So now that we see that God causes every decision made by the casting of lots, we see that it was God who chose which goat would be the Sin Offering, and which would be the scapegoat. And once that determination was made, Leviticus 16:9-19—“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.”
So once the high priest casts lots for the goats, he then kills the bull of the Sin Offering, takes that blood into the Holy of Holies and sprinkles it on the mercy seat for his own sins. Then he takes incense into the Holy of Holies, and covers the mercy seat with the cloud of incense, lest he die. Again, God being very specific in His instructions, showing that He does indeed have the power and authority to do with His people as he pleases. Once that is finished he kills the goat which is for YHVH, brings its blood into the Holy of Holies, sprinkles it seven times on the mercy seat, and atones for the sins of the people. This would, for the next year, set that tabernacle apart as being holy to God. Why did it need to be set apart again? Because of the uncleanness of the people. Verse 16—“So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel…and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness.” Even though God considered the tabernacle—and especially the Most Holy Place—as His dwelling, it was surrounded by the stench of the people’s sin and uncleanness. Every single day, sinful men brought animals to be killed for the sins of sinful people. And even the animals that were used to cover over sins were subject to the curse of Adam. So, once a year, just to set things straight, and to once again purify the tabernacle and the courtyard and set them apart to God, the high priest had to atone for his own sins, then for the people’s sins, and then (and only then) could the tabernacle and courtyard be reserved unto God for the sanctifying of His people. Keil and Delitzsch—“The holy things were rendered unclean, not only by the sins of those who touched them, but by the uncleanness, i.e., the bodily manifestations of the sin of the nation; so that they also required a yearly expiation and cleansing through the expiatory blood of sacrifice.”
This had to be done once every year. Every year, the holy things had to be cleansed by the blood of bulls and goats. BUT—how many times do we, in these tabernacles of flesh (2nd Corinthians 5:1), under the new covenant, established upon better promises (Hebrews 8:6), need to be cleansed? Once. Hebrews 10:14—He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. The question is—why? Why do we need the one-time sacrifice of Christ? Why can't we just bring bulls and goats to be killed, cut up and burned day after day, week after week, year after year? Why? Because that Law cannot make us perfect; it cannot make us righteous; that Law cannot take away sins—in fact, just the opposite, the Law is a reminder of sins. Hebrews 10:1-4—1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
This tabernacle—and the later temple(s)—were not to be where God would meet with His people forever. These were only temporary. They were not meant to stand forever, but were to merely point the way to the later, more glorious temple—one not made with hands, one whose glory would be so very much greater than the glory of any creation of man’s hands. Haggai 2:9—“‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts. 'And in this place I will give peace,' says the LORD of hosts.” The tabernacle would go out of use and become obsolete. The temple built by Solomon, and the later temple built by Herod—both of the would be defiled by Gentiles and eventually destroyed. But the new and everlasting temple—the Lord Jesus Christ—possess a glory that is not dependent upon humans, and cannot be destroyed. John 2:19—“Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.” The glory of this new temple will never pass away, and will forever shine in the glorious new city Jerusalem. Revelation 21:22—But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And as the writer of Hebrews tells us, Hebrews 9:2-14—2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; 3 and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All…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…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?
So it is Christ that purifies us from our sins; who made atonement, in His own body for our sins; and he is the one who keeps us cleansed, day after day, that we no longer need to bring the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a red heifer, to cleanse our conscience—for His Spirit dwells in us every day, calling us to repentance and calling us to ask forgiveness for our daily trespasses. Which brings us to the death of Christ. Leviticus 16:20-22—“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.” What did the scapegoat carry with it? The sins of the people. What did Christ carry to the grave with Him? Isaiah 53:6—The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. And was not this the cry of our Lord, at the ninth hour of the day (about 3:00 in the afternoon)? As the sun darkened, and the earth shook, He cried out, as God laid on Him the sins of all who would believe—just as the high priest laid on that scapegoat all the sins of those who assembled at the tabernacle—our Lord cried out, Mark 15:34—"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Is there a place that is more of a wilderness than is the grave? After all, what is a wilderness? A place of utter isolation and abandonment. A place where there is utter nothingness and despair. Is this not Sheol? Is there any returning from Sheol, unless the Lord allows? So in Christ we have not only the cleansing of the saint, the sanctifying to God of this tabernacle of flesh, but we also have the removal of sins. For we cannot be set apart to God if our sins remain. But because Christ fulfilled both of the shadows prophesied by the two goats, we are cleansed within and in the words of the Psalmist, Psalm 103:12—As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Adam Clarke—“As the east and the west can never meet in one point, but are forever at the same distance from each other, so our sins and their decreed punishment are removed to an eternal distance by his mercy.”
Consider this also. The goat was led to the wilderness “By the hand of a suitable man.” What does Luke tell us in his version of the gospel? Luke 23:50, 51—Now behold there was a man named Joseph [of Arimathea], a council member, a good and just man…who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. If Christ was to fulfill the roles of the One who would bear our sins and carry them into the wilderness, then does it not seem fitting that He would be carried there by the hand of a suitable man? And is not this Joseph, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God, a “suitable man”?
Leviticus 16:23-34—“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.
Real simple. The fat of
the bull and the fat of the goat for the Sin Offering were burned on the altar;
the rest of these carcasses were burned outside the camp. The high priest and
the man who carried out the scapegoat washed themselves and/or their clothing;
they were then OK to come back into the camp. And this took place on the tenth
day of the seventh month—the month of Tisri, according to the Jewish calendar.
Under the (solar) Gregorian calendar, it usually falls within what we call September
or October, depending on how the two calendars match up. If you're old enough
you may recall Sandy Koufax missed his start in game 1 of the 1965 World Series
because the game fell on Yom Kippur (יֹום הַכִּפֻּרִים, yom ha’kippuryim) and he refused to participate in the game on that day.
Now, are we as Christians commanded to observe Yom Kippur (יֹום הַכִּפֻּרִים, yom ha’kippuryim)? Does God expect us to keep this day? Or any of the other holy days laid out in the Law? That would be a big “NO.” Galatians 4:8-11—8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. Colossians 2:15-17—15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. 16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Paul—or as he was previously known, Saul of Tarsus—was a devout Jew (a "Hebrew of Hebrews", Philippians 3:5), and zealous for the Law (Galatians 1:13-14). And as such, if we were meant to keep all these feasts and rituals, then don’t you think he would have told us so, rather than referring to the elements of the Law as “weak and beggarly”?
Now, notice in verse 31, God says “It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls.” This was a very solemn day. This was not a day for singing and dancing. This was not a day when you pop the cork and crack the bubbly. You were gathered together, to watch animals killed and cut up and burned because of you. It was your fault these animals had to die. It was your fault the nation had to go through this. And if you want to go making a party out of it, God will cut you off—a little phrase that means “God may just strike you down where you stand.” There were some in the Corinthian church who were taking communion lightly, and had turned it into a festive banquet, rather than a solemn remembrance of the sacrifice of out Lord. What happened to them? 1st Corinthians 11:20-22, 28-30—20 Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. 21 For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing?...28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. Likewise, if one used the Day of Atonement ((יֹום הַכִּפֻּרִים, yom ha’kippuryim) as an excuse for carousing and carrying on, that person also might just “fall asleep.”
Part 3 next week
Jesus Christ is Lord
Amen
