Adam and Eve walked in the presence of God in the garden; approach to God was not a problem. After the transgression, they were sent out of the garden and the approach to God was guarded by the Cherubim. From this time, man has sought the answer to the question of how to approach God. One Bible teacher, several years ago, proclaimed that we can never understand just how far Adam fell until we begin the return to the presence of God.
Karban
Jesus, in refuting the practices of the religious leaders of His day, used the word Corban (Mark 7:11) to refer to something "given to God". This same word is used extensively in the third book of Moses in what we often call the "Levitical Offerings or Sacrifices" (Leviticus 1-7). In fact, we ought to refer to these practices as Levitical Karban. The word Karban is derived from the Hebrew verb karav meaning ‘approach or draw near.’ Each Karban ought to be understood as an essential step to be walked out in our approach to God. We must embrace the concept that the steps of Karban are based on an orderly, surrendered, consecrated faith-walk rather than a ritual offering which magically confers upon us special position or experience. So rather than appeasing God with some "offering or sacrifice", these steps of Karban represent the Godly empowerment for maturation in salvation that we must experience in order to draw near to God. The five-step approach is outlined in the table at the end of the article.
Real Life Experiential Approach To God
We will describe the approach to God in the sequence that we experience it. The table below follows the pattern in Leviticus and lists each of the five Karban from the perspective of God, i.e. from God out to man. Our experience is just the opposite. We start our approach to God from the position of sin and trespass and proceed through the steps of Karban to the Olah.
The first step is the Ahsham Karban. The real life experience associated with this step of approach is becoming aware of, admitting to, dealing with the consequences and repenting from sin which has resulted in damage or harm to others. We make repentance toward God and seek His forgiveness. We seek forgiveness of the people hurt, and we make restitution for damages that they have experienced.
The second step of our approach to God is called Chataht Karban and this consists of becoming conscious of and admitting to sin patterns against God. This is accompanied by our repenting from the activity and seeking forgiveness from the Lord. Both the ahsham and the chataht Karban require a blood covering. To accomplish the purpose of this Karban we must believe that our sins and transgressions are thoroughly covered and that we are accepted in spite of our record of transgressions. We must believe that even our sorry record of sin can no longer hinder us from approaching God.
The third step of our approach is the Shelamin Karban which deals with our communion with God. We surrender ourselves in praise and worship as we glorify His name. We experience His presence and, therefore, His peace. We come to the point that experiencing the presence of God is not an exceptional experience, i.e. we are "at home" in His presence.
The fourth step is the Menchah Karban which consists of making a "gift" of our time, talents and possessions to God. This step constitutes dedicated service unto the Lord. Jesus confessed, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work" (John 4:34b). This reflects the gift Karban.
The final step is the Olah Karban which signifies utter and complete dedication to the Lord. In this state of approach we "go up", Olah. We think of Elijah the prophet during the era of the kings and Enoch in the pre-flood era in association with this Karban. They literally "went up".
Important Observations
It is important to realize that each step in our approach to God must occur in proper sequence. We can not side-step one level of experience and move on to a higher level. Indeed, only as we have thoroughly digested one experience can we truly move on to the next. This means that this "approach" to God as outlined here encompasses a lifetime walk of the dedicated believer. The person who thoroughly experiences each step in this process will ultimately "go up" to God.