BY HAROLD LEE
Leviticus 23. I do that to them every time. Don’t start till I nod my head and then I don’t. And verse 26, it says
Leviticus 23:26. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 27) “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall
be the Day of Atonement. It shall be
a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering
made by fire to the Lord. 28) “And you shall do no work on that [self] same
day, for it is the Day of Atonement,
to make atonement for you before the Lord
your God. 29) “For any person who is not
afflicted in soul on that same day,
he shall be cut off from his people. 30
“And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy
from among his people. 31) “You shall do
no manner of work; it shall be a
statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32) “It shall
be to you a sabbath of solemn
rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall
celebrate your sabbath.”
It’s interesting and I think it’s significant. Maybe I don’t understand the nuances of it, but prior to the original Passover, this month, Tishri, was the beginning of the year. In other words, it started with the molad the first of this month which we celebrated as Trumpets. And it was considered the first month and it’s still considered the first month in the civil calendar. When God instituted the Passover and the Spring Holy Days, remember He said, “This will be to you a beginning of months.” And He made the month of Abib or Aviv the first month in the sacred calendar.
Now remember in the first month of the sacred calendar, there is also a very significant event on the tenth and on the fifteenth. Don’t turn there. Exodus 12:23. But remember on the tenth of the month, the lamb that was to be the Passover sacrifice was actually selected and set aside. And on the fifteenth of the month, there was a seven day period, the seven Days of Unleavened Bread, that commenced.
And, of course, on the seventh month the tenth of the month that lamb is also selected by God to be a sin sacrifice. And, of course, on the fifteenth of that month we start a seven day Feast of Tabernacles.
So I know there’s a connection there. I’m sure I just don’t understand the nuances of it, but God always does things very deliberate. And it’s just interesting that those mirror one another. So even though He changed and made a sacred month, He gave tremendous meaning and tremendous linkage one to the other.
As was brought out in the sermonette, we’re commanded to be before God. We’re commanded to afflict our souls. And we know that God’s plan, the plan that He has for mankind, is revealed through His Holy Days. And as we keep those, we look into the meanings of them and we should and hopefully get a deeper meaning.
But this day is completely different from all of the other Holy Days in that this Day we are to afflict our souls. We’re to fast by going without food or drink for the period from sunset on the ninth till the sunset on the tenth. What is to happen on this Day is, as we understand, has great significance in God’s plan.
Turn over to Genesis chapter 3. We know from God’s Word that He created everything physical, the universe. And when He created it, it was in some pristine condition. And then we know that it came to a condition that the Bible calls “without form and void.” You know ruin and confusion. It was in chaos. It was devoid of any living thing.
And God set out His hand to restore the earth to a habitable state. And in what we know as the Creation Week, which was a literal seven days, He restored it to a pristine state teeming with life, and the first two individuals that were to become the beginning of mankind. God had a personal, face to face relationship with these individuals.
And I personally believe, the Bible—remember—greatly compresses. We sort of get the overview of the story when in fact if we go and study, there are times that within the same verse and within a sentence, it’ll be separated by thousands of years. So what we’re getting is we’re getting an overview. And I think a greatly compressed version of it.
But my personal opinion is that God spent an amount of time training and teaching before He allowed Satan to have access to man. I just can’t imagine God sicking Satan on them without them having instruction. And, of course, we know there was some. Eve even parroted it back that, “Well, we can have this, but we can’t have this.” But I think that there was a period of time. And again, I don’t know if it was a couple of days, a week, a month, a year, but again, I know by the time that He allowed Satan to have access to them I believe that God had equipped them with enough information that they would have been able to resist.
Genesis 3 verse 1, it says
Genesis 3:1. Now the serpent
was more cunning
The Tanakh says, “the shrewdest.”
The New Revised Standard, “crafty.”
The King James says, “subtle.”
And The Bible In Basic English says “wiser.”
Genesis 3:1b. than any beast
of the field which the Lord God
had made. And he said to the woman, “Has
God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And again, remember these are very compressed. We’re just getting what’s distilled down from everything. But I believe due to the fact that it says Satan was crafty, I think he struck up a relationship, maybe a friendship with Eve. It might have taken some time. And again, I don’t even presume to say what that was.
But I think Mr. Buchanan mentioned one time about being deceived. And, of course, we know there’s a great deceit coming. And what he said there—and I think it’s true—is this is not going to come from somebody that you’ve never seen before. It’s going to come from someone that you know, someone that you perhaps trust, because when you meet someone that you’ve never seen before, there is no basis of trust and you tend to be standoffish. Whereas once you get to know someone, you become, again, as you develop a relationship, you come to trust someone.
