Forgiveness: "The Purpose of the Cross" (Part 2)

Leviticus 16. 1-10

K. Adrian Scott

Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025

Contextual Introduction.

Last week we looked at the consequence of sin by the two sons of Aaron, the high priest, and this week I would like to look at the consequence of sacrifice – forgiveness.

Verse one of chapter sixteen begins with the LORD mentioning the death of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu and says to Moses,

v. 1; “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die.” It is as if the LORD is telling Aaron through Moses, ‘I don’t want what happened to Aaron’s two oldest sons to happen to him.’

v. 2b; “For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.”

Hear what the Lord is saying: the LORD will meet with us ONLY on the grounds of mercy. The LORD God will not meet with a person rather a priest, a high priest or a common worshiper, without title or pedigree on any other basis than mercy. God will not meet us on the grounds of justice because justice would demand our punishment. God the Father will not meet with us on the grounds of righteousness because no unconverted person was righteous, and neither would God meet with us on the grounds of holiness because there are none holy among us only God Himself because we all like Nadab and Abihu do not deserve the pleasure of God, so the only means by which God can meet with Aaron or Moses or Joshua or Ruth or Betty or Joe or John or Bill is through God’s mercy unless we bring a sacrifice with us. We cannot go to God empty handed but must bring to God an acceptable offering that would cause the LORD to look at the sacrifice First, and Aaron, Moses, Joshua or Me Last. God then sees the offeror through the prism of his or her sacrifice!

And here are the grounds upon which a person can come into my presence God is saying; they can only come because of a sacrifice -

Vv. 3; “But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.”

Preaching Point.

Opponents of Christianity have said in a derogatory tone that Christianity is a bloody religion. Well, so is human life a bloody ordeal. But what is the alternative to human birth’s messy path to life on earth? The alternative is simply: one would not be conceived at all!

And what if the new birth mimics the natural birth in that respect; they both come by blood. But it is not our blood that God our Gather required, but it is the blood of a soulless animal that was created to support God’s highest form of creation, humankind.

So, what is God trying to tell us? God is pointing us toward an important and necessary sacrifice and letting us see God is not looking at human merit for divine favor but realize I do not have spiritual life without a sacrifice.

v. 4; “He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on.”

Preaching Point.

The clothing that Aaron was instructed to wear clearly identified Aaron as God’s chosen and anointed vessel and distinguished Aaron from among the rest of the congregation of Israel because of his high calling as the High Priest. Aaron’s apparel says much about the office he filled and less about him personally. No matter where his holy business took him in the camp of Israel, Aaron was easily identified as Israel’s God-chosen and appointed Mediator. His offfice was important because Aaron was the man who would stand in the middle representing the people to God and in the reverse – representing God to the people. His clothing separated Aaron from the common man who did not have the weight of this calling. Aaron was God’s man rather he liked it or not; he could not escape his calling.

v. 5; “And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.”

Now, who chooses the sacrifice? Who chooses what we bring God if we want to meet God in His mercy? God does. God names the sacrifice that must be brought to God and no one else. In these verses we clearly see that the LORD chooses what is acceptable to the LORD. Aaron comes into God’s presence in the sanctuary with sacrifices in his hand.

Aaron’s two deceased sons are not the only sinners in the house! Everyone must bring a sacrifice!

v. 6; “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.”

Preaching Point.

Aaron is not excluded from the list of sinners! Aaron needs God’s forgiveness also. Aaron is subject to the same temptations and weaknesses and wrongdoing as the rest of the congregation. Aaron needs a means for his sins to be stricken from heaven’s record. If Aaron is to maintain a favorable relationship with Yahweh his God, he will need something to stand in his stead like everyone else. Give Aaron a sacrifice! Let him take an entire 1300-1800lb bull just for his own sins, and after having slain that bull, let him take its blood and sprinkle it at least once on the eastern side of the ‘mercy seat’ and then sprinkle on the front of the mercy seat seven more times. I believe among other things, our text is emphatically telling us in reference to our sin, everything is covered by the blood. For Aaron, Moses and the Israelite congregation, it was a bull, a ram or a goat, but for us our sin is also expunged but now by the blood of the ultimate sacrifice – the person these animals represented, the Lord Jesus Christ! Everything, no matter what it is, everything is covered by the blood of Jesus! “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Vv. 7-9; “Next, he must take the two goats and stand them before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, 8 and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and one lot for Azazel. 9 Aaron must then present the goat which has been designated by lot for the Lord, and he is to make it a sin offering,”

Just a note about the name ‘Azaz-el’ which most likely simply means to remove or separate from God’ thus the ‘el’ denoting Yahweh/God.

