You may turn in your Bibles to Leviticus chapter 16 for our meditation this evening before we remember the Lord's death in a special way with reference to the Lord's Supper. Leviticus 16, if you're like me and you have a daily calendar, you will notice somewhere along the line this month a day called Yom Kippur. And Yom Kippur means Day of Atonement, obviously a rite or a ritual still practiced in Judaism. Having rejected the once for all sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, modern Jews continue to engage in this particular act.
Well, Yom Kippur is a very significant event in the book of Leviticus, in the Old Testament as a whole. And I thought it would be helpful for us tonight to engage or to focus our minds and hearts around several lessons that we can derive from this particular chapter. I'll just pick up reading in chapter 16 at verse 1.
Scripture Reading
Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the Lord and died. And the Lord said to Moses, 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. For I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. Thus Aaron shall come into the holy place with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering and of a ram as a burnt offering.
He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body. He shall be girded with a linen sash. And with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments.
Therefore he shall wash his body in water and put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering. Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell and offer it as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering, which is for himself.
Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of sweet incense, beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the testimony, lest he die. He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side. And before the mercy seat, he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. So he shall make atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel and because of their transgressions for all their sins. And so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting, which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the holy place until he comes out that he may make atonement for himself, for his household and for all the assembly of Israel.
And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar all around. Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his fingers seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat. confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man.
The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there. And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar, and he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. the bull for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be carried outside the camp.
And they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal. Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. This shall be a statute forever for you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls. and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you.
For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be cleaned from all your sins before the Lord. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. And the priest who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father's place shall make atonement and put on the linen clothes and the holy garments, then he shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.
This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses. Amen.
Opening Prayer
Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, how we thank you for this, your word, and how we thank you for what it points to concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Thank you that we have a great high priest. Thank you that we have one who atoned completely for the sins of his people.
How we bless you and praise you that you have dealt so mercifully and so kindly and so graciously with us. God, I pray that you'd encourage our hearts tonight as we see Christ here in this particular ritual. And we ask through His most blessed name, Amen.
Introduction
Well, tonight, as I mentioned, we'll just draw out of this particular section, this particular chapter, four lessons concerning God. And I think as we are concerning various things, and I think as we do that, we will do justice to expounding this particular section of scripture. It is a central portion within the book of Leviticus. Leviticus, as you will remember, is part of the Pentateuch, and its particular task is to show something of holiness, how the people of God are consecrated to God.
The various rules, the various laws, the various commands that are given separate or mark the people of Israel as a distinct or a holy people set apart for the Lord's use among the peoples to whom they will ultimately go to in Canaan or they will be surrounded by. Well, as we come to this day of atonement and the ritual set forth there, I want to draw four particular lessons.
The Holiness of God
First, the holiness of God. Secondly, the pervasive power of sin. Thirdly, the necessity of blood. And then fourthly, the blessing of atonement itself.
Now first of all, with reference to holiness, the presence of God with his people is that chief blessing promised in his covenant. Remember that the Lord God dwelt with Adam. He dwelt in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. And when they breached that covenant arrangement, When they sinned against God, God came to them in judgment.
God cast them out from the garden. And then God makes a promise to Abraham that in him, all the nations, all the families will be blessed. And one of the high points or one of the defining elements of that covenant is, I will be your God and you shall be my people. When we get to the book of Exodus, we see that flashed out.
The book of Exodus, for most of us, is the story of God bringing his people out of Egypt. That's a great answer. That is what Exodus is about. But that's only one portion of it.
Others might say the book of Exodus is all about the law. We see the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai in Exodus 20. And then we see the amplification or exposition of that law in chapters 21 to 23. We see the covenant ratified in chapter 24.
So what we have essentially is a book about deliverance and we have a book about law. But it's not just about deliverance and it's not just about law, it's about dwelling. Chapters 25 to 40 in the book of Exodus take up the great fact that God wants to be with His people. In fact, in Exodus 25, God tells them, let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.
The largest body of material in the book of Exodus takes up that particular theme. God dwelling in the midst of his people. He makes that statement in chapter 25 and as we have seen in our series this summer, it is not long before they engage in idolatry. It is not long before they bow down to this calf and they're dancing. before this golden calf in Exodus chapter 32.
