The Day of Atonement — Larry Steers

The Feast of the Day of Atonement

I'm going to read tonight in the book of Leviticus, just a few verses here, in the book of Leviticus, and then chapter 23, the book of Leviticus, chapter 23, and we'll read from verse 26. Chapter 23 and verse 26.

And atonement for you before the Lord your God. Now, we're going to read from another passage of scripture in just a moment, but we're looking at the feast here, the great day of atonement. And we're going to discover here that it has a very pertinent meaning to each of us who are saved.

So this is not just for Israel, but we will have to look at it in view of Israel for a little time tonight. But we're going to look at it as its significance and its meaning is to us tonight. There are three of these feasts that are still rather important to the children of Israel today.

And so they still keep the Passover, and they keep the great day of atonement, and they also keep the feast of tabernacles. In some way, some of them are more devoted to keeping these particular times than others are.

So we're going to look at the great day of atonement. And so this is probably the most solemn of all the feasts of Israel. There is really no joy that is connected with this feast until we get to what it would mean to us, and then that becomes a different matter.

You'll notice where we have read that there are a number of statements that are made as far as Israel is concerned. So in verse 30, where we have read, the person who does not keep this feast in the way that God commands, that person will be destroyed from among the people.

That's a solemn statement. That means that they will die. And then you'll notice that this is the only day, we didn't read this, but we're going to get to this in a moment. It is the only day of the year on the great day of atonement when Israel will watch as Aaron will enter into the Holy of Holies and will make his way.

Now they won't see this because there will be no other person in that holy place when Aaron makes his way into the Holy of Holies on the day of atonement. So for one day every year on the day of atonement, Aaron will enter the Holy of Holies.

The High Priest's Garments and Sacrifices

We'll touch that, time permitting, in just a moment. Now on the chart here, the priest is pictured with a blue raiment on. Now that is incorrect. The raiment should be a linen garment. And again, a problem, as I indicated with the two trumpets with the priest here, to show the white linen garment on the white background, the sister who painted the chart felt that maybe it would show up better if it was blue.

But that's a linen garment. And on this particular day every year, Aaron would adorn himself with a linen garment. He must remove the garments of glory and beauty. He will bathe himself and then he will put on these linen garments.

And if you read in Numbers chapter 24, which we didn't read, from verses 7 to 11 in that chapter, you have the great day of atonement mentioned there. And you would notice that there are more sacrifices on the day of atonement than any of the other feasts.

This is an important day. I have been told, this is only what I have been told, I have never been to Israel, but I have been told that if you are planning a trip to Israel, do not go on the day of atonement, because everything closes up.

The elevators do not run. And if you happen to be on the top floor of a hotel, 20 stories high, you will use the stairs, because there are no elevators on the day of atonement. I have been told that. And so they still go through the formality of observing the day of atonement.

They will call this yon kippur. And the word kippur comes from the Hebrew word kopher, and it simply means to cover. And so atonement has the thought in it of covering. Now, for Israel, the previous sins of the previous year, or the sins of the previous year, are going to be dealt with on the day of atonement.

And so the day of atonement is a day when Israel's sins are going to be dealt with. They are going to be covered by the blood of an animal. And in this book of Leviticus, chapter 17, verse 11, God has said that the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for the soul.

Now, where we have read in Leviticus, chapter 23, we have the people's instructions. And so these are instructions for the people of Israel on the day of atonement. This is what the people should do. Notice that in the few verses that we have read, there is no mention of a priest, and there is no mention of the holy place, for this is what the people will do.

And so you will notice that there are important words that we have read. And so we have read the word atonement twice, in verse 27 and verse 28. We have read the word afflict three times, verse 27, verse 29, and verse 32.

That word afflict means deny yourself. It's the idea of fasting. And so on the day of atonement, there is a day of fasting, of denying themselves. Verse 32, it's a day of rest. There will be no work to be done on the day of atonement.

The day of atonement is a day when Israel will have an acceptance with God, and no amount of work will gain an acceptance with God. That carries over into the New Testament, not by works of righteousness, which we have done.

And no one will work their way to heaven. No one will get credit for anything that they have done upon this earth to gain heaven. And so there was no work to be done here, and there is no work to be done today for a soul to get to heaven.

And so why all of this? Because they were to feel the solemnity of their sin. Again, this is a national thing. This is Israel. And so the attitude is expressed by David when David said, Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than the snow. And so on the day of atonement, it was a dealing with the sins of Israel. When we come now to chapter 16, the whole chapter from start to finish is on the day of atonement.

