Part X6.1 - The Day of Atonement

CHAPTER XVI. THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. THIS chapter gives directions for the priest’s access into the holiest of all, for himself and for the congregation. It opens with a reference to the death of Nadab and Abihu, to enforce the necessity for an exact observance of all that the Lord has commanded, as connected with the privilege of access to His presence. If the sons of Aaron, through disregard to the commandment, perished at the altar of burnt offering, how much more would a careful observance of it be needed in the holiest of all ! This is the place into which the high priest alone could enter ; but only once a year, and then not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people. And we are further told (Hebrews 9:8), that the Holy Ghost by this signified, " that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest." The way into the holy place was, but not yet that which led into the holiest. It is Christ, the High Priest of good things to come, Who has in His own flesh rent the vail, having entered once into the holiest, with His own blood, there to appear in the presence of God for us. But, in the exact observance of all the details required in these shadows, we learn the perfectness of Him, the great High Priest, Who hath passed into the heavens for us. All that, which under the shadowy and typical dispensation of the tabernacle was required to be done, tells us of what Christ is. All that which we are required to do, as shown therein, is required of us only as being brought into union with Him, and as being led by His Spirit to do what He does. It is as having received of His fulness and grace for grace that we offer the sacrifice of a sweet savour acceptable to God; and as good stewards of that grace that we minister the same one to another. It is only thus, in the knowledge and exercise of the power of union and communion with Christ, that we are able to render any service to God or one another. But the highest possible exercise of privilege and service is that which is connected with high priesthood; for it is the privilege of sons, and involves freedom of access to the immediate presence of God Himself. It is here that the true heart sprinkled from an evil conscience, and the body washed with pure water, are required (Hebrews 10:22). And the consequences which must result from such a privilege are the holding fast the profession of the faith without wavering, the considering one another to provoke unto love and good works, and the not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. Such are the blessed truths which this chapter unfolds to us. The offerings are those of the high priest for himself and his house, and those which were for the congregation. All is said to be required because of the unclean- ness of the children of Israel.

Leviticus 16:1. Death was the consequence of a far more distant approach to God, otherwise than He had commanded. There is no way of access to Him, we can have no discernment of Him at all, excepting in Christ; there may be a feeling after Him, if haply we may find Him; but the end is still death. Yet in Christ God brings poor sinners into the nearness of children. It is the Father that Jesus has revealed. It is what Christ is that establishes us in the possession of the full privilege. It is the increasing knowledge of what Christ is, and communion with Him, that enlarges our capacity for using and enjoying the privilege. The more we know of Christ, and the more we are conformed to His image (that is, in obedience), the nearer are we in the enjoyment of access to God and communion with Him. The Lord, in directing Moses to speak unto Aaron of these things, reminds him of the place and circumstances in which His presence was manifested. For, while our approach to God is in and by the Lord Jesus Christ, it is in Christ also that God approaches to us in the manifestation of His presence. The place, its circumstances, and arrangements, are Christ. It is a holy place; holy because God is there, that is, essentially holy; it is within the vail, that is, the flesh of Christ by which, until it was torn, God was hidden ; it is before the mercy-seat which is upon the ark, upon the ark containing that which God’s righteousness requires. But, although the tables of stone are there, they are hidden beneath the mercy-seat; for grace has triumphed over all, and revealed that God is love. Not less than this is to be known in the secret of His presence; not that He is gracious only, but that He is love, and that this is His intrinsic nature. "For 1 will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat" And this appearance is not in the repelling terror of righteousness ; but it is glorious; it is in the resplendent glory of His own nature, love. The cherubim of glory are not mentioned here. See Hebrews 9:5.

Aaron was not to come at all times into this place; but only in the way, and at the time, appointed of God.

We have seen that by this the Holy Ghost testified that the way into the holiest was not yet made manifest, and the same truth may be discovered in all the ordinances which show the person of the risen Christ not yet manifested. But it also, in its symbolical character, points us to all the following details, as setting forth the fulness and perfection of Him That was to come:-" Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place."

