Leviticus 16:12-19
“AND HE [Aaron] shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil: and he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat, that is upon the testimony, that he die not.”
That cloud of sweet-smelling incense speaks of the graces and moral excellencies of the Lord Jesus who loved us and gave Himself for us. The cloud covering the mercy seat tells of how infinitely acceptable and precious in heaven is that blessed One who was obedient unto death, who gained the victory over it in resurrection, and ascended into heaven itself in all the fragrance of His excellence and worthiness.
But Aaron must take in blood as well as incense. That blood sprinkled once upon the mercy seat and seven times before it tells of the infinite value in God’s sight of the blood of Jesus shed in atonement, and assures our poor hearts of its eternal efficacy. Thus we are encouraged to approach God at all times in childlike confidence and assurance that cannot be questioned.
We have liberty at all times to be within the veil where Christ is. His purpose in suffering for our sins was to bring us to God, and His being there in the presence of God is our title to be there also. How wonderful is this grace of God which gave us such an acceptance and standing in Christ, as well as the liberty to enter into His holy presence at all times. What worship springs up in our hearts when we are conscious of being there!
We now come to the two goats. They had been presented before the Lord for a sin offering and Aaron had cast lots upon them. One lot was for the Lord, and the other for the scapegoat.
The goat upon which “the Lord’s lot” fell was slain and, as with the bullock, its blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat once and seven times before it. The altar was also sprinkled with the blood seven times. This shows us the connection between the throne and the altar, for the cross has met the claims of the throne of God. In the very fullest way the blood of Christ shed at Calvary has satisfied every claim of God. God has His own peculiar portion in the death of Christ. It gloried Him in the very place where sin had brought in such dishonor and ruin, and glorified Him as nothing else could.
The blood of atonement was sprinkled everywhere from the cherubim of glory within the veil to the altar that stood in the court. We learn from Hebrews 9:23-28 that the tabernacle was a pattern of things in the heavens. Thus this sprinkling of the blood foreshadows the cleansing of the whole scene, heaven and earth, in the soon-coming day. The effect of the cleansing power of the blood of Christ will be felt in the remotest bounds of the universe of God. How blest our occupation when we “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29); “He is the propitiation for our sins: and... also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
ML-05/14/1972