Leviticus 16:4-154He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on. 5And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. 6And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house. 7And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 8And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. 10But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. 11And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself: 12And 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: 14And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. 15Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: (Leviticus 16:4‑15)
The high priest had to wash his flesh in water and put on his holy linen garments, for here he typifies the Lord Jesus as the spotless, sinless One. Of course Aaron had to be washed and clothed for this service, but the Lord Jesus was all this in Himself — blessed be His name!
Then Aaron was to offer the bullock as a sin offering for himself and his house first. Of course we know that the Lord Jesus, being the sinless one, did not need any for Himself. We see in this the position of all believers now, as associated with Christ as worshippers in the value of His sacrifice, just as Aaron’s house was with him. We read in 1 Peter 2:55Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5), “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” What a wonderful position is ours now as purged worshippers, the veil being rent, so that we can “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:2222Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22)).
The Two Goats
Next we find that two goats were to be taken and Aaron was to cast lots as to which one was to be for the Lord and which one for the people. How important it is to see these two aspects of the work of Christ. First, God must be glorified about the question of sin. Man had trampled God’s glory in the dust, broken His law, and disregarded all His claims over him, but on the day of atonement we see, in figure, in this goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, how all the glory and majesty of God’s throne has been fully upheld by Christ’s work on the cross, quite apart from one sinner being saved at all. His majesty must be maintained, but at the same time we see in the scapegoat how the sinner’s need has been met, and thus God’s character as love has been displayed without giving up His righteousness.
Hands Full of Incense
The high priest then filled his hands with sweet incense and took it in before the Lord with the blood of the bullock. He also took burning coals of fire from the brazen altar and put them in the censer, which he took into the most holy place. There he put the incense on the fire so that the cloud of incense might cover the mercy seat upon which the blood was to be sprinkled, as well as seven times before it. Oh, how wonderful to see, in type here, how the sweet fragrance of Christ’s finished work covers the mercy seat and fills the holy place, while the infinite value of His precious blood is upon the mercy seat, and before it, as the ground of our approach. Aaron then killed the goat on which the Lord’s lot had fallen, and sprinkled its blood before and on the mercy seat as he had the bullock’s. In this we see that it is only through what Christ has done that God can go on with this sinful world at all. If it were not for this, judgment would fall at once, just as the day of atonement in Israel was, in type, the ground of all their blessings,
And not only this, but the blood sprinkled there seven times shows us in type how the blood of Christ has opened up the way of blessing for “whosoever will,” for Christ died for all. His work is so perfect, so glorious, that the gospel may be preached to every creature under heaven. All who are willing can come and obtain mercy. Have you come? (1 John 2:22And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)).
For Further Meditation
1. What two aspects of the work of Christ are shown to us through the figure of the two goats?
2. Atonement is a very important theme in this chapter. What does it mean and how has it been accomplished for every believer in Christ?
3. An extremely thorough treatment of this chapter that will give you a deep understanding of it can be found in the book The Day of Atonement: Leviticus 16 by W. Kelly. Prepare to dedicate some time and effort before tackling this book. The reward will be great.