The Two Goats in Leviticus 16

But we're going to read a few verses, but not all the chapter. That would take too long. But in Leviticus chapter 16, we have instructions now for the priest on the day of atonement. In chapter 23, we have instructions for the people.

So we'll turn to chapter 16 just for a few verses. Leviticus chapter 16, and in this chapter we'll read from verse 7. There are two goats that have been delivered to Aaron in verse 7. And he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make an atonement for him.

That is, this goat is not going to die. But at the same time, what is going to happen to this goat will make an atonement and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. Come down to verse, well, read verse 11.

And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself. Now notice what he'll do with this. And he shall make an atonement for himself and for his house and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself.

And then there are instructions that he will do with that one. But we'll touch the instructions when we come to the goat. Notice verse 15. Verse 15 of the chapter. Then shall he kill the goat for the sin offering that is for the people.

And bring the blood, bring his blood within the veil. And do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat. And before the mercy seat. And he shall make an atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

And because of the transgressions in all their sins. And so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. Down to verse 20. And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place.

And the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar. He shall bring the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat. And confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel.

And sins putting them upon the head of the goat. And he shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited.

Do you notice that? Into a land not inhabited. And he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. And then to read further the fit man is going to return. Now when you come to the chapter that we have just read from.

It is the instruction that God has for the priest. Now Aaron is going to do three things. There's great detail given and instructions for Aaron. And again limitations won't allow us to read it all. And that wouldn't be useful right now for our purpose.

But Aaron is going to make three movements on this day. He is going to take a bullock. And he's going to kill that bullock. And with the blood of that bullock he's going to go into the Holy of Holies.

And he's going to sprinkle that blood upon the mercy seat. And in so doing he's going to make atonement for himself and for his sons and for his family. Aaron is a sinner as much as anybody else. And he has to make atonement for himself.

And then he's going to come out and he's going to make a second trip in. And this is the trip that we're going to dwell for a bit of time on. He has to make a second trip into the Holy of Holies and make atonement for the children of Israel.

And then he's going to make a third trip. The trip for himself is verses 11 to 14. The trip for the people is verse 15 of chapter 16. And in 16 and 17, those two verses, he's going to make another trip in.

And he's going to cleanse the holy place. He must cleanse the holy place because his very presence there has defiled the place. Aaron is a man. While he is a type of the Lord Jesus as the great high priest, yet he is a man.

And so that holy place, after all has taken place, the holy place must be cleansed and must be purified. And so he must make another trip in to cleanse that holy place. Now I want you to notice for a moment these two quotes.

The Scapegoat as a Type of Christ

Tradition says, and this is tradition. This is part of what we have read, but tradition says that the eastern entrance to the tabernacle, that Aaron will stand in that eastern entrance and there will be two goats that will be brought to Aaron.

And there will be a golden pot or a censer. And in that golden pot, there are two lots. The lots are the same size, made out of the same material, but they have different names inscribed on them. I won't try to pronounce the lot for the goat that is going to be sacrificed because I can't pronounce the name.

But there will be a name on that lot. And when he draws that out of the container that is presented to him, for he's drawing lots, that will be the goat that is going to be sacrificed. The other goat is called Hazal.

Hazal, that means escape, that's the scapegoat. And he draws another lot out then, and that is the lot for the scapegoat. And so the goat that is going to be sacrificed, its blood will be shed. And we're going to notice in a minute what Aaron's going to do with that blood.

The other goat, the scapegoat, is going to be taken into the wilderness and released. Both of these goats will present the Lord Jesus Christ. That's just a little background of what is taking place here.

And so we have read about the mercy seat. We sang about the mercy seat. The truth of the mercy seat permeates the New Testament. It's one of the precious truths that should be a very precious thing to us.

And the words that we have been singing that the hymn writer wrote are very true. And so I hope we believe these words. Whither could we flee for aid when tempted, desolate, dismayed? Or how the hosts of hell defeat had suffering saints no mercy seat.

And so the mercy seat, can I put it this way, jumps out of the Old Testament. And we face the truth of the mercy seat. And I just want to try as best I can to make the mercy seat something very precious to us.

And something that is very real to us. Now I'm going to go back. I know that here in La Crosse you have looked much at the tabernacle in years past. There may be some here who haven't had that opportunity.

Maybe come recently to the assembly. I'm just going to give you a very quick picture of the tabernacle. It's very quick. I'm not going into detail here. But the tabernacle was divided into three parts.

The Tabernacle and the Mercy Seat

There was a court. There was a holy place. There was the Holy of Holies. And when you come to the eastern entrance of the tabernacle, for it faced the east, and if you were to stand in that entrance and look across the court that is surrounded by a linen curtain, you would find two of the vessels of the tabernacle.

