Let's look back at Leviticus
chapter 6. The title of this message, as I said in the reading,
is The Day of Atonement. This is such a pivotal chapter
in the Bible, but especially concerning the Old Covenant and
what that Old Covenant pictures. This is what he's speaking of
here, what God has revealed to Moses to tell Aaron. concerning
this great Day of Atonement. Now, the Day of Atonement was
one day a year for the nation Israel. It was on that one day
of the year that the high priest, whoever he was at that given
generation, the high priest alone, was to go into the very innermost
chamber of the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, behind the veil
where the mercy seat was, where the Ark of the Covenant was.
where the cherubim were. And he was to go in there on
that day, and he went in for the people, for the people of
the nation Israel, to make an atonement for their sins. And
as you well know, we've preached it before, we've talked about
it, we've seen it, this Day of Atonement was a picture. It was
a foreshadowing. It was a type. It typified the
greater work of the Lord Jesus Christ. the work of reconciliation
as Christ is our great High Priest, our substitutionary sacrifice
for sin. We're going to read about the
scapegoat. Now, I'm going to preach more concerning the details
of the scapegoat next week. But as you well know, Christ
is our scapegoat. He is the one who bore our sins
away, and that is nothing to be glib about, is it? There's
nothing to take lightly there. He bore our sins away. Christ is our altar. He brought,
the high priest brought fire from the brazen altar, signifying
that satisfaction to God's justice had already been settled. And
that shows us, what this picture shows us, that before atonement
can be made, satisfaction to God's justice must be settled.
And he brought it from the brazen altar. And we know that Christ
is our altar, for it is in him that God's justice was satisfied
in his bloody death. He brought the blood and he sprinkled
it upon the mercy seat, that golden lid that covered the Ark
of the Covenant. Well, Christ is our mercy seat. He is our propitiation, through
whom alone sinners obtain right standing eternally and completely
before a holy God. and have access into the holiest
of all, the very presence of God, not an earthly tabernacle,
but unto the very eternal presence of a holy God, and find acceptance
with him. The gospel truth that is set
forth in the atonement that we are reading about here was revealed
and established from the beginning, from the fall of man. In fact,
it was revealed and established in Genesis 3, verse 21, when
it was said that God removed the fig leaf aprons from Adam
and Eve and took animals and killed them and shed blood and
made coats of skin. What was that teaching? It was
teaching Adam and Eve and the generations to follow that in
order for reconciliation between God and sinners to be made, In
order for atonement to be made, God must be both a just God as
well as a Savior. He cannot deal with sinners upon
the basis of their sins. The sin question, the sin issue
must be settled. You remember God told Adam, he
said of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that forbidden
tree, he said, in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely
die. Showing that the wages of sin
is death. Sin demands death. Sin brings death according to
God's law and justice. And without the shedding of blood,
without death, there is no forgiveness, there is no remission, there
is no pardon of sin. Now that's established. That
was established long before the old covenant. Long before Moses
and Aaron were ever born. And so God made that clear. Now
look at verse 1 of Leviticus 16. Now notice how it opens up
here in his revelation to Moses and to Aaron on the Day of Atonement.
He says, "...and the Lord spoke unto Moses after the death of
the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord, and
died." Now, you remember the story of Nadab and Abihu, those
two sons of Aaron. They were priests because of
their relationship with their father Aaron of the Levitical
priesthood. Why does he open this great day
of the Atonement, this message of the great day of Atonement,
with such a negative event? Well, the first thing that he
wants to impress upon Moses' mind and Aaron's mind and upon
the mind of the people is this. This is serious business. This right here is very grave. It's very serious. The seriousness
and gravity of this day. and its service that was prescribed
by God, it's not to be taken lightly and it's never to be
trifled with. You see, what he's showing is
that however this is to be done, it must be God's way. It cannot be man's way. Man's
ideas, man's opinions, man's works and efforts cannot enter
into the picture here whatsoever. God is the one who brought this
in. This is a work of God. And anyone
who attempts any other way to find appeasement or atonement
or to be reconciled to God, any other way, by any other offering,
the result will be death. And it doesn't matter who they
are. It could be Aaron's sons, the high priest's sons. If they
come any other way by any other offering, It's death. It doesn't matter. It could be
Moses' nephews. It doesn't matter. It could be
a Hebrew of Hebrews. It could be a Pharisee of Pharisees.