And then God threatens Moses. God says, I am not going to make a nation out of them. I am going to judge them. I am going to close them down.
And of course, Moses intercedes on behalf of the people. And then Moses says, Lord, if you don't go with us, we don't want to go. And so God the Lord says, I will go with you. And the rest of Exodus takes up the construction of the sanctuary.
Enter the book of Leviticus. It answers the question, how can a holy God dwell with sinful men? How can a God who is so pure and so perfect and so morally spotless dwell amongst a people who traffic in sin as if it's their second nature? Who engage in, well, it's not their second, it's their first nature.
I mean, that's all we do. So Leviticus deals with that particular issue.
Holiness and the Regulative Principle
Go back for just a moment to Leviticus chapter 10. Leviticus chapter 10, the context is intriguing. In chapters 1 to 9, the Lord instructs Israel on how they are to approach Him. He gives them several sacrifices that they are supposed to engage in.
Once you do these sacrifices, you can enter into the presence of God. Look at the end of chapter 9. It says, then Aaron, verse 22, lifted his hand toward the people, blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting and came out and blessed the people.
Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Isn't that beautiful? Can you just picture that? God's glory manifests in the midst of Israel, they've engaged in the sacrificial ritual, they have complied with God's instruction, they have obeyed His mandate, they have obeyed His law, they have obeyed His commandment, they have offered up the legitimate sacrifice, and the glory of God Most High comes down.
I remember preaching at a place called the Bible Tabernacle. And we used to sing this song, when glory came down and heaven filled my soul. Filled my soul. It was beautiful.
And that's what's going on in this very instance. Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting and came out and blessed the people. The glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. And verse 24, And fire came out from before the Lord, and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar.
When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. This was a time of worship. This was a time of glorifying God. This was a time of meeting heaven on earth and responding in exuberant joy.
Well, now notice in chapter 10 verse 1, Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. That's why the Reforms subscribe to what is called the regulative principle of worship. He doesn't want Nadab and Abihu to be creative. He doesn't want them to be innovators.
He doesn't want them to be novel. He doesn't want them to be poetic. He wants them to comply and obey the directive as handed down. If sinful man wants to enter into the presence of a holy God, it must be through legitimate sacrifice.
Nadab and Abihu, perhaps operating in the mindset that we've adopted today, anything goes. We can approach God however we feel led. They offer up profane fire before the Lord. Notice verse 2.
So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. And Moses said to Aaron, This is what the Lord spoke, saying, By those who come near me I must be regarded as holy, and before all the people I must be glorified. You see, you don't dictate. You don't call the shots.
You don't manipulate. You do not orchestrate according to your own plan or desire. You obey the Lord. You comply with Jehovah.
He underscores this very valuable lesson wherein two men died. Notice the juxtaposition. Chapter 9. The fire comes down and consumes the sacrifice.
In chapter 10, the fire comes down, but it consumes the sacrificers who brought the wrong offering. Look at what he says. By those who come near me, I must be regarded as holy. And before all the people, I must be glorified.
You see, the God we serve is holy, holy, holy. The God we serve, according to both the Old and the New Testaments, is a consuming fire. The God we serve must be regarded in this manner. So going back to Leviticus chapter 16, this very ritual underscores and highlights His holiness.
You don't just wander into his presence. You don't just strut into his midst. You don't just say, hey fella, how's it going? No, in fact, this is the context back in chapter 16.
Notice the first couple of verses. Now, the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the Lord and died. Because of that breach, because of that sin, because of that violation, God ordains for them this particular rite, the Day of Atonement, wherein sinful man can go into the presence of the Holy God, and it must be through proper sacrifice.
Defining Atonement
Before we leave this particular lesson, let's just define what Day of Atonement is all about. Day means a 24-hour span. A little joke. That's what day means there.
It means that in Genesis chapter 1 and 2 as well, but for some reason we struggle there. The word atonement is a broad word. The semantic range is quite large when we look at the various texts that the word is used for. It basically, or its root meaning is to cover.
It means to cover. We understand that whole concept. The blood of Jesus Christ covers us. The blood of these bulls would cover the people of the worshipper.
As well, the idea of forgiveness is very preeminent in this particular work. Notice in verse 29, this shall be a statute forever for you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. For on that day, the priest shall make atonement for you to cleanse you, that you may be cleaned from all your sins before the Lord.
