The Blood Makes A Way

Leviticus 16 NKJV

1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the Lord, and died; 2 and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. 3 “Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water, and put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering. 6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 8 Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer it as 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 atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. 11 “And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. 12 Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. 13 And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he die. 14 He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. 15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. 16 So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. 20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. 21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. 22 The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. 23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take 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 body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. 26 And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 27 The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. And they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal. 28 Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 29 “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. 30 For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. 32 And the priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments; 33 then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.” And he did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Historical context

We are reading from the book of Leviticus. The book is exactly in the middle of the first five books of the Bible, also called the Torah. Before Leviticus we have the book of Exodus. In Exodus the Israelite time in Egypt is described, the plagues, the redemption of the last plague, the exodus through the sea and we see how this group of people is traveling to Mount Sinai, the mountain where God met Moses in a burning bush. Then we read how God establishes a covenant with this people group, He makes them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex 19:6). With this comes the Law, the priesthood of Aaron, and the building of a tabernacle, a large tent so to speak. God decides to dwell in this tabernacle, and the cloud that was leading Israel through the desert rested in this tabernacle. The book of Exodus ends with Moses who is unable to enter the tabernacle, but Numbers starts with God speaking with Moses inside the tabernacle. In between is the book of Leviticus, which answers the question what happened in between, and how a sinful and defiled man can be in one room with a holy God who created the universe. The book of Leviticus is about God’s desire to repair the relationship with Israel, so they can live with Him in a restored holy space and rest with Him as reformed people who represent His character to all the nations. The tabernacle and its worship were established like a new Eden. It describes the repairing of the relationship with man (Lev 1-7), the restoration of the holy space (Lev 8-16), and the reformation of the people (Lev 17-27).1

The tabernacle consists out of three main parts. You have the outside part, there is the altar for sin and burnt offering. This is one and the same altar. It is huge. It is accessable for all Israelite males. We we enter the tent we first enter into the Holy Place, it is also called sanctuary or tent of meeting. All referring to this first space inside the tabernacle. The place were the priests would perform rituals daily. In this place were a few items: the table with showbread, the altar of incense and the menorah, a big candle. The most inner part of the tent was the Most Holy place, the Holy of Holiest, the Holy place, the inner sanctuary or inside the veil, all referring to the same inner part of the tabernacle. It was divided by a veil. In the Most Holy place was the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was a place that remembered the ancient Israelite to Eden. Where the Holy place referred to the earth, where you have to work, and where the Most Holy place was referred as heaven, the place where God is.

The Day of Atonement, also called Yom Kippur is the most important day in the year of an ancient Jew, and is still celebrated to this day. This feast was on the tenth day of the seventh month, exactly a half year after the Pesach festivities. It was the only day of the year that the high priest of Israel could enter the Most Holy place in the tabernacle or temple. During this day, the high priest offered several animals for himself, the people, and the tabernacle or temple itself. It was also the only day were a fast was required for the entire nation, according to the Law. In Lev 16, the whole sacrificial process is described.

The Day of Atonement is a ritual that resets the tabernacle sanctuary, its priesthood, and the Israelite people to the state of ritual purity (holiness). It is a reset buton. It restores everything and everyone to the state when everything was sanctified for the first time. It resets the whole system so that we can sort of start over now once a year and everything that was in a state of impurity is now taken care of and we are set to go again. This was crucial in the mind of an Israelite. If they did not hit the reset button, there is a threat that God could withdraw from the sanctuary because it is defiled. The sanctuary is under constant threat of impurity, both from the priesthood and the people who functioned in it. Impurity was contagious, if I was ritually impure and serve in the sanctuary, the sanctuary became impure. It is this impurity of the sanctuary that is taken care of.

This is how an Israelite would read Leviticus 16. Now let’s dive into it!

Day of Atonement

Leviticus 16:1–2 NKJV

1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the Lord, and died; 2 and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

The chapter starts with God telling Moses that Aaron can not enter the Most Holy place whenever he likes it. It is literally translated as: “Only in this way shall Aaron enter”. Aaron’s sons did this and were put to death for it (Lev 10). God describes the way Aaron should enter this place, and when he can do this. Why? Because Lev 16:2 says that God appears in the cloud over the Mercy seat. The word used for appear is the Hebrew word raah, and it is the same term used for visible appearance elsewhere. For instance, this same word is used when the Lord comes to Abram to tell Him to leave his country, when He establishes His covenant with Abram or when He ate with Abram (Gen 12:7;Gen 15, 17:1, 18:1) or when He appears to Moses in the burning bush (Ex 3). We also see this pattern when God talks to the prophets. These were not merely voices inside of their heads, but could also be visual appearances to them. So Aaron would go inside the veil and see a visible appearance of the God of Israel, because He appeared in the cloud.