It could be a Baptist preacher. It doesn't matter. If anyone
comes any other way than God's prescribed way, then it's death. Now, we see that fulfilled in
Christ, who said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No man. cometh unto the Father,
but by me." Sinners who attempt to come unto God and find salvation
and peace and rest apart from Christ and His blood and righteousness,
His finished work, will find nothing but death, eternal death. It may not be immediate death,
but it will come if you persist in that way. Now, you've heard
of the Jewish holiday called Yom Kippur. You know what Yom
Kippur means? Or somebody said, Yom Kippur? It's Yom Kippur. What does Yom
Kippur mean? It means the Day of Atonement.
That's what it means. And you know it's considered
the greatest day of the Jewish New Year? Yom Kippur, the Day
of Atonement. So important that in the Jewish
writings, their commentaries on the first five books of Moses,
called the Talmud, It's sometimes just simply referred to as the
day. The day. And so if you were to
just say the day to an Orthodox Jew, he'd know exactly what you're
talking about. You're talking about Yom Kippur.
You're talking about the Day of Atonement. Oh, it was so important.
The most important day on the Jewish calendar. Now, the typical
Orthodox Jew today, would spend his time on that day of Yom Kippur
doing this. He would spend his time in prayer.
He would spend his time in fasting. Exercises that he would think
would bring reconciliation for him with God. Fasting and prayer. But what you would see missing
from their modern-day celebration and observance of Yom Kippur
is that which is written here in Leviticus chapter 16. It is
not practiced at all. Nothing of what is set forth
here is observed by even the most orthodox of Jews today.
I don't know what answers they would give for that, but I'm
sure they would have many. But you think about it. There
was one young man who set out to read the scriptures A friend
of mine, he set out to read the scriptures, never heard the gospel,
never really had been to church before. But he got in trouble
and he got in a Bible and he began reading the scriptures.
He started at Genesis 1-1 and he began reading through the
Old Testament. That seems sensible. If you're
going to read a book, start at the beginning. And that's what
it says, in the beginning. And he got up through the book
of Leviticus. Most people, when they get up through the book
of Leviticus, that's when they kind of wane out. That's when
they kind of say, well, I've had enough of this. But he kept
reading. And he got through the book of
Leviticus and he looked up and he told his wife and he said,
honey, he said, if this book's true, then we ought to be out
here sacrificing animals. If what this book says is true.
And you know, just upon a bare reading of the Old Testament,
he was right. If these things are still in
effect today, that's what we should be doing. Now, that's
what the Jews say. They say they're still under the old covenant,
the law of Moses, that they're still in that dispensation of
time, that the Messiah has not yet come and we're still under
that. Well, why aren't they sacrificing? Why aren't they shedding blood?
For without the shedding of blood is no remission, you see. Why
isn't the high priest going into the holiest of all, behind the
veil, on that day, Yom Kippur?" The young man heard Brother Mayhem
preaching on TV. After he made that statement
to his wife, and you know what the title of the message was?
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.
And he went forth and he explained how that Lamb in the Old Testament,
how that bullock and how that ram and that lamb and that goat,
all were types and pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ. One Jewish
rabbi who wrote a book on the subject of the Day of Atonement,
he said this, he concluded through his studies of the Pentateuch,
which is the first five books of Moses, He concluded that the
hope of Israel today lies in two things. Number one, their
fasting and their repentance. And number two, death. Death. What a gloomy hope for a nation
that had been given such a beautiful picture and revelation of a coming
Redeemer. You see, that's exactly what
this is. This is a beautiful picture and revelation of a coming
Redeemer. But they missed it. But you know,
most people do today. Most people miss it today. Christ
told the Pharisees in his day, the doctors of Scripture, the
interpreters of the Bible, he said, you search the Scriptures,
for in them you think you have eternal life, for there they
which testify me. What is he showing them? He's
showing them what he told his disciples. I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. That is a great commentary on
Leviticus 16, that one statement in John 14.6. Christ is the only
way to God. It's his blood and his righteousness,
nothing added, nothing confused, nothing taken away. And that's
why the Lord opened this segment of his word with a reminder of
the death of Nadab and Abihu. You tell Aaron, Moses, it's my
way or no way. That's what he's saying. It's
God's way. Everything in this day of atonement,
just like everything in that covenant, had to be according
to God's prescribed instructions. You see, it's God's way, not
man's. Salvation is of the Lord. The
gospel that we preach is of God, not man. Paul said that. He said,
the gospel that I preach in you, I didn't receive it from man.
