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StudyJesus.com presents
DAY
OF ATONEMENT
Navigation: Additional Resources Index >> Home Introduction
Certainly one of the most
precious and important sections of Inspiration, this chapter presents the
doctrine of atonement with uncommon fullness and power.
Historically and typically,
this chapter of Leviticus offers a record of transactions on the great Day of
Atonement in Israel, whereby Jehovah's relationship with the assembly was
established and maintained, atoning for all the people’s sins, failures, and
infirmities, so that the Lord God might dwell among them. The blood shed on
this solemn day formed the basis of how a holy God could take up His abode in
the midst of the people, in spite of their uncleanness. "The tenth day of
the seventh month" was a unique day in
We encourage a reading of
this chapter before proceeding further. Historically, we learn from this
portion of inspired Scripture, "that the way into the holiest of all was
not yet made manifest." God was hidden behind a veil and man was at a
distance.
And the
Lord spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons
of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord, and died; and the Lord said unto
Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times unto the
holy place within the veil before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark, that
he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
At this time, the way was
not open for man to be in God’s divine presence at all times, nor was there any
provision, in the entire range of the Mosaic ritual, for his abiding there
continually. God was shut in from man; and man was shut out from God. "The
blood of bulls and goats" could not open a permanent meeting place—"A
sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood" was needed to accomplish this.
For the
law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the
things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers once purged should have had
no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance
again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls
and of goats should take away sins. (Heb. 10:1-4)
Neither
the Levitical priesthood or the Levitical sacrifices
could yield perfection. Insufficiency was stamped on the latter, infirmity on
the former, imperfection on both. An imperfect man could not be a perfect
priest; nor could an imperfect sacrifice provide a perfect conscience. Aaron
was not competent or entitled to take his seat within the veil, nor could his
sacrifices rend that veil.
We now consider this chapter
typically. "Thus shall Aaron come
into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a
burnt offering" (v. 3). Here, we
have the two grand aspects of Christ's atoning work—maintaining the divine
glory, and perfectly meeting man's deepest need. Throughout all the services on this unique
and solemn day, there was no mention of a meat offering, or a peace offering. Our blessed Lord’s perfect human life is not
here foreshadowed. Neither is the
communion of the soul with God (consequent on His accomplished work) unfolded.
The one grand subject is "atonement," and
that in a double way: first, meeting all the claims of God—the claims of His
nature—His character—His throne; and second, as perfectly meeting all man's
guilt and necessities. If we are to have
a clear understanding of the truth presented in this chapter, or the doctrine
of the great Day of Atonement, we must keep the following two points in mind. (1) "Thus shall Aaron come into the holy
place," with atonement, securing the glory of God—regarding His counsels
of redeeming love toward the church, toward Israel, and toward the whole
creation, or in reference to all the claims of His moral administration; and
(2) with atonement as fully meeting man's guilty and needy condition. These two
aspects of atonement will stay in our view as we ponder the precious inspired
contents of this chapter. Their importance cannot possibly be overestimated.
He
shall put on the holy linen coat, and be shall have the linen breeches upon his
Flesh, and he shell be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments;
therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on (v. 4)
Aaron's person, washed in
pure water, and robed in white linen garments, furnishes a lovely and
impressive type of Christ performing His work of atonement—personally and
characteristically pure and spotless. "For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be
sanctified through the truth." (John 17:19) It is peculiarly precious to
be called, as it were, to gaze upon the Person of our divine Priest, in all His
essential holiness. The Holy Spirit delights in every thing that unfolds Christ
to the view of His people; and wherever we behold Him, we see Him to be the
same spotless, perfect, glorious, precious, peerless Jesus, "the fairest
among ten thousand, yea, altogether lovely." Unlike Aaron, our Lord did
not need to do or to wear anything, in order to be pure and spotless. He needed
no pure water, no fine linen. He was, intrinsically and practically, "the
holy One of God." What Aaron did, and what he wore—the washing and robbing
are but faint shadows of what Christ is. The law had only a "shadow,"
and "not the very image of good things to come." Blessed be God, we
do not have the shadow, but the eternal and divine reality—Christ Himself.
