THE DOORS OF GOD’S PLAN* (Part 2)

You have probably heard the saying, “When God closes a door, He opens a window.” Doors, closed doors and opened doors, have been an important part of God’s relationship with mankind since the beginning. During this three part series, I’ll examine some of the places where a door – either one that closed or one that opened – has made a difference to mankind and his relationship with God.

PART TWO – When following God’s instructions meant life or immediate death.  

THE BLOODIED DOOR – SAFTY FOR NOW AND A PROPHECY OF THE FUTURE

Exodus 12:5-7, 13 [NKJV] 5 'Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take [it] from the sheep or from the goats. 6 'Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 'And they shall take [some] of the blood and put [it] on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. ... 13 'Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you [are]. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy [you] when I strike the land of Egypt.

God instructed Israel to kill a perfect lamb and paint its blood on the entry doors to their homes. Those who did were protected from death that night. 

This ritual pictured a future pivot point in God’s plan for mankind. In John 1:29 [NIV] we have this clear explanation: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Revelation also confirms this in Chapter 12, verses 10-& 11 [NIV] Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

Prior to this, God worked with and through a specific people – the nation of Israel, the seed of Abraham. However, with the fulfillment of the symbolism of that ritual, which the children of Abraham acted out on that first Passover and every Passover thereafter, the way was made for a series of opening doors – doors that were opened for any person to walk through. But, we aren’t at that point in the story just yet.  

DOOR TO THE MOST HOLY PLACE – THE RESTRICTED DOOR

When God gave Moses His instructions for the building of the temple in the wilderness, the services and dedication of the Priesthood and the processes of offerings, He was very clear about the setting up of what was called the Most Holy Place.

Leviticus 16:2 [NIV] 2 The LORD said to Moses: "Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover. The rest of Leviticus chapter 16 goes into great detail about what must be done before the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place – into the presence of the Lord. 

Only the High Priest could enter. He could enter only after cleansing and only once per year. Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu learned the hard way that God meant for the process and rituals to be followed precisely. Leviticus 10:1-2 [NIV] Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. While they did not go into the Most Holy Place, God’s reaction to them breaking with His specific instructions shows us how serious He was about the processes and restrictions He put into place.

What happened behind that door was not a secret, per se. God made it clear what Aaron and his successors were to do behind that door. But it did happen in secrecy. And it happened only when and as God instructed. 

At the moment of Jesus death, that “door” to the Most Holy Place was ripped open and the way to a personal relationship with God the Father, our Creator, was opened to all mankind – no matter their race or nation. Matthew 27:50-51 [KJV] Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

The fact that the rip occurred from top to bottom, and not bottom to top, is a graphic and appropriate reminder that the God of all the universe was doing the ripping, from heaven down to His creation on this earth.

This opening of a way to direct communication with God will never be closed again. But our story is not done! Next week: “Nothing but opening doors from this point forward.”  

I welcome your thoughts, comments and questions. You can write me any time at Nancy@DynamicChristianMinistries.org. 

*This blog series was inspired by a booklet I picked up at the Ark Encounter, titled “Doors of the Bible.” While we addressed many of the same doors, my work is original content and not copied from the booklet. My beliefs about God’s plan of Salvation, reward for the saved and that there is no eternal hell fire as a place of torment for the unsaved, significantly separates my focus the doors of God’s plan from the Ark Encounter’s “Doors of the Bible.”