I didn't get it from Peter and James. I got it from God, and
they got it from God. It's God's gospel. Its origin
is in God Himself, not in man. It's an eternal message. of grace. No one, listen, what's he saying
here? No one. It proclaims that no one can
stand before the Lord on the basis of his own righteousness.
It must be the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel.
And what is that? It's the entire merit of the
obedience in death, the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at verse 3. He says, thus shall Aaron come
into the holy place. And he says he'll come into the
holy place, and then from then on, all the way down to the rest
of this chapter, he gives the specific instructions of how
Aaron, who is to come, Aaron, how he is to come and what he's
to wear and what he's to bring. So it's like he's saying, Aaron
is to come into the holy place with this and this way. And that
puts to death any notion of those who say, well, now we're all
worshiping the same God, but we've just got different ideas
and different ways and different notions. No, my friend, those
are as deceived as Nadab and Abihu. They're just as deceived
as Cain was deceived. They're just as deceived as Nimrod
was deceived and the people who set forth to build the Tower
of Babel. They're just as deceived as anyone who comes before God
without Christ. He says, verse 1, "...the Lord
spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when
they offered before the Lord, and died." And he says in verse
2, "...and the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother,
that he come not at all times into the holy place within the
veil before the mercy seat which is upon the earth, that he die
not." What's he saying? Aaron, you come the wrong way
at the wrong time, like Nadab and Abihu, you'll experience
the same death they experienced. You see, not only is it God's
way, not man's, it's God's time, not man's. Look over at verse
29 of Leviticus 16. He says, "...this shall be a
statute forever unto you, that in the seventh month On the tenth
day of the month you shall afflict your souls and do no work at
all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, or
a foreigner that sojourneth among you." It was the seventh month
on the tenth day of the month. It would probably be equivalent
to some time in our spring. But it was on that day, God's
day. And just like our Lord, when
he came, when did he come? just exactly the time that God
appointed him to come, in the fullness of the time. And he kept saying, he said,
mine hour has not yet come. And then when it came, he said,
mine hour is come. God's time. And he told Aaron
here, it's only one day of the year. The one day of atonement
that Aaron and all the subsequent high priests were to come in,
that one time here was a picture. Now they had to do that every
year. And that shows us that what they were doing had no eternal
spiritual significance. They had to keep doing it over
and over again. Why? The blood of bulls and goats
will not take away sin. But it was a picture. It was
a type. It was a foreshadowing of a future
day, a better day. You see, this one day of atonement
spoke of a better day, a future day, the day of the Messiah,
when he would come and in one day do his work. Look over at
the book of Zechariah with me. Turn over there. Second to the
last book of the Bible. Or the Old Testament, rather. This is a great chapter because
it speaks of that vision that Zechariah was given of the high
priest Joshua, showing that the only hope of Israel was the promised
Messiah. And their belief of that promise
and their hope and their rest and their trust in that promise
was to be evidenced by their diligence in rebuilding the temple
after they'd come back from the Babylonian captivity. And they
had failed. They were lax. And what he's showing us is this. Listen, here's how that would
translate to our everyday lives. If you really know yourself,
if you really see your sins, by the power of God the Holy
Spirit in revealing them to us in some degree, you will not
be lax or lazy or delay to run to Christ as fast as you can. You'll want to be with the people
of God under the word of God, worshiping your Redeemer. That's
right. If you know who you are, you
know your frame. And that's what he was showing. A promise of
the coming Messiah, look at verse 8 of Zechariah chapter 3. Remember,
that one day of atonement spoke of a better future day. He says
in verse 8, "'Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy
fellows that sit before thee, for they are men wondered at.'"