And he
shall take of the congregation of the children of
Aaron and his house
represent the Church, not as the "one body," but as a priestly house.
It is not the Church as we find it developed in Ephesians and Colossians, but
rather as we find it in the First Epistle of Peter, in the following well-known
passage: "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (2:5). So also in Hebrews: "But Christ as a Son over His own house; whose
house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm
unto the end" (3:6). We must always
keep in mind that there is no revelation of the mystery of the Church in the
Old Testament. There are types and shadows, but no revelation. That wondrous
mystery of Jew and Gentile forming "one body," "one new
man," and united to a glorified Christ in heaven, could not be revealed
until Christ had taken His place above. Of this mystery Paul was,
pre-eminently, made a steward and a minister, as he tells us in Ephesians
3:1-12, a passage we commend to your prayerful attention.
And he
shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats;
one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall
bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin
offering. 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 (vs. 7-10).
In these two goats, we have
the two aspects of atonement, as previously referred to. “The Lord's lot” fell on one; and the
people's lot fell on the other. In the case of the former, it was not a
question of the persons or the sins which were to be forgiven, or of God's
counsels of grace toward His elect. These things are of infinite importance;
but are not involved in the case of “the goat on which the Lord's lot fell.”
This latter typifies the death of Christ as perfectly glorifying God, with
respect to sin in general. This great truth is fully set forth in the
remarkable expression, “the Lord's lot.” God had a peculiar portion in the
death of Christ—a portion quite distinct—a portion that would be eternally good
even if no sinner was ever saved. In order to see the force of this, it is
necessary to keep in mind how God has been dishonored in this world. His truth
has been despised; His authority distained; His majesty slighted; His law
broken; His claims disregarded; His name blasphemed; and His character defamed.
The death of Christ made
provision for all this; perfectly glorifying God in the very place where all
these things have been done. It perfectly vindicated the majesty, truth,
holiness, and character of God. It divinely met all the claims of His throne.
It atoned for sin, furnishing a divine remedy for all the mischief which sin
introduced into the universe. If the death of Christ affords a ground on which
the blessed God can act in grace, mercy, and forbearance toward all; furnishes
a warrant for the eternal expulsion and perdition of the prince of this world;
and forms the imperishable foundation of God's moral government. Because of the
cross, God can act according to His own sovereignty. He can display both the
matchless glories of His character and the adorable attributes of His nature.
In the exercise of inflexible justice, God could have consigned the human
family, together with the devil and his angels, to the lake of fire. But, to do that, He would have to put aside
His love, grace, mercy, kindness, long-suffering, compassion, patience, and
perfect goodness.
Then, on the other hand, if
God allowed these precious attributes to be exercised in the absence of
atonement, He would have given up justice, truth, majesty, holiness,
righteousness, governmental claims—His entire moral glory! How could "mercy and truth meet
together" or "righteousness and peace kiss each other"? How could "truth spring out of the earth"
or "righteousness look down from heaven?" Nothing but the atonement
of our Lord Jesus Christ could have fully glorified God. It reflected the full
glory of the divine character, even more than the brightest splendors of an unfallen creation. By means of that atonement, in prospect
and retrospect, God has been exercising forbearance toward this world, for thousands
of years. Because of that atonement, the most wicked, daring, and blasphemous
among us "live, move, and have their being;" eat, drink, and sleep.
The very morsel a blaspheming infidel puts in his mouth, he owes to the
atonement which he knows not, and impiously ridicules. The sunbeams and showers
fertilize the atheist’s field, because of the atonement of Christ. The very
breath spent by an infidel or atheist in blaspheming God's revelation, or
denying His existence, they owe to the atonement of Christ. If it wasn’t for
that precious atonement, humankind (sinners all) would be weltering in hell.
