The Day of Atonement

After a sad day. “The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron” (16:1). God gave Aaron instructions to keep him safe. Not just any time. “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die” (16:2). The veil was the thick curtain in front of the Most Holy Place. God's presence. “For I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat” (16:2). The mercy seat was the gold lid on top of the ark. Plain white clothes. On this day Aaron did not wear his colorful high priest's robes. He washed and wore “the holy linen tunic” (16:4). He came humbly. Once a year. The high priest could go in only on this one day. Hebrews says, “into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood” (Hebrews 9:7). The ICB's name. The ICB calls it “the Day of Cleansing.” The NKJV uses the word atonement. Both point to God dealing with sin. What we learn. God is holy, and sin keeps people out. Yet God made a way to meet with His people.

Context (16:1). God gave these words “after the death of the two sons of Aaron.” The Day of Atonement answers the question Leviticus 10 raised: how can a priest come near the holy God and live? Restricted access (16:2). Aaron must not enter “at just any time” into the place “inside the veil.” The Hebrew kapporet (say: kap-po-RET), the mercy seat, was the lid of the ark, where God said He would appear in the cloud. Humble clothes (16:4). The high priest set aside his robes of glory and beauty and wore plain linen. He came before God humbly, as a servant. Jesus also laid aside His glory and came to serve (Philippians 2:7). Name of the day. In Hebrew it is Yom Kippurim (say: yohm kee-poo-REEM), the Day of Atonements (23:27-28). The ICB's “Day of Cleansing” brings out verse 30: the purpose was to cleanse. Once a year. Hebrews 9:7 summarizes the day: the high priest went in “alone once a year, not without blood.” Hebrews 10:3 adds that the yearly repetition was “a reminder of sins every year.” The day both met the need and showed that it had not yet been met forever.

Leviticus 16 starts right after Nadab and Abihu died. God wanted Aaron to stay safe. The Holy Tent had a room behind a thick curtain. It was called the Most Holy Place. The Ark of the Covenant was there. God's cloud rested over its gold lid. Aaron could not walk in whenever he wanted. He could go in only on one day each year. Even then he had to bring a sacrifice. He had to wash and wear plain white linen clothes. God is holy, and sin is serious. But God still made a way to meet with His people. One day every year, the high priest went in. Later, Jesus would open the way for everyone.

God's special room was very holy. Only the high priest could go in. He could go in only one day a year. God is holy and great.

Aaron's own sin. “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house” (16:6). The high priest was a sinner too. Two goats. “He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting” (16:7). Casting lots. “Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat” (16:8). Casting lots was a way of letting God choose. The Lord's goat. The goat chosen for the Lord was offered “as a sin offering” (16:9). It died for the people's sins. The scapegoat. The other goat “shall be presented alive before the Lord” and sent “as the scapegoat into the wilderness” (16:10). The ICB calls it “the goat that removes sin.” Two pictures. The two goats show two sides of one forgiveness: the price of sin paid, and the sin itself taken away. Jesus did both. What we learn. God does not just ignore sin. He deals with it completely.

The high priest first (16:6, 11). Aaron's bull is “for himself.” Hebrews 7:27 notes that earthly high priests offered “first for His own sins and then for the people's.” Jesus needed no such offering. Lots (16:8). Casting lots placed the choice in God's hands (Proverbs 16:33 says the decision is from the Lord). Neither goat was chosen by Aaron's preference. Azazel. The NKJV's “scapegoat” translates the Hebrew azazel (say: ah-zah-ZAYL). The exact meaning of the word is uncertain, but verse 10 makes the purpose plain. This goat was sent “into the wilderness,” carrying the people's sins far away. One sin offering in two parts. Verse 5 calls both goats together “a sin offering.” One dies, and its blood cleanses the sanctuary. One lives, and carries the people's sins away. The two goats are two pictures of one act of atonement. Christ. The New Testament shows Jesus fulfilling both: He died for sin (Hebrews 9:26), and He took sin away (John 1:29). Isaiah 53:12 joins the ideas: “He poured out His soul unto death… And He bore the sin of many.”