What that means is they are pictures, they are signs, they are types.
That's what he means by that. For behold, I will bring forth
my servant the branch." Now, who's that? That's Christ. He's
the branch. Look at verse 9, "'For behold,
the stone that I have laid before Joshua, upon one stone shall
be seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave the graving
thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I," now listen to this, "'I
will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.'" That's referring
to the work of Christ for his people. And he goes in verse
10, he says, "...and that day, saith the Lord of Hosts, shall
you call every man his neighbor under the vine and under the
fig tree." That's a picture of spiritual Israel who had been
redeemed on that one day on the cross of Calvary by the finished
work of the Messiah, the branch. Now, that's what Joshua the high
priest pictured there on the Day of Atonement. That's what
Aaron back here in Leviticus 16 would picture. Christ's one
sacrifice for sin, and I'll tell you what, you see how much greater
and how much better and how much more powerful and efficacious
his sacrifice is when you see that all of the Jewish sacrifices
over that 1,500 year period of the Old Covenant could not put
away sin. But his one sacrifice put away
all sin of all his people. Another thing we see back here
is for God's purpose and not man's. Animal sacrifices offered
on the day of atonement were only typical. They could never
put away sin. Let me show you something here
that I believe is significant. Traditionally and theologically,
we use the word atonement to refer to the death of Christ
on the cross. But you know there is nowhere
in the New Testament that you will find the word atonement.
Some of you biblical scholars, I do, I have read Romans 511.
Look at Romans 511. And what you see here is a translation
of a word that nowhere else in the Bible is translated atonement. It speaks of our justification
in Christ, Romans 511. And it says, "...and not only
so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
now we have received the atonement." Now, that word, atonement, should
be translated reconciliation, being reconciled of God. And
this whole thing of atonement is an Old Testament type and
picture of what Christ would do in a much greater way. The
first use, now think about this, the first use of the word atonement
is found, or the word translated, the same word translated in a
different way, is found in Genesis chapter 6 and verse 14. And you don't have to turn there.
But you know what it's talking about? It's talking about Noah
and the ark there, Genesis chapter 6. And he's talking about how
God's prescribing the way that the ark is to be built, and he
says that you're to take that ark and you're to pitch it within
and without. And that word pitch is the same
word that's translated atonement. And it means a covering. That's
what it means, a covering. And you know that's what the
ark was. The ark was a shield, a covering from the storm. And
that ark pictures Christ. And that's exactly what the Old
Testament animal sacrifices would have meant. Sometimes it's translated,
mercy seat, for right here in Leviticus. Look back here, Leviticus
16.2, when he tells Aaron to go into the holy place, he said,
within the veil before the mercy seat. Now, the mercy seat was
the what? It was the covering over the
ark which contained the Law of Moses. That's what the mercy
seat was. And that's where Aaron went in,
he sprinkled the blood upon the mercy seat, it covered. And he
referred to that solid gold covering placed over the Ark of the Covenant
upon which the blood of atonement was sprinkled. Now, the idea
is this, here's what it is. Under the Old Covenant, sins
were only covered, typically removed from sight. while waiting
the full and final promises of sins being put away in the death
of Christ." Look at Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. We read up through in chapter
9 where he talked about almost all things are purged with blood
and without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.
Look at verse 1 of Hebrews chapter 10. He says, having a shadow
of good things to come." Not the substance now, the shadow.
