The Man Behind the Curtain

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”

We all know what movie that line is from. Some of us have seen it many times over the years, and I bet that many of us have used that line from time to time when we realize something is not what we thought it was.

There are some who have interpreted the Wizard of Oz through a Christian lens, with the yellow brick road being the path of righteousness that leads to heaven, with Emerald City being a symbol of heaven. Some have interpreted this movie with the yellow brick road as symbolic of an internal spiritual awakening, or the path to enlightenment.

But I am not going to go into anything quite so deep as to the hidden meaning of the Wizard of Oz. Instead I want to use the quote above to discuss the “hidden” God who made all things.

The God Behind the Curtain

When the Jewish people were wandering through the desert in the Old Testament, God was always with them. However, sin had created a separation between God and the people. The people needed an intercessor, first Moses and then eventually the High Priests, to go before God for them.

This separation was symbolized by a large, thick curtain in the temple which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. The Ark of the Covenant, with the Mercy Seat of God was behind the curtain. Nobody but the High Priest was allowed behind the curtain, and he was only allowed into the presence of God once a year, on the Day of Atonement.

And even then, the High Priest was only allowed in the Most Holy Place after the proper cleansing ritual. Once within the Most Holy Place the High Priest would offer the blood of an animal sacrifice to atone for the sins of the people.

Man was too sinful and unclean to approach the Holy God on his own, he could not have a personal relationship with God. God was with his people, but he was behind the curtain.

The Curtain Torn

But then a man died on Golgotha, the sun went out, the skies opened up, thunder crashed and lightning flashed, the earth trembled . . . and the curtain tore. This was no ordinary man, this was the Son of God, God himself, who died on this hill. God provided the final blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.

No longer was God behind the curtain. Our belief in Jesus’ death and resurrection, and our faith that he is God, and that he died for our sins has cleansed us. Our clothes are as white as can be, they have been washed clean in the blood of the lamb.¹

We have been purified and cleansed, and we can now bring ourselves to God without a High Priest offering a sacrifice for us. Jesus was the final sacrifice for sin and he is now our High Priest, our intercessor.² And with Jesus being God this means we now have a personal relationship with God.

Are You Putting God Behind a Curtain?

But despite this, I feel that many people are putting God back behind the curtain. And I am guilty of doing this at times as well.

Is the curtain slowly being lifted back up between you and God? What do I mean by this? Is God constantly on your mind and in your heart, but rarely on your lips? Do you hesitate to tell others the good news because you are afraid of what they may say?

If so, you are putting God back behind the curtain.

When we don’t acknowledge Christ before others, when we do not proclaim our God to others, and when we keep our faith to ourselves, we are in effect saying to the world, “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”

When we do this God has become just a part of who we are, instead of who we are, and we are not giving proper glory to God. We are compartmentalizing God by putting him in the background of our lives when he should be in the forefront of all we say and do. We should not have a Christian life and a secular life, Christ should be at the center of everything in our lives.

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1. See Revelation 7:14 ↩︎
2. See Hebrews 4:14-16 ↩︎