And again, I think that this is probably true. And again, this is just my ideas, but as I just play this out in my mind, it just seems to be that there was probably some maybe perhaps conversation that took place. And again, I don’t know how long. But I just don’t think that was his question. He just didn’t come up and say, “Hi. Did God tell you you couldn’t do this?” I just think there was more before it and it just isn’t important that we know that.
But perhaps Satan could have told her a lot of truth. If you think about the deceivers that are to come up in the future that will deceive, there’s going to be a lot of truth in what they say. And then there’s going to be that one that’s just going to sort of—it’s not like just forget everything you know and go the other way. It’s going to be just, “Well, did God say that you couldn’t eat of every tree?” It’s just that little twist that could put to it. Remember he’s a great counterfeiter. And again, I think that there’s parts that are not written.
Genesis 3:2. And the woman
said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3) “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has
said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4) Then the serpent said to the woman, “You
will not surely die.
Again, a lie! And perhaps here was a person or a being that she had had some talks with before.
Genesis 3:5. “For God knows
that in the day
“And here’s the reason you’re not going to die. Here’s why God told you that. It’s not because you’re going to die. It’s because He knows that in the day
Genesis 3:5b. that you eat
of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil.” 6) So when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree
desirable to make one wise, she took
of its fruit and ate. She also gave to
her husband with her, and he ate.
And we’ve many times made the connection between this Scripture and—you don’t have to turn there—1 John 2:16 where it lists the elements of human motivation. And it states, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” being sort of at the core of how we react.
And again, I don’t think this happened in a single meeting. And again, I think Satan didn’t say, “It’s okay,” and she plucked it.
There is a process if you really examine how a person sins. And I’m talking about not a person that’s willfully sinning but a person that sins. There’s really a process. It’s not just an event. You don’t just like that and you just go off in a direction.
Look over in James chapter 1. And I think there’s a process where a person dwells on something and you think about it and you consider it. James 1 and verse 13, it says
James 1:13. Let no one say
when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil,
nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14)
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and
enticed. 15) Then, when desire has
conceived, it gives birth to sin.
See, there’s a process that it goes through. It’s not a split millisecond impulse. It’s a process where one goes through these where it’s a person what they desire. And that entices them to think about it more. And then there is some action.
And it says
James 1:15b. and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth
death.
There was a time in most of our lives before God called us that we didn’t give a second thought. And I don’t want to use a large paint brush, but I think most of us before didn’t give a second thought to sinning. Sure, most of us didn’t murder and some of those things, but breaking the Sabbath, taking God’s name in vain, all of those things.
I’ll just relate. The
first contact I ever had with—I’m going to call it—the Truth was I was over in
And, of course, I was raised a Baptist and, of course, there was just a very few that had to be saved now and the rest of the world was just going to die. They were going to crack and popple and fry. And you sort of felt good about that. And according to what he said, everybody was going to have a chance.
And I remember studying that and I’m going to sort of quote myself. “Well, expletive, expletive, Max. If that’s true, how is anyone going to hell?” And he said, “Well, talking like that’s a start.” And it really hit me just how free I was with that. I don’t think anyone could have told me anything better at that time, because it wasn’t a condemnation. It was just he held a mirror up to me. But I thought nothing of taking God’s name in vain.
And so there was a time I think we all did that. And then God revealed Himself to us and we realized we needed to change. We realized that we did have to stop sinning. And I think if a person sits down and evaluates their sins after conversion, the sins after conversion are more deliberate, I believe, because you usually know that it was wrong. And over a period of time you thought about it, even struggled against it, even tried to overcome it, and yet, committed it.
Go over to 2 Samuel chapter 11.
I think God wants us to evaluate our approach to this and to look at how this happens to us. Anytime something happens, an aircraft accident, a naval ship sinks, or anything, there’s usually an inquest, a hearing and the whole purpose of that is to sort of go back over what happened in the hopes that it won’t happen again. And I really think when we sin, it’s beneficial for us to sit down and go through that in our minds, because we will be able to identify certain things that caused us to get where we were. And if that buys us something, that will allow us to do it better differently the next time.
2 Samuel 11 verse 2.
2 Samuel 11:2. Then it
happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of
the king’s house. And from the roof he
saw a woman bathing, and the woman was
very beautiful to behold.
Lust of the eyes! Now do you think at that point David was staring at that lady and said, “I’ve got to have this woman! If I have to kill to get her, I have to have her!” I don’t believe that for a minute. But he didn’t turn away. He didn’t say, “I shouldn’t be doing this.”
