'Returning to the services performed on the Day of Atonement, we note that besides the "young bullock," there were to be two goats provided by the congregation, both of which were to be for "a sin offering" (v. 5).
(((Lev 16:5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
Lev 16:3 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. ))))
Lots were to be cast over these goats, and one was to be the Lord's goat and the other for Azazel (v. 8; margin).
(((Lev 16:8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat))))
Both goats in the type would bear the consequences of sin, one vicariously, the other as the recipient of the due judgment on sin.
On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest went three times into the Most Holy Place:
1) With a golden censer "full of live coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense" (v.12).
2) With the blood of the bullock which was sprinkled once upon the mercy seat, and seven times before it. (v.14).
(((Lev 16:14 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. ))))
3) With the blood of the Lord's goat which was ministered the same as the blood of the bullock. (v.15).
(((Lev 16:15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat))))
Inasmuch as the live coals were taken from the Altar of Burnt Offering, and each of the two sacrifices were made at the same altar, the High Priest on the Day of Atonement moved three times from the Altar in the Court into the Most Holy Place, and then returned to the same Altar to complete the Atonement.
In type, the High Priest did NOT go into the Most Holy Place and remain there the entire day.
((( The cleansing of the earthly sanctuary was a complex ritual. If this ritual was perform in type why can't we fathom that the true from which the pattern, example, was given must be similar? There are steps taken for each category of sinners- the priests, the rulers, the congregation, and the individual. Yet we imagine that only the individuals are being addressed in the cleansing taking place in heaven. Yes, individuals encompass all those categories, but they were separated for a reason. Each category had it's own responsibility on top of the individual aspect. The priesthood was accountable as priests- not just as an individual. The rulers were accountable as being rulers, not just individuals. The congregation was accountable as a people, not as individuals. A priest, a ruler, and a whole congregation could sin in a different capacity than a separate individual. You can make a collective decision and be accountable as a collective whole, yes? And if you are dissenting voice in that collective you can choose to leave that group and no longer be a part of the collective. Many times individuals chose to leave the group rather than be accountable along with the group. When people follow their groups blindly choosing to believe them without considering they could be following the group down the wrong path, they are accountable for that. Each of these groups had a different accountability, a different service for sin. On the Day of Atonements - it reads like this--
Lev 16:34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins ONCE A YEAR. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Lev 16:2 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
Lev 16:3 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young BULLOCK for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.
Lev 16:4 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, 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.
Lev 16:5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel TWO KIDS OF THE GOATS for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
Lev 16:6 And Aaron shall offer HIS BULLOCK of the sin offering, which is FOR HIMSELF, and make an atonement for himself, AND FOR HIS HOUSE.
Lev 16:7 And he shall take the TWO GOATS, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Lev 16:8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; ONE LOT for the LORD, and the OTHER LOT for the SCAPEGOAT.
Lev 16:9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD'S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
Lev 16:10 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.
Lev 16:11 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:
Lev 16:12 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 vail:
Lev 16:13 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:
Lev 16:14 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.
Lev 16:15 Then shall he KILL the GOAT of the sin offering, that is FOR THE PEOPLE, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:
Lev 16:16 And he shall make an ATONEMENT for the HOLY PLACE, because of the uncleanness of the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, and because of their transgressions in all their sins:
and so shall he do for the TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
Lev 16:17 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, AND FOR HIS HOUSEHOLD AND FOR ALL THE CONGREGATION OF ISREAL.
Lev 16:18 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.
Lev 16:19 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 CHILDRENE OF ISRAEL.
Lev 16:20 And when he hath made an END OF RECONCILING THE HOLY PLACE, AND THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION, AND THE ALTAR, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:
Lev 16:21 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:
Lev 16:22 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.
Lev 16:23 And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there:
Lev 16:24 And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an ATONEMENT FOR HIMSELF AND FOR THE PEOPLE.
Lev 16:25 And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.
Lev 16:26 And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.