And so the first you would see would be the brazen altar where the animal was sacrificed. And then beyond the brazen altar you would see a laver that would have water in it for the priest to cleanse his feet before he would go to the holy place.

In the holy place there's a tent-like structure at the far western end of the tabernacle, and that tent-like structure is divided into two parts. The first part has three vessels in it. There is the candlestick, the lampstand.

There is the table of showbread, and there is the golden altar, all in that initial part or that first part, the holy place of the tabernacle. And then there is a veil, and behind the veil there is the Ark of the Covenant, and there is the mercy seat.

Now the mercy seat, and brethren, before you jump me on this one, check out it very carefully. The mercy seat is never called the lid of the Ark. The mercy seat is referred to in Exodus chapter 25 as simply being above the Ark.

And then when you come to chapter 26 and verse 34, it is simply said, upon the Ark. It's never called the cover, and it's never called the lid. Now I think there's a reason for that. Could I just suggest that in that holy, holy place, there were two pieces of furniture.

There was the Ark, and there was the mercy seat. We're occupied for just a few moments with the mercy seat. The mercy seat was composed of gold. That is, it was made of pure gold. And in the Bible, very simply, gold speaks of divine purity, of divine excellence.

And the gold of the mercy seat speaks of the person of Christ, and all of the purity and all of the Godhead glory that was the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no shithead wood in the mercy seat. Shithead wood in other parts of the furniture of the tabernacle, overlaid, some with brass, some with gold.

But there's no shithead wood in the mercy seat. The mercy seat and the lampstand are two very remarkable pieces of furniture relative to the tabernacle. And so in Exodus chapter 25 and verse 18, you would read that these were made out of one lump or one piece of gold.

Now that's a tremendous thing. That one piece of gold was taken. Just one piece. And that one piece of gold was fashioned without adding to it and without taking away from it. It was fashioned into the mercy seat and into the cherubim that come out of each end of the mercy seat.

The other piece of furniture that was just pure solid gold was the lampstand. And it was made out of one lump of gold. The scripture tells us that, one piece of gold. And so that golden lampstand made out of that one piece of gold with nothing added, nothing taken away.

Now I am told by some of my Chinese friends that there are artifacts in China that cannot be reproduced. They cannot be reproduced because the artist that made them has passed away. And no one knows how the artist did that.

No one in this world tonight could make the mercy seat. And no one in this world tonight could make that golden lampstand. God raised up two men, Bezalel and Ahol-i-Ab. And those two men were gifted and raised up of God in a remarkable way to take a piece of gold and to fashion the mercy seat and the cherubim.

And they fashioned from a piece of gold that golden lampstand. And that cannot be replicated today. We have little models of the tabernacle. We have little indications as to what they might have looked like.

But the actual mercy seat and the lampstand were beaten out of one piece of gold. And so when you look at the mercy seat now, and there is the mercy seat with the cherubim coming out of both ends of the mercy seat.

And that mercy seat was, I'm giving you the dimensions of the Bible, two and a half cubits by one and a half cubits. That's Exodus 25 and verse 17. Now, our way we use centimeters and meters, which are kind of confusing.

But it is said that a cubic, a cube is the length of the distance from the tip of the longest forefinger to the elbow. Now, that means that they have a variance standard. But generally speaking, it's felt to be about 18 inches.

And so you'll have to convert this. So the mercy seat is one and five eighths meters by four fifths of a meter, not very big. And the cherubim that come out of the end of the mercy seat are not very big.

We're not given the thickness of the mercy seat. We don't know how thick that is. There's no dimensions for this thickness. But the wings of the cherubim coming out of the end and they touch together.

So the wings of the cherubim will be one and a quarter cubits. This is the most precious vessel of the tabernacle. And here's the reason. Exodus chapter 25 and verse 8. God has said, and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

And so that mercy seat above the mercy seat and covered by the two cherubim is a place where God dwelt amongst the children of Israel. And so the Lord said it between the cherubim. That's Psalm 99 and verse 1.

Very clearly states that's where God was. That's where the shekinah glory filled that place. And God took up his place above the mercy seat and between the cherubim. And when Aaron is going to enter into that holy place, he's going to enter into the very presence of God.

The word for mercy seat in the Septuagint, which is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, is propitiatory. And in the Hebrew language, it is keporath. And so from an intensive word, you would get the word kephor, which means to cover.

So atonement and the day of atonement indicated on this chart means simply to cover. It was the moment when the sins of Israel were going to be covered. You'll find the word for mercy seat in the New Testament in more than one place.