Verse 3 and I’m reading this out of The Tanakh.
2 Samuel 11:3. and the king
sent someone to make inquiries about the woman.
He reported, “She is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam [and] wife of Uriah the
Hittite.”
And again, I still think at this point David hadn’t settled in his mind that “I’ve just got to have her!” Again, knowing how sin is maybe he said, “I’ll just talk to her. Find out how she’s doing.” He knew that Uriah was in battle. “Maybe there’s something that she needs. Maybe there’s someway that I can help her.” It’s just the way our mind works. Remember, we lie to ourselves. And as we’re going to approach something, before we slip we have lied to ourselves a number of times. I’m sure David was even lying about his own motives to himself.
Verse 4.
2 Samuel 11:4. Then David
sent messengers and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she
was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.
Again, I just wonder if when the messengers went to take her, he said, “I just want to talk to her. Just want to see how she’s doing.”
In a converted person, sin usually takes time. And it takes some mental gymnastics for a person wrestles with himself. “I really need this job and God even tells us in His Word if we don’t provide for our own, we’re worse than an infidel. We’ve denied the faith. If we don’t work, we shouldn’t eat. I’ve been looking for a job and I’ve finally found this one. It’s just this one time. It’s probably ‘an ox in a ditch’.” And, again, I’m not trying to judge anyone. “I had my backup scheduled and he backed out at the last moment.” All of you know your own past. You can all fill in the details.
But at the core of sin, there are some mental gymnastics and lying to oneself. There’s self-deceit, self-reasoning, self-justification, self-satisfaction. At the heart of all sin, it’s putting the self into the center of everything. It’s making the self more important than others, including God! And a converted person doesn’t get there right away. In fact, doesn’t get there without deceiving themselves, without lying to themselves.
God holds us all responsible for our own sins. Look over in Deuteronomy 24 and verse 16. It says
Deuteronomy 24:16. “Fathers
shall not be put to death for their
children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.
Now a person could at first say, “Well, this is just talking about capital offenses.” And it was. But remember any of the commandments and breaking any of the commandments was a capital offense.
Exodus 21 and verse 12, it says
Exodus 21:12. “He who
strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. 13) “If he did not lie in wait, but God
delivered him into his hand, then I
will appoint for you a place where he may flee.
In other words, if it was manslaughter.
Exodus 21:14. “But if a man
acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you
shall take him from My altar, that he may die.
15) “And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to
death. 16) “He who kidnaps a man and
sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death. 17) “And he who curses his father or his mother
shall surely be put to death.
Let’s go forward to ten chapters, Exodus 31 and verse 14. It says
Exodus 31:14. ‘You shall
keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is
holy to you. Everyone who profanes it
shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his
people. 15) ‘Work shall be done for six
days, but the seventh is the Sabbath
of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
And understand, Brethren, we have not been given a pass on these things. God has not in the quote-unquote “new covenant era” said, “I’m not going to require that. I’m changing.” God did not just one day decide He was no longer going to require the death penalty for sin.
Look over in 1 John chapter 2. 1 John 2 and verse 1, it says
1 John 2:1. My little
children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2) And He Himself is the propitiation for [your] sins, and not for
[yours] only but also for the whole world.
That word “propitiation” is only used twice, both of them in John. John is the only one that used that word. I want to read that out of The New Revised Standard. I think The NIV also has it quoted this way, but it makes especially today it’s much more meaningful. 1 John 2:2.
1 John 2:2. And He is the
atoning sacrifice for your sins, and not ours only but also for the sins of the
whole world.
If you want a title for today’s sermon, it is Jesus Christ, The Atoning Sacrifice.
1 John 2:3. Now by this we
know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4) He who says, “I know Him,” and does not
keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Now why would that be true? It’s because we know that breaking the commandments brings the death penalty and the debt. And that debt has been paid for by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If we really have a relationship with Him, we would never willingly trample on God’s commandments. We’d never take them lightly expecting His death to cover them.
I think and I’ve heard this in the past, not recently, but I know people and perhaps they were not serious would say, “I’m just going to do this and I’ll repent later.” In my mind, that’s taking that sacrifice very lightly. And again, I think perhaps that was said in jest without someone thinking through it. But we would never do that, Brethren, not if we understand what we have to ask God and Jesus Christ to do when we sin. We would never take them lightly.
Hebrews 6 and I touched on this in a past sermon. It talks about the sin that will not be forgiven. We refer to it as “the unpardonable sin.” That’s a territory that a true Christian should fear to tread.