Lev 16:27 And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.
Lev 16:28 And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
Lev 16:29 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:
Lev 16:30 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.
Lev 16:31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
Lev 16:32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:
Lev 16:33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.
Lev 16:34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Do you see? The MOST HOLY PLACE of the Sanctuary (here designated Holy Place), the HOLY PLACE ( here designated Tabernacle of the Congregation), and the ALTAR all had ATONEMENTS made for them! There were atonements for the PRIESTS and for ALL the PEOPLE of the CONGREGATION. They were all part and parcel of the cleansing of the Sanctuary.
Atonements were made. We have to understand this. ))))
Here is one facet of the typical services on the Day of Atonement where there is needed, not only "learning" but also much "unlearning," so that the presentation of the Antitypical Day of Atonement will coincide with the type.
The ministration of the blood in the Most Holy Place is twofold:
1) "Because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel" and
2) "Because of their transgressions in all their sins" (v.16).
Here is the record of all sins, yet no blood was ever brought into the Most Holy Place, whether for corporate or individual sins via the sin offerings prescribed.
At this point, in type, the record was cleansed; but "the uncleanness" was not cleansed until the final ministration at the Altar in the Court, when the blood of the bullock and the blood of the Lord's goat were mingled for that objective (vs. 18-19).
The passing from the Most Holy to the Alter of Incense in the Holy Place is only briefly noted (v. 16b). The instruction as what was to be done is given in Exodus 30:10. Atonement was "to be made upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements."
On it only was placed the record of confessed corporate guilt.
Is the brevity of the instruction concerning the ministration in the Holy Place indicative of how hard it is for religious leaders to acknowledge their transgression in leading God's people into
apostasy, or for corporate groups to confess their guilt as a body, and thus so little repentance, if any, is recorded.
The final cleansing at the Altar in the Court needs careful study. While the ministry in the Most Holy cleared the record of sin, the atonement at the Altar reached to "the uncleanness of the children of Israel" (v.19).
Unless the source of sin is cleansed, the acts of sin will not cease.
The combined blood was placed on the horns of the Altar where the record of acknowledgment and confession had been placed (Lev. 4:30).
It covered over the blood which had been placed there during the year. The antitype is summarized concisely by John when he wrote, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9).
Here is the whole yearly typical service regarding sin in one sentence, and the one single
act, we do in that full redemption, confess ourselves to be what we are, and from which we cannot deliver ourselves.
Let us review so as to see the overall picture. Let us retrace the steps placing ourselves in the typical yearly services.
We sin, and becoming conscious of our guilt, we bring the specified offering.
On it we place our hands in full weight, confessing our sin.
We then slay the victim.
The officiating priest takes of the blood, and by it, places the record of confession on the horns of the Altar.
In his priestly ministration, the priest makes the atonement for us, and we are forgiven.
The Day of Atonements comes.
The record of sin is to be confronted, and carried away.
We are to be cleansed.
What can we do?
Afflict our souls, and cease to trust in any of our works.
Again it is a priest that ministers; however, on this day, it is the High Priest and he alone. He ministers with the blood from victims on which no hands of confession are laid.
For the final phase, part of the blood of cleansing, he himself has provided; the other part
is blood from a goat that has become by lot the Lord's.
We come in the words of the hymn, "nothing in our hands to bring" but simply to the Cross to cling.
"And when (the High Priest hath made an end of reconciling the (most) holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat" (Lev. 16:21). This live goat, by lot belonged to Azazel, as much as the sacrificed goat belonged to the Lord. (ver. 8, margin). While the two goats were taken for "a sin offering" (v.5), only the Lord's goat was so sacrificed. With the live goat, "an atonement" was to be made with him, but not a blood
atonement (v. 10). After "an end" of reconciliation was made with the mingled blood, then the goat for Azazel was brought into the typical ceremony. The High Priest was to place both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and "confess over him all the iniquities of the children of
Israel, and all their transgression in all their sins" (v.21).
