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Reading
– Leviticus 16:1-34
By
Dan and Brenda Cathcart
After
the inaugural service of Aaron and his sons, the offering system was in place
and the children of Israel could begin to bring their offerings to the LORD.
However, only those who were ritually clean could bring offerings, so, instructions
were given about what makes a person clean or unclean and how to restore a
person to ritual purity. Now, we get to a special offering that was only to be
brought once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. For this offering, the
high priest had to enter the holy of holies which he could only do on this
special day.
Leviticus 16:2 NKJV 2 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.
On
this special day, Aaron would literally enter into God’s presence. God would be
there above the mercy seat waiting for Aaron to enter into the Holy of Holies.
How did the special offerings for this day differ from the other offerings?
What is the purpose of this day?
The
instructions for this special day were given to Moses to tell Aaron after
Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu died in the fire of God because they brought
strange fire before the LORD. This served to remind Aaron that just because he
was God’s chosen high priest and his sons were chosen serve as priests with
them, he could not treat God as other than a holy God. When He first appeared
before the children of Israel from the top of Mt. Sinai, He is described as
appearing as a consuming fire.
Exodus 24:17 NKJV 17 The sight of the
glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the
eyes of the children of Israel.
Aaron
needed to be cautious about entering into God’s presence especially into the
Holy of Holies! As such there are three elements of Yom Kippur which set it
aside. The people are to prepare for this day be afflicting their souls, Aaron is
to enter the Holy of Holies, and a unique two goat offering is brought before
the LORD.
The
preparations for this special day involve the entire nation of Israel.
Leviticus 16:29 NKJV 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.
Everyone
in the land including the stranger who lives there were to afflict their souls
and do no work on that day. The word “afflict,” is the Hebrew word “anah,”
number 6031 in Strong’s Concordance, meaning to depress, abase, or afflict. The
Stone Edition Chumash indicates that this refers to abstaining from food
and drink. In this way the needs of the physical body are put away and focus is
to be entirely on God. It is a day, like the weekly Sabbath, on which no work is
to be done.
The
observance of afflicting one’s soul is to begin the previous day at evening.
Leviticus 23:32 NKJV 32 "It shall
be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the
ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate
your sabbath."
The
high priest also had to prepare himself for this service. In the second temple
era, it was the practice of the priest to eat a light meal before beginning the
fast. That night, the priest was to spend the night in vigil before the LORD.
Alfred Edersheim in The Temple: Its Ministry and Practice comments on
this ritual.
All night long he was to be hearing
and expounding the Holy Scriptures, or otherwise kept employed, so that he
might not fall asleep.[i]
The
act of afflicting one’s soul may be a reminder that the children of Israel had
sinned against God by making and worshipping a golden calf. After experiencing
God’s wrath and facing the possibility that God would not keep them as his
people, the children of Israel were instructed to humble themselves while God
decided what He would do with them.
Exodus 33:4-5 NKJV 4 And when the
people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. 5
For the LORD had said to Moses, "Say to the children of Israel, 'You are a
stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume
you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to
you.'"
When
Moses summarizes this incident in Deuteronomy, he says they mourned for forty
days. After those forty days, God declared that He would go with all the people
as Moses requested. God, then, called Moses back up the mountain where He
declared His name to Moses.
Exodus 34:6-7 NKJV 6 And the LORD
passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and
gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 "keeping
mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means
clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and
the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."
In
the declaration of His name, God stated that He would forgive the iniquity,
transgression, and sin of His people. When God spoke the Ten Commandments, He
qualified that He would show this mercy to those who love Him and keep His
commandments. By their repentance, the children of Israel showed their love for
God and their desire to keep His commandments. God extended His mercy to them
and renewed the covenant. Moses’ return forty days later with the new tablets
of the covenant was on the tenth day of the seventh month, or the day that God
would proclaim to be Yom Kippur.
The
second unique element of this day is that the high priest entered the Holy of
Holies. God describes a precise ritual that the high priest must follow.
Leviticus 16:3-4 NKJV 3 "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. 4 "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.
As
the high priest, Aaron had elaborate and colorful garments to wear as he
officiated each day in his role of high priest. However, on this occasion,
Aaron was to put off his distinctive garments and put on white linen garments
consisting of tunic, pants, sash, and turban. The white garments represent
purity and forgiveness. They also remind the high priest that he is to approach
God in humility.