Continuing verse 5 of 1 John 2.
1 John 2:5. But whoever keeps
His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are [of] Him.
Keeping God’s Word is a constant struggle. And trials that we go through in this manner that God develops in us a perfect agapao love. That’s the only way that we get it. Or through the trials, through the struggles that we have.
Although these words don’t appear directly in Scripture, the
Church has had a motto for many years and that motto was, “The Word of God is
the foundation of all knowledge.” And I
think there was a plaque on the hall at Ambassador on the Hall of Academics
that really—and I thought that was very appropriate because it’s the academics
where—but it pointed to say the foundation, the source of all knowledge is
God’s Word. 2 Timothy
The Bible gives us the only true accurate glimpse into the spirit realm that we have. If you think about it, men have tried through mediums and witches and wizards and channelers and tea leaves and creases in your hand and astrological signs and people that as it calls “peeps and mutters” and while that has indeed put man in touch with the spirit realm, it’s put man in contact with the destructive and the base side of the spirit realm. And God tells us to stay away from that, to avoid it.
In God’s Word, we get the perspective of God’s sovereignty. And that sovereignty is not over just the physical but also the spiritual realm. Steve in a recent sermon, we looked over in the book of Job because the book of Job gives us a perspective that is totally unique. It allows us to look behind the covers and what really happens to a degree in the spirit realm and the relationship of God with all of the spirit beings. And it’s obvious that He’s sovereign. It’s obvious that He is the one that allows everything. And we can see how He interacts with Satan and how Satan responds to Him.
We read in Genesis how Satan interacted with Eve. And I believe interacts with all of us. We also see how he attempted to overthrow God’s plan with Christ when He walked the earth. Not in just direct temptation, but influencing and in one case possessing one of Jesus’ own disciples, Judas. He’s constantly trying to influence and destroy God’s creation and, Brethren, especially those that have been called and chosen to follow God.
Look over in Luke chapter 22. Luke 22 and verse 31.
Luke 22:31. And the Lord
said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has
asked for you, that he may sift you
as wheat.
Remember this is what he did with Job. And I believe this is what he does with all of us. He has to ask permission. Remember that. He cannot do anything without God’s permission.
Verse 32.
Luke 22:32. “But I have
prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
There’s a lot to think about in those few words. It doesn’t say that Satan didn’t have influence on him. He just said that, “I pray that your strength wouldn’t fail. And when you’ve returned, when it’s over, use that to strengthen the brethren. Use that strength that you’ve gained from that trial.”
Let’s summarize what we’ve covered so far. We see God clearly holds a person responsible for their sins and transgressions. They committed them and they alone will pay for them. Satan is a factor, however. And he works on man to tempt and to entice and deceive. And God, who is just and fair, ultimately will require accounting from both man and Satan. And this Day, the Day of Atonement, marks a very significant point in the future when that accounting will be required on all parties.
Look over in Isaiah chapter 59. Isaiah 59 and verse 1, it says
Isaiah 59:1. Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it
cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.
We’ve all been there. He says
Isaiah 59:2. But your
iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not
hear.
If God had not extended that mercy to us, there was a time that all of us did not have access to God, because of what we did. Right now man has been separated from God due to their sins. And God hasn’t revealed Himself to them. He’s hidden His face to them. But we also know, Brethren, that’s not a perpetual ongoing state.
Look over in Revelation chapter 20. Revelation 20 and verse 1, it says
Revelation 20:1. Then I saw
an angel
And we’re going to come back to that later.
Revelation 20:1b. coming
down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his
hand. 2) He laid hold of the dragon,
that serpent of old, who is the Devil
and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
3) And he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a
seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand
years were finished. But after these
things he must be released for a little while.
We’re going to see as we continue on that this is a prophetic fulfillment of what this Day pictures which takes place after Christ’s return with the resurrected saints which we observed on the Feast of Trumpets.
I want to take a more detailed look at what anciently took place on this Day and to try to understand a little bit what it symbolized. And we will see that it was as much prophecy as it was symbolism.
Leviticus 16 verse 1, it says
Leviticus 16:1. Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of
the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane
fire before the Lord, and
died;
Brethren, we should never forget that God is the one that tells us how to live, how to behave, how to worship Him, and we have to be very careful to follow that.
In fact, hold your place there. Look over to Leviticus chapter 10, just back a few chapters and verse 1. It says then
Leviticus 10:1. Nadab and
Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense
on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord,
Now first off, God knew. He’s aware of what’s going on. It says
Leviticus 10:1b. which He
had not commanded them.