Preaching Point.

Jewish observers of this passage would ostensibly or apparently see the ingredients for Yom Kippur, the celebration of the most important day of the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement.

I cannot observe this verse 7 - “he must take the two goats and stand them before the LORD...” and not think about Jesus, a perfectly holy and guiltless person standing in Rome’s court. However, more importantly than Rome’s courtroom, Jesus as the sin-bearer for the sin of the whole world was standing before One mightier than Pilate; He was standing before God His Father ready and willing to die for sin He had not committed.

Aaron cast lots to see which goat was to be killed and the other goat was driven into the wilderness. The goat that the lot fell upon to die would become the sin offering for the congregation of Israel.

Verse 15 tells us what Aaron was instructed to do with the blood of the goat that was dying for the sins of the people - “He is to bring its blood inside the curtain, and he is to do with its blood just as he did to the blood of the bull: He is to sprinkle it on the atonement lid and in front of the atonement lid.”

Inside the curtain is the holiest place of the tabernacle – it is the place where the very glory or Spirit of God dwelled in cloud form. Then Aaron was to take the blood of the goat and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of its lid. Once the goat was slain, the sacrifice made, then the sins of the people were atoned for, and they would be forgiven.

Verses 21-22 tells us what Aaron is to do with the live goat - “Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, and thus he is to put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the desert by the hand of a man standing ready. 22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, so he is to send the goat away into the desert.”

Preaching Point.

In laying his two hands on the live goat and confessing all the sins of the people, is it a representation of Aaron transferring the sin of the people onto the live goat. Then there is a man standing ready to drive that goat into an “inaccessible land” or an isolated or barren land often considered a desert.

Friends, your sin and mine has been locked away; they are inaccessible to Satan our accuser and even ourselves!

Why drive the goat to this place? The idea is it would be virtually impossible for that goat to find its way back to the camp of Israel. This is a picture of how far and how secure our sins have been removed from us, and that the Lord will never bring our old sins up again.

The Proposition.

Do you believe the Lord Jesus has made provision to take away your sin just as the sin of Israel was taken away through a sacrifice?

Will you accept this One who has so extravagantly forgiven you of all your mistakes, missteps and mishaps – that would be your sins and my sins? Will you say, ‘Yes’ to him?

The Close.

Moses told Aaron and the rest of the people found out about the sacrifice Yahweh requires by word of mouth. The day Moses made the announcement some Israelites like some of us, couldn’t make the service. Some of the people overslept; some may have been sick and some of the women may have stayed home with a sick child, or a spouse stayed home because they had an argument with their spouse just before time to leave for worship. So, in the market a day or two later, the wife runs into a tabernacle worshiper, and they told her that if she wanted to know more about Yahweh, ‘Yahweh can be known, but they only way we can know Yahweh is this way - Aaron is going to make a sacrifice; he is going to bring a ram, you know, an adult male, to the altar, and the ram will be slain for all of us.’

Then the person who had overslept heard about from his neighbors who were saying, “you’ve got to believe in the sacrifice Aaron is offering on their behalf. And as time went by even those who were not in attendance had heard about the way to forgiveness and freedom because of Aaron’s sacrifice of a ‘Sin Offering.’ ‘Aaron said something about the ram dying for our sins, so we do not have to die!’

So, eventually everyone who heard about it could do something about it, and that something is to believe with Aaron for the forgiveness of their sins through the blood of an innocent being! ‘This is the only way Aaron is allowed to be a mediator for us, or he will die just like his sons died - ‘dead in their trespasses and sins!’ ‘Do you believe?’

Oh, look at that sacrifice! Look at that innocent one dying for us who are guilty! If you look long enough you can see Yahweh in it! Look again and you can see a loving God in the ram! And if you look once again you can see mercy and forgiveness there! Yes, forgiveness through this substitute!

Hebrews 10.10 - “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”