And not the very image of those things. You see, the very image
would be the thing itself. In other words, you've got a
shadow, but the very image is what casts the shadow. So he says, "...can never with
those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make
the comers thereunto perfect, for then would they Would they
not have ceased to be offered? If they could make the sacrificer,
the worshipper, if they could make that person perfect, they
would have ceased. There would be no need for any
more sacrifices. So he says, "...because that the worshippers,
once purged, should have had no more conscience of sin." Now,
that word conscience there means more than just being aware of
sin. Let me show you what I mean. For example, we who know Christ,
we who are in him, We who are redeemed and justified and regenerated,
we are well aware of our sins, aren't we? Now, if you're not,
the Bible says in 1 John 1, you're a liar. Is that right? If we say we have no sin, we're
a liar. We're well aware of them, but
we have no conscience of sin. Now, what does that mean? That's
talking about the guilt of sin which brings damnation. In other
words, we do not see ourselves as condemned under the wrath
of God for sin because we look to Christ who is our Redeemer. You see, that's the difference
there. He purged my sins on Calvary. Now, if he didn't, then I still
bear them. Isn't that right? If he didn't
bear them away, then they're still upon me. That's right. And I can't be among the blessed.
The Bible says, blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth
not iniquity. If Christ didn't take my sins
by imputation and bear them away, then where are they? They're
not out there floating in space somewhere. They're not out there
in limbo somewhere. God didn't just forget them.
He has to deal with them. He's God. So if Christ didn't
bear them for me, then I must bear them. So who's my hope? Who's my salvation? Where is
my redemption? Where is the remission of sins?
Christ and him crucified. That's why we say, look to him
and him alone. Now, that's where there's no
more conscience of sin or sins. Now, look at verse 3. But in
those sacrifices, there's a remembrance again made of sins every year.
What those sacrifices did was a continual remembrance of the
guilt. and the defilement and the wrath
of God against sin, what both sacrifices did. Now, the sacrifice
of Christ is not a continual reminder that I'm under the wrath
of God or I'm condemned, you see. The sacrifice of Christ
is a continual reminder that the wrath has been removed. We're
going to take the Lord's Supper this Sunday night. That's what
we're commemorating when we eat the unleavened bread and drink
the wine. Wrath is removed. Now, under those animal sacrifices,
there was a covering ceremonially and typically, but it always
came back. They had to do it again, had
to do it again, had to do it again. It was never finished.
It was never complete, you see. Those sacrifices were only types
and pictures, and they had no power. Look at verse 4. For it
is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should
what? Take away sins. They couldn't take them away.
They provided ceremonially, in type and picture, just a covering.
And that's what that word means. We say, well, atonement means
at-one-ment. But you see, it was only a covering
for that time. Go back to Leviticus 16 now.
It was only a covering. And all these typical ceremonial
sacrifices were fulfilled in perfection and completeness in
Christ, and they cease now because Christ fulfilled them. He fulfilled
them. And then over here in Leviticus
16, we learn it's God's choice and not man's choice. Every bit
of this was done for a specific chosen people and resulted in
God's blessing upon those people, the people of Israel. This high
priest, Aaron, he went into the holiest of all with the blood
and he represented a specific people, God's chosen people in
that coven. And that's a picture of Christ.
who went into the holiest of all, representing God's spiritual
people, is elect out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation."
Well, here is the high priest. Look at it again. He says in
verse 2 of Leviticus 16, "...the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto
Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy
place within the veil." That's the same veil, you see, that
separated the holy place from the holiest of all. before the
mercy seat which is upon the ark that he die not, God said,
for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat." That's
the Shekinah glory of God. The greatest manifestation and
revelation of God's character right above the mercy seat where
this atonement was made, where satisfaction was made. My friend,
if you want to see the Shekinah glory of God today, look to Christ. That's where it resides. That's
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He is the greatest
manifestation of every attribute of God's character. He's both
a just God and a Savior, a righteous judge and a loving Father. He's
a God who judges according to truth and who is still at the
same time merciful and it all meets upon our Redeemer on the
cross. There's the glory of God right
there. Verse 3, "...thus shall Aaron come into the holy place
with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt
offering." You see, these are offerings that are meant to make
atonement for the sins of the people. They represent the blood-shedding,
which is satisfaction. Each one of these offerings represented,
as we've studied before, some aspect of the character of Christ,
the bull, the young ox representing his strength and his service,
and the ram or the lamb representing his meekness and his innocence,
all of this together. All put together, some aspect
of the person and work of Christ. He says in verse 4, the priest,
now this is what he shall put on. 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, with a linen miter, shall
he be attired. That's the miter that said holiness
unto the Lord on the plate. These are holy garments, they're
sanctified, they're set apart, they're to be used by Aaron alone
on this one day for this one purpose, and no other purpose.
