The Greatest Sacrifice
Notes
Transcript
If you had to pick one day on the calendar as the most important day of the year, what would it be? Would it be your birthday? Would it be an anniversary? Maybe Easter, Christmas, or the fourth of July or some other holiday? According to the UN, the most important day of the year is September 21, the day known as the international day of peace. It was established in 1981 and in 2001 it was designated a day of non-violence and ceasefire.
When the nation of Israel was established, God gave them a series of festivals and holy days to observe. In Sunday school this morning you learned about all the different feasts and festivals, all commemorating different things. God also established a sacrificial system. There were several types of sacrifices and most of them have to do with atoning for sin but there are some that express thankfulness. The idea in all these sacrifices was to show that sin is costly. God told Adam that the penalty for sin is death. When one rebels against God, death is owed as payment for the sin. But God makes a provision by allowing sacrifices of the innocent to cover the sins of the guilty. So this is the culture and the mindset Israel has. All of this culminates in the most important day of the year on the Jewish calendar: The Day of Atonement.
The day of atonement, known in Hebrew as Yom Kippur, is observed in mid-September every year. Since Jewish days began on the evening of one day and concluded on the evening of the following day, the Day of Atonement will be observed beginning the evening of September 15th and conclude the evening of the 16th this year. Every year the nation would come together for a special ceremony that included special sacrifices. It was the most important occasion on the calendar. The purpose was to make atonement for the sins of the nation and cleanse the sanctuary, the priesthood, and the people of all uncleanness. The theme of the day of atonement is purification and the seriousness of the matter can be felt as we read the instructions the Lord gave in Leviticus 16.
In understanding the Day of Atonement it is helpful to understand the sequence of events. Before we get there, we have to remember that in the tabernacle, the meeting place of God, there was a room called the holy of holies, or the most holy place where the ark of the covenant was kept. Nobody was allowed in this room except for the High Priest and only on the Day of Atonement. The instructions laid out in Leviticus 16 provide the necessary steps the High Priest had to take to gain access to this sacred space.
The steps are as follows:
The High Priest exchanged his official garments for a simple white garment, bathing himself in the process.
“He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on.
The High Priest offers a bull as atonement for himself and his household.
“Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself.
The High Priest brings fire from the altar into the most holy place and burns incense on the ark.
“He shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil.
“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 ark of the testimony, otherwise he will die.
He sprinkles blood from the bull on the east side of the mercy seat and on the floor in front.
“Moreover, he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
He casts lots for the two goats. He takes one as a sacrifice for the people and sprinkles its blood on the mercy seat and the floor, just like the bull.
“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 takes the blood of the bull and the goat and sprinkles it on the horns of the altar.
“Then 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 of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides.
“With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it, and from the impurities of the sons of Israel consecrate it.
He offers the live goat by laying his hands on it, confessing the sins of Israel, and sends it into the wilderness led by an assistant.
“When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat.
“Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness.
“The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
High priest changes clothes, bathing again, then offers the burnt offerings.
“Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there.
“He shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes, and come forth and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people.
“Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
Meanwhile, the one who led the scapegoat into the wilderness washes his clothes and himself before returning.
“The one who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp.
The remains of the bull and goat are taken outside the camp and burned. Whoever is assigned this task must wash themselves and their clothes before returning.
“But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire.
“Then the one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, then afterward he shall come into the camp.
The emphasis we see here is on purification. It is one of the greatest dichotomies of all time. Through bloodshed, something or someone gains purification. We sometimes look at the book of Leviticus and wonder why Israel had to go through this stuff. If seems so grotesque and we have no frame of reference for it. But there are some important things we have to remember about God, ourselves, and our relationship with Him.
The greatest human problem is that of our own sinfulness.
The greatest human problem is that of our own sinfulness.
Every human problem, no matter how great or how small, is ultimately a product of our own sinfulness. Every disease, every struggle, every difficulty, every hurdle is a result of sin. Our first parents chose to reject God in a moment and from that moment, sin has corrupted the perfection of God’s creation. The state of the world is not God’s fault. It is ours.
God, who is holy, cannot tolerate sinfulness in his presence.
God, who is holy, cannot tolerate sinfulness in his presence.
To be holy is to be set apart. God is a perfect being in every way. To allow sin into his presence would compromise that holiness. Therefore, anyone who wants to enter into the presence of God must be purified.
God made a way for purification through sacrifice.
God made a way for purification through sacrifice.
God taught Adam and Eve that the day that they sinned, they would die. Paul tells us in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death. Sin is costly and someone has to pay for the crime. In this chapter we have been looking at, God gave Israel a way to be purified but it was only good for one year. Every year they had to do this again.
Through Christ, a better and final sacrifice was made so we could come to the Father directly.
Through Christ, a better and final sacrifice was made so we could come to the Father directly.
In the Old Testament days, only the High Priest was allowed to enter the presence of God and only on the Day of Atonement. The people never had direct access to God. But through Christ, our great High Priest and our atoning sacrifice, we can now enter into the presence of God. Hebrews 9:11-15 says,
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;
and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh,
how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
The blood of animals is insufficient for the removal of sin because they are a poor substitute for human life. If sin is to be atoned for, a human life must be traded for another. But that human life has to be prefect because imperfection cannot cover imperfection. Then that life must be given voluntarily. And for the sacrifice to be effectual for all people for all time, that life must also be eternal. There is only one person who has ever met all these qualifications and his name is Jesus.
The Jews were given one of the greatest object lessons to demonstrate the gravity of their sin problem. The greatest human problem is our sinfulness. God solved that problem by providing a better sacrifice. The Israelites looked forward to when the sacrifices would no longer be necessary. We look back to why they are no longer necessary. Purification from sin was made once and for all.
Remember the old hymn, Down at the Cross:
Down at the cross where my Savior died,
Down where for cleansing from sin I cried,
There to my heart was the blood applied;
Glory to his name!