Leviticus
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Leviticus Chapter 16

 

  • Leviticus 16:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died; 
  • 2 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. 

This may be a hint as to why the two sons of Aaron died by offering a strange fire before the Lord in an irreverent and disrespectful manner, not discerning the holiness of God. 

God is a holy God. To show disrespect and take His presence lightly is very serious even in these days when we are not under the law but under grace. He is still the same holy God. Through faith in Christ we can approach God directly and not through the offerings and sacrifices of an appointed priest but we must still reverence Him and have respect when it is time to worship Him and hear His word. 

God forgives us at times when we fail to do this. There is always emergencies and things that cause us to be disruptive but when we gather together to worship, Jesus Himself is in our midst. This should never be taken lightly. 

When I sit in a church meeting and hear cell phones go off, whispering, walking in and out, and such, I wonder why we take God's presence so lightly. He is still the same God that we read about in the Old Testament. He is still just as holy. 

A pastor or teacher who prepares himself or herself as the case maybe to present a message from the word deserves our respect. A good teacher will prepare by studying and praying over His message before bringing it to the people. Although I believe each one of us should study the word privately and make sure what the teacher speaks is truth, we still should show respect and listen diligently to what the speaker is telling us just in case he or she presents a message through the anointing and direction of the Holy Spirit. 

Aaron was instructed not to just go into the holy of holy at any time but only when directed by God and according to the instructions God gave so that he would not die as his sons died. The way was to be perfect and according to the will of God. In their day it pointed to the perfect sacrifice to come. Only one way of salvation, Jesus Christ. 

  • Hebrews 9:1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 
  • 2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. 
  • 3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all; 
  • 4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; 
  • 5 And over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. 
  • 6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. 
  • 7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: 
  • 8 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: 

There was a better covenant to come but for that time they were to follow God's instructions to the letter and with reverence and respect. 

  • Leviticus 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. 
  • 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 miter shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 

The book of Hebrews should be studied along with Leviticus because it explains how the new covenant fulfills and replaces the Old covenant of sacrifices and how the first ordinances were types and shadows of that which was to come when the priesthood was changed from earthly to heavenly and the only mediator between God and man became Jesus our High priest forever and not any earthly priest. 

Aaron at that time had to first make an offering to atone for the sins of himself and his family. After that was done, then he must make a sacrifice to atone for the sins of the congregation. This had to be done up until the time when Jesus came to make the final sin offering once and for all. 

  • Leviticus 16:7 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 
  • 8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. 
  • 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD's lot fell, and offer him for 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 an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. 

One was to die for sins and the other escape. This reminds me of Christ who died for our sins so that we would not have to die for our own sins. Those that reject Christ will die for their own sins. Later in this lesson we will see the real reason for the scapegoat was to bear sins and didn't really escape.  

Jesus speaking to the Jews who rejected Him as savior, said to them: 

  • John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. 

If they did not believe that Jesus was the Christ promised from the days of Moses they would have to die eternally for their own sins if they do not believe in the one who was to die in their place. 

  • Leviticus 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: 
  • 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 veil: 
  • 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: 

The mercy seat is the place that shows us the mercy of God when we repent of sins. Their sacrifices and offerings were a way of repenting. Since Jesus was the final and perfect sacrifice for sins, we are shown mercy when we simply believe in Him and what He did on our behalf. We repent by believing in Him and turning away from sin. They repented by offering a sacrifice which pointed toward the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to come. 

  • Leviticus 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. 
  • 15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: 
  • 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. 

Because the law said the soul that sins shall die and the penalty of sin is death but physically and spiritually, without the shedding of blood of an innocent one not deserving any death, no one could be saved. The law could not be changed. 

Before Adam sinned, God said that to eat of the forbidden tree would cause him to die. When He disobeyed God he brought the sentence of death but physically and spiritually upon all mankind. We were spiritually separated from God until the time Jesus gave Himself the innocent one for the guilty ones and reconciled us back to a Holy God. 

He made the atonement and paid the price for the sin that was separating us from God. It only counts for those that believe in the one God sent, Jesus Christ. If we reject Jesus as savior, there remains no more sacrifices for sins. We are eternally lost. 

  • Leviticus 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 Israel. 
  • 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. 
  • 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 children of Israel. 

These sacrifices show us how serious sin is and how it is killing us spiritually. We must not take sin lightly. That is the thing that is causing our souls to enter eternity without God. We will literally go to a place called hell because that is where sin will be confined to in the future to keep it from spreading and polluting anyone when God brings in the Kingdom under Jesus Christ. 

It is sin that takes a soul to hell. That is why God does all He can to keep us from going there. To reject the cleansing from sin provided in the Old Testament by the law of sacrifices and offerings or reject the New Covenant through Jesus Christ that fulfilled the old, is to remain in one's sin and be lost forever in hell. The spirit and soul of mankind was made to live forever in one place or another. Only the body dies, not the soul and spirit. Eternal death simply means eternally separated from God in hell where sin will one day be confined. We don't want to go there which is why God sent Jesus to fulfill all the requirements of the law and make atonement for sin. In order for it to count for us, we must believe in Him and make Him savior and Lord of our lives. 

  • Leviticus 16:20 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: 
  • 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: 
  • 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. 

Here will see the scapegoat in another light. Their sins were transferred to him similar to our sins being transferred to Jesus. Jesus died for the sins though as the goat that died had to do. 
Jesus served as both the scapegoat and the goat that was killed as a sacrifice. He fulfilled both requirements. Bearing our sins and dying for our sins. 

  • 1 John 1:9
    If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

What a beautiful thought. To be cleansed, made free and escape the consequences of sin and become a new creature in Christ. Marvelous.

  • Leviticus 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: 
  • 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. 
  • 25 And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 28 And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. 

All this cleansing is a picture of how polluting and serious sin is. They had to wash constantly and cleanse themselves after handling or touching anything that had to do with sin. 

The thought that Jesus loved us so much that He would bear all our awful dirty sins and take them upon Himself is mind boggling. 

God had to really love His creation so much to be able to allow His own Son to become sin on our behalf. God hates sin. He cannot abide where sin abides. Yet He allowed Jesus to bear our sins. That sin was nailed to the cross when Jesus was nailed to the cross. Through faith in Him, our sins are not only forgiven for gone. 

  • Leviticus 16:29 And this shall be a statute forever 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: 
  • 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. 

God made provision for their sins to be cleansed years before the coming of Jesus Christ but this had to be done over and over because they would sin again. It also pointed them to the coming of the final sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

  • Leviticus 16:31 It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute forever. 

The law of the Sabbath shows us the great importance of taking a day to refresh our souls in the Lord and spend it in worship of God and rest for our bodies. 

The Sabbath was fulfilled in Jesus Christ and faith in Him brings us rest for our souls. He is our Sabbath. Yet we still need a special time when we take a day whether it is Saturday, Sunday, etc to worship and spend time with the Lord specifically. 

Actually a believer in Christ is to walk in the spirit everyday, not just the Sabbath but it is good to take a day just for worship alone and rest our bodies from physical labor. 

If God had not have made a Sabbath day, slaves and servants would have never gotten any relief from their labor. God is merciful. He made the Sabbath for our good. 

  • Leviticus 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: 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 

-Dorna

"This shall be an everlasting statute - By which were typified the two great gospel privileges; remission of sins, and access to God, both which we owe to the mediation of the Lord Jesus."        John Wesley

Thank you Jesus 

 

 
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