No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. (ESV)

There’s this stage in parenting when you realize your little kid doesn’t need all the help anymore. They learn how to put on their own clothes, they can use a fork and spoon, and they start being able to do simple chores. It’s truly wonderful seeing their independence start to blossom. But I think in our self-help world we’ve lost the regularity of relying on our community or on others for anything. My first instinct when I don’t know something is to google it. Weird sound coming from my car? Google it. The 28th President of the United States? Google it. We live in a world where we rarely need to ask for help, and usually, self-sufficiency is praised. Even when my kids ask for help, my first response often is, “How can you solve that problem?”

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This verse in Leviticus might seem intimidating at first, or maybe it doesn’t seem to make any sense (I had to reread it multiple times!). The Priest - in this case Moses’ brother Aaron - had to go into the Most Holy Place and make atonement for the sins of everyone. He wasn’t just a random Israelite; he was specifically chosen due to his family line. This meant that the average Israelite couldn’t atone for their own sins. They couldn’t do any part of it at all - they needed a priest as the go-between of the people and God. And the priest didn’t just atone for his sins or the sins of the people he knew. He atoned for the whole community of Israel, every single individual.

We’ve lost something that the Israelites had - a dependence on each other. I used to find myself turning inward when something bad happened, trying to fix it myself, or I would wrestle with it alone in misery until whatever it was resolved. But recently, I’ve started to open up, sharing the big and little things that are causing me to struggle. And let me tell you, it’s been life-changing! Instead of going through something on my own, I have friends who share that they’re going through the same things, and we can support each other. Becoming more vulnerable has not made my community go away, it’s strengthened it!

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Priscilla Shirer writes in her bible study Elijah, “Solitude may be beautiful and restful, but if allowed to become unbalanced, it can also make us self-absorbed - stuck inside our own thoughts and needs, unconcerned and unable to walk in relationship with others. Too much time alone can cause us to become hardened, narrow, desensitized, and one-dimensional.”  

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Obviously, it’s not possible to recreate exactly what the Israelites had. And honestly, we shouldn’t want to! We have Jesus as our atonement, and we don’t have to live under the old covenant anymore. Praise the Lord for that! But I think because Jesus isn’t physically in front of us like the priests were, we sometimes forget that, by being part of God’s household, we are part of God’s family. We don’t have to battle alone.

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So, what if we grasped a little of the Israelite culture revealed in Leviticus: the community and reliance on each other? What if our mindset turned from inward to outward? This week, I challenge you to reach out to someone in your life and share a struggle, a prayer request, or a praise. What is happening in your life that may seem small, but bringing it to others could have a big result? We need the Lord, and we need each other.

Lord, how perfect are your ways and marvelous are your thoughts! What great joy it brings us to be able to dwell in your presence and rest in your love. Thank you for Jesus, becoming our High Priest so we can live in freedom as part of your family. Help us to continue to grow in community and love others as you love us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.