They're not common clothes, not to wear them any other time.
And Aaron himself therefore said that he shall wash his flesh
in water and so put them on. Aaron himself had to be ceremonially
cleansed. You see, Aaron personally was
a sinner, but the one whom he represented was not a sinner.
So he had to personally wash his flesh, and he had to put
on these clothes, and every part of that clothing again represents
and typifies some aspect of the person. and work in the holiness
of our Redeemer, our great high priest." And we've studied all
of that, but look at verse 5. He says here, "...and he shall
take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of
the goats for a sin offering." Now, this is two young goats
for one sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. It's
a male lamb for a burnt offering. And he says, and Aaron shall
offer his bullock of the sin offering which is for himself.
Now, several times you're going to see in here, it says Aaron
had to offer first for himself. And he says in verse 6, and make
an atonement for himself and for his house, that is, the priesthood.
Why did Aaron have to make an atonement for himself? Because
Aaron personally was a sinner. Aaron the man, now, that's what
we're talking about. Now, the office of Aaron. The high priestly office and
the type that Aaron was to represent there was not a sinner in himself. Look at Hebrews chapter 7. This
is what sets Christ apart from that Levitical priesthood. This
is what makes him a better high priest. This is what makes all
that he did better promises. This is what makes his sacrifice
a better sacrifice. This is what makes the covenant
that he fulfilled in himself personally a better covenant. And it says in verse 27, who
needeth not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice
first for his own sins. You see, Aaron had to because
personally Aaron was just like the children of Israel, a sinner
in need of salvation by grace. But our great high priest needeth
not offer up sacrifice first for his own sins and then for
the people's. He says, for this he did once when he offered up
himself. He offered up himself for the
people. So go back to Leviticus 16. So
Aaron personally needed an atonement because he was a sinner. But
when he stood as a type and a representative, he represented in that office
the Lord Jesus Christ. So after having washed himself,
that ceremonial cleansing, then he had to put on those holy garments.
And you know there was nothing holy in that cloth and in that
metal that was in those garments. But my friend, the one whom they
represent, the holiness of Christ, O my soul. He's that Holy One
of Israel. He's that holy thing. And I'll
tell you something, in all this Aaron acted alone. Look over
at verse 17. Aaron acted alone. And there
shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth
in to make an atonement in the holy place. Aaron alone, nobody
else. just like our Lord. And when
he went into there, the whole nation was entrusted to him,
the one representative. The whole nation rested upon
the shoulders of this one man, the high priest. And if that
man succeeded, the nation lived. If that man failed, the nation
died. What a great picture of our Savior.
who walked the winepress of God's wrath alone, Isaiah chapter 63. The whole nation of spiritual
Israel was entrusted to this one person, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our whole salvation rested upon this one person. If he succeeds,
the whole nation succeeds. If he failed, the whole nation
failed. But my friend, he didn't fail.
He shall not fail, he shall prosper, the scripture says. He got victory. And you know what? We did too,
in him. We did too. Look at it again,
verse 7. Aaron shall take the two goats
and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. Now this is the two goats, one
for the offering. It says, Aaron shall cast lots
upon the two goats. one lot for the Lord and the
other lot for the scapegoat." Now, you know what he's showing
here is that this is God's appointment. This is God's business. Man didn't make the choices here.
Man didn't prescribe the ways that God did. So he cast lots. And the goat upon which one lot
fell was for sacrifice, and the other was to be the scapegoat.