The aspect of atonement we
are presently contemplating is strikingly foreshadowed by “the goat on which
the Lord’s lot fell.” God’s pardoning and accepting a sinner is one thing; His
bearing with that man, showering temporal blessings on him, is quite another.
Both are because of the cross, but each are totally
different in aspect and application.
This distinction is so
important that if overlooked, there will only be confusion regarding atonement.
But this isn’t all. A clear understanding of God's ways in government, whether
in the past, present, or future, is involved in this profoundly interesting
point. And, finally, in it is found the key needed to understand a number of
texts with which many Christians have considerable difficulty. We offer only a
few of these passages as examples.
"Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
(John 1: 29) Connect with this a kindred passage in John's first epistle, in
which the Lord Jesus Christ is spoken of as “the propitiation for the whole
world” (2:2).1 In both these passages
the Lord Jesus is referred to as the One who has perfectly glorified God with
respect to "sin" and "the world," in their broadest
acceptation. He is seen here as the great Antitype of "the goat on which
the Lord's lot fell." This gives us a most precious view of the atonement
of Christ, and one which is too often overlooked, or not clearly apprehended.
Whenever the question of people and forgiveness of sins is raised, in
connection with these and similar passages of Scripture, the mind runs into
insuperable difficulties.
Those passages, in which
God's grace to the world at large is presented, are also founded on that special
aspect of the atonement.
Go ye
into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature (Mark 16).
God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him might not perish, but have everlasting life, For God sent not his Son
into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be
saved (John 3:16, 17).
I
exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in
authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God
our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and
to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom
for all, to be testified in due time (1 Tim. 2:1-6).
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men (Titus 2:11).
But we
see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of
death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the
grace of God should taste death for every man (Heb. 2:9).
The
Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is
long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9).
We should never avoid the
plain sense of the above and similar passages. They offer a clear and
unequivocal testimony of divine grace toward all, without the slightest
reference to man's responsibility, or to God's eternal counsels. These things
are just as clearly, just as fully, just as unequivocally, taught in the Word.
Man is responsible, and God is sovereign. All who bow to Scripture admit these
things. However, at the same time, it’s important to recognize the wide aspect
of the grace of God, and of the cross of Christ. It glorifies God and leaves
man wholly without excuse. The grace of God and the atonement of Christ are as
wide as the universe. The words,
"any"—"every"—"whosoever"—and "all,"
belong to God—shutting no one out! When
God sends a message of salvation, He surely intended to do so. What could be more impious than to reject
God's grace, make Him a liar, and then give His secret decrees as a reason to
do so? In one sense, it would be honest
for someone to say, "The fact is, I do not believe God's word, and I do
not want His grace or His salvation." This is understandable. But, to cover one’s failure to accept God and
His truth with the drapery of a false one-sided theology is the highest form of
wickedness. The devil is never more diabolical than when he appears with Bible
in hand.
If it is true that God's
secret decrees and counsels prevent us from receiving the Gospel which He has
commanded to be preached, then on what principle of righteousness will we be
"punished with everlasting destruction" for not obeying that Gospel?
(2 Thess. 1:6-10) Is there a single soul throughout all the gloomy regions of the lost who
can honestly lay blame on God's counsels for being there? No not one. God has made ample provision in the atonement of Christ, for the
salvation of those who truly believe, as well as for the aspect of His grace
toward those who reject the Gospel, by removing their excuse. It is not because
a person cannot, but because one will not believe that many "shall be
punished with everlasting destruction." Never was there a more fatal mistake than one taking shelter behind
God's decrees while deliberately and intelligently refusing His grace. This is all the more dangerous because so
many modern-day churches support the dogmas of a one-sided theology. God's
grace is free to all; and if we ask, “How is this?” the answer is, "Jehovah's
lot" fell upon the true victim—Jesus Christ—in order that He might be
perfectly glorified as to sin, in its widest aspect, and be free to act in
grace toward all, and "preach the gospel to every creature." This
grace and this preaching must have a solid basis, and that basis is found in
the atonement. Though man might reject
God, He is nevertheless glorified in the exercise of grace, and in the offer of
salvation, because of the basis on which both the one and the other rest. He is glorified, and He shall be glorified,
throughout eternity's countless ages.