In other words, when He told them how to do it, He expected it to be done. And they didn’t do what He told them to do. They had become lax in their approach and their responsibilities. We’re not told specifically, but perhaps—based on what we’ll read in a second—perhaps they had been drinking. We don’t know. I mean maybe they had had some wine or something. Their judgment was somewhat clouded. We don’t know, but whatever it was they did not follow God’s instruction.
Verse 2.
Leviticus 10:2. So fire went
out from the Lord and devoured
them, and they died before the Lord.
So they didn’t follow it.
Verse 9, just skip down. He says
Leviticus 10:9. “Do not
drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into
the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die.
It shall be a statute forever
throughout your generations, 10) “That
you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean,
In other words, He wanted to make sure that their judgment was not clouded that they could understand what they were doing. And He instituted that at that point that they—and again, it doesn’t tell us that they were doing that. But God used that and also implemented that. He wanted to make sure that there was nothing clouding one’s judgment that they were clear thinking when they carried out their Levitical duties.
What the priest did was not to just become a rote ritual. God intended that it have meaning. He intended that as they kept this that they would think about that meaning, that they would convey that to His people.
We understand, of course, that all of this was pointing forward to a time when God’s own Son would walk this earth and actually be that sacrifice. And that was not to be approached lightly. In fact, if we do it today, it still brings the death penalty, but it’s more than just a physical life. It’s a spiritual life that gets snuffed out if that is spurned and shunned and turned away from.
Go back to Leviticus 16. Verse 2, we’ll pick it up.
Leviticus 16:2. And the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the
I was doing a little research on the layout of the temple. Again, I think all of that is significant. But one of the things that was interesting to note when I went through it was the Holy of Holies is actually a cube. It was about fifteen feet by fifteen feet by fifteen feet. When the temple was built later, the Holy of Holies was still a cube. The dimensions were increased. It was approximately twenty cubits by twenty cubits by twenty cubits. So it was twenty cubits cubed. It’s also interesting that New Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven, which is God’s dwelling place, is a cube. The dimensions, the length, width, and height are exactly the same.
And again, I just find that very interesting because God is very deliberate. He thinks through things and these ancient things truly did represent—and, of course, we’re going to read that, if we have time, in Hebrews where it talks about the things on earth are representations and they’re modeled after the things that are in heaven.
But this was the area, this cube, that was the area that He told them that they could not just come in when they chose. This might sound a bit extreme, but remember. Think about this. Even human kings at that time required the same thing. Think back to Esther. Remember when they wanted her to go before the king, King Ahasuerus, and said to try to get him to lift the thing. And she said, “If I go into his presence un-summoned, I’ll die.” And they fasted and she did. And, of course, she went in there knowing that she could be killed for going into the king’s presence un-summoned. And, of course, when she did, God was behind it. He raised his scepter to her, meaning that he was summoning her. But if he hadn’t raised the scepter, she would have died. So again, to think that this is the Sovereign of the universe that we could do that to, even human kings at that time held that same standard. So again, it was not something that was deemed cruel or out of the ordinary. Only the high priest was invited in and was to go in only once a year.
Hold your place there. In fact, I’ll tell you set a marker if you have a marker. Set a marker there. We’re going to go over to Hebrews 9. We’re actually going to kind of flip back and forth because remember Hebrews 9 is sort of the companion Scripture to this. So if you have a marker, set one there and set one here in Hebrews 9 as well. Hebrews 9 verse 2, it says
Hebrews 9:2. 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, 4) Which had the golden censer and the ark of
the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded,
and the tablets of the covenant; 5) And
above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in
detail.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t. Let me just read what The New Jerusalem Bible says. I’ll read it.
Hebrews 9:5. On top of this
were the glorious winged creatures overshadowing the throne of mercy. This is not the time to go into details about
this.
So what he was saying was, “Look, that’s sort of not germane to what I’m telling you. We’ll talk about that later.”
Hebrews 9:6. Now when these
things
Verse 6.
Hebrews 9:6b. 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;
Okay, now again, if you can, hold your place there. Let’s go back to Leviticus 16. You could almost hold your finger. I’m only going to read one verse in Leviticus 16. It says in Leviticus 16:3
Leviticus 16:3. “Thus Aaron
shall come into the
And then continuing back in Hebrews 9 verse 11, it says
Hebrews 9:11. 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.
It says
Hebrews 9:13. 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?
Back to Leviticus 16 verse 4. It says
Leviticus 16:4. “He shall
put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded
with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are
holy garments. Therefore he shall wash
his body in water, and put them on.
