WORKING IN THE HOLIEST 2
(week 20/10)
OLUBI JOHNSON
In our article last week, we saw that the furniture in the Tabernacle of Moses prophetically, symbolize or typify our labour (Col. 4:12, 1Tim.5:17) in prayer as New Testament Christians. We saw the symbolic meanings of the articles in the Outer Court and the Holy Place. This week, we will see how the ‘altar of incense’ in the ‘Holy Place’ takes us into the ‘Holiest of all’.
In the Old Testament, the altar of incense was placed in the ‘Holy Place’ but on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:12) the High priest took it into the ‘Holiest of all’; furthermore, in Heb. 9:4, in the New Testament, Paul by revelation places the altar of incense in the ‘Holiest of all’. This speaks of praying in the Spirit with all types of prayer that takes us across the veil of the sin nature in the flesh so we can experience a complete flow of the life of God in our souls: minds, wills, emotions and bodies totally flushing out the sin nature from our souls and bodies fulfilling:
2 Corinthians 7:1 KJV: Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Ephesians 5:26-27 KJV: That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (27) That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
It is instructive to note here that the measure of the life of God and force from our belly muscles with which we pray in travail or groanings determines whether we will be able to make the transition from the Holy Place into the Most Holy Place of all or not.
We see this truth typified in the Hippopotamus who is called first in the ways of God typifying Christians who pray with travail with sufficient force from their belly muscles to be first in the ways of God: operating in the ‘Most Holy Place’ becoming conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus the First born among many brothers.
Job 40:15-16, 19 MKJV: Now behold behemoth, which I made along with you; he eats grass like an ox; (16) see, now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the muscles of his belly. (19) He is the first of the ways of God; his Maker brings near his sword.
Romans 8:26-29 MKJV: Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (27) And He searching the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (28) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (29) For whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, for Him to be the First-born among many brothers.
Galatians 4:19 AMP: My little children, for whom I am again suffering birth pangs (travail) until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you,
John 7:38-39 MKJV: He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (39) (But He spoke this about the Spirit, which they who believed on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Some Christians who pray with travail regularly do not cross over into the ‘Holiest of all’ from the Holy Place because they do not travail or groan with sufficient measure of the life of God and sufficient force.
In the ‘Holiest of all’, we have 3 items inside the Ark of the Covenant: tablets of the Ten Commandments; Aaron’s rod that budded and a sample of manna inside a golden pot.
Having as it were, prayed through into the ‘Holiest of all’ the confessions and prayers we make in the ‘Holiest of all’ to perfect the love of God will now release a far greater measure of the light and power of God than was released in the Outer Court or Holy Place; this will cause the New Testament law of love to be ‘written’ in your will, mind and emotions. This means that overtime as you practice this, your will, mind and emotions will only respond in the love of God; you will be rooted and grounded in love and become perfected in the love of God as shown in Eph. 3:16-19 and 1 Cor. 13:4-12. This is what the tablets of the 10 commandment symbolize:
Ephesians 3:16-19 KJV: That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; (17) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; (19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Aaron’s rod that budded symbolizes the fruit of the Spirit being made manifest in the physical body. As you practice this overtime, all of the lusts of the flesh in the physical body will have been crucified so that your body will only respond to righteous stimuli as shown in
Hebrews 5:14 AMP: But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.
Galatians 5:24 NIV: those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
Hidden manna symbolizes the deep hidden truth in the written Word that can only be seen in the intensity of the light of the Shekinah glory of God only to be found in the ‘Holiest of all’.
It is instructive to note that Christians ‘working’ in the ‘Holy Place’ provide covering for those ‘working’ in the ‘Outer Court’; those ‘working’ in the ‘Holiest of all’ provide covering for those ‘working’ in both the ‘Outer Court’ and the ‘Holy Place’.
In practice, what this means is that if someone working in the Outer Court prays for something and does not have sufficient power to bring it into manifestation because of the limitation of his prayers as shown earlier, God in His sovereignty depending on the honesty and humility of the person praying in the ‘Outer Court’ will use some of the power generated in the ‘Holy Place’ and ‘Most Holy Place’ to bring the answer to the ‘Outer Court’ prayer.
This is particularly done for new young Christians or those in critical or weak conditions; however, as you grow spiritually, God expects you to progress from working in the ‘Outer Court’ to working in the ‘Holy Place’ and the ‘Most Holy Place’. If you do not, He will not subsidize your prayers in this way: this is why many Christians, who by reason of time should have grown but have not, do not get answers to some prayers.
So you should start practicing ‘working’ as a daily habit not just in the ‘Outer Court’ but also in the ‘Holy Place’ and the ‘Holiest of all’!