Now is
my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for
this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a
voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again
. . . Now is the judgement of this world: now shall
the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all unto me (John 12:27-32).
We have focused on one
special theme: "the goat on which the Lord's lot fell.” Now, we consider
the fullest confirmation of that precious truth in the fact that the blood of
the slain goat, together with the blood of the bullock, was sprinkled on, and
before, Jehovah's throne, in order to show that all the claims of that throne
were answered in the blood of atonement, and full provision made for all the
demands of God's moral administration.
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. And
he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before
the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within
the veil. And 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.
Here we have a most vivid
and striking presentation. The blood of atonement is carried within the veil,
into the holiest of all, and there sprinkled on the throne of the God of
Israel. The cloud of divine presence was there; and for Aaron to appear in the
immediate presence of the glory, and not die, "the cloud of incense"
ascends and "covers the mercy-seat," on which the blood of atonement
was to be sprinkled "seven times." The "sweet incense beaten
small" expresses the fragrance of Christ's Person—the sweet odor of His
most precious sacrifice.
And 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. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin
offering that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do
with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon
the mercy-seat, and before tile mercy-seat (vs. 14, 15).
"Seven" is the
perfect number; and in the sprinkling of the blood seven times before the
mercy-seat we learn that whatever the application of the atonement of Christ,
whether to things, places, or persons, it is perfectly estimated in the divine
presence. The blood which secures the salvation of the Church—the
"house" of the true Aaron; the blood which secures the salvation of
the "congregation" of Israel; the blood which secures the final
restoration and blessedness of the whole creation—that blood has been presented
before God, sprinkled and accepted according to all the perfectness,
fragrance, and preciousness of Christ. In the power of that blood God can
accomplish all His eternal counsels of grace. He can save the Church, and raise
it into the very loftiest heights of glory and dignity, despite the power of
sin and Satan. He can restore
And he
shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of
the uncleanness of the children of
The same truth faces us
all—the claims of the sanctuary must be provided for. Jehovah's courts, as well
as His throne, must bear witness to the value of the blood. In the midst of
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, and for his household, and
for all the congregation of Israel (v. 17)
Aaron needed to offer up
sacrifice for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. Only in the power of the blood could he enter
into the sanctuary. In verse 17, we have
a type of the atonement of Christ in its application both to the church and to
the congregation of
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 he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven
times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of
Israel (vs. 18, 19).
Thus the atoning blood was
sprinkled everywhere, from the throne of God within the veil, to the altar
which stood in the court of the Tabernacle of the congregation.
It was
therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be
purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices
than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands,
which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us: nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high
priest entered into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then
must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now once in
the end of the world (at the end of everything earthly, everything human) hath
he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgement:
so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look
for Him shall He appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation (Heb.
9:23-28).
There is only one way into
the holiest of all—a blood-sprinkled way. There is no other way. Men may
attempt to work themselves in, pray themselves in, buy themselves in, get in by
a pathway of ordinances, or half-ordinances, half-Christ; but it is of no use.
God speaks of only one way, and that way has been thrown open through the rent
veil of the Savior's flesh. Patriarchs, prophets, Apostles, martyrs, saints in
every age, from Abel downwards, have trod that blessed way, finding sure and
undisputed access. The one sacrifice of the Cross is divinely sufficient for
all. God asks no more, and He accepts no less. To add thereto is to cast
dishonor on that with which God has declared Himself well pleased—in which He
is infinitely glorified. To diminish from this is to deny man's guilt and ruin,
and offer an indignity to the justice and majesty of God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Spirit—the eternal Trinity.
And
when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of
the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. And Aaron shall
lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the
iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their
sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the
hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all
their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the
wilderness.