So he was clean and he was completely clothed in white.
Leviticus 16:5. “And he
shall take from the congregation of the children of
And we know Aaron, which was representing or was the high priest, he was representing the people. And that role was later to be filled by Jesus Christ who was perfect. Aaron, on the other hand, was human and he sinned. And the first thing he had to do was to make an atonement for his sins and for his family’s sins.
Verse 7.
Leviticus 16:7. “He shall
take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of
the tabernacle of meeting. 8) “Then
Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats:
Remember that the purpose of casting lots was asking God to make a decision. They were seeking His decision in something. It was a very serious and a very solemn ceremony. It wasn’t something that was taken light. As I went through the lightest time that anyone ever took this and yet I think it was the situation was with Jonah and the boat was sinking and they were casting lots to try to find out—and I think they were in a panic. And I’m sure that there was some of the formality of the ceremony that got bypassed in that case. But in every other case it was a very serious and a very formal where they were appealing to God and God would answer by the lot.
The lands within the tribes were—look over in Numbers
chapter 26. Anything that they wanted—of
course, the casting of lots and the Urim and Thumin, which we have very little
information about. Apparently that was
on the breastplate that the high priest wore and whether that was actually the
stones that they used for casting lots, there’s all kinds of different theories
about it. It hasn’t been written. I think there are some things in some of the
history, the profane history of
Numbers 26:53. “To these the
land shall be divided as an inheritance, according to the number of names. 54) “To a large tribe you shall give a larger inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a smaller
inheritance.
Verse 55.
Numbers 26:55. “But the land
shall be divided by lot; they shall inherit according to the names of the
tribes of their fathers. 56) “According
to the lot their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the
smaller.”
Don’t turn there, Joshua 7. If you’ll remember, Achan was exposed by lot. And it cost him and his family their lives. Jonah’s guilt was determined by lot. When David appointed the sons of Zadok to different positions, he chose them by lot. Matthias was chosen to replace Judas by lot. Remember they were appealing to God.
One of the things I found interesting as I went through this. Some time ago and, of course, I was thinking about this in the concept of the heavenly and the earthly and the representations. In Revelation we get a glimpse into God’s throne room and there are twenty-four elders. And these elders have crowns. And, of course, again, we really—that’s all we’re told. We really don’t have any description or function of them. But I found it interesting that it used the word “elders.” And, of course, that word “elders” is the same one used throughout the New Testament, presbuteros, or something, as elder. It’s a function of the ministry, and, of course, these were called elders, but they also had crowns. And we know that our job in the future is to become kings and priests.
But what as I was studying on the lots, there were twenty-four courses of the Levitical priesthood that served the temple. And they were all chosen by lot. And each one would serve a week. The Sabbath was the day that they changed over. So, one course would go in. They would go in on the Sabbath, but in the morning sacrifice that was fulfilled by the priesthood that had been in that previous week. And both of them were in there during the Sabbath. And then in the evening, it was the new priesthood that would do the evening sacrifice. Then the gatekeepers, the keys were turned over. I think the log books, the showbread at that time was replaced. But there was also a—much as we would do a watch, where two people would change a watch—there was information that had to be exchanged and passed on but and then for the next week the next course.
And each one of the courses, the priests really served five weeks out of the year. They would come around and do two single week duties and then on the three seasons, the Holy Day Seasons, they would do the entire time. So really the priesthood would do that.
I just found it interesting that while the twenty-four elders as related to serving in the ministry as well as to have some because they have crowns and the type that we’re given was exactly twenty-four courses and all of those. And you can look at this, if you want to just write this down, in your own study. I found it interesting, but you can look 1 Chronicles 28:11-13 and 1 Chronicles 24:1-4 which is actually where they cast the lots. And it gives the twenty-four courses of the priests in there and it lists them in 1 Chronicles 24:7-19.
Anyway, even in setting that up, David appealed to God to show His will in that. And casting of lots was a very serious thing.
Look over in Proverbs chapter 16. Proverbs 16 and verse 33, it says
Proverbs 16:33. The lot is
cast into the lap,
In other words, it’s on the garments. Normally the priest they had the garments and they were perhaps thrown into their laps. I don’t think they threw them on the ground. Again just the solemnity of it and asking God to be a part of it, to me I wouldn’t think you’d just throw it into the dirt. So they probably put them on the garment.
It says
Proverbs 16:33. The lot is
cast into the lap, but its every decision is
from the Lord.
So the casting of the lots was asking God for Him to decide, for Him to make the decision.