And then in chapter 17, verse 11, for the life of the flesh is in the blood. And I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. The idea being forgiveness.
As well, the idea of cleansing is prominent there in verse 30 of chapter 16. Also, we see the idea of ransom. And when we compare it in its context with reference to Nadab and Abihu, there is that meaning of the averting of God's wrath. You see, some people have not liked this particular concept.
There have been those who have tried to argue against the doctrine of propitiation. They say, well, no, that's pagan. No, it's Bible. There is an angry God who is furious with sinners, and his wrath must be averted.
And it is through this atoning sacrifice, it is at least deflected. We know ultimately it's Christ who is set forth as a propitiation through his blood to demonstrate the very righteousness of God. So there's a broad semantic range with reference to this idea of atonement, but these concepts are clear. Covering, forgiveness, cleansing, ransom, and propitiation, or the averting of God's wrath.
That's the holiness of God. This whole situation was established because sinners don't just wander in to the presence of the God of heaven and earth. There must be blood. That'll be one of our lessons later.
The Pervasive Power of Sin
Second lesson, the pervasive power of sin. The pervasive power of sin. You see, you think they would have got it out of their bones or out of their blood after having danced in front of that calf or that idol in chapter 32. But you see, you don't just get rid of sin that easy.
Obviously, God gets rid of it through the blood of Jesus Christ, but the pervasive power of sin is latent in this particular chapter. Notice, Aaron must make atonement for himself. He must atone for his particular sin. Notice, just verses 3, 6, and 11.
It is conspicuous that he comes to make atonement for himself. The high priest of Israel stands in need of atonement. The high priest of Israel stands in need of forgiveness, of covering, of cleansing, of ransom, and the averting of God's wrath. The most holy man in Israel is a sinful man.
Interestingly enough, in the book of Hebrews, this is a contrast that is set up. Aaron offers up sacrifice for his own sin. Christ doesn't because he is sinless. Aaron brought the blood of bulls and goats, Christ offered up his own blood.
Aaron was to engage in this particular ritual once a year. Christ's sacrifice was once for all satisfied. But what we see here is that the holiest man in the nation of Israel stood in need of atonement. Secondly, the pervasive power of sin is seen in the need for atonement for Israel.
Verse 5. Notice, and he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering. And intriguingly, he is not making offering, he is not bringing sacrifice for the Hivites. He is not making sacrifice for the Hittites.
He is not making sacrifice for the Canaanites, for the Perizzites, for any of those ites that surrounded Israel. It is particular. It is specific. The extent of this atonement applies to Israel alone.
I don't know why we have such difficulty in the New Covenant to see the extent of the atonement applied to Israel alone. So much so. That's what's going on. But notice as well, makes atonement for himself, for his household.
He makes atonement for Israel. He also has to make atonement for the Holy of Holies. That's incredible, isn't it? He has to go behind the veil and make sacrifice of atonement to cleanse the holy place itself. to cleanse the tabernacle itself.
The pervasive power of sin is seen in this reality, that when sinful man comes to a holy place, he contaminates it. So it's a big issue in the prophet Haggai. People had a question about contagion. If a righteous man touches something unclean, is he affected?
Yes. If an unclean man touches a righteous thing, is he made clean? No, not necessarily. It doesn't go both ways.
I want you to see this. In this particular passage, the tabernacle itself, the altar itself, must be cleansed. Notice in verse 18. And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar all around." What does it say about the problem of sin when the very place that serves God's atoning purposes needs to be cleansed from sin?
This isn't a small matter. This isn't a little thing. This was a major problem that had to be overcome, and the Levitical system answered to that, typically pointing forward to the One who would ultimately remove that sin and iniquity through His own sacrifice. Bonar says this, strange that the altar should need to be purified, and yet what spot had more connection with sin?
He says, was not every sin confessed there? Was not every sin laid down there? Was not that the spot where wrath was ever falling? Here is a strange combination.
Sin and the atonement for sin. It may have been typical of the fact that the foulest sin and the fullest atonement were found at the cross itself. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. So as you read Leviticus chapter 6 in your daily Bible reading, as I'm sure that you all do, think about these lessons.
God is holy. Sin is bad. Sounds just like New Covenant religion, doesn't it? There is nothing new.
