Lev 16:5-28 | KingComments | STEP | There are two sin offerings: one for Aaron and his house, the other for the people. There is a difference in animals: a bull and a goat. There is also a difference in number: one bull for himself and his house and two goats for the people. Aaron and his house represent the Lord Jesus and God’s heavenly people, the church ( ). The people are God’s earthly people Israel. A bull is a greater offering. The church has a greater insight into and appreciation for the work of the Lord Jesus than Israel. Two goats are needed to represent the truth of atonement. The first goat is for the LORD, the second for the people. First, God’s holy demands must be met, then the needs of the people. Both goats also present two aspects of atonement. The goat for the LORD represents the work of the Lord Jesus by which all the holy demands of God are fulfilled. In this way the offer of the reconciliation based on the work of the Lord Jesus can be made to all men. The work is so great and perfect that all men can be saved ( ; ; ). The other goat, that is sent away, proposes the substantiation. On this goat are confessed the sins of all who belong to the people of God ( ). In this we see that the Lord Jesus has borne the sins, not of all men, but only of those who accept God’s offer of reconciliation, that is, those who repent. The Lord Jesus gave His life “a ransom for many” ( ). Here is not “for all ”, but “for many ”. The word ‘for’ here has the meaning of ‘instead of’, while the word ‘for’ in 1 Timothy 2 means ‘extending to’, in the sense of an offer ( ).

‏ Leviticus 16:5-28

The Offerings That Aaron Must Bring

There are two sin offerings: one for Aaron and his house, the other for the people. There is a difference in animals: a bull and a goat. There is also a difference in number: one bull for himself and his house and two goats for the people. Aaron and his house represent the Lord Jesus and God’s heavenly people, the church (Heb 3:1 ; 6). The people are God’s earthly people Israel. A bull is a greater offering. The church has a greater insight into and appreciation for the work of the Lord Jesus than Israel.

Two goats are needed to represent the truth of atonement. The first goat is for the LORD, the second for the people. First, God’s holy demands must be met, then the needs of the people. Both goats also present two aspects of atonement. The goat for the LORD represents the work of the Lord Jesus by which all the holy demands of God are fulfilled. In this way the offer of the reconciliation based on the work of the Lord Jesus can be made to all men. The work is so great and perfect that all men can be saved (1Tim 2:3-6; Acts 17:30; 2Cor 5:19-21).

The other goat, that is sent away, proposes the substantiation. On this goat are confessed the sins of all who belong to the people of God (Lev 16:21). In this we see that the Lord Jesus has borne the sins, not of all men, but only of those who accept God’s offer of reconciliation, that is, those who repent. The Lord Jesus gave His life “a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28). Here is not “for all”, but “for many”. The word ‘for’ here has the meaning of ‘instead of’, while the word ‘for’ in 1 Timothy 2 means ‘extending to’, in the sense of an offer (1Tim 2:6).

The Incense

The high priest enters the sanctuary with his hands full of incense. For Aaron as a sinful person it is, that he may not die. The cloud of incense fills the sanctuary and envelops him. The Lord Jesus Himself does not need any incense to enter the sanctuary. He entered by virtue of all His glories, His attributes, all of which are a pleasant fragrance to God. Incense does not speak so much of what He has done, but of what and Who He is.

The Blood of the Bull

The blood of the bull is sprinkled on and in front of the mercy seat. The blood on the mercy seat is for God. He sees the blood as a covering, a fulfilment of His holy demands written on the tablets of the law that lie in the ark under the mercy seat. One sprinkling is enough for Him. He perfectly knows the value of the blood.

The blood in front of the mercy seat is for us, priests. We may approach God on the basis thereof to serve Him as priests. For the priest, the blood is sprinkled seven times. That is to give us absolute certainty that we can be there because of the value of that blood.

The Goat for the LORD

The goat which is for the LORD (Lev 16:8) is slaughtered for the sake of the people. Its blood, as well as the blood of the bull, is sprinkled on and before the mercy seat in the sanctuary. This is for the atonement of the sanctuary because of the sins of the Israelites, that God may continue to dwell among them.

God’s honor is restored through the work of the Lord Jesus. He has returned to God what He has not stolen, namely God’s glory (Psa 69:4). The dishonor we have done to God has been taken away by the Lord Jesus by glorifying Him, obeying Him in everything, and accomplishing His work perfectly. Therefore first the goat is slaughtered which is for the LORD. God must have the first place, only then will our need come.

The foundation of reconciliation with God was established by the Lord Jesus. God has demanded all His righteous demands as the holy and righteous God from the Lord Jesus. He made Him sin (2Cor 5:21; Rom 8:3). The Lord Jesus has perfectly fulfilled all God’s demands and desires. God is perfectly satisfied with regard to sin. On that basis God can now offer reconciliation to every human being (2Cor 5:20). Every human being can be reconciled to God (Tit 2:11; 1Tim 2:6). In sending Christ to earth, God has stretched out His reconciling hand to the world (2Cor 5:19).

The Lord Jesus is now in heaven. No man is present when He “through his own blood” enters the heavenly sanctuary as the basis of an eternal redemption which He has obtained (Heb 9:11-12). He is “designated by God as a High Priest” (Heb 5:10a). Because we may enter the sanctuary (Heb 10:19; Eph 2:18), we may know what Israel does not know yet, because the veil is still closed for them.

Blood is applied to the sanctuary, to the objects which are therein, and to the tent of meeting and the altar. In Hebrews 9 it says that the tabernacle is a copy of heaven (Heb 9:23-24). On the basis of the blood, once all things – so not: all people! – will be reconciled to God (Col 1:20).

The Live, Send Away Goat

Aaron identifies himself with the live goat – laying on hands is identification. Then he confesses all the sins, which are “all the iniquities”, the evil deeds of the Israelites. The sins are put on the goat, as it were. Then the goat is released in the wilderness.

It refers to the Lord Jesus, Who has taken upon Himself the sins of all who believe in Him (1Pet 2:24). He has confessed every sin of every believer before God as His own sin, and He has borne the judgment over those sins. God says: “I will remember their sins no more” (Heb 8:12). The believer may know and say: “You have cast all my sins behind Your back” (Isa 38:17b). He has thrown them “into the depths of the sea” (Mic 7:19b). He has put them away “as far as the east is from the west” (Psa 103:12), that is, infinitely far away. They are borne “to a solitary land”. Where sin is, there is no dwelling place for God, neither for people who are reconciled to God.

Other Garments, Bathe, Offering

After having sprinkled his blood his special work is done and he puts on his normal clothes again. Then he brings the ram for a burnt offering for himself and for the people. With the burnt offering he also brings the fat of the sin offering on the altar. This also speaks of the work of the Lord Jesus. The atonement cannot be separated from the perfect glorification of God, which is contained in the same work.

Everyone who has been in contact with sin must cleanse himself. The water bath of the Word works the cleansing.

Burnt With Fire Outside the Camp

From the sin offerings the blood is brought into the sanctuary and the bodies are brought outside the camp. This is also the place of the Christian (Heb 13:11-13), following the Lord Jesus. The camp stands for the organized religion in professing Christianity, where man is respected and takes the position of mediator between God and man. As a result, the Lord Jesus is not given the first and only place. The Christian is with Christ in the sanctuary in heaven; on earth he is with Him in a place of reproach.