But you will find it, for example, in Luke chapter 18 and verse 13. Remember, two men go up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee goes up and parades what he thinks is his goodness. But the publican goes up and the publican prays, God be merciful to me a sinner.

That word merciful is God be propitious to me a sinner. That's the word for mercy seat that is used here. The mercy seat is the meeting place of God with Israel. And we have the Septuagint for that again, where God says, I'll make myself known unto thee.

I will meet by appointment. Not when Israel chose, but on the day of atonement, they were going to meet God. It represented by Aaron before the mercy seat. Now, I want you to think for a moment, just keep your eye on Aaron.

Aaron's Entrance into God's Presence

Aaron is going to do something. He's going to be a busy person on this particular day. At the entrance of the tabernacle, likely, when that goat is brought to him, he's going to shed the blood of the goat.

And he's going to catch the blood of that animal in a basin. And now with the eyes of Israel on him, he will go past that brazen altar. He may stop for a moment at the laver. He'll wash his feet. And then he'll make his way to that tent-like structure.

And he'll disappear out of the sight of Israel. They won't see him when he's in there. We are told very clearly that on this particular day, well, on other days, the priest trimmed the lampstands or trimmed the wicks and put the showbread on the table, other responsibilities.

But on this particular day, Aaron goes in unaccompanied. There's no one else there. Aaron is a high priest. Aaron has his responsibilities for this particular day. He's going to be a very busy person.

Remember, he has on those linen garments now. And so he's going to get a golden censer. And he's going to go to that golden altar. And he's going to take some coals from off that golden altar. And he's going to put those coals into the censer.

And then he's going to have his hands full of incense. And some have wondered if he didn't put that censer underneath the curtain and didn't really carry it in. But he's going to go in. And somehow he'll have the censer in there with the incense.

And he'll put the incense upon the coals that are held in that censer. And the clouds of incense will fill the place. She has tried to indicate that here with the clouds of incense around Aaron. We can make application of that.

Those clouds of incense represent our worship and our praise and our notes of thanksgiving as we present them to God. As we seek to pray on Sunday morning or at times in the presence of God that our worship and our prayers rise as sweet incense to the God of heaven.

Then he is going to very carefully make his way to the mercy seat. Aaron is going to do this carefully. Remember, he is in the very presence of God. And he knows that he has to carry out this just exactly as God has said.

At least twice Aaron is told that if he didn't obey God exactly that he would die. So he's very careful. He's very reverent. Sometimes we feel that we are as much in the presence of God as Aaron was when we gathered together.

And I wonder at times if we have lost a sense of that reverence. That we are in the very presence of a holy God. And sometimes when we gather and we talk very loudly. And we come in and we rustle a little bit and there's a little bit of confusion.

And I wonder if we really realize. If it has really gripped our soul that just as much as Aaron we are in the presence of God when we are gathered together. I was at an assembly not so long ago and as I entered the building the brother at the doors in a bit of a conversation.

And then he said to me if you hadn't been here maybe 20 years prior to this particular day. He said we had three widows in the assembly. He said they were always here half an hour before the meeting started.

And if you were to watch them he said I have watched them. Some of them would be moving their lips very quietly. They're speaking to God. He said sometimes they would have their hymn book open. He said I have watched.

When the first hymn is given out they haven't turned the pages of their hymn book. There's a sense of the presence of God and the directing of the Spirit of God. Even with those three widows that gathered on Sunday morning.

It's a good thing to gather early to quieten yourself in the presence of God. To consider a passage of scripture relative to the sufferings of Christ. Perhaps a hymn that the Lord has laid on your heart.

That has some precious truth relative to the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm absolutely persuaded that while we hear the expressions of the brethren. We don't hear what the sisters say. But I'm convinced that often the tone of the meeting on Sunday morning is set by the silent worship of the sisters.

And so now here's Aaron. And we are just as much in the presence of God as Aaron is. And he makes his way to the mercy seat. And as he makes his way to the mercy seat. He's going to stand right before God.

And he's going to take that blood. And he's going to sprinkle it upon the mercy seat. And as that blood is sprinkled upon the mercy seat. Remember it is God that is looking down upon that mercy seat. And it is God that observes the sprinkling of the blood on the mercy seat.

And then Aaron's going to step back. We don't know how far back. But he's going to step back. A step to however many. And then he's going to take that blood now again. And now this time very specifically he's told.

That he has to sprinkle the blood seven times before the mercy seat. Some suggest tradition. Maybe suggest that he count. Because remember. He wants to do exactly what God has commanded him. He has to do just as God says.

And so he takes the blood. One. Two. Three. Until he gets to seven. Not six times. Not eight times. Seven times before the mercy seat. What does the blood on the mercy seat stand for? The blood on the mercy seat stands for the precious blood of Christ.