Leviticus 16:3. " With a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering." This shows us what would be needed in general as the offering of any who should come into that holy place. Sin must be put away, and full acceptance known. This was the need of Aaron and his house, but the perfect and intrinsic condition of the

Lord Jesus; for He was without sin, and in Him God was well pleased. The offerings which would be required for the priest in his official capacity are given afterwards, and though distinct, they are inseparable; for it is only as priests that we are permitted to enter into the holy place, and it is only thus that the Lord Jesus Himself entered, as it is said, " for us."

Leviticus 16:4. The personal condition of Aaron. He must first wash his flesh in water, and then put on the holy linen garments. These signify the knowledge and power of resurrection purity, and the perfect righteousness of God by faith (" the fine linen is the righteousness of saints"). These garments, too, involved all that was required and done at Aaron’s consecration, when he first put them on. We have thus the memorial of his condition of holiness and purity, and of that which had been and was the cause of it. Thus much is personally needed for the exercise of the priestly office in access to the holiest. But Aaron was not there for himself alone; for " every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God." We may learn from this, as elsewhere, the inseparable connection between service and worship, even in their highest exercise. Thus, in proceeding to give the detailed directions for his approach and entrance to the holiest, the Lord directs him to take from the congregation of the children of Israel their offering before he presents his own ; and then bids him do other things on behalf of the congregation, before he kills his own bullock. The offering of the children of Israel was " two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering."

Leviticus 16:6. Aaron is now required to offer the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself, and to make atonement for himself and his house. This offering is preparatory to killing it, which he is not yet directed to do. But he must show that he is himself prepared with that which puts away sin, before he can proceed to act on behalf of others.

Leviticus 16:7. He then presents the two goats of the sin offering for the people before the Lord, and casts lots on the goats, one for the Lord, the other for the scape-goat, or Azazel. The goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, was to be offered as a sin offering, the other was to be presented before the Lord to make atonement, and to be let go for a scape-goat into the wilderness. We have in this the manifestation of death and life; death signifying the bearing of sin, and its penalty; and life, the evidence that the sin is put away (Romans 4:25). " The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord " (Proverbs 16:33). What was required by God was that sin. should be put away. What the worshipper, the sinner, needed was the knowledge that sin was put away, in order to his approach to God. Both requirements are supplied in the symbolism of the two goats.

Leviticus 16:11. Aaron is then directed to kill the sin offering, and make atonement for himself and his house. This is the offering of the Lord Jesus upon the cross, when He made " His soul an offering for sin." And at the same time it signifies the sinner’s knowledge of Christ’s sacrifice, the first step of a sinner’s approach to God, indeed, that which brings him nigh, and gives him the privilege to enter at once into the holiest, though he has yet to learn of it and the varied blessings that are involved in it (Ephesians 2:13; Hebrews 10:19). But, in the order of the priestly approach, Aaron has first to learn this for himself. He is not, indeed, going into the holiest merely for himself; for he is a priest; but he himself has need, for he has sin, which must first be known to be put away, before he can enter into the Presence. He is to bring the blood within the vail, with a cloud of incense arising from the censer that it may cover the mercy-seat, that he die not. The incense, as we may see in the general directions for making it, is particularly declared to be for God alone. None other is to be made like it, nor may it be used for any other than the appointed purpose. It was to be set before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where God promised to meet with Moses, having been previously beaten very small (Exodus 30:36). It seems to represent the fragrant perfume arising from the Lord Jesus and His offering, understood in its value and excellency by none but God Himself. And this alone would be a shelter to the worshipper in the divine presence. In Revelation 5:8, incense signifies prayer. Probably, in general, it sets forth Christ pleading the sufficiency and excellency of Himself on our behalf. Here it would signify the value of the blood of the sin offering which was brought before God. He Himself appeared in the cloud upon the mercy-seat, and the cloud of incense was also to cover the mercy-seat; so that, in the blending together of the two, the intimate character of communion might be seen. The incense was burnt on fire taken from the altar; its ingredients were selected by God Himself, and the command to beat them small reminds us of the words :-" It pleased the Lord to bruise Him."