Here we have the other grand
idea attached to the death of Christ—full and final forgiveness of the people. If
the death of Christ forms the foundation of the glory of God, it also forms the
foundation of the perfect forgiveness of sins to all who put their trust in
it. Forgiveness of our sins, blessed be
God, is a secondary and inferior application of the atonement, though our
foolish hearts regard it as the very highest possible view of the cross,
because it puts away all our sins. This is a mistake. God's glory is the first
thing; our salvation is second. To maintain God’s glory was the chief object of
the heart of Christ. This object He pursued from first to last, with an
undeviating purpose and unflinching fidelity. "Therefore doth my Father
love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again" (John
10:17). "Now is the Son of Man
glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in him, God shall
also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him" (John
13:31, 32).
Listen,
O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people from far: the Lord hath called me from
the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he
hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid
me, and made me a polished shaft: in his quiver hath He hid me; and said unto
me, Thou art my servant, 0 Israel, in whom I will be glorified (Isaiah 49:1-3).
The glory of God was the
paramount object of the Lord Jesus Christ, in life and in death. He lived and
died to glorify His Father’s name. Does the Church lose by this? No. Does
It is a
light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved
of
Is it not a blessed thing to
know that God is glorified in the putting away of our sins? We may ask, “Where are our sins?” Put away. By what? By that act of Christ on the cross, in which
God has been eternally glorified. The two goats, on the Day of Atonement, give
the double aspect of the one act. In one, we see God’s glory maintained; in the
other, sins put away. The one is as perfect as the other. By the death of Christ, we are as perfectly
forgiven as God is perfectly glorified. Was there one single point in which God
was not glorified in the cross? Not one. Neither is there one single point in
which we are not perfectly forgiven. The
congregation of Israel is the primary object contemplated in the beautiful and
impressive ordinance of the scape-goat; yet, in the
fullest way, it holds good with respect to every soul that truly believes in
the faith of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:22)—perfectly forgiven as God is perfectly
glorified, by the atonement of the cross. How many of the sins of
And
this shall be a statute for ever unto you, that in the seventh month, on the
tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all,
whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger
that sojourneth among you. For on that day shall the
priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that
ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It shall be a Sabbath of
rest and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever (vs. 29-31).
"Afflict
your souls" means observe a fast, as indicated by Psalm 35:13 and Isaiah
58:3, 5. This was the only fast enjoined
in the Mosaic Law (v. 26). The Jews understood the command to "afflict
your souls" as a command to abstain from "food, drink, bathing,
perfuming, sandals, and intercourse"(v. 27).
What has all this to do with
us today? We are expected to respond to
the Great Atonement provided for us in the Great Antitype, of whom these
ancient symbols were eloquent witnesses. As the author of Hebrews put it:
Let us
draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water ...
let us provoke one another to love and good works, not neglecting the
assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one
another, and so much the more as ye see the day drawing nigh (10:22-25).
We recommend a reading of
this chapter before proceeding further. Our study would not be complete without
at least briefly considering this chapter. In it we find two special points: life belongs to Jehovah; and, the
power of atonement is in the blood. The Lord attached peculiar importance to
both. He would have them impressed on every member of the Church of our Lord.
And the
Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, and
unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, This is
the thing which the Lord hath commanded, saying, What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox,
or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out
of the camp, and bringeth it not unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the Lord, before the
tabernacle of the Lord; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed
blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people.
This was a most solemn
matter; and we may ask what was involved in offering a sacrifice that was not
in the manner prescribed above? It was nothing less than robbing Jehovah of His
rights, presenting to Satan that which was due God. Someone might say,
"Why can’t I offer a sacrifice in one place as well as another?" The
answer is simple: life belongs to God, and His claim to it must be recognized
in the place He has appointed—before the Tabernacle of the Lord. That was the
only meeting place between God and man. To offer some other place proved that
the heart did not want God.
This has a plain moral.
There is only one place approved by God where He meets the sinner—the cross,
antitype of the Brazen Altar. There and there alone, God's claim on life has
been duly recognized; to reject this meeting-place is to bring judgment down on
oneself, trampling under foot the just claims of God, and arrogating to oneself
a right to life which all have forfeited. This is important to see and
understand.
