Day of Atonement
Lev 16
Here we have read the instruction the Lord gave to Moses for the proper observance of the day of atonement. This was possibly the most important ritual observance for Israel, because, as the name implies, it was the day that atonement was made for the nation of Israel as a whole.
Just so we are all on the same page, atonement means literally to cover over, as to cover with pitch. So it implies a complete covering and obscuring of something, so that it is not seen anymore. And one thing pitch did was to cover and seal. In the case of the day of atonement, it is the day that the sins of Israel were covered.
Notice, in this chapter, the Lord explained everything that was to be done: nothing was left for them to figure out for themselves-the sacrifices, the order, who was to do what, even the very clothes the high Priest wore, were all clearly spelled out, so there could be no question.
The clothing the High priest was to wear (vs4) was the linen garment, a coat, breeches, girdle, and a mitre, or a cap. All were of white linen, representing the ceremonial purity of the HP. He washed in water, then put on the linen garments.
The sacrifices, (vs6-10), a bullock, or a young bull, which was to make atonement for the HP and his house, and two goats, one for a sacrifice of blood, and one for a scapegoat. First the bullock was killed, its blood taken into the holy of holies where the ark of the covenant was located. But notice, he didn't just go in with the blood, but he also took a censer full of coals from the altar and handfuls of incense; once in the holy of holies, he first put the incense on the coals, which produced a sweet, thick smoke, representing the prayer of the people. As well, it covered the gory of the Lord on the mercy seat, lest the HP die when confronted by the whole presence of God before him. Then, he would sprinkle the blood of the bullock on the mercy seat, and in front of the mercy seat, seven times, seven representing completion or perfection.
Next, the goat was killed for the atonement of the people, and the blood was taken and offered as the blood of the bullock was, upon the mercy seat, and then, he went out and sprinkled the blood of both animals on the altar, both on the horns of the altar and sprinkled it on the altar itself, to cleanse it from the sins of Israel.
Now, the scapegoat-the second goat was called the scapegoat, and this one was not killed. Rather, they took it, and the HP would lay his hands on its head, and confess on it the sins of the people of Israel; once done, it was taken by a fit man, probably because he had to go quite a distance and had to be fit, and take the goat out of the camp and well away from the people, where it was left in the wilderness. This represented the sin of the people being placed upon another, an innocent, and taken away, never to be seen again.
The last things done, were that the HP would change back to his normal priestly garments,, and offer burnt offerings for himself and the people. The carcasses of the bullock and goat killed for the atonement were removed from the camp and burned, and this ended the sacrifices.
Another significant aspect was that this day was a sabbath, or a day of rest, where no one did any work, and the people were commanded to afflict themselves, or if you will it was a fast unto the Lord. It was a day of mourning for the sin of the entire nation, and repentance of sin, and so they neither worked nor ate that whole day.
Today, the Day of Atonement is referred to as Yom Kippur, which means, well, day of atonement. Of course, the sacrifices are no longer done, and many things have been added to it, like, they are not allowed to bathe, or wear cosmetics, or wear leather shoes. They have added various liturgies and formal prayers to the observance today, and they continue to observe the day, though only a shadow of what it once was. And of course, the sad fact, is that the Jews today, and for many years, have missed what it all meant.
As with many other things in the OT, the Day of Atonement was a picture of Jesus Christ. In fact, every sacrifice, from the animals slain to make coats for Adam and Eve, to Abel's sacrifice, all the way through to the coming of Christ, all of them, each slain animal, each sacrifice of blood, was a picture of Christ, but the Atonement sacrifice, even more, as this was the purpose that Jesus came to earth-to provide atonement for the sin of the world.
There are those who question why God demanded the blood sacrifice of innocent animals to atone for sin-in fact, there are those who outright reject God for this very reason. Well, I would say, don't blame God-it is man's sin that caused it's necessity. I can't claim to fully understand God's perfect reasoning that blood is required for the forgiveness of sin, yet the Bible is clear on this. Hebrews 9:22 says, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without the shedding of blood is no remission.” Without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission, or removal, of sin. For a long time, it was the blood of bulls and goats, sheep and doves, but those sacrifices could only cover past sins, and had to be renewed continually. There was a continual burning upon the altar in Jerusalem of sacrifices for sin. Again, why the helpless animals? Well, I think I know of at least one reason, though I know its not the only one-I believe it is because man needs to understand just how terrible sin is. Sin destroys-it not only destroys the life of the one who sin, but it destroys others along with him. It destroys families, children, spouses. It was so severe once that it caused the Lord to destroy the entire earth, humans and animals alike because of the severity of sin. Sin effected nature itself, bringing with it thorns and weeds, snow and ice, droughts, and storms. It brought about the necessity of eating meat, made many of the animals carnivores, killing one another to live.
And most of all, sin brings death-not just physical death, but eternal death, hell, and torments for eternity. Sin brings a terrible price, and so, to cover that terrible price, it takes a terrible act-the death of an innocent. Think about it-has anyone ever slaughtered an animal, to eat, perhaps? Slaughtering is not fun, even when its needed to eat, to survive. Its still not fun to take a life. But today, its not as bad-we shoot it, a quick bullet or two and its done. That's not how they did a sacrifice-for a proper sacrifice, the blood had to be drained. Thus, they were killed by slitting the throat, and bleeding them out; a terrible way to kill something, a terrible way to die. So why? Well, imagine, today, if this was what you had to do every time you sinned against God-would reeeealy make you think if what you were going to do was worth another slit throat, wouldn't you? Today, we don't have to do that, praise God, but it is kind of what the observance of the Lord's Supper is about-it is remembering, not just Jesus' broken body and shed blood, but its also to consider WHY He shed His holy blood, why He allowed His body to be broken-because, as we partake, we should be remembering that WE put Him on that cross, just as surely as if we had been there 2000 years ago, just as surely as if our own hands had driven the nails into His hands and feet, or drove the spear into the side of His dead broken body. It was for OUR sins He died, ours and the rest of mankind's. And remembering this, keeping it fresh in our hearts and minds, it should cause us to consider each sin we may commit very carefully, whether its worth it, whether we wish to continue in sin for which our Saviour has already given his precious life.
The Day of Atonement has just occurred last week, and this morning, we will observe the Lord's Supper. As we do so, I encourage each of us to take a few minutes and consider seriously our walk with the Lord, and what we have done to help Him on His way to the cross. Do we live lives worthy of the great salvation we have been so graciously granted? Do we honor the sacrifice he made for us in our acts, in our obedience to Him, to his word? This morning, take these truths to heart, turn yourselves fully to the Lord, appreciating your personal atonement in Jesus Christ.
Let's stand.