That's what God saw at Calvary. That's when the precious blood of Christ was shed. And God looked upon that mercy seat when Aaron sprinkled the blood. And then he stepped back. And the blood on the ground speaks of redemption ground.

That's the ground upon which we stand. Redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. Aaron's going to exit. And the eyes of Israel are upon the entrance to that holy place. Because if Aaron doesn't come out.

God has not accepted atonement. And when they see Aaron exit from that holy place. Perhaps they gave a sigh of relief. Because that means that God had accepted the sacrifice. And the sprinkling of the blood upon the mercy seat.

Confession of Israel's Sins

But Aaron's not finished. He's going to make his way to the entrance of the tabernacle again. And there's still a goat standing there. And Aaron's going to do a solemn thing. He's going to put his hands upon the head of that goat.

And before the eyes and the ears of Israel. He's going to commence to confess the sins of Israel. I have thought so often that must have been a solemn moment. When Israel's high priest is seen with his hands upon the head of a goat.

He would have to say something like this. Lord, I made a golden calf. And I lied about it. Because I told Moses that I just put the gold in the fire. And the calf walked out. And that wasn't right. And he would have to confess at another time.

That we despised the manna. And we spoke against God. And we said there was no water. And there was water. And other times we grumbled. And other times we complained. And the sins of Israel. He would have to confess over the head of that goat.

And in the confession of the sins over the head of the goat. He is transferring the sins in type to the head of the goat. And so now the goat becomes the sin bearer. And so what happens to that goat? That goat is going to be led by the hand of a fit man.

And don't try to guess who the fit man is. We just leave it where God says. Where the word of God says. He's a fit man. We don't know the tribe. We don't know the family. We don't know the identity of that man.

He arrives on the scene. And he's a fit man. And he's going to take that goat. And he's going to lead that goat away. And away. And away. And a long ways away. Into the wilderness. To a place where there will be none to care for the goat.

No one will be able to minister to any needs that the goat might have. The goat is going to be alone in the wilderness. No one around it. All by itself in the wilderness. And then there's a solemn statement that's made about that goat.

It is led into a place uninhabited. Where no one else was. All alone in the wilderness. With the sins of Israel upon it. What a beautiful picture. Let me take you to the cross for a moment. When the hours of darkness have settled on the scene.

Because I would suggest that that place in the wilderness. That place way away in the wilderness. That uninhabited place. Speaks of Calvary. And on the cross. The Lord Jesus in those hours of darkness.

Was all alone. Just like that goat. None to take pity. None to show compassion. None to share the hour of need. And in that lonely hour. Alone in the darkness. The heavens are pierced by the cry. My God.

My God. Why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me? From the words of my roaring? I cry in the daytime. Thou hearest not the night season. And am not silent. And then he gives us the answer why he was forsaken.

For the very reason that that goat was led into that uninhabited place in the wilderness. He was forsaken. And he says thou art holy. Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. When it came to bearing sin.

The holy God. Turned his back on the Lord Jesus. On the cross. He was forsaken. He was left alone. Like the goat in the wilderness. But. The fit man comes back. It takes two to present the Lord Jesus Christ.

The one goat. The sin offering sprinkled upon the mercy seat. The other goat led into the wilderness to the uninhabited land. The goat that was led into the uninhabited land was led by a fit man. And when the goat is in the wilderness and there it is all alone.

The fit man returns. And the fit man. Actually could I suggest. That we have two. Illustrations here. Of the resurrection of Christ. When Aaron comes out after having made atonement. And the children of Israel see him.

Standing in the entrance of the holy place. And must have given a sigh of relief. And when the fit man comes back. Here's a picture of the Lord Jesus. In triumph having accomplished redemption. Precious blood having been shed.

The work completed. And the fit man returns. But let me just for a moment. That suffering saints know mercy seat. We have a mercy seat. And the mercy seat is Christ. And his precious blood shed. And we have an acceptance with God.

And so we come to Christ. He is the mercy seat. And when we come. It is a place where we can be succored. Where we can be encouraged. Where we can present our needs. Suffering saints can put their need upon Christ.

And whatever that need happens to be. We have a mercy seat. And that mercy seat. Is a work that has been perfectly and fully completed. By the Lord Jesus Christ. At the cross. And so this really. Is a moment when Israel's sins were forgiven.

Christ's Sacrifice and the Believer's Mercy Seat

Now there are two places. In Leviticus chapter 23. At least not looking at the sacrifices of the chapter. But just at the feast. There are two places where blood is shed. One of them the Passover. And the other the goat that was slain here.