Under the sun. This is typical. We live during the anti-time. This is promised.
We live in the fulfillment. But it's the same problem with the same holy God and the same prescription in terms of access to Him.
The Necessity of Blood
And that brings us to consider our third lesson. The necessity of blood. It was through blood that this whole transaction was affected. Specifically, Aaron brought a bull as a sin offering for himself.
He brought a ram for a burnt offering for himself. He brings two kids of the goat for Israel and a ram for the burnt offering. Now, he doesn't kill both of those particular rams, those particular goats. We'll look at that in a bit more detail in just a moment.
But one of them had to die. You see, that's what I think we oftentimes miss. Hebrews 9.22 summarizes it beautifully. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.
You see, man isn't going to get to heaven because he stops smoking. Man isn't going to get to heaven because he stops being a drunkard. Man isn't going to get to heaven because he stops looking at internet pornography. Man isn't going to go to heaven because he stops doing the bad things and starts doing the right things.
Blood Atonement and the Church's Mission
Paul says it this way in Galatians 2.21, if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. Brethren, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. That is why, in a pluralistic age, when people are messing with and distorting the truth of the gospel, we preach Christ crucified. The Jews are seeking after signs, the Greeks are seeking after wisdom, but we preach the cross because we understand that the only way to a holy God is through a bloody Savior.
And so we proclaim that blood. The Bible emphasizes that blood. It highlights the necessity that Christ died to atone for the sins of his people. That is underscored in this particular lesson, or in this particular chapter.
It was to be duplicated or replicated once a year, every year. For the life of the flesh, Leviticus 19.11, is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul." Hebrews 9, 7. But into the second part, the high priest went alone once a year.
Not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance. It's another interesting facet of this whole ritual. The high priest alone engages in this. What's Israel being taught there?
Though maybe partially, though maybe by bits and pieces, One man makes atonement. Not every man. There is one priest that affects this transaction between a holy God and sinful men. As the Old Testament continues on, they're taught to look for a priest.
They're taught to look for one who came according to the order of Melchizedek. They're taught to look for the servant. They're taught to look to the branch. They're taught to look to that king priest who would usher in peace for his people.
Israel understood under the tutelage of God in this old covenant system the need for the Lord Jesus Christ. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. You know, quite frankly, brethren, that is what the church has to offer, the blood. And I don't mean some little vial of special potion over there.
Blood, new covenantly used, means the death of Christ, the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bengel started this particular tradition and this idea, and some have seen that it was the blood itself, and I don't want to get into all of that, but I mean the death of Christ, the sacrifice and atonement at Calvary. You know, we don't have things to offer to the world other than this. You know, the state is supposed to execute justice on criminal offenders.
Church is supposed to preach the gospel to sinners. The church is to set forth Christ in all of His beauty, in all of His glory, in all of His bloody gore, as the one alone in whom there is forgiveness, remission through His blood. We can never cave in to that tendency where the church gets offered more. I was sitting at lunch today with a couple of the brethren, and one of them said, Think, some of these churches ever preach the gospel.
Now, I don't think this brother could say that unilaterally, he's not there every week. There is a deficiency in terms of gospel preaching. I shudder to think about asking the professing Christian that we come into contact, what's the gospel? You know what people say the gospel is?
Well, love God and love man. That's the law. The law condemns. The law seals our doom.
We need the gospel because we don't love God and we don't love man. We need blood, we need atonement, we need covering, we need ransom, we need propitiation, we need expiation, we need the removal of guilt, we need God to cleanse us. The church must recover this primary task. You shouldn't just go to church to learn how to be a better husband.
You ought not to go to church simply to learn how to be a better boy. You ought to go to church to hear of the crucified and risen Savior. And when you appreciate that fact in its biblical context, then you will be better husbands and you will be better people. It is only as we appreciate the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and blood atonement that it puts us in our place.
That's why Paul does not cater to the Jews who seek signs. He does not cater to the Greeks who seek wisdom. I mean, we say, oh, but we live in such a different age. This is social media.
We've got Facebook. We've got Twitter. People then wanted the same sort of garbage that they want today. They may have not been able to tweet it on their smartphone.
They may not have been able to download it on their apps or whatever. But the same desires had been there from the very beginning. You think Paul was preaching in a culture and in a context where they welcomed the news of a bloody Savior? Oh yes, tell us more about this, Jesus.