And the
priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord, at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savor unto the
Lord.
The blood and the life
belonged to God. The blessed Jesus fully recognized this. He surrendered His
life to God—voluntarily walking to the Altar and there giving up His precious
life; and the fragrant odor of His intrinsic Excellency ascended to the throne
of God. Blessed Jesus! How sweet it is to be reminded of You,
every step of our way.
The second point referred to
above is clearly stated in v. 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 MAKETH AN ATONEMENT FOR
THE SOUL (emphasis added).
The connection between the
two points is deeply interesting. When you duly take your place—possessing no
title whatsoever to life; when you fully recognize God's claims on you, then
the divine record is, "I have given you the life to make an atonement for your soul." Atonement, God’s gift to
man, is in the blood, and only in the blood. "It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the
soul"—not the blood and something else. The Word of God is most explicit,
attributing atonement exclusively to the blood. "Without shedding of blood
there is no remission" (Heb. 9:22). It was the death of Christ that rent the veil. It is "by the blood
of Jesus" we have "boldness to enter into the holiest"; "We
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Eph. 1:7;
Col. 1:14).
"Having made peace by
the blood of his cross"; "Ye who were afar off are made nigh by the
blood of his cross"; "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7); "They
washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rev. 7);
"They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb" (Rev. 12).
We call your earnest
attention to the precious and vital doctrine of the blood, in the hope that you
will see its true place. The blood of Christ is the foundation of everything.
It is the ground of God's righteousness in justifying an ungodly sinner that
believes in the faith of the Son of God (Rom. 3:22); It is the ground of the
sinner's confidence in drawing close to a holy God whose pure eyes cannot
behold evil. God would be just in condemning the sinner; but, through the death
of Christ, He can be just, and still justify those who trust in Him and who
have faith in the faith of Jesus Christ. God is truly a just God and Savior.
The righteousness of God is His consistency with Himself—acting in harmony with
His revealed character. Without the cross, His consistency with Himself would
of necessity demand the death and judgment of the sinner. But thanks be to God,
in the cross death and judgment were borne by Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus, the divine consistency is
perfectly maintained, allowing a holy God to justify an ungodly sinner through
faith. It was and is accomplished through the blood of Jesus—nothing
less—nothing more—nothing different. "It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”
This is conclusive. This is God's simple plan of justification. Man's plan is
much more cumbrous, much more roundabout. And not only is it cumbrous and
roundabout, but it attributes righteousness to something quite different from
what is found in the Holy Scriptures. If we look from Genesis 3 down to the
close of Revelation, we find the blood of Christ put forward as the only ground
of righteousness. Pardon, peace, life, and righteousness—all come by the blood,
and nothing but the blood. The entire book of Leviticus, particularly from this
chapter on, is a commentary on the doctrine of the blood. It seems strange to
insist so much on a fact so obvious to the dispassionate, teachable student of
Holy Scripture. Yet it’s necessary. Our minds are prone to slip away from the
plain testimony of the Word. We are too often ready to adopt opinions without
calmly investigating them in the light of divine testimonies. By so doing, we
step into confusion, darkness, and error.
May each of us learn to give
the blood of Christ its due place! It is so precious in God's sight that He
will not allow anything to be added to or mingled with it.
The
life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar,
to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the
blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
Conclusion
The central significance of
the Tabernacle symbolized the way of approach to God by means of expiation,
propitiation by the mercy-seat, God’s presence with His people, and our
communion with Him.
The New Testament use of the
word tabernacle is very suggestive. In
the Epistle to the Hebrews it is the symbol of spiritual things. Christ is called “A minister of the
sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitch, and not man”
(8:2). Not being of the Aaronic priesthood, Jesus was not permitted to enter the
temple itself. Under the Law, He could
not officiate in the temple, which had the same significance as that of the
Tabernacle, but is the minister of the true tabernacle of which the other was a
symbol, called the “shadow of heavenly things” (Heb. 8:5). This truth is emphasized by the statement:
The
Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet
made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing. For Christ is not entered into the holy
places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (Heb. 9:8, 24).