Just go over to Proverbs 18 verse 18. We don’t do casting lots today, but perhaps
we should. Proverbs
Proverbs 18:18. Casting lots
causes contentions to cease, and keeps the mighty apart.
In other words, if they truly believe that God had a part in it, when those lots were cast, end of story. God decided for us. We’ve got to live with this.
I don’t know. I don’t know what would happen today. They would have to have a committee to weigh the lots and make sure they weren’t weighted. I don’t know. I don’t even want to think. Anybody that would trust the lots I think wouldn’t be involved in that anyway so.
But the casting of lots was considered a decision from God and it was binding and it was final.
Okay, back to verse 16 of Leviticus and verse 8. It says
Leviticus 16:8. “Then Aaron
shall cast lots for the two goats: one
lot for the Lord and the other
lot for the
And I’m going to read this word. It sticks in my throat.
Leviticus 16:8b. [one] lot
for the scapegoat.
That is a complete mistranslation of the Scriptures because if you look at a scapegoat, a scapegoat is someone that’s punished for someone else’s errors. At work—you’ve always heard this—“Well, they’re on a witch hunt. They’re looking for a scapegoat.” In other words, somebody that’s not guilty, but somebody’s got to be punished for it. And scapegoat carries that connotation. And if it was true and it was a true representation, then what is being done to the goat is innocent and just getting the blame for something someone else did. That’s if you carried that out.
The actual Hebrew word is Azazel. Let me just read this. Part of this is out of a commentary quoting the Mishnah, so I did not get this directly from the Mishnah, but this was quoted from the Mishnah. It says
The Jews inform us that there are
two lots. These are made of wood, stone,
or any kind of metal. On one was written
Lasheem.
La means “for.” Sheem means “name.” Remember the Jews couldn’t pronounce God’s name. They couldn’t put Yahweh on there because they were not. So they just put “for name.” And by that they knew that that was to be Yahweh. And again, they still neither write it or pronounce it.
On the other was written LA a‘ZAA’ZEEL for the
scapegoat. And they put the two lots
into the vessel which is called a kalpey, the goats standing with their faces
toward the west. Then the priest came
and the goats stood before him, one on the right hand and one on the left. The kalpey was shaken and the priest put both
of his hands in and brought out a lot for each.
That which is in his right hand he laid on the goat on his right and
that which is on the left hand he laid on the goat on his left. And according to what was written on the
lots, the scapegoat and the goat for sacrifice were ascertained.
And again, if you look at the word Azazel, it means the one sent away. So again, if anybody wants it, that was out of the Mishnah, the tract Yoma 39A, for whatever that helps you.
Adam Clarke goes on and says
In determining this solemn business
by lot, the disposal of which is the Lord
[We read that.], shows that God alone was to select and point out to the person
by whom this great atonement was to be made.
Hence He says, “Behold, I lay in
So again, “scapegoat is a poor translation.” Most of the translations just follow and do that, but it really—and again, there’s everything. They say Azazel is one of the names of Satan and I couldn’t find that. But the meaning of it seems to be the one to be sent away.
Okay back to Leviticus 16 and verse 9.
Leviticus 16:9. “And Aaron
shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s
lot fell, and offer it as a sin
offering.
In other words, it was slain and it was offered as a sin offering.
Leviticus 16:10. “But the
goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat [the Azazel] shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and let it go as the [Azazel]
into the wilderness.
Then He gave the overview of how that’s done verse 11. In other words, this was sort of the macro view and then in 11, He starts giving the details. Verse 11.
Leviticus 16:11. “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 a 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.
So before him was the incense. It was beaten very fine and he brought that.
Leviticus 16:13. “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.
Don’t turn there, Revelation 5:8. The twenty-four elders remember they fell down before the Lamb each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense. In other words, these twenty-four elders also had these bowls of incense and it says there that those are the prayers of the saints.
Continuing verse 14.
Leviticus 16:14. “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 if you look at the layout, that’s to the front of it. The tabernacle, the door opened to the east. So someone entering into the tabernacle or even into the other had their back toward the east. They were actually facing west. And one of the reasons perhaps is because all of the pagan gods required them to be facing to the east. In other words, they were to look to the east. If you’ll remember over even I think in Jeremiah where it talked about having their back to the temple and facing the rising sun. But anyway, so when He talks about the mercy seat on the east side that would have been closest to the door. And then it says
Leviticus 16:14b. and before
the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
I initially thought the east side was the backside and then he was to do it in front, but as I studied I realized He said on the east side and then He says, “and before the mercy seat,”—it’s a semi-colon there—“he shall sprinkle the blood.” So, He really said the same thing, maybe for emphasis.
