CHAPTER 16 THE GREAT DAY OF ATONEMENT. We now come to a description of that great Day to which all that has gone before looked forward, Israel's great Day of Atonement. Once every year this Day was to take place in order to cancel out all of the past sins and uncleannesses of Israel that had occurr... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before Yahweh, and died,' These words of Moses are timed as taking place after the death of the two sons of Aaron in Leviticus 10:1. They had drawn near before Yahweh and died because they offered what was fal... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron your brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the mercy-seat which is on the ark, that he die not. For I will appear in the cloud on the mercy-seat.” ' God's first warning is that Aaron recognise that the High Pries... [ Continue Reading ]
“With this shall Aaron come into the holy place, with a young bull ox for a purification for sin offering, and a ram for a whole burnt offering.” On this day, after the morning whole burnt offering (a lamb of the first year) had been offered with its accompanying grain offering, Aaron's approach to... [ Continue Reading ]
“He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches on his flesh, and shall be girded with the linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired. They are the holy garments. And he shall bathe his flesh in water, and put them on.” But before presenting these the High... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two he-goats for a purification for sin offering, and one ram for a whole burnt offering.” For the congregation of the children of Israel, the whole people, he was to take two he-goats and a ram. The two he-goats were ‘for a purificat... [ Continue Reading ]
“And Aaron shall present the bull ox of the purification for sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself, and for his house.” First of all Aaron has to make atonement for himself and for his house by offering the bull ox for a purification for sin offering. At this stage, how... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he shall take the two goats, and set them before Yahweh at the door of the tent of meeting.” Then he takes the two goats and sets them before Yahweh at the door of the tent of meeting. They too are being ‘presented'.... [ Continue Reading ]
“And Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats; one lot for Yahweh, and the other lot for ‘azazel.” Then he casts lots for them, selecting between the two, for one is to be for Yahweh, and one is to be for ‘azazel. The word ‘az'azel is a puzzle to us. Some see it as meaning ‘the goat of a complete goi... [ Continue Reading ]
“And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for Yahweh, and offer him for a purification for sin offering.” This is a summary description of what is to happen to the two he-goats, preparing for the detail which would follow. It is a favourite device in the Pentateuch for preparing the l... [ Continue Reading ]
“But the goat, on which the lot fell for ‘azazel, shall be set alive before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, to send him away for ‘azazel into the wilderness.” The second he-goat, a part of the purification for sin offering, is to be sent live into the wilderness where it would be left with God f... [ Continue Reading ]
“And Aaron shall present the bull ox of the purification for sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bull ox of the purification for sin offering which is for himself,” The detail of the ‘presenting' of the bull ox is repeated... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil,” The next step before the blood can be presented within the veil is to prepare the way for his entry. He has already sacrificed the bul... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy-seat that is on the testimony, that he die not,” And there he must burn the incense on the coals of fire so that the cloud from the incense covers the mercy seat that is over the tables of the... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he shall take of the blood of the bull ox, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy-seat on the east, and before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.” Then he must retire to collect the blood of the bull ox and make a second entry into the Holy of Holi... [ Continue Reading ]
“Then shall he kill the goat of the purification for sin offering, which is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull ox, and sprinkle it on the mercy-seat, and before the mercy-seat,” His third entry into the Holy of Holies on t... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleannesses of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins, and so shall he do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.” And the purpose of all this is... [ Continue Reading ]
“And there shall be no man in the tent of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.” And while all this was going on there was to be no one else in the tent of meeti... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh, and make atonement for it, and shall take of the blood of the bull ox, and of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar round about.” After the presentations of blood in the Holy of Holies, ‘the altar that is before Yahweh' w... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he shall sprinkle of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleannesses of the children of Israel.” Then the blood of both sacrifices will be sprinkled on the altar with the High Priest's finger ‘seven times' in order to indicate complete cleansin... [ Continue Reading ]
“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,” Having made atonement for the Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar he will then present the live goat, presumably before Yahweh. The separate mention of the... [ Continue Reading ]
“And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins, and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a man that is in readiness int... [ Continue Reading ]
“And Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there,” The work of atonement having been completed for another year, Aaron divests himself of the holy garments, which remain in the Holy Pla... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he shall bathe his flesh in water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his whole burnt offering and the whole burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people.” Then he must wash his flesh thoroughly in water in a holy place. The sp... [ Continue Reading ]
“And the fat of the purification for sin offering shall he burn on the altar.” Then he offers the fat of the purification for sin offering by burning it on the altar. The fat is always Yahweh's, an indication that the best was for Him.... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he who lets go the goat for Azazel shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.” Meanwhile the man who let the live goat go in the wilderness must wash his clothes, wash his flesh thoroughly in water, and may then return to the camp. Whether... [ Continue Reading ]
“And the bull ox of the purification for sin offering, and the goat of the purification for sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be carried forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.” Finally t... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he who burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.” Then the one who burns them has to wash his clothes, wash himself thoroughly, after which he can return to the camp. Here we must almost certainly see the need to wash off the co... [ Continue Reading ]
“And it shall be a statute for ever to you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no manner of work, the home-born, or the stranger who sojourns among you, for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins sh... [ Continue Reading ]
“It is a sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves. It is a statute for ever.” This is repeated for emphasis. It is a sabbath of solemn rest in which they should afflict themselves in order to demonstrate penitence for sin and uncleanness. And this was a permanent statute ‘for... [ Continue Reading ]
“And the priest, who shall be anointed and who shall be consecrated to be priest in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments,” The responsibility for the maintenance of this ritual lay with each descendant of the High Priest who took... [ Continue Reading ]
“And 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.” The solemn responsibility of ‘The Priest' is made clear. On this Day he is to make atoneme... [ Continue Reading ]
“And this shall be an everlasting statute to you, to make atonement for the children of Israel because of all their sins once in the year.” And he did as Yahweh commanded Moses. And it is repeated that this statute should be applied into the distant future so as to make atonement for the children o... [ Continue Reading ]