The Day of Atonement

Notes
Transcript

Key Ideas

The holiness of God
The purity of the covenant community
The principle of substitution in the sacrificial ritual

Purpose and Message

“The laws and instructions were to transform the former Hebrew slaves into a ‘kingdom of priests and a holy nation’.”
John 5:46–47 ESV
For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Some say we should unhitch from the cart of the Old Testament, or they say the Scriptures don’t matter, only Jesus matters. This is wrong...

The Scriptures point us to Jesus. If I was the enemy, my go-to move would be to convince people not to give any validity to the Old Testament. Because without the OT, we can’t truly know Christ
We can’t understand the Old Testament unless we have seen Christ, and we can’t truly appreciate Christ until we’ve seen the Old Testament.

Documentary hypothesis

It seems as if some scholars would say that the DH is the leading theory for the authorship of Leviticus.
This claims that Moses did not write the Pentateuch, but rather it was written by multiple people over the span of the entire OT timeline. This theory argues that Leviticus specifically is post-exilic, meaning it was actually written closer to the end of the Old Testament, after the people’s exile. We do not believe this.
We believe in the authority and authenticity of Scripture, as God’s revelation of Himself to mankind, divinely inspired, written by humans, with the inspiration from the Holy Spirit.

1. Atonement is required to enter the Holy Place (Christ is our priest)

Leviticus 16:3–5 ESV
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. 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. 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.
In order to be in the presence of God, atonement must be made
This is why atonement is needed; we cannot be in relationship with the Lord apart from it
The alter must be prepared before the sacrifice can be made
Jesus is our priest, who offers up the sacrifice for us
Aaron was the priest here; John was the priest who prepared the world for Christ’s sacrifice

2. The goat shall take on the sins of the people (Christ is our Scapegoat)

Leviticus 16:20–22 ESV
“And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
God did not “forgive” sins in the sense that we often think of forgiveness
They did not simply *poof* away
They MUST be atoned for; the fee must be paid
The severity of sin requires the severity of the sacrifice
The sins were imbued upon the head of the goat, so that the goat could be driven away, outside of the camp, away from the presence of the LORD, thus removing their sins, allowing the Lord to be near to His people
Jesus is the goat, upon whose head our sins were bestowed
He took upon himself our sins
He was driven outside of the camp
The Lord turned His face away from him

3. Their sins shall be atoned for (Christ is our sacrifice)

Leviticus 16:29–34 ESV
“And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” And Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses.
The second goat was then offered up to the LORD as a sacrifice
Jesus was our eternal sacrifice
The remission of sins required the shedding of blood
This is why Jesus shed his blood
Jesus took on God’s curse so that we may receive His blessing

4. This sacrifice is temporary; Jesus’s is forever (Christ is our eternal savior)

Leviticus 16:32–34 ESV
And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” And Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses.
Romans 5:12 ESV
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Romans 5:8 ESV
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 6:23 ESV
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The people were instructed to do this once a year
God knew that the people would continue to sin, so He gave them the precedence that this was to happen regularly
Jesus’s sacrifice is eternal
Jesus died once for all sins, those committed and those yet to be committed
His blood is sufficient for the covering of all iniquities
There is enough blood for all those who will come to the Father
Revelation 14:17–20 ESV
Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.
1,600 stadia is the length of ancient Palestine, and a horse’s bridle is roughly chest high. Some numerologists have tried to do the math and calculate the volume of 1600 stadia times 4 feet high divided by the amount of blood in a human body..... to try and find out how much blood there is, and for how many people. That’s not what this is about. It simply means that there’s enough blood for all those who shall come to Him.
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