First Aaron brought a bull for himself. Even the high priest had sins. He needed to be forgiven too. Then he brought two goats to the tent door. He threw lots to choose which goat was which. Lots were a little like drawing straws. One goat was for the Lord. It became a sin offering for the people. The other goat stayed alive. It would carry the people's sins far away. Two goats showed two things about forgiveness. Sin has to be paid for. And sin has to be taken away. Jesus did both of those things for us.

Aaron brought two goats. One goat died for the people's sins. The other goat carried sins away. Jesus did both for us!

Blood on the mercy seat. Aaron brought the goat's blood “inside the veil” and sprinkled it “on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat” (16:15). A clean tent. “So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel” (16:16). God's tent stood “in the midst of their uncleanness.” Both hands. “Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel” (16:21). To confess is to say out loud what you did wrong. All of it. The confession covered “all their transgressions, concerning all their sins” (16:21). Nothing was left out. Carried away. “The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land” (16:22). An uninhabited land is a place where no one lives. Gone. David sang, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). Into the sea. Micah said God will “cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19). What we learn. When God forgives, He does not keep our sins nearby. He takes them far away.

Inside the veil (16:12-16). The high priest entered with incense, “that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat… lest he die” (16:13). Then he sprinkled blood on and before the mercy seat. The holiest spot on earth was cleansed “because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel” (16:16). The altar too (16:18-19). Blood was put on the horns of the altar and sprinkled “seven times” to “cleanse it, and consecrate it.” The whole sanctuary was made clean. Confession (16:21). Three words pile up: “iniquities,” “transgressions,” “all their sins.” Hebrew uses several words for sin: crookedness, rebellion and missing the mark. All of it was confessed and laid on the goat. Bearing away (16:22). The goat “shall bear on itself all their iniquities.” The same verb, to bear or carry, appears in Isaiah 53:11-12: “He shall bear their iniquities… And He bore the sin of many.” Distance. Psalm 103:12 and Micah 7:19 use the same idea of distance. Forgiven sin is not stored nearby; it is removed beyond reach.

The goat for the Lord was offered for the people. Aaron took its blood behind the curtain. He sprinkled it on the gold lid of the Ark. This made God's tent clean again. Then Aaron came out to the living goat. He put both hands on its head. He said out loud all the sins of the people. It was like putting the sins on the goat. Then a man led the goat into the desert. It went to a lonely place far away. It never came back! That showed the sins were gone. The Bible says God takes our sins far away. He takes them as far as the east is from the west!

Aaron put his hands on the goat. He told God the people's sins. The goat carried them far away. God takes our sins far away too!

A special day. “In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all” (16:29). To afflict your soul meant to fast and be humble before God. For everyone. It was for “a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you” (16:29). The promise. “For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord” (16:30). Rest. “It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you” (16:31). The people could not do anything to clean themselves. They rested while God did it. Every year. “This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year” (16:34). A reminder. Hebrews says, “in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year” (Hebrews 10:3). Obedience. “And he did as the Lord commanded Moses” (16:34). This time Aaron did it exactly God's way. What we learn. God promised to make His people clean from all their sins. Jesus makes that promise last forever.

A solemn day (16:29-31). “Afflict your souls” is the language of fasting and humility (Psalm 35:13 uses the same idea). The ICB simply says “you must not eat.” By New Testament times it was known simply as “the Fast” (Acts 27:9). Sabbath rest. Verse 31 calls it “a sabbath of solemn rest.” Israel rested while the high priest worked. Atonement is received, not achieved. Total cleansing (16:30). “That you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.” The promise is complete in scope. But temporary. The statute was “once a year” (16:34). Hebrews 10:1-4 argues that if these sacrifices had finished the work, “would they not have ceased to be offered?” Instead there was “a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” Pointing forward. The day taught Israel what atonement means: a high priest, a sacrifice, blood brought into God's presence, and sins carried away. The New Testament says all of it finds its full meaning in Jesus (Hebrews 9:11-12, 24-26).

This day came on the tenth day of the seventh month. Everyone stopped working. The people did not eat that day. It was a day to be humble and sorry. Even foreigners living with them rested. Then God gave a wonderful promise. The priest would make them clean from all their sins. All of their sins would be gone! But they had to do it again every single year. That showed the people needed something better. Jesus is God's better way. He made us clean once and for all.

This day came once a year. God made the people clean. Jesus came to make us clean forever. We do not have to wait!