It should be observed that the High Priest bore the sins of Israel, but not their uncleanness (Heb. 7:26). The sins were transferred to the goat for Azazel, but only the sins of Israel, not the rest of the world. No blood atonement was made by this scapegoat, only a judgment because of those sins. The great antitypical High Priest who in "His own self (bore) our sins in His own body on
the tree" (I Peter 2:24), has every right to take what He paid for, and assign the accounting to the source of that which cost Him so much.
To "Learn" and to "Unlearn"
1) We observed in our study, that both the sanctuary built under the direction
of Moses according to the "pattern" given by God in communion with him on Mt.
Sinai, and the "true tabernacle which the Lord pitched," were of temporary
duration.
2) The "true tabernacle" which the Lord pitched" and in which He ministered was
"pitched" in heaven, and was not heaven itself.
3) The sin offerings were not to record sin, or to transfer it to the sanctuary,
but were confessional of sins already committed, and the record of that
confession.
4) There was an atonement in connection with the daily sin offerings which
resulted in forgiveness.
5) The high priest on the Day of Atonements functioned in all his duties as a
type of the high priestly ministry of Jesus Christ. This included his offering
of the bullock for himself and his house.
6) On the Day of Atonements, the High Priest went three times in and out of the
Most Holy Place. He did not remain in the Most Holy all day, in fact the last act of the Atonement was completed in the Court at the Altar of Burnt Offering.
*******
Again, WHY is this important to us today?!
Because our SAVIOR is in the HEAVENLY SANCTUARY right now! And the cleansing of that heavenly sanctuary began in 1844! 170 years ago this coming October, the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary began.
How long will it take for the heavenly sanctuary to be cleansed? We can't know. I can't imagine that year after year, from one High Priest to the next, that every time it took the exact same amount of time. We know God has His own time. God knows when the cup of iniquity is filled, we don't. We do know the end will come. We know that once the cleansing is complete that our Savior will return for His people, His cleansed saints.
More tomorrow all by the GRACE of our SAVIOR.
All in His LOVE.
(((Lev 16:5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
Lev 16:3 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. ))))
Lots were to be cast over these goats, and one was to be the Lord's goat and the other for Azazel (v. 8; margin).
(((Lev 16:8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat))))
Both goats in the type would bear the consequences of sin, one vicariously, the other as the recipient of the due judgment on sin.
On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest went three times into the Most Holy Place:
1) With a golden censer "full of live coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense" (v.12).
2) With the blood of the bullock which was sprinkled once upon the mercy seat, and seven times before it. (v.14).
(((Lev 16:14 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. ))))
3) With the blood of the Lord's goat which was ministered the same as the blood of the bullock. (v.15).
(((Lev 16:15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat))))
Inasmuch as the live coals were taken from the Altar of Burnt Offering, and each of the two sacrifices were made at the same altar, the High Priest on the Day of Atonement moved three times from the Altar in the Court into the Most Holy Place, and then returned to the same Altar to complete the Atonement.
In type, the High Priest did NOT go into the Most Holy Place and remain there the entire day.
((( The cleansing of the earthly sanctuary was a complex ritual. If this ritual was perform in type why can't we fathom that the true from which the pattern, example, was given must be similar? There are steps taken for each category of sinners- the priests, the rulers, the congregation, and the individual. Yet we imagine that only the individuals are being addressed in the cleansing taking place in heaven. Yes, individuals encompass all those categories, but they were separated for a reason. Each category had it's own responsibility on top of the individual aspect. The priesthood was accountable as priests- not just as an individual. The rulers were accountable as being rulers, not just individuals. The congregation was accountable as a people, not as individuals. A priest, a ruler, and a whole congregation could sin in a different capacity than a separate individual. You can make a collective decision and be accountable as a collective whole, yes? And if you are dissenting voice in that collective you can choose to leave that group and no longer be a part of the collective. Many times individuals chose to leave the group rather than be accountable along with the group. When people follow their groups blindly choosing to believe them without considering they could be following the group down the wrong path, they are accountable for that. Each of these groups had a different accountability, a different service for sin. On the Day of Atonements - it reads like this--
Lev 16:34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins ONCE A YEAR. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Lev 16:2 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
Lev 16:3 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young BULLOCK for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.
