TEXT: Leviticus 16

SUBJECT: Christ in the Old Testament #8: Day of Atonement

Today, with God’s blessing, we’ll proceed in our study of Christ in the Old Testament. Last week, we saw the Lord at Mount Sinai as Lawgiver. Because He is our Savior and Lord, He has every right to impose His will on us. Maybe "impose" is not the right word. Regenerated by His Spirit, we find "His commandments are not burdensome". In love, Christ gave us His Law. In love, we seek to obey it.

In today’s chapter, the Lord occupies a different role. Back in Exodus 20, He was the Giver of God’s Law. But here, He is the Victim of its Justice.

In one way or another, all sacrifices point to Christ. Even the pagan offerings do that, implying a sense of guilt and vicarious suffering to atone for it. But of course, what’s hinted at in pagan ritual becomes much clearer in the sacrifices of Israel. For they weren’t devised by witchdoctors or medicine men, but by God Himself.

Under the Old Covenant, Israel had many sacrifices. In the first few chapters of Leviticus, for example, you have the Burnt Offering, the Grain Offering, the Peace Offering, the Sin Offering, the Trespass Offering, and the Wave Offering. Each of them points to Christ. But one, in particular, stands out. The Jews call it Yom Kippur. They celebrated it just last Monday. We know it by another name,

Which we celebrate every day.

The first Day of Atonement dawned with the smell of death in the air—literally. Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu, had offered a "strange fire" to the Lord. In other words, they burned an incense to God of their own making. The Lord struck them dead for it. 10:2 says,

The punishment seems rather severe, doesn’t it? But it wasn’t, for in the death of these two men, God was teaching Israel—and us—a vital lesson: God will be approached His Way or No way at all.

We have to be careful on this point. We mustn’t give unbelievers the impression that the only way to come to God is our way. We don’t insist on our way—the American way or the Middle-Class way or the Christian way or the Protestant way or the Evangelical way or the Reformed way or the Baptist way.

You mustn’t say "My way is better than your way". It isn’t! It’s God’s Way. And His way is better than yours, theirs, or mine!

When Nadab and Abihu came to God their way, they were cooked by the fire of God’s wrath. If you do what they did, you’ll suffer the same fate. Forever.

God is approachable. He wants our company. But He’ll only have it if we come on His terms.

For the Day of Atonement, here are His terms:

It was not the whole nation that came to Him, but one man—the High Priest—on behalf of the people.

The High Priest came to God only after becoming "holy" by ritual washings, putting on special clothes, and offering a sacrifice for his own sins.

He then took two goats and presented them to the LORD. One was chosen for sacrifice. Aaron killed the goat and caught its blood in a basin. This was then taken into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled on the Mercy Seat in the sight of God.

As for the other goat? Aaron put his hands on its head and named all the sins of Israel. The innocent goat was charged with murder and theft, adultery and fornication, idolatry and blasphemy, lying, cheating, and every other sin.

The goat was then handed over to a man who led it away from the Tabernacle. On and on they went till they were out of sight. Out of man’s sight literally. Symbolically, they went so far away that even God couldn’t see them.

The meaning was clear to every thoughtful Jew. The Sacrificial Goat had done no wrong, but suffered death in the place of a guilty nation. The Scapegoat, it carried the sins of Israel out of God’s sight.

The theme, introduced here, came into sharper focus later in the Old Testament. God promised to

Was the Day of Atonement always successful? No it wasn’t. God doesn’t accept every sacrifice. Some provoke His wrath than placate it.

The Jews knew this. And provided for it. Later, when the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies, he went with a rope tied around his waist. It was assumed that God might not take his offering. And, if He didn’t, He’d kill the man. Others would have to pull him out.

But, when the saw the Priest come out, they knew God was satisfied with the offering. They must have breathed a big sigh of relief.

The Day of Atonement secured many and real blessings for Israel. If God accepted the sacrifice, He would bless them with peace, prosperity, long life, children, and more.

The devout Jew had every reason to thank God for the Day of Atonement.

The Day of Atonement—though a very great favor to Israel—did not give them what they needed most. It may have secured peace in a political way, but it gave no peace of mind. It may have given a long life, but it gave no hope in death.

The Day of Atonement was inadequate. By design. It was never meant to be an end in itself, but to point beyond itself to what God would do in the future.

What’s that?

He would provide a Better Sacrifice. Which He did with the gift of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

He became the Sacrificial Goat. Innocent, He died before God in the place of the guilty.

He also became the Scapegoat, bearing our sins away from us and out of God’s sight.

The prophecy of Balaam must have perplexed those who first read it. Speaking of God, he said,

How could that be true? Israel had spent forty years in the wilderness committing every sin you can think of. Yet God saw nothing wrong with them; in His sight, they were spotless.

How’s that? Because He sees His people—not as we are in ourselves—but as we are in Christ. Paul says,

Is the Lord’s sacrifice for us acceptable to God? It is. How can know—know for sure--that it was good enough?

That’s an easy one: Go to the Empty Tomb. After offering Himself to God on the cross, our High Priest came out alive!

In short,

Must I tack on a response? Because Christ did this for you, you must give up your guilt, quit looking down on other believers (no matter what they’ve done), rejoice in the Lord Jesus, love Him, and serve Him from the heart.

The Love of God be with you all. For Christ’s sake. Amen.