approach God knowing he is loving and compassionate
God’s love for humanity has always been great. ‘Your compassion is great, O Lord’ (v.156). The psalmist knew God’s love: ‘Preserve my life, O Lord, according to your love’ (v.159). He knew God was a deliverer (v.153). He speaks of redemption (v.154) and salvation (v.155).
He knew God would deliver, redeem and save, and it was because of this that he knew he could approach God with confidence. What he did not know was how God would save him.
As we read the whole Old Testament, including this psalm, through the lens of the New Testament, we can see that what the psalmist described is made possible through the high priesthood of Jesus.
Prayer
Hebrews 4:14-5:10
Jesus the Great High Priest
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are —yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
5 Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. 4 And no one takes this honour on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.
5 In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.”
6 And he says in another place,
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek. ”
7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Commentary
Approach God through Jesus, your Great High Priest
It is quite astonishing that you and I can approach the Creator of the universe with confidence and boldness. Of course, we must be respectful but we do not need to be timid or fearful. How is this possible?
As the writer introduces the central theme of his letter, the high priesthood of Jesus, he makes the point that the main purpose of his letter is to encourage them to ‘hold firmly to the faith we profess’ (4:14). Learning more about who Jesus is enables you to stand firm in your faith through the storms and temptations of life.
Jesus is unique. The Great High Priest is both ‘the Son of God’ (v.14) and fully human. He is able to sympathise with your weaknesses and he ‘has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin’ (v.15).
Jesus had all the same feelings you have. There were times when he felt like doing the wrong thing, but always chose to do the right thing. As you speak to him in prayer you can know that he knows how you are feeling.
There were three necessary qualifications for the priesthood:
- Humanity (‘selected from among human beings’, Hebrews 5:1)
- Compassion (‘able to deal gently’, v.2)
- Divine appointment (‘called by God’, v.4)
Jesus exactly fits the role.
But Jesus belonged to the tribe of Judah, not Levi, and therefore he lacked qualification for the normal priesthood, which was made up of descendants of Moses’ brother Aaron (who was a Levite). Thus, the writer identifies him with a new order of priests, identified with the Old Testament character Melchizedek, who was a priest of ‘God most High’ and ministered to Abraham (Genesis 14:18–20).
The book of Hebrews shows how in every way the priesthood of Melchizedek was superior to that of Aaron (see Hebrews 7). Because Jesus’ priesthood is like Melchizedek, it is eternal (5:6). It is therefore effective for all time. It affects those who lived before Jesus, as well as everyone who lives after him.
Jesus is your representative (v.1). He is both the model priest and far superior to any other priest.
Jesus gained experience through the things he suffered (v.9). God uses everything in your path, however painful, for you to gain experience. You can learn to use your pain for someone else’s gain.
Rick Warren writes, ‘God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections. The things you wish were most removed from your life are often the very things that God is using to shape you and make you into the believer he wants you to be. He wants to use that problem for good in your life. There’s something more important than your pain. It’s what you’re learning from that pain.’
Like us, Jesus gained experience through what he suffered. However, unlike us, he is without sin. Therefore, he did not need to offer sacrifices for his own sins. He is ‘the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him’ (v.9).
You can ‘approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that \[you\] may receive mercy and find grace to help \[you\] in \[your\] time of need’ (v.16). As you ask for forgiveness for the past – you can know that you will receive ‘mercy’. As you ask for help for the future you can know that you will receive ‘grace to help’ you in whatever your needs are and whatever difficulties you are facing at the moment.
The image of the throne is a way of emphasising the majesty and glory of the one who sits on it – God. Yet through Jesus you can approach God in prayer and worship no matter how you are feeling or what you have done.
Prayer
Ezekiel 1:1-3:27
Ezekiel’s Inaugural Vision
1 In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
2 On the fifth of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin — 3 the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the Lord was on him.
4 I looked, and I saw a violent storm coming out of the north —an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, 5 and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, 9 and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.
10 Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. 11 Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body. 12 Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. 13 The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. 14 The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.
