Leviticus 16
RileyLeviticus 16:1-34
THE GREAT DAY OF Leviticus, Chapter 16IN speaking on “The Great Day of Atonement”, we properly employ the word “Great”. That precise idea is in the original text itself, for there “yoma” means “the day”; and not only the day of the atonement, but the day as compared with all the other days of the year—the one day of transcendent importance, because the day when, through sacrifice, men believed their souls cleansed from sin.At the very outset of this discourse I want to confess my deficiency as a teacher, because I have not spoken more often on the theme of the atonement. Surely it is worthy not only of presentation,, but of repetition. There are many men who imagine that what they need from the pulpit is a novel subject for every Sunday. But one could not study the work of pastors and churches without learning what Jacob Seiss has said, “The success of the pulpit, and the benefit of our weekly attentions upon the sanctuary depend much more upon the continuous reiteration of the same great truths of the Gospel than upon any power of invention in the preacher. It is not so much the presentation of new thoughts and brilliant originalities that converts men and builds them up in holiness, as the clear and constant exhibition of the plain doctrines of grace.” When Dr.
Chalmers was asked to what he attributed his success in the ministry, he answered, “Under God, to one thing—repetition, repetition, repetition.” If there is any theme of the Scriptures which more than another would justify the adoption of Chalmer’s practice, it is this theme of the atonement.When once a man understands it in all its relation to the love of God and the lives of men, he is necessarily a good student of the Word, and well equipped for work.To discuss this theme is to excite in a certain class of minds a demand for a definition as the introduction to the discourse. That desire I must necessarily leave ungratified for the present.
I believe, with Henry Van Dyke, that there are several reasons why one should not attempt a definition of the atonement. The most important of these is that it is impossible; while others of secondary importance are expressed by him in these terms: “The very attempt to define atonement so often leads to misconception and strife between men who believe in it with equal sincerity.” And again, “Such a definition is not needed.” The word itself declares all that even an inquiring mind can hope to have accomplished—“to make God and man to be at one again”. Atonement is “at-one-ment”. And it will be seen that this whole sixteenth chapter of Leviticus is God’s appointment for bringing about a reconciliation between Himself and sinners; God’s appointment for bringing an end to that estrangement which sin always effects; God’s appointment for reuniting the divorced. I say “God’s appointment”, since I believe that this chapter and other Scriptures show conclusively that He always has taken the initial steps, and for that matter, practically all the steps in the word “atonement”. Truly, as Van Dyke remarks, “There is no Christian view of the atonement which does not begin with the love of God.”But, all attempts at definition aside, there are great and fundamental truths suggested in this sixteenth chapter of Leviticus that will better illustrate for us the meaning of this word, and the significance of this day, than could the combined definitions of many minds.THE OF THE DAYThe importance of this day is emphasized in the fact that God minutely unfolds its every appointment.
It involves matters of such weighty moment that easily misled man cannot be trusted to determine even the details thereof.The time itself was Divinely fixed.“This shall he a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, * * For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you” (Leviticus 16:29-30).There are those who see a definite reason for setting it on the tenth day of the seventh month. Some remind us that seven is the symbol of completeness, as is also ten; others declare that it is set at this time because it was the season of the harvest, an indication, therefore, that in the fullness of time the Son of Man should appear to put away sin, and so on.
But the one thing concerning it about which we do not need to speculate is that God appointed that day and made it the only day in the year in which to make an atonement for the people.In that fact we find a plain lesson, namely, that Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. There were daily sacrifices to show that men were daily in need of cleansing; but the sacrifice of atonement could occur but once in the entire circle of a season. Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, says that “we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all”. And again, “This Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:10-12). It is an unspeakable consolation to those Christian hearts who love the Lord Jesus Christ, to learn that He needed to be crucified “but once”; that such was His infinite righteousness, that by a single death, He could pay the penalty of every broken law; and such the economy of God’s grace that the Cross would appear but once in human history. If one Calvary would not lead men to repentance, it were useless to multiply crucifixions; if that grace, which led God to give His only begotten Son to death, did not beget repentance in the hearts of men, to repeat the gifts over and over would not only represent a judgment against sin which men would regard bloody and unjust, but also effect a depreciation of the infinite merits of the Son Himself.