Greeks heard this and said, you're nuts, Paul. Jews heard this and they were scandalized by it. It was a stumbling block to them that their Messiah, their glorious one, would come and die as a common criminal on a Roman cross. But Paul didn't tailor his message.
Paul didn't cut off the rough edges. Paul didn't say, well, you know, I'm going to appeal to you on your level. No, we preach Christ and Him crucified. That's the mission and task of the church.
That we have lost that tells us something bad is going on in professing Zion. Sound the alarm, as the prophet Joel was told. We've got big problems when the church is more caught up with everything else other than a bloody, crucified, and resurrected Savior. That's what we have.
Don't you love that bit in Acts when Peter and John went to pray? They meet a lame man on the way. He held out his palms, he asked for alms, and this is what Peter did say. What does he say?
I don't have any silver and gold. I don't have money to give to you to ameliorate your suffering. I can't enter into the social consciousness of your problems and your trials and the victimization that you've undergone as a handicapped person in the first century. I don't have that ability, but what I do have, I give you.
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk. You see, that's what we have. We may not have the ability to tell people to rise and walk, but we certainly have the ability to tell people believe and be saved. Silver and gold, we don't have.
Now, don't take that and say, I'm never going to give a bum money. Give people money. Be generous. Be charitable.
Be kind. Be loving. Be all of those sorts of things. But what's the primary emphasis?
You see, the church, in their attempt to do good things, unfortunately veers from the best thing. We forget the gospel. We forget the cross. We forget God's wrath.
We forget man's sin. We forget desperate need. Man doesn't just need a bit of economic help. He doesn't just need a little bit of societal pressure relief.
He needs to be reconciled to a thrice holy God who is going to pour out His wrath and fury and judgment upon him unless, by God's grace, he believed the gospel. The blood is absolutely crucial. And this Yom Kippur teaches us that. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.
The Blessing of Atonement
Fourth lesson, the blessing of atonement. The blessing of atonement. The goodness of this day. I'm sure for the unfaithful Israelite, Yom Kippur rolled around, they said, oh, we got to go do this stuff.
They had to fast on this particular day. They had to chasten their souls on this particular day. I'm sure for the unfaithful it was a drag, it was a burden, much like church attendance can be for new covenant people or people living on this side of the cross that aren't believers. They kind of roll their eyes or they come to church and they kind of groan or grieve or they've got some issues.
I don't doubt that it will covenant Israel with the unfaithful. This was just another ritual. But for the faithful, for the believer, for the one who believed Genesis 3.15, for the one who saw this promise opened up in Genesis 22, for the one who began to understand the idea of propitiation, and of substitution, and of curse bearing. This day was probably a great joy for them.
They delighted in this reality.
The Two Goats as Types of Christ
Now remember the particulars of this day. Two goats are set apart for the sin of Israel. The first goat is disposed of pretty rapidly, pretty quickly. It is the one dedicated to the Lord.
So they would undergo the typical sacrifice with reference to that goat. They would kill it, and they would burn it, and they would offer it up unto the Lord God Most High. Now, when the high priest did this particular activity, the rest of the children of Israel didn't see it. They did not witness this particular activity.
Enter in the scapegoat, or the second goat. In this instance, the high priest, standing in the midst of the people, takes both of his hands, lays them on this particular goat, and therein he confesses the sin of Israel. You say, what's the significance of all of this? Again, we have a holy God.
We have sinful man. We've got to get rid of this particular sin. The blood of goat number one is absolutely crucial. But the lesson of goat number two is absolutely crucial as well.
You see, when the high priest confesses sin, and no doubt he rehearses the Decalogue, no doubt he spends time on those pet sins that are common to man. He probably deals at length with the seven. deals at length with the second, deals at length with the first, deals with length of all those sins. Imagine standing in that particular crowd and hearing your sin confessed and seeing that transfer of sin upon the head of this particular goat. And then they find a man who is able or is up to the task and he drives that goat out into the wilderness.
What's the picture? What's the image? What's the representation? Tonight when we look at bread and we look at wine, I hope we're not thinking bread and wine.