Leviticus 16:15. “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
And we know that at this point the goat that was to be the sin offering was killed and its blood had already been taken into the Holy of Holies and the high priest, which looked forward to the time that Christ would become a perfect sacrifice to all of those that God extended.
Look over. Hold your finger there. Look over in 1 John 1 verse 9. It says
1 John 1:9. If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We have to go through the very same process, but it’s not a physical process with us. It’s a spiritual process. And that forgiveness can only come by the application of the blood that Jesus Christ took into the Father and was accepted as that sacrifice. And, of course, the past few years this has been covered in sermons that have focused on the Wave Sheaf and the acceptance of the Wave Sheaf that begins the countdown to Pentecost. So it’s one that we’re familiar with here. But that was when that was accepted and applied to the future when people would confess their sins. They would go to God and confess and know that God was faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us.
Okay, back to Leviticus 16 and we’ll pick it up in verse 21.
Leviticus 16:21. “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 [or a fit] man.
Remember what we read in Revelation 21 about the angel having the keys to the bottomless pit and bound Satan and took him out of the way where he wasn’t allowed to deceive anyone.
Verse 22, it says
Leviticus 16:22. “The goat
shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land;
Uninhabited. There was no humans around.
Leviticus 16:22b. and he
shall release the goat in the wilderness.
In other words, he was taken away and he was isolated. Keep in mind this is not just referring to Satan, who is the leader, but during the time that that actually happens in the future, all of his demons are going to be restrained. It’s going to be that entire part of the spirit realm that’s not going to be allowed. They’re going to be banished as well.
Look over here in 2 Peter chapter 2. Again, hold your finger in Leviticus or keep your marker there. 2 Peter 2 verse 4, it says
2 Peter 2:4. For if God did
not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them
down to hell
And, of course, that’s the only place that that word is used in the Bible that’s translated “hell.” It’s tartaroo. And it means a place of restraint. In other words, they’re going to be put in a place that they are restrained. They’re going to be put in “prison,” if you will. It says
2 Peter 2:4b. and delivered them [Notice!] into chains of darkness,
to be reserved for judgment;
So again, it’s talking about—let me just reread. You don’t have to turn there since I read it before. Revelation 20:1.
Revelation 20:1. Then I saw
an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a
great chain in his hand. 2) He laid hold
of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the
Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
Okay, back to Leviticus 16 verse 23.
Leviticus 16:23. “Then Aaron
shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take off the linen garments
which he put on when he went into the
So in other words, it was passed on to high priest to high priest until the time that Christ became the High Priest.
Leviticus 16:33. “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 you, to make atonement for the children of
If you think about the events that this day pictures with the two goats, they are really displaced in time over two thousand years apart, the one that was slain and then the one that we know is in the—I think, my opinion—very, very near future that’s going to take place that will be bound and will be put away. God in His perfect wisdom and His perfect timing, the second goat is yet to be banished and bound. Brethren, we’re all responsible for our sins and we’ve all incurred a death penalty. And for those that have confessed their sins and have repented have already been forgiven because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. But the complicity of Satan the adversary and his servants has yet to be carried out.
We know that in a very near future there’s a day of reckoning that’s going to be coming. And, Brethren, that’s very sure. God has shown it through the Old Testament in what was pictured and it talks about it in the New Testament and what it really means and in Revelation, the prophetic fulfillment of it.
I think I’m going to end with a Scripture I read earlier to put the focus of this Day on where I think it belongs. You can turn to 1 John 2:1 or—we’ve already read this—you can just listen. I’m going to read it again out of The New Revised Standard. It says
1 John 2:1. My little
children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
2) And He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only
but also for the sins of the whole world.
We’ve seen that this Day pictures a time in the future that Satan the devil will have his part in man’s sins laid at his feet. And then he’s going to be separated, not able to deceive, not able to do his work for a thousand years.
But even with him bound up, we know that this is not going to end sin. Man is still going to have human nature and man is still going to have to overcome that. Man is still imperfect and will still sin. And, Brethren, that sin will still separate those from God.
The focus of this Day, which is the atonement with God, is possible not only what was done to cover our sins, that perfect sacrifice that was made for us, but that comes after we understand, after we confess to God, after we repent, and in the future all of mankind will have to do that. God is consistent in that. Everyone will have a chance in the order that they’re called. They’ll be brought and kept into a close relationship with God. Brethren, we can be very grateful and very humbled by what They have done to bring us into Their Family and to share everything They have with us. That’s only possible through God’s love and through Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice.
Transcribed by kb