25. The Day of Atonement (Lev 16:1-19)

Once a year, only on this day, the high priest was allowed to enter the Most Holy. 


πŸ‘‰ Read Leviticus 16:1-19

Aaron prepared a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a (         ) offering. The congregation prepared two male goats for a (       ) offering and (             ) for a burnt offering. For the goats, he cast lots to decide one for (            ) and one for (              ). 


After a bath, Aaron put on a holy garment of (             ). He took (           ) full of coal, finely ground (                      ), and the blood of the sin offering bull and went into the curtain. He put the incense on the fire and sprinkled the blood on (                      ) for (           ) times. He did the same for the sin offering (             ).


“He is to make atonement for (                ) from the impurities of the Israelites and from their (               ), and thus he is to do for (                  ) which resides with them in their impurities.”


Then, Aaron went out and cleansed and (             ) the altar from the (             ) of the Israelites, with the blood.

Answers and Meditation

burnt, sin, a ram, the Lord, Azazel

The high priest was also a sinner, so he must present his sin offering first.

 

Linen, a censer, fragrant incense, the atonement lid, seven, goat

The high priest should humble himself by putting off the meticulously decorated Ephod and wearing a white linen garment.

The incense smoke covered the high priest, a sinner, before the Lord's presence, the atonement lid. 

Eastern face of the atonement lid: As the tabernacle faces east, the east side of the lid is the front part of it that you face as soon as you enter the Most Holy. The atonement lid covering the testimony's ark is also called Mercy Seat.

 

The Holy Place, transgression, the Meeting Tent

God's tent was defiled when it stayed among sinful people. The holy thing was defiled by human impurity. However, it is the opposite in NT. Jesus' blood cleanses our souls.


Consecrated, impurities

 

The ritual of the Day of Atonement implies their sin-offering system was not perfect. Thus, they needed to cleanse the Tabernacle and the priests repeatedly.

Eating the sin offering contaminated the priests, and the sprinkled blood contaminated the Tabernacle with the impurities of people’s sins, especially when they brought sin offerings without repentant hearts. The animal sacrifices could not fix their hearts.

Such limited atonement has been perfected by our High Priest Jesus Christ. He has gone to the Father with His blood. Christ’s offering is the ever-present atonement sacrifice. While He stays in the presence of the Father, which the Most Holy represents, the atonement is ongoing for us.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

25: ‘Tell us plainly’ vs ‘The Father and I are one.’ (John 10:22 – 42)

As Jesus announced the Father and Jesus were one, the Jewish leaders tried to stone him. πŸ‘‰ Read John 10:22 - 42 Q1. Why did the Jewish leaders not believe in Jesus? Answers πŸ‘‰ They refused to believe in Jesus, for they were not Jesus’ sheep. ‘you refused to believe.’ This tells their willing refusal.  Note that Jesus Himself doesn’t call Himself the Messiah. Instead, He called Himself the One sent from God. He focused on doing the Father’s works and proclaiming His words. From Jesus’ works, they could have concluded that He was the Messiah sent from God. But they refused to admit it. Instead, they asked Jesus to admit His identity as the Messiah plainly, which Jesus wouldn’t do. Q2. They asked Jesus if He were the (           ). But Jesus claimed that the (          ) and He are one. Because of this, they condemned Him of (             ) and tried to stone Him. Answer πŸ‘‰ They asked Jesus if He were the ( Christ ). But Jesus claimed that the ( Father  ) and He are one
Read more

26: Other Laws concerning human life (#6 no murder) (Deut 21:1 – 22:8)

The command ‘do not murder’ should be extended to its full measure and completeness. They needed to remove the guilt of unresolved murder, keep the dignity of the female slave, respect the patrilineal inheritance, and preserve various lives. πŸ‘‰ Read Deuteronomy 21:1 - 22:8 When a homicide victim is found, and no one knows the murderer, the elders of the nearest town must do a ritual of atonement through the death of a heifer. What is the purpose of doing so? (7-9) If you had made your female slave your wife, you can divorce her but not (             ) her. For a man with two wives, if his less-loved wife’s son is the firstborn, let him inherit the (            ) portion. He should not show favoritism according to his affection for one of his wives. When a son doesn’t listen to his parent, he is like a glutton and (             ). Why should they not leave the corpse on the tree of execution overnight? When you see someone’s lost possession, do not (           ) it. You must not re
Read more

35: I am the True Vine. You are the Branches (John 15:1 – 17)

Image
The vine tree analogy so vividly illustrates our relationship with Jesus. As the branches of a vine share the life of the vine, we share and live from Jesus’ life. πŸ‘‰ Read John 15:1 - 17 Q1. Why do we need to remain in Jesus? (2, 4) Answers πŸ‘‰ To bear fruit. God takes away any branch that doesn’t bear fruit. We might debate the security of salvation: do we lose our salvation if we bear no fruit? However, it is better to focus on how to bear fruit rather than how to get salvation.  “You are clean already.” It would refer to a born-again status, a rightful relationship with the Father, one who bathed (13:10). John uses the imagery of cleanness for salvation. In the OT bible, one should be ritually clean to stand before God.  When we believe Jesus’ gospel, we are reconciled with the Father. Though sinners, we can approach God by Jesus’ blood. The pruning (lit. cleaning) (2) of our life is to make us bear more fruit. “Remain”: You should stay, not stop by. No plant produces fruit
Read more