Hence, in “that Christ died, He died unto sin once”, according to the symbolism of the great day of atonement.The ceremonials of that day were definitely certified. The way the high priest must enter into the holy place was clearly stated; the sin offering that he must make for himself, and the one he should present for the people are accurately described; the method of choosing the scape-goat, the ceremony of confessing over its head, its transmission into the wilderness, were all presented in their minutia; while the garments he should wear, the washings he should administer, the method of making the offering, even the very spots where the blood should be sprinkled, are all laid before him to the last letter.There are people in these days who give themselves much to the work of eliminating from the Christian life the “non-essentials”, and summarily disposing of all inconvenient or distasteful ceremonies.
They boast that “the spirit maketh alive and the letter killeth”; but often dispense with both letter and spirit. I confess, myself, a natural antagonism to extended ceremonies, particularly ceremonies man made.My mother’s Quaker blood stirred easily in rebellion against gowns and genuflections which have no warrant from the Word of God, and which commonly represent the Pharisaical spirit. To me high-churchism is a reversal of the wheels of progress, an attempt to return to a religion which has served its ends and never was meant to do more than foreshadow the substance of Christianity. But after all, I count it at once unwarranted and wicked to set aside Divinely-appointed ceremonies. It was no right of Aaron’s to change the number of the offerings, and the method of making them. It was not left to him to determine whether he should shed the blood of the bullock or of the goat, nor yet to say whether the blood should be sprinkled on the Mercy Seat, or left to stain the spot where it was shed.
God, whose right it was, had already determined all of that, and Aaron’s part was implicit obedience.Beloved, if Aaron, the high priest, must be obedient, how much more the Christian, the common priest, for are not we “a kingdom of priests unto God”? The ceremonials of the New Testament, therefore, are neither to be neglected nor changed by us.
The Quaker’s custom of declining baptism and the Lord’s Supper is no more justified by Scripture than would Aaron’s conduct have been had he selected a sheep instead of the bullock; or had he sprinkled water on the Mercy Seat instead of blood. The proposal to put anything else instead of the Divinely-prescribed ordinance of baptism is nothing more nor less than a departure from the ceremonial which God Himself has certified. “It is written, Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I have commanded you”. You may be familiar with the story told concerning the green Irishman who had walked the streets of Philadelphia in a vain search for employment. By and by he stumbled into Girard’s office and inquired for a job. Girard answered, “Yes, sir, I can give you work. See that pile of bricks out there?
Carry them over to the other end of the yard and cord them up.” By night-time the work was done. The Irishman reported, received his pay, and asked if there was any further employment.
Girard said, “Yes, come in in the morning and carry that pile of bricks back to where you found it.” The Irishman reported early and went to work without a word. For several days Girard kept him carrying bricks from one side of the yard to the other until he proved the Irishman’s purpose to do what he was told and ask no questions. Then he gave the Irishman a new commission. “I want you to go down town and bid me off a lot of sugar.” The first bid he made, the people about him laughed, and when finally he bought the sugar, the auctioneer gruffly asked, “Who is going to pay for this?” “Mr. Girard,” the Irishman answered, “I am his agent.” This promotion was absolutely the result of obedience. And when God finds a man who stands willing to do just what He says and take all the scoffs and jeers incident to that loyalty, He can bestow upon him the mitre of true priesthood unto Himself.The purpose was fully proclaimed. It was expiation of sin—the sins of Aaron and his house (Leviticus 16:6); the uncleanness of the sanctuary (Leviticus 16:15-17); the sanctification of the altar of burnt offering (Leviticus 16:18-19), and for all the congregation of Israel (Leviticus 16:20; Leviticus 16:22-23), If one should trace this word “atonement” through its New Testament usages, he would find it employed in these connections: Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, writes, “We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Romans 5:11); again, the same word is used in Romans 11:15, but is translated “the reconciling of the world”, instead of “the atonement of the world”; and in 2 Corinthians 5:19, we have the “ministry of the reconciliation”, which ought also to be “the ministry of the atonement”.
