The Day of Atonement

From: The Prospect
Narrator: Ivona Gentwo
 •  8 min. read  •  grade level: 7
Listen from:
LEVITICUS 10:1, 2. 16.
SO ARRANGED AS TO SHOW THE ORDINANCES OF THE DAY OF ATONEMENT TO BE TYPICAL OF TILE DISPENSATIONAL WAYS OF TILE LORD, BOTH FOR THE CHURCH OF GOD AND FOR ISRAEL; WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES AT THE END.
BY SIR EDWARD DENNY, BART.
N.B.—The letters [A] [B] here mark the alternate, and also the simultaneous actings of Aaron, (thrice in each case,) for his own house and the people—a point needful to notice in reading this chapter.
Leviticus 10.
THE FAILURE OF THE PRIESTHOOD. (See Note 1.)
(Verses 1, 2.)
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 thorn, and they DIED BEFORE THE LORD.
Leviticus 16.
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, (Exodus 26:33, 34,) that he die not; for I WILL APPEAR. IN THE CLOUD UPON THE MERCY-SEAT.
[A] Aaron and his House. (See Note 2.)
The sin and burnt-offerings chosen. (Verse 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 Clothed.(Verse 4.)
Ile 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.
[B] The Congregation.
The sin and burnt-offerings chosen. (Verse 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. (Verse 6.)
And Aaron shall offer his BULLOCK of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself and his house.
[B] The Congregation.
The sin-offerings presented—lots cast. (Verses 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. Heb.) 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. (See Note 3.)
The sin-offering killed—the blood with incense taken within the veil, fore-showing the intercession of Christ for the Church now. (Verses 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 of the altar before the Lord, and His hands full of SWEET INCENSE beaten small, and BRING IT WITHIN TILE 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 van, foreshowing the intercession of Christ for Israel hereafter. (Verse 15.)
Then shall he kill the GOAT of the sin-offering that is for the people, and BRING HIS BLOOD WITHIN THE VEIL, 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 (VA 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. (See Note 4.)
(Verses 18,19.)
And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, (see Exod. 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. (See Note 5.)
(Verses 20-22.)
And when he hath 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, Heb.—see margin) into the wilderness; and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited; ("of separation," Heb.—see margin;) and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
Aaron Changes His Garments. (See Note 6)(Ver. 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. (Note 7.)
The burnt-offerings killed. (Verse 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 atonement for himself and for the people.
[A] [B] Aaron, his House, and the Congregation.
The fat of the sin-offering burnt. (Verse 21.)
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. (See Note 8.)
(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 burnt outside the camp. (Verses 27, 25.)
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, 12.) And he that burned.' 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 FOR EVER. (See Note 9.)
A day of affliction and of rest. (Verses 29-31.)
And this shall be a statute for ever 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 SOULS, 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 and your souls by a statute for ever.
AARON'S SUCCESSORS. (See Note 10.)
The day of atonement to be “once a year." (Verses 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 Imams 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.