Lev 16:4 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, 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.
Lev 16:5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel TWO KIDS OF THE GOATS for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
Lev 16:6 And Aaron shall offer HIS BULLOCK of the sin offering, which is FOR HIMSELF, and make an atonement for himself, AND FOR HIS HOUSE.
Lev 16:7 And he shall take the TWO GOATS, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Lev 16:8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; ONE LOT for the LORD, and the OTHER LOT for the SCAPEGOAT.
Lev 16:9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD'S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
Lev 16:10 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.
Lev 16:11 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:
Lev 16:12 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 vail:
Lev 16:13 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:
Lev 16:14 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.
Lev 16:15 Then shall he KILL the GOAT of the sin offering, that is FOR THE PEOPLE, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:
Lev 16:16 And he shall make an ATONEMENT for the HOLY PLACE, because of the uncleanness of the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, and because of their transgressions in all their sins:
and so shall he do for the TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
Lev 16:17 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, AND FOR HIS HOUSEHOLD AND FOR ALL THE CONGREGATION OF ISREAL.
Lev 16:18 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.
Lev 16:19 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 CHILDRENE OF ISRAEL.
Lev 16:20 And when he hath made an END OF RECONCILING THE HOLY PLACE, AND THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION, AND THE ALTAR, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:
Lev 16:21 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:
Lev 16:22 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.
Lev 16:23 And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there:
Lev 16:24 And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an ATONEMENT FOR HIMSELF AND FOR THE PEOPLE.
Lev 16:25 And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.
Lev 16:26 And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.
Lev 16:27 And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.
Lev 16:28 And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
Lev 16:29 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:
Lev 16:30 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.
Lev 16:31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
Lev 16:32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:
Lev 16:33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.
Lev 16:34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Do you see? The MOST HOLY PLACE of the Sanctuary (here designated Holy Place), the HOLY PLACE ( here designated Tabernacle of the Congregation), and the ALTAR all had ATONEMENTS made for them! There were atonements for the PRIESTS and for ALL the PEOPLE of the CONGREGATION. They were all part and parcel of the cleansing of the Sanctuary.
Atonements were made. We have to understand this. ))))
Here is one facet of the typical services on the Day of Atonement where there is needed, not only "learning" but also much "unlearning," so that the presentation of the Antitypical Day of Atonement will coincide with the type.
The ministration of the blood in the Most Holy Place is twofold:
1) "Because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel" and
2) "Because of their transgressions in all their sins" (v.16).
Here is the record of all sins, yet no blood was ever brought into the Most Holy Place, whether for corporate or individual sins via the sin offerings prescribed.
At this point, in type, the record was cleansed; but "the uncleanness" was not cleansed until the final ministration at the Altar in the Court, when the blood of the bullock and the blood of the Lord's goat were mingled for that objective (vs. 18-19).
The passing from the Most Holy to the Alter of Incense in the Holy Place is only briefly noted (v. 16b). The instruction as what was to be done is given in Exodus 30:10. Atonement was "to be made upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements."
On it only was placed the record of confessed corporate guilt.
Is the brevity of the instruction concerning the ministration in the Holy Place indicative of how hard it is for religious leaders to acknowledge their transgression in leading God's people into
apostasy, or for corporate groups to confess their guilt as a body, and thus so little repentance, if any, is recorded.
The final cleansing at the Altar in the Court needs careful study. While the ministry in the Most Holy cleared the record of sin, the atonement at the Altar reached to "the uncleanness of the children of Israel" (v.19).
Unless the source of sin is cleansed, the acts of sin will not cease.
