Propitiation: What Is It and Where Made?

 •  6 min. read  •  grade level: 12
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In the Old Testament propitiation was made on the mercy-seat in the holy of holies, and if we turn to the details of what took place on the great day of atonement, as described in Leviticus 16, we shall be able to understand its import. In the rites of that solemn day we find the manner of Aaron’s entrance into the sanctuary prescribed, but we need only concern ourselves for the present purpose with the blood of the sin offering, whether that of the bullock, which was for himself and his house, or that of the goat, which was the sin offering for the people. It should be noted, however, that before the blood of these offerings was dealt with, Aaron was directed to “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 vail: 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” (Lev. 16:12-1312And he 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 vail: 13And 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: (Leviticus 16:12‑13)). This burning incense, with the sweet odors which it emitted when brought into contact with the holy fire, is a figure of the fragrant perfections and graces of Christ Himself to God, and it is therefore a precious reminder that the person and the work of Christ can never be separated. His perfect work derives all its worth from what He was in Himself, for all the value and preciousness of His person, before God, enter into His work.
The Blood on the Mercy-Seat
First, the blood was sprinkled upon the mercy-seat, and it was this sprinkling that constituted propitiation, for the mercy-seat was God’s throne in the midst of Israel. Jehovah was holy, and as such it claimed holiness from His people; the law was given as the standard of His requirements. But no sooner was the law given than it was transgressed, and its righteous penalty of death must have been exacted, unless some way were found to satisfy the claims of a holy God upon a nation of sinners. God Himself promulgated the righteous foundation on which atonement could be made for their sins and on which He could still dwell in their midst and maintain towards them relationships of grace; this foundation was found in the blood of the sin offering which was annually sprinkled on the great day of atonement upon the mercy-seat. The fire which consumed the body of the sin offering outside the camp told of holy judgment against sin; the fat burned upon the altar spoke of the inward perfection and acceptability of the victim, that is, of Christ as typified by it, while the blood sprinkled on the mercy-seat met, on behalf of the people, all the holy claims of Jehovah which He had against them because of their sins (Lev. 17:1111For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11)). When therefore the eye of God rested on the sprinkled blood, He was satisfied, and He could righteously pass over the sins of His people from year to year; He could still dwell in their midst and maintain the relationships which He had established.
But this yearly ceremony was typical, foreshadowing as it did the one perfect sacrifice of Christ (Heb. 9-10; 13:11-1311For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 12Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. (Hebrews 13:11‑13)). The Apostle John therefore tells us that Jesus Christ, the righteous, is the propitiation for our sins and also for the whole world (1 John 2:2; 4:102And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. (John 2:2)
10Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (John 4:10)). From this we learn that the blood of Christ has done once and for all what the blood of the sin offering accomplished in type for the year on the day of atonement; that is, it has made propitiation. It is true that John says that Christ Himself is the propitiation, but we also read that God has set Him forth a propitiatory (or mercy-seat) through faith, in His blood (Rom. 3:2525Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (Romans 3:25)), whence we understand that the blood of Christ, deriving, as we have before seen, all its tremendous value from what He was in Himself, has answered all the claims of God on sinful men and has glorified Him in all that He is concerning the question of sin and sins. Hence God can now righteously justify everyone who believes in Jesus (Rom. 3:2626To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:26)) and can send forth the gospel of His grace to the whole world.
The Blood Sprinkled Seven Times
Second, the blood was sprinkled seven times before the mercy-seat. This was the place of the high priest’s approach and which, in this way, represented his standing before God. The blood was sprinkled there in testimony that propitiation had been made, and seven times that it might be a perfect testimony. Once was enough for the eye of God, in token that all His claims had been met, but God gave to man a perfect assurance that propitiation had been accomplished, and accordingly it was sprinkled before the mercy-seat seven times. Whoever, therefore, receives the testimony of God in the gospel and thus approaches the mercy-seat (Christ), “through faith in His blood,” finds in the very presence of God the perfect witness that propitiation has been made for his sins, as well as that they have been borne by another, and borne away forever (Lev. 16:21-2221And 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 all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:21‑22)).
Where Was Propitiation Made?
In the old economy propitiation was clearly made in the holiest, for it was “into the holy place” that “the high priest entereth  ...  every year with blood of others” (Heb. 9:2525Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; (Hebrews 9:25)). However, when giving that which corresponds to this in the work of our Lord — that is, the propitiatory part of His work — the Holy Spirit says, “Once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. 9:2626For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26)). That this is propitiation all are agreed; thus, while the high priest of Israel made propitiation in the earthly sanctuary, it was on the cross that Christ made propitiation. The work of propitiation was made and completed on the cross; the entrance of Christ “once for all into the holy of holies” was on the ground of “having found an eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:1212Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12) JND). There on Calvary His work of expiation was finished — finished by the sacrifice of Himself, when He, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself there without spot to God.
The Effects of Propitiation
Propitiation is the ground on which God sends out the entreating message of the gospel to the whole world. Having been fully glorified concerning sin and sins, He can satisfy His own heart by causing the mighty streams of His grace to flow out to every creature under heaven and by issuing the proclamation, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:1717And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)). He can thus be just and the justifier of everyone who believes in Jesus. Lastly, on this same ground, the sin of the world (not the sins, but the sin) will be entirely taken away (John 1:2929The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29); Heb. 9:2626For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26)), and God has been pleased to disclose to us the scene in which this has been accomplished — in the new heaven and new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. Hence it is that then “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Rev. 21:44And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:4)). These heavens and this earth will be displaced by a scene wherein God will be all in all.
E. Dennett, adapted