Aaron
begins by bringing a bull as a sin offering for himself and his house. Aaron
kills the bull, but then sets aside the blood to perform an essential task. Usually,
the blood of the sin offering for a priest is sprinkled in front of the veil in
the tabernacle. This time the blood will be taken inside the veil into the holy
of holies and sprinkled in front of the ark of the covenant. In order to enter
the holy of holies beyond the veil, Aaron first needed to obscure the presence
of God so he would not die when he entered into God’s presence.
Leviticus 16:12-13 NKJV 12 "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. 13 "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.
Once
the cloud of incense covers the mercy seat, Aaron brings the blood of the sin offering
for his household into the holy of holies and sprinkles it seven times before
the mercy seat.
Leviticus 16:14 NKJV 14 "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.
Now
that Aaron has made atonement for himself, he can bring the sin offering for
the entire nation. In the usual sin offering for the nation, the priest is to
offer a young bull and the blood would be sprinkled in front of the veil. This
sin offering on Yom Kippur is instead a two-goat offering.
Leviticus 16:7-10 NKJV 7 "He
shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the
tabernacle of meeting. 8 "Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats:
one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 "And Aaron
shall bring the goat on which the LORD'S lot fell, and offer it as a sin
offering. 10 "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.
One
goat is selected for the sin offering. The other goat is called the scapegoat.
The scapegoat is set aside until later in the service. Aaron kills the goat for
the sin offering, brings its blood into the holy of holies, and sprinkles the
blood seven time before the mercy seat just like he did with the bull. This
process makes atonement for the tabernacle of meeting.
Leviticus 16:16 NKJV 16 "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.
The
blood of the sin offering for Aaron and his household is then mixed with the
blood of the sin offering for the nation and sprinkled seven times at the base
of the altar. This makes atonement for the altar.
Throughout
the year, the children of Israel become unclean for various reasons. The
process for restoring their ritual purity was outlined in the previous
chapters. This process at Yom Kippur restores the purity of the tabernacle
itself which had become unclean because it was among the uncleanness of the
people. Also, this atonement at Yom Kippur provides atonement due to both the
sins and the transgressions of the children of Israel. The word “transgression”
is the Hebrew word “peh-shah,” number 6588 in Strong’s Concordance meaning a
revolt or rebellion. The word “sin” is the Hebrew word “khat-taw-aw,” number
2403 meaning an offence. It is from the word “khaw-taw,” number 2398 meaning to
miss. A sin is an offence resulting from trying but missing the mark. In the
description of the sin offering earlier in Leviticus it is called an
unintentional sin.
Remember,
when God called Moses up to the top of Mt. Sinai after the sin of the golden
calf and declared his name to Moses, part of his name is that He forgives
iniquity, transgression, and sin. So, the Yom Kippur service is the symbolic
forgiveness of iniquity, transgression, and sin to those who love Him and keep
His commandments. The word “iniquity” is the Hebrew word “aw-vone,” number
5771, meaning perversity from the word “aw-vah,” number 5753, meaning to crook
or make crooked. An iniquity is to take a commandment and make it crooked, that
is to twist it to one’s own advantage.
God
extends this atonement to those who love Him. Who are those who love God? God
pairs this quality with keeping His commandments. Yeshua said in John 14:15
that those who love Him will keep His commandments. Yeshua, also, told the rich
young ruler who wanted to achieve eternal life that those who wish to enter
into life, are those who keep His commandments.
Matthew 19:17 NKJV 17 So He said to
him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But
if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."
Even
though the rich ruler said he did all the commandments, he still lacked
something. He lacked love for the Father and the recognition of the one God
sent.
Matthew 19:20-21 NKJV 20 The young man
said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still
lack?" 21 Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell
what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and
come, follow Me."
Those
who keep God’s commandments may not necessarily do so out of love, but those
who love God will keep His commandments.
John 15:10 NKJV 10 "If you keep
My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's
commandments and abide in His love.
Now,
we turn to the second goat of the two-goat sin offering, the scapegoat. After
making atonement for the tabernacle and the altar, Aaron is to take this goat,
lay his hands on the goat, and confess over it all the iniquities,
transgressions, and sins of the entire nation of Israel.
Leviticus 16:21-22 NKJV 21 "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. 22 "The goat shall bear
on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the
goat in the wilderness.