Standing thus before God, the priest was to sprinkle the blood with his finger upon the mercy-seat eastward, and before the mercy-seat, seven times. In these circumstances he learns in the holy place the value of that by which he stood there. The seven times marks its perfectness. The place where God stood was first cleansed, and then the place before Him where the worshipper was. For there was uncleanness in the very presence of God, even upon His mercy-seat, because of the one admitted there. While the blood was thus sprinkled beneath, the cloud was hiding or softening the manifestation of God, and the cloud of incense brought in by the priest was mingling with it above the mercy-seat. Thus in the holiest place the priest was to learn for himself the wondrous privilege of communion with God through the blood of the Lord Jesus. See 1 John 1:7.

Then he is to kill the people’s sin offering, and do with it as he had done with that which was for himself. To know for others the value of that which he had just been learning for himself. The necessity for this atonement is said to be "the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and their transgression in all their sins." Then atonement was to be made for the tabernacle of the congregation, because it remained among the Israelites in the midst of their uncleanness. And thus it is that uncleanness does not debar us from the presence of God. It is as sinners that we have the privilege of access to Him by the means of the cleansing blood.

Leviticus 16:17. There was to be no man in the tabernacle while this was going on, until it was completed, and a full atonement had been made for all. This tells us of our actual present circumstances. We are in the body waiting without, while our great Priest is doing the work within. But by faith we, too, may stand in Him within the veil; yet the experience can only be personal and individual, even though it be connected with service and the means of communion with each other. Compare 1 John 1:7. It is the personal experience and enjoyment of that high and blessed privilege which we know to be in the power of all by virtue of the blood. And our enjoyment of it is inseparably connected with the service of bringing others into the like experience, into the service of priests, and that in the highest character of priesthood. But we can only do this as sons, that is, as being in Christ, and so dwelling in the heavenlies which are the place of the blessing. For as being one with Him we are already in the holiest.

Leviticus 16:18. Having thus cleansed the holy place and the tabernacle of the congregation, the priest is next directed " to make atonement for the altar that is before the Lord," that is, the altar of burnt offering in the court of the tabernacle. The same means are to be used, viz., the blood of the sin offerings which he had offered for himself and his house, and for the people. But the order of these cleansings is important. The blood must first be presented before God in the holiest. Our separation by sin was from God, and to Himself, and into unfailing and abiding communion, He would bring us back. Accordingly, from the holy place of the Presence must flow forth all the blessing, without which the cleansing of other things would be of little value. And it was there that the blood was presented before God, and accepted by Him for atonement. And so the Lord Jesus suffered on the earth, and then entered at once with His own blood into the holiest, after which the heavens were opened to the Church, service done upon earth was accepted, and spiritual access into the holiest for worship was permitted. And although all this is at present cognisable only by faith, since Jesus is yet personally in the holy place, yet the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, and the fact of His abiding with the Church on earth, but at the same time leading her into the inner communion of the sanctuary in heaven, is proof that the work is done. We thus discern the blood upon and before the mercy-seat. But in the actual course the cleansing takes the order here appointed. First, it is applied to the holiest, where the Lord is after having borne and put away sin; next, to the heavenlies, into which He will receive His ascending Church; and lastly, to the earthly places where He will meet His earthly people, when they are brought to know the value of His blood-the blood of the everlasting covenant on which their sure blessing depends. The blood was to be put upon the horns of the altar round about, upon the highest point, that those who came within view might there see that which had been carried into the holy place, and carried thither by one who, though sinful, had by virtue of the blood been in the very holiest with God, and yet lived. The altar was also to be sprinkled seven times, to hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and to show them how they, though themselves unclean, might nevertheless come and worship there. All this is the consequence of the presentation of the blood of the sin offering before God, which reveals in its results the " one offering by which He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."