The drift of modern thought is in the direction of saying that God’s purpose in all of this was to so prove His love to men as to bring them to be “at one” with Him. I say the drift, and that is just what I mean!
The notion that in the atonement only man needs to be reconciled, is without the warrant of the Word; that he does need to be reconciled, there is no question, but as Barnes-Lawrence says, “A half truth is no truth.” Had the purpose of Calvary been to bring men to a willing communion with God, the sin offering might have been made to them, instead of being presented “before God.” The purpose here was twofold: To show men the side of Divine mercy, and thereby win them to an acceptance of the Divine love; and at the same time, to reveal unto them the side of the Divine justice, wherein the penalty of sin was only met by the outpouring of life itself. True, the times have changed since David lived, but his speech still has occasion when men depart from or fight against God—“Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight, that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest”. And every sinner who has not accepted the Divine appointment has need of the Psalmist’s fear, expressed in the cry, “Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me”.THE PRIEST FOR THAT DAYTurning again to this marvelous chapter, we will learn several things regarding this priest.First of all: He must be the high priest.“Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place with a young bullock for sin offering and a ram for burnt offering” (Leviticus 16:3).And when Aaron is gone, only his successor in office can administer on that occasion. “The priest whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to administer the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the atonement” (Leviticus 16:32). Mark you, it is not “a priest”; it is “the priest”. The common priests might minister on other occasions: but not so on the day of atonement. What a lesson here!
There are many services that the saints can render for us; but they have no power to secure from God our pardon from guilt. Some years ago in Chicago, I inquired of the Irish girl living in our home why she prayed to Mary.
She answered, “Because she is the mother of Jesus Christ and necessarily has influence with God.” “But,” I replied, “the Scriptures distinctly declare, ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before Me’ ”, to which she brightly answered, “I don’t put Mary before Jesus, but between me and Jesus. I pray to her just as you ask one of your deacons to pray to God for you. What I want is to have her help me in securing favors from Jesus.” To be sure, that would be the utmost that could be expected, but if one listened to the Catholic petition, he would certainly be led to think that Mary herself was the sufficient source of power and blessing. Yet it is written of Jesus of Nazareth, “Whom God raised from the dead. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved”.
Our approach to God, therefore, is not to be by the saints, the common priests, but our atonement comes through the Son—the Great High Priest.Again, He must be a holy priest.“And he shall take of the congregation, of the Children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house” (Leviticus 16:5-6);while Leviticus 16:4 tells us that,“He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on”.Cleansed in the bath!
Clothed in white linen! What an impressive type of that was Christ, “who was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin”!Our High Priest is without spot, or stain, or any such thing! When we fall at His feet we worship no unholy one, but that Son of God who said, “For their sakes I sanctify Myself”, and of whom it was said, “He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners”. We are always shocked when we listen to a mortal man professing his perfection, or even claiming the Spirit without measure. We know he would come nearer to the truth if he said, with Isaiah, “I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips”; or with David, “I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me”; or with Job, “I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes”; or with Ezra, “Oh, my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to Thee, my God. For our iniquities are increased over our heads and our trespass grown up unto the heavens”.
Paul was a marvelous Apostle, and as compared with fellow-men, religiously moral; and yet he had to say, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” while the saintly John blushed, as he listened to the Eddyites of his day profess their purity, and penned these words to put them to shame, “If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. * * If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and His Word is not in us”. How sweet, then, to know that there is One able to enter into the Holy of Holies, and there make an atonement, because He is undefiled!