So,
the scapegoat is released into the wilderness to seemingly “escape.” The term
scapegoat was coined by Tyndale, the first translator of the Latin Bible into
English. It is a shortening of the word “escape” combined with the word “goat.”
The Latin term was, “caper emissaries” literally meaning the emissary goat.[ii]
The Hebrew word translated as “scapegoat” is “az-aw-ale,” number 5799, meaning
goat of departure. This goat departs into the wilderness to carry away the
sins, iniquities, and transgressions of the children of Israel.
The
Psalmist describes the mercy that God has on His people removing their sins,
iniquities, and transgressions from them.
Psalms 103:8-12 NKJV 8 The LORD is
merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. 9 He will not
always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt
with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. 11
For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those
who fear Him; 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our
transgressions from us.
Isaiah
tells us that we all transgress, but that God would lay all of our iniquities
on His servant.
Isaiah 53:6 NKJV 6 All we like sheep
have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has
laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
At
Yeshua’s baptism, John the Baptist declared that Yeshua was the Azazel who
carried away the sins of not just Israel but the entire world.
John 1:29 NKJV 29 The next day John
saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world!
This
sheds new light on Yeshua’s baptism. We know His ministry lasted three and a
half years. Counting back from His crucifixion at Passover, that means He began
His ministry in the seventh month sometime around the Feasts of the seventh
month. His baptism, followed by forty days of temptation in the wilderness,
would have preceded the beginning of His ministry. This implies that Yeshua’s
forty days of in the wilderness corresponded with Moses’ forty days on Mt.
Sinai to make atonement for the children of Israel. Moses came down from the
mountain on Yom Kippur and Yeshua began His ministry on or near Yom Kippur. He
is the lamb who takes away the sin of the world.
The
goat that carries away the sins, transgressions, and iniquities from Israel is
led out into the wilderness by a “suitable” man as we read in Leviticus 16:21.
The Hebrew word translated as “suitable” is “it-tee,” number 6261, meaning
timely or fit. The New American Standard Bible translates this as the man who
stands in readiness. The man who leads away the goat, becomes unclean in the
process. Certain types of uncleanness are contagious just by touching someone
or something that is unclean. In this case, coming into contact with the goat
that carries away all the sins of Israel makes the man unclean.
Leviticus 16:26 NKJV 26 "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.
During
His ministry, Yeshua often became unclean as He ministered to the people
touching those who were unclean in the process of healing them.
Matthew 8:16-17 NKJV 16 When evening
had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out
the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took
our infirmities And bore our sicknesses."
As
we conclude, we return to the question “What is the purpose of Yom Kippur?” It
is the means by which year by year, God shows His covenant devotion to His
people. He extends His mercy to those who love Him by forgiving and carrying
away their sins, transgressions, and iniquities. However, this mercy is not to
be taken lightly. It requires the affliction of our souls and the repentance of
our hearts. God extended His mercy and forgiveness to the children of Israel
when they sinned by building and worshipping the golden calf, but only after
they repented.
When
Yeshua died at Passover, He was our covenant sacrifice allowing us to enter
into covenant with God. However, His death also paid the price for our sins. He
was our goat of the sin offering and the azazal, the goat that departs,
carrying away our sins. He is the man who stands ready to take on our
uncleanness. When we stand before God for judgment on Yom Kippur, God will have
mercy on us because we love Him, keep His commandments, and have had our sins
carried away by Yeshua.
Study
Questions:
1.
How is Yom Kippur connected with the sin
of building and worshipping the golden calf?
2.
Sin offerings for the nation are
described in Leviticus 4:13-21. What sets the Yom Kippur sin offering for the
nation apart from this general sin offering?
3.
How does Yeshua fulfill the sin offering
of Yom Kippur?
General
Portion Questions
4.
The final instructions about bringing
offerings to the LORD are concluded in Leviticus 17 about the sanctity of
blood. Why is this important in the context of the offering system? What
message does this convey to us today?
5.
Various sexual and ceremonial laws are
given in the remainder of the Torah portion. What reason is given for the
children of Israel to follow these laws? How does this apply to us today?
6.
What other insights did you gain from this teaching? What indicators are there in
this Torah Portion that point to Messiah Yeshua?
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2023 Moed Ministries International. All rights reserved.
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