Leviticus 16:20. The next thing directed to be done in course is the confession of sin upon the live goat, and the sending him away by " a man of opportunity" into the wilderness. This is a manifestation of sin put away, which we have in the knowledge of Him Who was dead and is alive again, and which Israel shall have when they shall " look on Him Whom they have pierced, and mourn ; " for then shall " a fountain be opened for the house of David for sin and uncleanness." It is Aaron who takes the place of the confessor of sin on behalf of all the people, and who confesses " all their iniquities and all their transgressions in all their sins." And thus he is also the fit man, and the only one, to bear them away for ever, and, in the manifestation of his own life, to show that they were left where he bore them, in a land of separation, a land not inhabited, in the grave, whence they shall never more rise up before God to our condemnation.

Leviticus 16:23. So far this service is specially connected with the holy place, and with God; and, therefore, Aaron continues to wear his linen garments. But now he is directed to go into the tabernacle and put them off, and leave them there. By this act we see that, while in the immediate presence of God, we must have on the garments for glory and beauty, though priestly service calls us into circumstances in which they must be exchanged for ordinary apparel. It may also tell us of the forty days’ manifestation of our Lord after His resurrection, during which He sent to His disciples the blessed words, " I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God," words which may here find their type in the offering of the burnt offering (Leviticus 16:24). But the priest must first wash his flesh in water, and this act so often repeated, especially with respect to those who were engaged and came in contact with the sin offering, speaks again and again of the needed purity of resurrection, and the necessity of continually maintaining the knowledge and power of it. Then the proof of acceptance, and the act of acceptable worship, follow in the burnt offering. During the whole of His life, the Lord Jesus was the acceptable One before God, and this was proved by His resurrection. But it is in our present circumstances, having put on our ordinary garments, that we have to offer this offering, that is, practically, to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God (Romans 12:1). And to do this, we must come forth from the holiest into the sight of the congregation, bringing with us the blood and the incense.

Leviticus 16:25. The fat of the sin offering is to be burnt upon the altar; we must acknowledge that all the excellency is of God; we have no part in the putting away of sin, though we are associated with Him Who has perfectly done it.

Leviticus 16:26. " He that let go the goat for the scape goat shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterwards come into the camp." This, again, points out the defiling character of sin, whatever be the cause or mode of connection with it. We cannot even help others by imparting the knowledge of sin put away, unless we understand the defilement of it in our own case and its universal remedy, resurrection.

Leviticus 16:27. The carcasses of the animals of the sin offering are now to be burnt without the camp. And for him who performs this service washing is again commanded.

It is not the priestly service of participation which is here indicated: the point is the completeness of the work of Christ, and our duty of maintaining and communicating the knowledge of it (" and this shall be a statute for ever unto you "). But, in going with Christ without the camp, we take the place of sinners. He went thither as bearing sin for others; we go out as having sin, but bearing His reproach. All our knowledge of Him, and all our association with Him, is as sinners; in no other character can we know anything of Him. For every higher character of priestly service requires a proportionate knowledge of sin-though, thanks be to God, of sin put away-for it involves proportionate knowledge of Him, and the value of His work, Who alone could be the propitiation for our sins.

Leviticus 16:29. We are here taught to maintain an unceasing remembrance of the great work of Christ by the command that the Day of Atonement should be kept every year at the appointed time, and in this command even the " stranger" is remembered. The day was to be a Sabbath of rest, and yet a day of affliction and humiliation. For it is the remembrance of sin, in the place of sin, but at the same time a declaration that sin is put away. "For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins BEFORE THE LORD." Its continuance is enjoined in the successional priesthood, and the objects of the work are again distinctly stated, viz., to make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar; as also for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation. It is an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.