No wonder Charles Spurgeon, speaking of Him who could stand face to face with the Father without a blush, because separate from sin, said of this Saviour, “Oh, bow and adore Him ! For if He had not been a holy High Priest He could never have taken thy sins upon Himself; and never have made intercession for thee. * * O reverence and love that spotless One, who on the great day of atonement took away thy guilt I”THE PEOPLE AND THAT DAYIt was to be a day of rest from wonted duties.“And this shall be a statute for ever unto you; that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all * * * * It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you” (Leviticus 16:29-31).Perhaps no man will ever be able to measure what “Sabbath rest” has meant for the souls of the people. Six days in the week are given to labor and pleasure. So assiduously do men follow both these pursuits that they have little time to think upon their souls. When God gave the fourth commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”, He had more in mind the souls of men than their bodies. It can be scientifically demonstrated that the rest of one day in seven is essential to the best physical service and endurance.
I noticed recently that some German professor pretends to have discovered an apparatus for measuring brain and nerve fatigue. If the time should ever come when the spirit of man could have its growth or retardation as clearly evidenced by some process as scales and photography can mark those of the body, it would then be seen what the Sabbath is to the soul—the meditation of that day; the truth brought from press and pulpit, and sacred books; the songs, prayers, mission services, and family altars—how far these all go to rehabilitate the neglected, jaded spirit, who can tell?
The man who pleads for the Sabbath in this country, as against that secularizing spirit everywhere present, is the man who pleads for the salvation of souls as against the success of Satan.It was a day for contrition of spirit.“Ye shall afflict your souls” (Leviticus 16:29).“And ye shall afflict your souls by a statute for ever” (Leviticus 16:31).We often sing, “Weeping will not save me,Though my face were bathed in tears That could not allay my fears,Could not wash the sin of years.Weeping will not save me.”That is true. On the other hand, it is almost as true that those who weep not cannot be saved. “Godly sorrow worketh repentance”. In vain has God prepared and proffered His atonement for men who do not repent. When on the day of Pentecost, multitudes came to Peter and the other Apostles asking, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Peter promptly responded, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of sins”.And in this same Book of Leviticus we find that a man, failing in this, did all else in vain, for it is distinctly written, “Whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people” (Leviticus 23:29). And the Law abides for the Christian dispensation, since Christ Himself taught, “Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish”.It was the day for the absolution of the people. There are some very gracious things in this Old Testament teaching, “Ye shall make an atonement for the priests and for all the people of the congregation.
An atonement for the Children of Israel for all their sins, once a year”. It is the same wide-sweeping salvation you have seen in the New Testament.
That “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish”, presented to the Israel of the Old Testament the same evidence of grace in the great day of Atonement. The goat slain spoke of sins remitted; and the scape-goat, sent into a land not inhabited, spoke of sins removed “as far as the east is from the west” to be “remembered against them no more for ever”. Ah, the Gospel is in the Book of Leviticus! Charles Spurgeon speaks of a picture he had seen in the Art Union of a scape-goat dying in the wilderness. It was represented with a burning sky above it, its feet sticking in the mire, surrounded by hundreds of skeletons. Spurgeon justly says of this picture, “It was a piece of gratuitous nonsense,” since this goat was sent into a land uninhabited, and went where no man was to see it or to know anything of its subsequent fate—just as our sins are lost sight of, “put behind the Lord’s back” as He Himself says, never to be seen again.
Thank the Lord for such a removal! Thank God for such a religion!
Van Dyke remarks, “If any one should ask therefore, ‘What has the atonement done for you?’ our answer should be broad enough to cover all our needs. With Christ, God has freely given us all things—an assurance of mercy, divinely sealed; a satisfaction of the Law, divinely perfected; a ransom from evil, divinely accomplished; a sacrifice for sin, divinely offered; a covenant of peace; a spirit of consecration; a good Shepherd of our souls; a seed of everlasting life—and if there be any other thing that sinners need for their salvation, doubtless this also is waiting to be discovered in the atonement.”THE OF THAT DAYA talk on The Great Day of the Atonement would not be complete without some reference to the prophecies of that day. But no one would expect all the points of prophecy to receive proper attention in a single discourse. To four of these I call your attention.There is, here, the prophecy of the humiliation of Jesus Christ. It was the day when the high priest had to disrobe himself of his more magnificent dress for the one of plainest cloth; the day when he had to subsist on slender diet; the day when he had to be subjected to the severest strain of an overwhelming service, so much so, that it was commonly feared that the high priest would die in the Holy of Holies. What a picture of Him “who being in the form of God, and thinking it not robbery to be equal with God, made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and humbled Himself and became obedient unto death”.If the great high priest cast aside this golden mitre and put off this magnificent dress, and did the humbler duties of the ordinary priest on the day of atonement, Jesus Christ accepted for that same day a crown of thorns, a robe of mockery, and in His hand was put a reed instead of a scepter, to deepen His abasement.
