The Day of Atonement.

 •  8 min. read  •  grade level: 8
So arranged as to show the ordinances of the day of atonement to be typical of the dispensational ways of the lord, both for the church of god and for Israel: with explanatory notes at the end.
THE FAILURE OF THE PRIESTHOOD.
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and OFFERED STRANGE FIRE before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they DIED BEFORE THE LORD.
THE RESULT OF THE ABOVE FAILURE.
(Verses 1, 2.)
And the Lord spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord, and died; and the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark (Ex. 26:33, 3433And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. 34And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. (Exodus 26:33‑34)); that he die not: for I WILL APPEAR IN THE CLOUD UPON THE MERCY SEAT.
[A]*Aaron and his House.
The sin and burnt offerings chosen. (Ver. 3.)
Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place; with a young BULLOCK for a sin offering, and a RAM for a burnt offering.
AARON PUTS ON THE LINEN GARMENTS.
(Verse 4.)
He 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 Miter shall he be attired: these are HOLY GARMENTS; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.
[B] The Congregation.
The sin and burnt offerings chosen. (Ver. 5.)
And 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.
[A] Aaron and his House.
The sin offerings presented. (Ver. 6.)
And Aaron shall offer his BULLOCK of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.
[B] The Congregation.
The sin offerings presented—lots cast. (Ver. 7-10.)
And he shall take the TWO GOATS, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall CAST LOTS upon the two goats; one lot FOR THE LORD, and the other lot for the SCAPEGOAT. [Azazel, Hebrew.] And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering [to be killed]. But 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.
[A] Aaron and his House.
The sin offering killed-the blood with incense taken within the veil, foreshowing the intercession of Christ for the Church now. (Ver. 11-14.)
And 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: and 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: 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: and 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.
[B] The Congregation.
The sin offering killed—the blood taken within the veil, foreshowing the intercession of Christ for Israel hereafter. (Ver. 15.)
Then 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.
(Verses 16, 17.)
And he shall make an atonement for the HOLY PLACE, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for HIMSELF, and for his HOUSEHOLD, and for all the CONGREGATION OF ISRAEL.
THE GOLDEN ALTAR OF INCENSE HALLOWED.
(Verses 18, 19.)
And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord [see Ex. 30:1-101And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. 2A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same. 3And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. 4And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. 5And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. 6And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. 7And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. 8And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. 9Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. 10And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the Lord. (Exodus 30:1‑10)], and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the BULLOCK [for Aaron and his house], and of the blood of the GOAT [for the congregation], and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
SIN CONFESSED—THE SCAPEGOAT SENT FORTH. 
(Verses 20-22.)
And when he bath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the LIVE GOAT: and 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 [or "a man of opportunity," Hebrew, see margin] into the wilderness: and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited ["of separation," Hebrew, see margin]: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
AARON PUTS ON HIS GARMENTS.
(Verses 23, 24.)
And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall PUT OFF THE LINEN GARMENTS, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there: and he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and PUT ON HIS GARMENTS, AND COME FORTH.
[A B] Aaron, his House, and the Congregation.
The burnt offerings killed. (Ver. 24.)
And offer his burnt offering [the RAM, see verse 3], and the burnt offering of the people [the RAM, see verse 5], and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.
[A B] Aaron, his House, and the Congregation.
The fat of the sin offering burned. (Ver. 25.)
And the FAT of the sin offering [i.e. of the BULLOCK for Aaron and his house, and of the GOAT for the congregation] shall he BURN UPON THE ALTAR.
HE WHO LETS GO THE SCAPEGOAT WASHED.
(Verse 26.)
And he that let go the goat for the SCAPEGOAT shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.
[A B] Aaron, his House, and the Congregation.
The sin offering burned outside the camp. (Ver. 27, 28.)
And the BULLOCK for the sin offering, and the GOAT for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung. [See Heb. 13:11, 1211For 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. (Hebrews 13:11‑12).] And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT A STATUTE FOREVER.
A day of affliction and of rest. (Ver. 29-31.)
And this shall be a statute forever unto you: that in the SEVENTH MONTH, ON THE TENTH DAY OF THE MONTH [i.e. the day on which the year of jubilee fell every forty-ninth year], ye shall AFFLICT YOUR sours, and do NO WORK at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: for on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It shall be a SABBATH OF REST unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute forever.
AARON'S SUCCESSORS.
The Day of Atonement to be "once a year." (Ver. 32-34.)
And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments: and he shall make an atonement for the HOLY SANCTUARY, and he shall make an atonement for the TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION, and for the ALTAR, and he shall make an atonement for the PRIESTS, and for all the PEOPLE OF THE CONGREGATION. And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins ONCE A YEAR.
AND HE DID AS THE LORD COMMANDED MOSES.