Beyond Three Veils- First Veil of Sinful-Self

God gave Moses the tabernacle so that He could live among them in a Holy Sanctuary. Exodus 25:8

The Tabernacle was divided into three parts. Each part had its own curtain or veil.

The First Veil

The Outer Court was where the priests received the sacrifices from the Children of Israel to make an offering for their sins. It had the Bronze Altar of Sacrifice and the Bronze Laver of Water. Within the Outer Court were the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies which were also separated by more curtains and veils from the Outer Court, but set within the Outer Court.

To enter the Outer Court one had to enter through a curtain or a veil at the front of the Tabernacle. It was the only opening in the Outer Court to access all that was within. Before the Priests or the Children of Israel could walk through this veil, they had to have a sacrifice for their sins to offer for their forgiveness. Once inside they watched the priest inspect their sacrifice, listen to their sins, then saw the innocent animal slain as the priest laid his hands on its head and took a sharp knife to slit its throat, and catching the blood in a basin to be sprinkled onto the Bronze Altar for those sins.

It was a very graphic example reminding the Israelite that they should be the one whose blood was shed. Because of sin, their blood was sinful, so God in His mercy allowed innocent blood to be substituted. Jesus Christ would become the perfect sinless Lamb of God to take away the sins of the whole world. The Tabernacle was pointing us to Christ. Christ is true Grace and Mercy to all who acknowledge their sins.

To pass through this first curtain or veil, one had to acknowledge his or her sin. One had to bring an appropriate sacrifice for this sin. The priest had to inspect it, accept it, offer it and then sprinkle its blood onto the Bronze Altar for that sin.

As soon as the sacrifice was accepted, the sin was washed away at the Laver of Water. The priest was free to enter into the second veil of the Holy Place. This is a type of water baptism in the New Testament. We are baptized to announce to all that we have made a commitment to God to separate and cleanse ourselves from the world, so we too can enter into this second veil of the Holy Place. The third veil opened when God visited on the Day of Atonement in the Holy of Holies and now opens when God visits us in our times of refreshing.

This is the first veil we all have to go through to reach God, to have our prayers answered; the veil of our self or soul.

“He that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 If we don’t believe God exists, then we will never come to God. If we don’t believe He answers prayers, then we will never ask Him for anything.

The natural man cannot know the things of God because they are spiritually discerned. The carnal mind is enmity against God. To be carnally minded is death. I Corinthians 2:14, Romans 7:14

Isaiah 25:7-9, “There he will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign LORD will wipe away all tears. He will remove forever all insults and mockery against his land and people. The LORD has spoken! In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the LORD, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!”

God has spread a cloud of gloom, a shadow of death over the inhabitants of the earth because of the sin of Lucifer and then of Adam and Eve. This veil is spread over all nations. It blinds people to their sins, to their need of a Savior.

When Christ returns, He will remove this veil of death forever. All people will proclaim, “This is our God. We Trusted in Him, and He saved us!”

Satan as the god of this fallen world has blinded the minds of men, women and children to keep them from believing in Jesus Christ as the only way to eternal life. Paul said he prayed that the eyes of hearts would be opened so they could know the hope of His calling to the riches of His glorious inheritance. Ephesians 1:18

We have to ask God to remove this veil of death from our own eyes and then from the eyes of all our loved ones and of all those whom God burdens us to intercede with God on their behalf as priests of Christ. Only then Can God’s Holy Spirit begin to draw those we pray for toward Him.

The veil of death dwells in our members, and prevents us from doing the things which we know to be pleasing to God. Romans 7:12-25

We have to deny our self. We have to abase our self. We have to see our sinfulness before we can see our need to offer a sacrifice.

Satan keeps us from seeing our own sins, while he keeps our attention on the sins of those around us. We stay busy judging others boasting that we would never do such things. All the while there is a veil over our spiritual eyes preventing us from seeing our own sinfulness. The log in our own eyes is far larger than the speck in the one we are comparing our sins to.

We as Paul have to pray that God will open our eyes to see our self as He sees us.

David sinned greatly, but he also repented greatly. Psalm 51 is his prayer to His God. Read it slowly and see yourself in his prayer. Pray his prayer as your own. You will begin to feel your sinfulness. You will begin to feel your need for a Savior. You will find yourself crying to God from your heart in humility for your own sins, asking Him to create in you a clean heart and a faithful spirit before Him, and not to remove His Holy Spirit from you.

Christians today are trying to enter the second veil, and the third veil, without true repentance of their sins. They have justified their sins, and brazenly are offering sacrifices of praise that have not come from a true awareness of their need of a savior. Their offerings are all taking place outside the first veil without ever having entered within the Outer Court of sacrifice. This is hindering prayers for the lost and for the church to be what God has called it to be; a weapon of spiritual warfare against the veil of death over all nations.

“To be penitent, to feel sorry for sin, to shed tears, to even make decisions does not bring in salvation. Confession, decision, and many other religious acts can never be and are not to be construed as new birth. Rational judgment, intelligent understanding, mental acceptance, or the pursuit of the good, the beautiful, and the true are merely soulical activities if the spirit is not reached and stirred.”  Watchman Nee

“Self-denial corrects two evil tendencies ever attacking Christian ethics. There is a tendency to give more attention to outward standards than to the inward state of the heart. And there is a tendency to be strict with others and lenient with oneself… These two dragons are slain by the sword of self-denial when their heads appear in the land of Christian liberty.” Walter J. Chantry

Jesus said we will have enemies within our own household and family, if we don’t love Him more than these than we are not worthy of Him. If we do not take up our own cross and follow Him, we are not worthy of Him. Matthew 10:38-39 The first veil is the veil of sinful-self. We are our own gods until we face death; then we know we need a God bigger then our self to save us. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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