15 As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. 16 This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. 17 As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. 18 Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.
19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. 20 Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21 When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
22 Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal, and awesome. 23 Under the vault their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. 24 When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.
25 Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. 26 Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. 27 I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Ezekiel’s Call to Be a Prophet
2 He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you. ” 2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.
3 He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. 4 The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ 5 And whether they listen or fail to listen —for they are a rebellious people —they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. 7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”
9 Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, 10 which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.
3 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.
3 Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.
4 He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them. 5 You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language, but to the people of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. 7 But the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate. 8 But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. 9 I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. ”
10 And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. 11 Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ whether they listen or fail to listen. ”
12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing. 13 It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound. 14 The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me. 15 I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days —deeply distressed.
Ezekiel’s Task as Watchman
16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18 When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die, ’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.
20 “Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 21 But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself. ”
22 The hand of the Lord was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown.
24 Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25 And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people. 27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.
Commentary
Approach the throne of grace with confidence
What an amazing thing to be told that we can approach the heavenly throne at all – let alone ‘with confidence’ (Hebrews 4:16)! The prophet Ezekiel (whose name means ‘God is strong’) caught a glimpse of this throne. It was ‘awesome’ (v.22): ‘There was something that looked like a throne, sky-blue like a sapphire, with a humanlike figure towering above the throne… from the waist up he looked like burnished bronze and from the waist down like a blazing fire. Brightness everywhere!… It turned out to be the Glory of God! When I saw all this, I fell to my knees, my face to the ground. Then I heard a voice’ (Ezekiel 1:26–28, MSG).
Ezekiel was called by God (593 BC) at the age of 30 (v.1). He was a priest (v.3). He was a Jewish exile in Babylonia (whereas Jeremiah was in Jerusalem). He was taken captive with the young king Jehoiachin in 597 BC (2 Kings 24:8–17). Like Jeremiah he called the people to repentance and foretold the eventual rebuilding of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel’s call begins with a vision of God. In the vision he sees four strange creatures (Ezekiel 1:10). Each one is a witness to part of the character of God.
The first has the face of a human being, the second a lion, representing strength and courage, the third an ox, representing fertility, and the fourth an eagle, representing speed. Together they point to the awesome majesty and greatness of God (v.10).
In this vision, Ezekiel catches a glimpse of a man – who we now know was Jesus (Revelation 4:1–10).
Ezekiel’s response to the vision of the throne of grace is to fall flat on his face (Ezekiel 1:28). This was not an unusual response to the presence of God (see, for example, Revelation 4:10).
God speaks to him (Ezekiel 2:1). The Holy Spirit enters Ezekiel (v.2). He is given the words of God to devour (3:1): ‘So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth’ (v.3b). He is told to listen carefully (2:8, 3:10) and then to go and speak the message that God has given.
He is to face great opposition but is told, ‘Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them’ (v.9). It is not his responsibility ‘whether they listen or fail to listen’ (v.11b). This is a reminder of the importance of listening. Your responsibility, like Ezekiel, is simply to listen and then speak the message that God gives you.
You are not responsible for the reaction of others (vv.18–21) but you will be held accountable for whether or not you obey God and speak the words that God has given you (vv.18,20). Sometimes you don’t know what the outcome will be in a certain situation, but you can trust and obey God no matter what.
Later on, the glory of the Lord appears to Ezekiel again and he falls face down (v.23). Again, the Spirit enters him (v.24). God promises, ‘When I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says”’ (v.27).
Prayer
Pippa adds
Hebrews 4:16 says:
‘So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.’ (The Message)
That’s confidence.
Verse of the Day
Psalm 119:156,159
Your compassion, LORD, is great…
... preserve my life, LORD, in accordance with your love.
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References
Rick Warren, ‘God Uses Your Problems for Good, Daily Hope, 22 September 2015. Accessed via: https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/daily-hope/read/devotionals/daily-hope-with-rick-warren/god-uses-your-problems-for-good-daily-hope-with-rick-warren-sep-22-2015-11744838.html
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.