Leviticus 16:3–7 NKJV

3 “Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water, and put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering. 6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

To not die, Aaron had to take precautions. He needed to bathe, has to wear linen clothes instead of his normal clothing with gold and jewels. His clothes here are much simpler, just linen clothes. He is stripped of all his status and enters into the tabernacle as simple as you can get. He has to offer a bull as a sin offering. Now if we read sin offering in Leviticus, we tend to directly link this to Jesus. However, for people living in this day and age, they do not know Jesus. For them it is to purify or decontaminate themselves, to cover up their sins. It makes them able to present themselves before God, as they are now ritually pure.

That is the whole meaning of the word kuppuru, it means to wipe off or cleanse or purge. In the context of Leviticus it is the cleansing of impurity, getting rid of contamination. Now the Day of Atonement is not about the cleansing process, but rather refers to the sanctuary being cleansed or purified, in the sense that God looks upon what is being done in the ritual. The high priest is acceptable to Him after this ritual. The high priest is able to join Him in the Most Holy place. So it is the result, rather than the process.

Leviticus 16:8–10 NKJV

8 Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer it as 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 atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

He would then take two goats, one of them is getting sacrificed as a sin offering for the nation and the other one is going to be send into the desert. The goat that is being sacrificed as a sin offering decontaminates the nation of Israel, it purifies them. The live goat would carry all the sins, things that are standing between God and us into the wilderness to Azazel. It removes impurity from the holy place into the wilderness. This is what you do with impurities, you drive them out into the wilderness. You remove them from the sacred space to protect the sanctity of not only the tabernacle, but also the people.

Now in many translations the word Azazel is being translated into scape goat because it can be translated as “the goat that goes away”, but this is rather a poor translation. According to the book of Enoch Azazel is the leader of the fallen angels who mislead mankind in Genesis 6:1-4, a demonic being. One goat is for Yahweh, one goat for Azazel. The goat is not offered to Azazel, there is no killing. Rather it is a vehicle for the removal of impurity, send back to where they belong, to the place where God is not. God is holy and his people are holy, so impurity must be removed.

Leviticus 16:11–19 NKJV

11 “And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. 12 Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. 13 And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he die. 14 He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. 15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. 16 So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

The mercy seat is referred to as the lid of the Ark. It is God’s throne seat, since it is elsewhere described as God’s footstool (1 Chr 28:2, Ps 99:5, Ps 132:7). You have the lid of the Ark to which are two cherubim attached. The throne is the place between the cherubim (Num 7:88-89, 1 Sam 4:4, 2 Sam 6:2) and the Ark is where God’s feet rest, that is the imagery. The Most Holy place is a heavenly throne room, with a King enthroned on the cherubim. In Lev 16:13 we see how we should approach this throne room, with incense. You cover the whole room with smoke so you will not look at God enthroned. The blood of the sacrificed animals is then sprinkled on this throne seat, thereby cleansing the lid of the Ark. It is not about forgiveness of sins, objects do not sin. It is cleaning from impurity or decontamination. With the application of the blood he washes away and covers every impurity, now becoming clean and pure. Aaron first makes atonement for his own impurity, and after that makes atonement for the impurity of the people.

Leviticus 16:20–22 NKJV

20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. 21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. 22 The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

So the goat for Yahweh is dedicated to clean and protect the sacred space from impurity, while sin is put away to Azazel. Into the desert, the place that was associated with supernatural evil. You see this imagery in lots of passages in the Old Testament, but also in the New Testament when Jesus encounters the devil in the wilderness, in the desert.

