Leviticus
chapter 16 reminds us of the complexity of our God. He is a God of
abundant grace, ready to forgive; yet, He is a God of righteousness
that will only receive our worship according to His ways. In
Leviticus chapter 10 we were told that the sons of Aaron came into
God’s Holy place without honoring His perfect righteousness, and they
were consumed. Chapter 16 after referring to this declares, “Tell
Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Holy Place behind the
curtain… or else he will die because I appear in the cloud above
the atonement cover“.
The rest of the chapter explains exactly when and how the High
Priest may enter the Holy Place. We are reminded that we cannot come
before God in a casual way. As we will see in the symbols used in
the day of atonement, our access to God came at a heavy cost. It is
only through the sacrifice of Christ that we are given access to God.
God sees us as perfectly righteous, not because of our own good
works, but because by faith we have accepted His perfect sacrifice,
Jesus Christ.
We
read, “Aaron
is to enter the sanctuary area with a young bull for the sin offering
and a ram for the burnt offering“.
Aaron is to bathe and put on the sacred garments. He is to present
two goats before the Lord and cast lots. One will be sacrificed as a
sin offering, the other will be presented live before the Lord as the
scapegoat. First, The High Priest must sacrifice the bull “for
his own sin offering“;
only then can he offer the blood of the goat, “Sprinkle
it on the atonement cover and in front of it. In this way he will
make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and
rebellion of the Israelites“.
Verse 21 explains the ritual for the Scapegoat. “He
shall bring forward the live goat. He shall lay both hands on the
head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and
rebellion of the Israelites- all their sins- and put them on the
goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the desert… in the
care of a man… The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a
solitary place and the man shall release him in the desert.”
The High priest will then bathe and put on his regular clothes and
“offer
the burnt offering for himself and for the people to make atonement
for the people. He shall then burn the fat of the sin offering
before the Lord“.
The bull and the goat used for the sin offering are then taken
outside the camp and burned up.
The
chapter ends, “This
is a lasting ordinance for you; atonement is to be made once a year
for all the sins of the Israelites“.
Interestingly, shortly after the crucifixion of Jesus, these
sacrifices were stopped. Today on Yom Kippur the Jewish people
observe the day of fasting, but do not offer a sacrifice. The writer
of Hebrews chapter 9 explains these rituals were mere “copies”
of the heavenly things. “Christ
did not enter a Holy place made with hands“.
We are told, if the blood of bulls and goats cleanses the sanctuary,
“How
much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God?”
He concludes, by faith we can receive the new covenant through His
death and resurrection and “receive
the promise of the eternal inheritance“.
If you are approaching God in any other way, remember God’s warning
to Aaron. The consequences are eternal.