We're thinking broken body and shed blood. We're thinking of the removal of our iniquity through the cross work of our Lord Jesus. After they witnessed the high priest lay their sins upon that goat and he sends that goat out into the wilderness where no doubt it dies, what have they been taught God has taken away our sin. God has removed our sin.
Again, not finally, not ultimately. Hebrews tells us in this sacrifice there was a reminder of sins, a remembrance of sins every year. But for the faithful Israelite, this was a time of joy. This was a time of happiness.
This was a time when he understood that his sins, by the grace of God, had been taken away. Bonar again says this in his very helpful commentary on Leviticus. He says, follow the scapegoat and see its doom. Is there not here a criminal led along?
There is something that speaks of the man of sorrows made sin for us. Is there not here a criminal led away to unknown woe? There is something that speaks of one made a curse for us. Why is he left alone, defenseless, trembling amid a wilderness?
There is here enough to remind us of Jesus left to suffer without sympathy. He looked on his right hand, and there was none. Refuge failed him. No man cared for his soul.
The scapegoat's solitary cry is re-echoed by the barren rocks, and the howling of beasts of prey terrifies it on all sides. The gloom of night settles down upon it and shrouds it in deeper terror. It's a vivid image of this removal of sin from the children of Israel. And it should strike a chord with us who have read the gospel accounts and have seen the scapegoat on the cross bearing away the sins of his people and crying out, why hast thou forsaken me?
God removes sin. That's what the faithful Israelite was learning there in the wilderness. That is what the faithful Israelite wanted there in the wilderness. A commentator named Arlard Harris says that the two goats thus symbolized both propitiation for sins by death and the complete removal of the sins for which atonement was made.
Hebrews 10 and the Lord's Supper
So those are several lessons, one final passage, and then we'll close and transition to the supper. In Hebrews, already mentioned in Hebrews chapter 10. I just want you to see something that Philip Hughes brought to my attention. Hebrews chapter 10 at verse one, for the law having a shadow of the good things to come, And not the very image of the things can never, with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.
Let me just say something really quickly about these old covenant rituals. I understand the blood of bulls and goats cannot atone for sin. I understand that this was not final in Israel's history. It was typical.
It did point forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus, who would atone for sin, definitively, once for all, forever, for the elect. But it doesn't mean it was meaningless. It doesn't mean there was nothing significant about it. If anything, this structure, this tabernacle and temple structure in Old Covenant Israel taught us this reality that God does dwell with man, that God does allow man into his presence through the sacrificial system.
So it wasn't an empty rite, even though it cannot do what Christ did. Notice verse 2, for then would they not have ceased to be offered. For the worshippers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year.
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. There's a reminder of sin. Yes, the scapegoat teaches them God's taking it away. But it does keep always before their eyes this reality that I'm a sinful man and I serve a holy God.
It's interesting. The same word that is used here in terms of reminder is a word applied in 1 Corinthians 11 with reference to the supper. You see, as this ordinance or this ritual or this rite on the Day of Atonement in Israel's history reminded them of sin, what does the table remind us of? Grace, forgiveness, the lack or the removal of sin.
Hughes says the gospel transforms, anamnesis, that's the Greek word, from a remembrance of guilt to a remembrance of grace. We ought to praise and thank the Lord God Almighty that this typical system pointed forward to the one who does atone for sin, who does take away sin, who does remove it from us, such that we can praise God with the prophet Micah and say that he takes our sin and he casts it into the depths of the sea. Or we can say with the psalmist, God removes our iniquity as far as the East is from the West, so He removes our transgression. We have a God who is holy.
We have a God who does deal with sinners, but He has provided His own Son as the Lamb of God by which their sins are taken away. So learn from the ritual of the Day of Atonement something of the holiness of God, the pervasive power of sin, the necessity of blood, and the blessing of atonement. Praise God for His Son. Praise God for the removal of our iniquity.
Closing Prayer
Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You that we live in this new covenant era. We thank You that the fullness of Christ has been manifested, and we thank You that You've given us this ordinance tonight to remember in a special way His death on our behalf. God, as the apostle says, he was delivered up because of our offenses, and he was raised for our justification.
And in this, we greatly rejoice. We thank you that we get to boast, we get to exclaim that you remove our sins, that you cast them into the depths of the sea. And our Father, as we eat this bread, as we drink this cup, help us to proclaim the Lord's death, help us to find great benefit for our soul. And we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.