The time – February 23, 1987. The place – the Sydney Opera House. The event – the launch of Australia’s first mobile phone, the Walkabout TM by Telstra. The Walkabout TM was nicknamed ‘The Brick’ because of its large, rectangular shape. Using one was much like holding a brick to the side of your head. It could only make and receive calls and had a talk time of about 20 minutes.
Mobile phones have certainly come a long way since the Walkabout TM hit the market 34 years ago! One of the keys has been miniaturization. Electronic devices have continued to increase in complexity while at the same time decrease in size. That has brought with it an increased need for care in processing. Many of the components that go into making today’s mobile phones have to be manufactured in a relatively pure environment. Companies set up cleanrooms that run a spectrum of filtering the air to preventing any form of human contamination such as skin oil, hair, and sweat.
In a spiritual sense, God called for the Old Testament priests to treat the tabernacle, and later the temple, like a cleanroom. It was a holy place that was to be kept pure and set apart for worship of the Almighty God. The person most responsible for leading the nation to approach God in holiness was the High Priest. It was His responsibility to represent the people to God in worship and offer sacrifices on their behalf. He was quite literally the mediator between God and man. His most important task was to enter the Holy of Holies once a year and offer sacrifices for his own sins first and then for the sins of the nation. Even so, he couldn’t fully solve the sin problem either for himself or the nation. Every year he had to make the same sacrifices. It was never enough.
That’s where Jesus is different. In describing His work as High Priest, Hebrews 7:27 (CSB) tells us, “Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.” Through Jesus we are cleansed for all eternity. Praise God!
His,
Pastor Martin
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