EV 16{M. Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons, and said, "Speak to Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times inside the vail before the mercy-seat, for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat; but once a year Aaron shall come inside the vail to make atonement for himself and for all the people. He shall come with a sin-offering and a burnt-offering, and he shall wash himself, and put on holy garments of white linen.”
S. Was that because of what Nadab and Abihu had done?
M. Yes. After their sin no one might go inside the vail except Aaron on the day of atonement.
S. Why did not Aaron wear his garments of glory and beauty?
M. Because he went in to make atonement for sin. Aaron was to take two goats and to present them to the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle, and he cast lots for them there, because one was to be killed for a sin-offering, and the other was to be presented alive. Then Aaron offered a young bullock for a sin-offering for himself and his house, and he took a censer full of burning coals of fire off the altar, and filled his hands with sweet incense, and brought it inside the vail up to the mercy-seat; there Aaron put the incense upon the fire, and the burning of the incense went up like a cloud, and covered the mercy-seat, so that Aaron did not die because of the presence of the Lord, And Aaron took the blood of the sin-offering and sprinkled it upon the mercy-seat, and he sprinkled it seven times before the mercy-seat. Then he carne out and killed a sin-offering for all the people, and went in again, alone, and brought some of the blood inside the vail, and sprinkled it upon the mercy-seat and upon all the vessels of the tabernacle; then he went out and put some of the blood of his own sin-offering, and of the sin-offering for the people, upon the brazen altar, to make atonement for it, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel S. Why did Aaron make atonement for the tabernacle and the altar?
M. Because whatever man has to do with is unclean in God's light, and the tabernacle and the altar were to be holy to the Lord. Now when Aaron had made clean the holy place, he took the living goat, and put his hands upon its head and confessed over it all the sins of the children of Israel, putting them upon the head of the goat, and then he rent it away into the wilderness, into a land not inhabited, so that it bore all their sins away, never to be found again. This was to show that God would not remember any more the sins that Aaron confessed over the head of the goat. It must have been a very solemn day to the people, for they were to do no work, it was to be a day of rest, and they were to mourn because of their sins. It was very gracious of the Lord to appoint this one day in every year, when His High Priest should go into the most holy place to make atonement for His people and for His holy things; so that God wiped out all the sins of that year, and said He would not remember them any more, and this day was called the day of atonement. When Aaron had made atonement, he took off his linen clothes, and left them in the tabernacle, and when he had washed himself and put on his own garments he carne out and offered a burnt-offering for himself and one for the people; and all the fat of the sin-offerings he burnt upon the altar with the burnt-offerings for a sweet savor to the Lord.
S. What did Jesus do like that, Mamma?
M. Jesus is God's Priest, and God's offering too. He offered Himself for the sins of the people, and His Blood was brought inside the vail. He was not like Aaron, who had to offer a sin-offering first for himself, because Aaron was a sinner, but Jesus gave His own holy perfect body to be broken for us, and His Blood was shed for us, and, like the living goat, He took away the sins where they never could be found again; and when He carne up out of the grave, instead of going into the tabernacle, which was only made like the things in heaven, Jesus went right up to heaven itself, up to the very throne of God, there to appear in the presence of God for us—that is, for all those men and women and little children who believe in Him.
S. Could no one go inside the vail but Aaron?
M. No one but Aaron; or whoever was God's high priest after Aaron's death.
S. But, mamma, you said one day, that a little child might speak to God?
M. Yes; because now Jesus has made a new and living way into the most holy place, that is into heaven, where God is. And He says we may go boldly now to the throne of grace, because He is there crowned with glory and honor. Jesus knows all about each one of us a great deal better than Aaron knew about the children of Israel; and there is not one sin that Jesus has not seen, and not one sin that He has not borne the judgment of.
S. Is there no vail in heaven to shut in the most holy place where God lives?
M. No; Moses was told to put a vail in the tabernacle to show that the way into the mercy seat was not yet open, because there was sin in the camp of Israel.
But when Jesus died on the cross, and the sun was darkened, and the earth shook, the beautiful vail was torn in two from top to bottom.
S. Why did God let it be torn?
M. God did it; to show that He would no longer hide Himself behind a vail, because His own beloved Son had done His will.
It was not possible that the blood of bullocks and of goats could put away sin; therefore, Jesus said-I come to do Thy will, O God. And so He carne out from God, and offered Himself to put away sin, and everything that offended against Him. And when He went back to, God He left a new and open way into God's presence, for all who are washed in His precious blood, to go in after Him.
S. Is that why we do not have priests and a tabernacle now?
M. It is one reason, but also because you and I are not children of Israel. But there is not a single thing that God ever taught His people about which He has not given to us in His Son; and if we have got Him we do not want a priest or any one else to come between us and Him. When you are walking in the sunshine you often see a lovely shadow lie across the road, and perhaps you say, That is the shadow of an oak tree, but if you turn round you see a real oak tree, and is not that much more beautiful than the shadow of it? Just so these offerings and these priests, called from among men, were shadows of what God meant to give us in Jesus: and if we know Him we delight to look back at the shadows, and we like to contrast with them the blessed Son of God who carne down and became a man, that He might make atonement for us, and that He might bring us nearer to God than Adam ever was in the Garden of Eden.
S. I am very glad that Jesus is the true great One, and that all the rest are shadows to teach us of Him. I will tell Arthur that, for he thinks there is only a little about Jesus just at the end of the Bible, and that all the rest is stories of other people. I will tell him that they are all like shadows of Jesus and of Heaven.