Jesus, our High Priest and goats

Now both goats are factored in when salvation is described in the New Testament. The two goats deal with the sin itself and with the consequences of sin. We are both made fit for God’s presence by the blood of the one goat, that cleansed the impurity that is caused by sin. And our sins are transferred to (2 Cor 5:21) and removed by the other goat, as Jesus carried our sins outside the city walls. He is the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29, 1 John 3:5).4 He forgives sin righteously. He forgives iniquity and transgression and sin while also not ignoring the guilty. Leviticus 16 shows us. He transfers the iniquity, transgression, and sin to a substitute. These goats are stand-ins, both as a blood sacrifice for the guilt and as a removal of their sins. The sins are removed (Ps 103:12, Mic 7:19) and the consequences of sin is dealt with, therefore opening access for us to enter into the presence of God. Both goats are connected, cleansing the sanctuary involves cleansing the people and vice versa. It it both forgiven and forgotten.

Leviticus 16:29–34 NKJV

29 “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. 30 For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. 32 And the priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments; 33 then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.” And he did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Everything, every person, every object, everything is restored to the sanctified, holy state. And all of it is brought directly to the throne of God. It is were the blood starts, at the throne of God, at the feet of the King. The priest had to go in, stripped of all status to the throne of the King who he hopes will accept the ritual acts so that everything can be restored as when it all started. The blood is never applied to the people, they are accepted because the King accepts the sacrifice. It is the grace of God. The tabernacle is cleaned, their sins are carried away, but God has to accept the application of the blood. Later on in the Bible we learn that the blood is also applied to our lives to cleanse us.

In the New Testament we find a parallel text to the Day of Atonement ritual in

Hebrews 9:6–15 NKJV

6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. 7 But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; 8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. 11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

The high priests were only allowed into the Most Holy place once. Now Christ’s covenant is far better than the Old covenant. Christ’s offer is better than the offers made for the Day of Atonement. The blood in the Day of Atonement ceremony is not applied to a sinner. It does not even come from the goat that carries the sin away. The blood is applied to the sanctuary and to the holy place. His blood provides access to God’s presence for everyone, not just once a year, but forever. His blood opened up the the access to God. The relationship is perfectly restored and we do not have to reset this yearly. His blood truly cleanses the heavenly holy places, and He, like the goat of Azazel, removes and bears away our sins. Christ presented Himself humbly as a perfect offer and a perfect high priest. Access to the presence of God is decontaminated forever by this one sacrifice, who is Christ, the great high priest who offered Himself. Additionally, the blood of the sacrifices only purified the flesh, the outward, while Christ’s blood also purifies us from defiling contact of dead works, our motives, our heart, our conscience. As the high priest must first offer for himself to be fit into the presence of God, we have the offer of Jesus. He established eternal salvation for not only the high priest but for us as well. We can enter boldly unto the throne of grace.

What can we do? Repent, afflict our souls, turn away from our own works (Lev 16:29, 31) and have faith that the blood of Jesus will cleanse us forever. Show willingness to this divine gracious cleansing, so that we can receive the forgiveness God gives. We surrender ourselves to God, humbling ourselves, and trust God to accept the offering of Jesus Christ. If we do not repent, do not wish to be free from defilement, Christ’s offer will bring no cleansing.

When the high priest finishes these rituals, he changes his linen clothes back to the gold and jewelery outfit. When he comes out of the tabernacle for the second time, he offers two burnt offering in all his glory to restore the relationship with God and himself and the people of Israel.

Leviticus 16:23–24 NKJV

23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take 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 body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people.

Jesus will come back from heaven, in all His glory, to eternally restore the relationship with His people (1 Thes 4:13-18).5,6

Jesus is our High Priest, He is our goat for Yahweh, He is our goat for Azazel, He is our burnt offering that restores the relationship with God perfectly, He is the sin offering that covers the sin, His flesh is the veil that is torn in two for us.

Hebrews 10:19–22 NKJV

19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 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.

He made a way! Are you drawing near?

Bibliography

Bible Project - Why Leviticus Is Worth Your Time

2. M.S. Heiser - Naked Bible Podcast Ep 076

3. M.S Heiser - Naked Bible Podcast Ep 194

4. Simpson, A. B. (1992). Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (Vol. 1). Wingspread Publishers.

5. Hastings, J., Selbie, J. A., & Lambert, J. C., eds. (1906). In A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels: Aaron–Zion. T&T Clark; Charles Scribner’s Sons.

6. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Logos Research Systems, Inc.

7. Tidball, D. (2005). The Message of Leviticus: Free to Be Holy (A. Motyer & D. Tidball, Eds.). Inter-Varsity Press.