# “The one able to ascend is the Adam-like high priest, with blood, on the Day of Atonement” by L. Michael Morales

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2019/12/16/the-one-able-to-ascend-is-the-adam-like-high-priest-with-blood-on-the-day-of-atonement-by-l-michael-morales/
- Published: 2019-12-16T12:00:12-06:00
- Author: tollelege

“The tabernacle was not merely the earthly house of God, but the _way_ to God– the
_way_ of YHWH. Now, keeping in mind the parallels between the garden of Eden and
the tabernacle, one may discern readily how the entrance into the holy of holies,‘
the archetypal priestly act,’ comprised a liturgical drama:_ the annual re-entry
into the garden of Eden._

On the Day of Atonement Adam’s eastward expulsion from the garden of Eden was reversed
as the high priest, a cultic Adam, ascended westward through the cherubim-woven 
veil and into the summit of the cultic mountain of God.

At the heart of the Pentateuch, we find an answer to the question _Who shall ascend
into the mountain of YHWH?_ The one able to ascend is the Adam-like high priest,
with blood, on the Day of Atonement.

_This_ is the way YHWH has opened for humanity to dwell in His Presence. Within 
the narrative progression, then, atonement, along with its elements of purification
and ransom, is that which enables the _return_ to YHWH God, a _reversal_ of Eden’s
expulsion.”

–L. Michael Morales, _[Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?: A Biblical Theology of the Book of Leviticus](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0830826386?tag=toletaupanre-20)_(
ed. D. A. Carson; vol. 37; New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL; 
England: InterVarsity Press; Apollos, 2015), 176-177.

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