Leviticus 16

The Lord spoke to Moses about one day of the year when the high priest was permitted to go into the Most Holy Place to atone for the sins of the nation. This word came to Moses after the death of Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron who drew near before the Lord and died. Aaron needed to know that he and his sons could not go beyond the veil at any time that they chose to do so. Access to the mercy seat was according to the Lord's command. This instruction was for the good of the priests, so that they might not die as a result of trespassing upon the Lord's holy ground. It was a great blessing that the Lord would appear in the holy cloud over the mercy seat, but the presence of the Almighty was a fearful reality. God needed to be respected by his priests.

There was a way for Aaron to come into the Most Holy Place once a year to atone for sin more generally. He needed to bring a bull from the herd for his sin offering and a ram for his burnt offering. He needed to bathe his body with water. He needed to be clothed in the right clothing, all the way down to his undergarments. He needed to come before the Lord with these offerings for himself and with the offerings for the congregation of the people of Israel, two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

On this special day of atonement, the two goats for the people would be be distinguished by casting lots, one lot for the Lord, and other lot for a Hebrew term “Azazel,” that remains unclear to us. From the details that followed, Azazel came to be associated with the word “scapegoat.” The Lord's goat would be presented for a sin offering. The Azazel goat would be presented alive before the Lord with the sins of Israel on it to make atonement over it. Then it would be sent into the wilderness, to “Azazel.”

The first offering Aaron brought beyond the veil was the bull for his own sin. He brought coals of fire and incense with him and he burned it there, creating a cloud of incense that would cover the mercy seat “lest he die.” He was to go there with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat.

With that preparation, which informed us that a priest had not yet come who was without sin, Aaron was to kill the goat for the sin offering and bring its blood into the Most Holy Place on behalf of the people of Israel. He was to sprinkle the blood of the goat over the mercy seat and in front it to “make atonement for the Holy Place.” But why would this place need atonement? The “uncleannesses of the people of Israel” and “their transgressions, all their sins” had made this sacrificial blood necessary. Not that the place had done something wrong, but that Israel could not be safely represented in that place without the blood of atonement.

When our sinless High Priest came, he gave His perfect blood for us. In His ascension He purified the heavenly sanctuary for us. This is the way He cleansed our consciences and secured our eternal redemption. See Hebrews 9:11-26. There was always a connection between the place of God's presence and the consciences of His children. When they sinned they defiled not only themselves but also the place where they should have enjoyed communion with Him. Now in Christ this mysterious union between our lives and the life of our God in heaven has been made right.

There was another goat remaining in the day of atonement ritual. Aaron was to lay 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.” The sins were to be put on that goat, and then the goat was to bear their iniquities away “to a remote area.” This was an ultimate removal from the place of holiness and safety. Christ has taken our hell for us in His suffering and death. All that needed to be done to have our debt removed has been accomplished.

The rest of the system of the day detailed the necessary procedures for the return to the more normal pattern of life. Bathing, offering, washing of clothes, and the removal of the remains of the sacrifices had to be performed before everything was accomplished.

This day of atonement was a statute in Israel. It gave the people a testimony that all sin would somehow be dealt with one day\. Then the people of God could fully take this word to heart: “You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins.”

The New Testament commentary on this ceremony in Hebrews 9 connects this event to the culmination of this age: Christ “has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

We wait eagerly for His return because we love Him. We can wait for Him without the fear of torment because we know that all of our sins have been forgiven.