You look in your center concordance there, it says, as a zeal, I
believe that means departure. Some would argue with that. It's
a hard word to translate, but it means departure. One was sacrificed
and the other, the sins of the nation, were confessed over and
he was led out into the wilderness by a fit man never to be seen
again. I'm going to preach on that next week and get into the
details of that, but look on verse 9. It says, Aaron shall
bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell and offer him
for a sin offering. Satisfaction must be made. Sin cannot be borne away. like
on the scapegoat now, until satisfaction is made. God must be appeased. And that's why our sins could
never be borne away until Christ died that death on the cross. That's when we were justified
before God. That's when we were redeemed
before God. That's when the price was paid,
our sins were laid on Him, imputed to Him, and He drank damnation
dry. That's when the wrath of God
was removed from all His elect. We were condemned in Adam. We're justified in Christ. And
he says in verse 10, "...but the goat on which the lot fell
to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord
to make an atonement with Him, and to let him go for a scapegoat
into the wilderness. Verse 11 says, And Aaron shall
bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself,
and shall make an atonement for himself and for his house, and
shall kill the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself."
In other words, he had to make himself clean, had to make atonement
for himself before he could do the work of the high priest in
type and picture. Verse 12, "...he shall take the
censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before
the Lord." Now, those burning coals came from the altar of
burnt offering. Satisfaction, you see, what he's going to present
to God was upon the basis of a work finished. The shedding
of blood, you see. And that's what we see. Anything
we present unto God as we enter into the holiest through our
great high priest must be on the basis of Christ and him crucified. Now, on this day, he went in
and out three times. It says here, he went to the
altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense,
beaten small, and bring it within the veil. Verse 13, he shall
put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud
of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony
that he die not. He had to do business with God
through this blood offering. He shall take of the blood of
the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy
seat eastward. And before the mercy seat shall
he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times." Both
sides of the mercy seat, and with his finger seven times.
What does that show? The completeness of the work.
Seven. It was done. It was finished.
Nothing to be added. The number of perfection. picturing
the complete work of our Savior. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him." Then verse
15, "...then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering that
is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and
do that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and
sprinkle it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat." So
he had to come out and go back in again. So he had to offer
for himself, and he came back out winning again for the people.
Then it says in verse 16, "...he shall make an atonement for the
holy place because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, because
of their transgressions and all their sins, and so shall he do
for the tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth among them in
the midst of their uncleanness." What a great picture of our Savior
who walked in the midst of uncleanness without being defiled himself. He walked among sinners. Yet
he was not contaminated with our sins." So verse 17, "...and
there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation
when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place until he come
out, and have made an atonement for himself," listen, "...and
for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel."
You see, it was his responsibility to do this work and to get it
done for the whole congregation. Not one individual in that nation
could be left out. That's right. And that's the
way our Savior was when he appeared before the Father with his own
precious blood for his sheep, his church, his elect. Not one,
not one has been left out. Now, there are some who haven't
yet been called into the kingdom, but they will be because, you
see, he redeemed them. He justified them. Verse 18,
and he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord,
and make an atonement for it, and shall take of the blood of
the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon
the horns of the altar round about." And what he's doing is
signifying to all the people, this work has been done, and
he shall sprinkle the blood upon it with his fingers seven times,
and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children
of Israel. You see the blood of this animal,
or these animals. was a covering for sin that pointed
to Christ's greater sacrifice. And having died in our place,
the Lord Jesus Christ entered immediately into heaven itself
and offered to God the merits of his own precious blood. The
Bible says it this way, having obtained eternal redemption for
us. His sacrifice was perfect and
complete. His sacrifice was final and accepted. And his sacrifice alone made
a way of access for sinners like us unto God. And I'll tell you,
one of the greatest testimonies to that of the Lord is when our
Lord gave up the ghost. When he died, the veil was rent
in two, from top to bottom. And there was not to be another
one made, And there's not to be another
one made today or in the future. It's renting to, and I'll tell
you why. Because his sacrifice is infinite. His sacrifice is
continual. It's forever. It never goes bad. It never goes incomplete. It
never wanes. It never diminishes. It is full
and eternal always. And you notice in this You know,
both the high priest Aaron and the slain victim both represent
Christ, don't they? Christ is both our Savior, our
priest, our sacrifice, the Lamb of God's sacrifice for us.