BLOOD, Cleanses

BLOOD, CLEANSES

“Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. “He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities.”—Leviticus 16:15-16

“One of the first effects of the death of this goat was the sanctification of the holy things which had been made unholy.  You read at the end of the 15th verse, ‘He shall sprinkle it upon the mercy seat: 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.’  The holy place was made unholy by the people.  Where God dwelt should be holy, but where man comes there must be some degree of unholiness. This blood of the goat made the unholy

place holy. 

It was a sweet reflection to me as I came here this morning.  I thought, ‘I am going to the house of God, and that house is a holy place,’ but when I thought how many sinners had trodden its floors, how many unholy ones had joined in its songs, I thought, ‘Ah! it has been made defiled, but oh! there is no fear, for the blood of Jesus has made it holy again.’  ‘Ah!’  I thought, ‘there is our poor prayer that we shall offer: it is a holy prayer, for God the Holy Spirit dictates it, but then it is an unholy prayer, for we have uttered it, and that which cometh out of unholy lips like ours, must be tainted.’  ‘But ah!’  I thought again ‘it is a prayer that has been sprinkled with blood, and therefore it must be a holy prayer.’  And as I looked on all the harps of this sanctuary, typical of your praises, and on all the censers of this tabernacle, typical of your prayers, I thought

within myself, ‘There is blood on them all, our holy service this day has been sprinkled with the blood of the great Jesus, and as such it will be accepted through him.’  Oh! beloved, is it not sweet to reflect that our holy things are now really holy; that though sin is mixed with them all and we think them defiled, yet they are not, for the blood has washed out every stain; and the service this day is as holy in God’s sight as the service of the cherubim, and is acceptable as the psalms of the glorified; we have washed our worship in the blood of the Lamb, and it is accepted through him.”

[Spurgeon, MTP, Vol. 2, 541-42]