The combined blood was placed on the horns of the Altar where the record of acknowledgment and confession had been placed (Lev. 4:30).
It covered over the blood which had been placed there during the year. The antitype is summarized concisely by John when he wrote, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9).
Here is the whole yearly typical service regarding sin in one sentence, and the one single
act, we do in that full redemption, confess ourselves to be what we are, and from which we cannot deliver ourselves.
Let us review so as to see the overall picture. Let us retrace the steps placing ourselves in the typical yearly services.
We sin, and becoming conscious of our guilt, we bring the specified offering.
On it we place our hands in full weight, confessing our sin.
We then slay the victim.
The officiating priest takes of the blood, and by it, places the record of confession on the horns of the Altar.
In his priestly ministration, the priest makes the atonement for us, and we are forgiven.
The Day of Atonements comes.
The record of sin is to be confronted, and carried away.
We are to be cleansed.
What can we do?
Afflict our souls, and cease to trust in any of our works.
Again it is a priest that ministers; however, on this day, it is the High Priest and he alone. He ministers with the blood from victims on which no hands of confession are laid.
For the final phase, part of the blood of cleansing, he himself has provided; the other part
is blood from a goat that has become by lot the Lord's.
We come in the words of the hymn, "nothing in our hands to bring" but simply to the Cross to cling.
"And when (the High Priest hath made an end of reconciling the (most) holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat" (Lev. 16:21). This live goat, by lot belonged to Azazel, as much as the sacrificed goat belonged to the Lord. (ver. 8, margin). While the two goats were taken for "a sin offering" (v.5), only the Lord's goat was so sacrificed. With the live goat, "an atonement" was to be made with him, but not a blood
atonement (v. 10). After "an end" of reconciliation was made with the mingled blood, then the goat for Azazel was brought into the typical ceremony. The High Priest was to place both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and "confess over him all the iniquities of the children of
Israel, and all their transgression in all their sins" (v.21).
It should be observed that the High Priest bore the sins of Israel, but not their uncleanness (Heb. 7:26). The sins were transferred to the goat for Azazel, but only the sins of Israel, not the rest of the world. No blood atonement was made by this scapegoat, only a judgment because of those sins. The great antitypical High Priest who in "His own self (bore) our sins in His own body on
the tree" (I Peter 2:24), has every right to take what He paid for, and assign the accounting to the source of that which cost Him so much.
To "Learn" and to "Unlearn"
1) We observed in our study, that both the sanctuary built under the direction
of Moses according to the "pattern" given by God in communion with him on Mt.
Sinai, and the "true tabernacle which the Lord pitched," were of temporary
duration.
2) The "true tabernacle" which the Lord pitched" and in which He ministered was
"pitched" in heaven, and was not heaven itself.
3) The sin offerings were not to record sin, or to transfer it to the sanctuary,
but were confessional of sins already committed, and the record of that
confession.
4) There was an atonement in connection with the daily sin offerings which
resulted in forgiveness.
5) The high priest on the Day of Atonements functioned in all his duties as a
type of the high priestly ministry of Jesus Christ. This included his offering
of the bullock for himself and his house.
6) On the Day of Atonements, the High Priest went three times in and out of the
Most Holy Place. He did not remain in the Most Holy all day, in fact the last act of the Atonement was completed in the Court at the Altar of Burnt Offering.
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Again, WHY is this important to us today?!
Because our SAVIOR is in the HEAVENLY SANCTUARY right now! And the cleansing of that heavenly sanctuary began in 1844! 170 years ago this coming October, the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary began.
How long will it take for the heavenly sanctuary to be cleansed? We can't know. I can't imagine that year after year, from one High Priest to the next, that every time it took the exact same amount of time. We know God has His own time. God knows when the cup of iniquity is filled, we don't. We do know the end will come. We know that once the cleansing is complete that our Savior will return for His people, His cleansed saints.
More tomorrow all by the GRACE of our SAVIOR.
All in His LOVE.
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