Jesus Christ is the true
High Priest of our redemption, ministering for us in the true, spiritual
tabernacle.
In the opening chapter of
his Gospel, speaking of the incarnate Lord, John declares that He dwelt among
us, meaning that He tabernacled among us. As the tabernacle symbolized the presence of
Jehovah so in Christ God reveals Himself—the greatest self-revelation of God
(John 1:14). In John’s vision of the new heaven and new earth he heard the
voice saying, “Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with
them”—He will tabernacle with them (Rev.21:3).
The temporary Tabernacle of
the earthly life is contrasted with the eternal building of God in the heavens
(2 Cor. 5:1, 4). In the same terms Peter speaks of
his earthly life, and the putting “off this my tabernacle”—passing from the
mortal to the immortal (2 Pet. 1:13, 14).
Day of Atonement – In a Nutshell
The great day of national
humiliation, and the only one commanded in the Mosaic Law. The mode of its
observance is described in Leviticus 16, and the conduct of the people is
emphatically enjoined in Leviticus 23:26-32.
It was kept on the tenth day
of Tisri, that is, from the evening of the ninth to
the evening of the tenth of that month, five days before the Feast of
Tabernacles. Tisri corresponds to our
September-October, so that the 10th of Tisri would be
about the first of October.
It was kept by the people as
a high solemn Sabbath. On this occasion only the High Priest was permitted to
enter into the Holies of Holies. Having bathed and dresses himself entirely in
the holy white linen garments, he brought forward a young bullock for a sin
offering, purchased at his own cost, for himself and his family, and two young
goats for a sin offering, with a ram for a burnt offering for the people, which
were paid for out of the public treasury. He then presented the two goats
before the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle and cast lots on them. On one lot
“For Jehovah” was inscribed, and on the other “For Azuzel”;
a difficult phrase that probably designates the personal being to whom the goat
was sent—Satan. This goat was called the scapegoat. After various sacrifices
and ceremonies the goat on which the lot “For Jehovah” had fallen was slain and
the High Priest sprinkled its blood before the mercy-seat in the same manner as
he had done that of the bullock. Going out from the Holy of Holies he purified
the
In considering the meaning
of the particular rites of the day, three points appear to be of a very
distinctive character. (1) The white garments of the High Priest. (2) His
entrance into the Holy of Holies. (3) The scapegoat.
The writer of the Hebrews
(9:7-25), teaches us to apply the first two particulars. The High Priest
himself, with his person cleansed and dressed in white garments, was the best
outward type which a living man could present in his own person of that pure
and holy One Who was to purify His people and to cleanse them of their sins.
But regarding the meaning of the scapegoat, we have no such light to guide us,
and the subject is one of difficulty. It has been generally considered that it
was dismissed to signify the carrying away of the sins of the people, from the
sight of Jehovah. If we keep in view that the two goats are spoken of as parts
of one and the same sin offering, we shall not have much difficulty in seeing
that they form together, but one symbolical expression; the slain goat setting
forth the act of sacrifice, in giving up its own life for others “to Jehovah;”
and the goat which carried off its load of sin “for complete removal”
signifying the cleansing influence of faith in that sacrifice.
Footnote:
1 I John 2:2, the words “the sins
of” are introduced by the translators, and are not inspired. The divine
accuracy of the passage is completely lost by retaining those uninspired words.
In the first clause of the verse Christ is set forth as the propitiation For the
actual sins of His people; but in the last clause, it is not a question of sins or of persons at all, but of sin and the world in general. In
fact, the whole verse presents Christ as the Antitype of the two goats, as the
One Who has borne His people’s sins; and, also as the One Who has perfectly
glorified God with respect to sin in general, and made provision for dealing in
grace with the world at large, and for the final deliverance and blessing of
the whole creation.
(Unless noted, King James Version translation used in this study)
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