That day He “who was rich for our sakes became poor; that through His poverty we might be made rich”. For The Great Day of the Atonement was the day when, on Calvary’s brow, Christ died.It was, therefore, also a prophecy of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Speaking of the goat to be offered, Charles Spurgeon says, “Come and see it die. The priest stabs it. Mark it in its agonies; behold it struggling for a moment; observe the blood as it gushes forth. Christians, ye have here your Saviour!” I will not stir your sorrow by filling out this picture to the full, thereby giving you a vision of the death agonies of the Son of God. For the atonement means more than the dying. It stops not with the experience of that suffering, but sweeps in the purpose and effect of it all. To illustrate: In the city of New York, on Broadway, near the post office, there is a bronze statue. Stopping before it, you see only a dying man—arms pinioned, feet tied, the shirt-collar thrown open—and as you study the agonies of that face, it seems only an execution.
But read the subscription:“I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”“Nathan Hale.”Lo, the beauty breaks out where you had not beheld it; and the pain you felt a moment ago gives place to patriotism; and the sadness of that sight only serves to inspire in you the noblest sentiments. That is the interpretation of the Cross.There is also here the prophecy of the intercession of Jesus. An high priest carrying the blood of the goat into the Holy of Holies, and offering the incense unto the Lord, predicted that day when Christ for us should “enter within the veil”, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with “His own Blood”, and at “the right hand of God make intercession for us”. After all, what is your hope of winning at the throne of God? The Molossians of old are said to have had a custom of this sort. When, for any reason they failed to secure a favor from their king, they would find the king’s son, and taking him into their arms they would carry him into the presence of the father, and let him plead their cause.
And lo, when they hit upon this expedient they were never sent away empty.Is that the secret of success with those men and women who prevail in prayer? Have they found out that better than their petitions is the intercession of the Great High Priest?
Do they sing with understanding, “The Father hears him pray,His dear anointed One;He cannot turn away,Cannot refuse His Son;The Spirit answers to the Blood,And tells us we are born of God”?Finally,The day of atonement has in it the prophecy of the exaltation of Jesus Christ. When the work of the high priest within was finished, then he put on again his goodly raiment; then his brow was adorned with the golden mitre; gold, purple, and jewels marked his appearance; and no sooner was his face seen than the silver trumpet sounded, and the feast of trumpets thrilled the land. Ah, beloved, Jesus has not yet taken on His glorious dress! In that same body of humility upon which the Apostles looked after His resurrection, seeing the marks in His hands, and the open wounds in His side, He pleads before the throne. But one day, He who was our Prophet and is now our Priest, will have finished His office there, and He will come forth the second time “without sin, unto salvation”—our KING. Then the jubilee of the ages will be on.
Blessed be God, that day draws nearer! He calls from the heavens, saying, “Surely I come quickly”. As Gordon said, “Even the shadows point to that dawn. As I wake in the twilight in the morning I often see the glimmer of the street lamps falling upon the walls of my chamber; but in a little while the lamp-lighter passes by and turns out one after another, leaving the room in deeper darkness than it had been at any time during the whole night. Yet I know that he is only putting out the street lamps because the sun is about to rise, and flood all the heavens with his light. So the darkness heralds the dawn.”The story is told that a girl of fifteen, having been suddenly paralyzed, and left also nearly blind, heard the examining physician say to her parents, “Poor child, she has seen her best days,” to which she responded instantly, “No, doctor; my best day is yet to come ‘when I shall behold the King in His Beauty’.”