About Blood and the Day of Atonement

Blood

 
 
 
 

Wednesday 08/01/18 

Message – About Blood and the Day of Atonement

Series: Thru the Bible


***Video is HERE***

 

About Blood and the Day of Atonement

Leviticus 16

God teaches Aaron the Fear of the Lord

Moses was a unique personage in history since He carried two specific mantles which are not at all similar or even all that compatible.

  • Moses was a prophet – As such he was the eyes of Israel and the mouthpiece of God.
    • Seers – Prophets were called seers, when viewed from the human perspective. They were the ones to consult in order to discover God’s specific will. They “saw” God for the people.
    • Proclaimers – Prophets were also proclaimers in that they were the mouthpiece of God. This was not only for those seeking Him, but especially when they were NOT. In those times, God would use the prophet or prophetess to speak to His people in warning and blessing, to wound and to cure, to break and to bind up what was broken. – Hosea 6:1
    • Typically prophets were:
      • Secluded
      • Only came among the people when they had a word from God or in times of national worship, during celebrations & feasts.
      • They typically spoke God’s word and left…it was not in the scope of their authority to MAKE anything happen. Only to speak and sometimes illustrate God’s words to the people.
  • Moses was also a shepherd/leader – As such He was the one who led the people and the priesthood by word and by example.
    • As such, Moses served the role of King, Priestly Advisor and Military leader (Commander in Chief).

So it is at the beginning of this chapter that God speaks to Aaron THROUGH His Prophet/Shepherd/Leader Moses and His words are about Honoring God and Respecting Him in and through his (Aaron’s) appointed office of High Priest.

NOTE: As we progress through these lessons, never let it escape your attention that Aaron, as High Priest, was a revelation of Jesus to future generations in His role as the final High Priest over the New Covenant made in His Own blood.

Points of Respect:

    • Aaron is NOT to think that he can just waltz into the Most Holy Place any old time he wants.
    • The stated REASON was because God appears above the mercy seat in the cloud and without observing the following Aaron WILL die!
      • This was VERY close to the surface of Aaron’s heart, since he had JUST lost two of his sons for a similar reason.
    • He is to come into the Most Holy Place only:
  • At a certain time The Day of NATIONAL Atonement.
      • Wearing certain clothes – His High priestly clothes which were designed for glory and beauty according to Exod. 28:2. They signified his appointment by God to that Office, the Authority and Responsibility he has as High Priest, they represented the fact of his being “set apart” and his holiness (consecration and dedication to the service of God) as well as his purity – all of which we covered in our teaching on The Dedication of the Priests and Temple on 04/25/18.
  • In a certain way.
        • Having bathed in order to be ceremonially clean.
        • Having offered a young bull for a Sin Offering (Bulls represented power and authority) for himself and his house.
          • Remember the prophecy of David concerning the words of Christ on the cross “Many bulls have surrounded Me; strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me, they have gapped at Me with their mouths, like a raging and roaring lion.”Ps. 22:12,13
        • A Ram for a Burnt Offering – for himself and his house. The only thing I could find Rams as representing was protection and sacrifice. In fact the constellation Aries has that Latin name because it means Altar – which points to Christ. I believe we covered that back when I taught on the ‘Gospel in the Stars’ several years ago. How this applies to a Burnt Offering which represents 100% dedication I can only guess, but my best guess is in fact directly connected to this command to Aaron to Fear the Lord. In multiple places the Bible speaks of the protection and safety afforded the one who Fears the Lord. Here are but a few…
          • Psa. 34:7, “The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.”
          • Prov. 10:27, “The fear of the LORD prolongs days, But the years of the wicked will be shortened.”
          • Prov. 14:26, “In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And His children will have a place of refuge.”
          • Prov. 19:23, “The fear of the LORD leads to life, And he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.”
          • Prov. 29:25, “The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.”
        • Sin offering for the people – 2 male goats FROM THE ASSEMBLY.
          • The word for Goat’s literally means “hairy” and so in a VERY indirect way could refer to a covering. Since the only stated purpose for hair (though it has many) is that it was given to women as a covering.
          • Typical presentation – bring before tabernacle door to cast lots for which animal will be sacrificed for sin and which will serve as the scapegoat for ATONEMENT.
            • Remember this is referred to as “the Lord’s lot”.
            • Prov. 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the LORD.”
        • Burnt Offering for the people – 1 ram
  • Enter the Most Holy Place:

[This was done to make atonement for the Holy Place BECAUSE of the sins, transgressions and general uncleanness of Israel and for the tabernacle itself which dwells immediately among their uncleanness.]

        • NO ONE BUT AARON can enter during this time.
        • With the Censor which is BY the Altar but BELONGS to the Most Holy Place – with coals from the Altar and the PRESCRIBED incense beaten fine (a very tender topic for Aaron).
        • With the blood of the Bull offered for the Atonement of he and his house.
          • Applied to by sprinkling to the east side of the mercy seat.
          • Sprinkled 7x’s BEFORE the mercy seat.
        • Then he offered the sin offering for Israel in similar manner.
        • Then he was to make atonement for the altar by placing the blood of the bull and the goat (sin offerings – his and Israel’s) on the horns of the altar and then sprinkle it 7x’s to cleanse & consecrate it FROM the uncleanness of Israel.
        • Now that Aaron and his house, Israel, the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle AND the Altar have been atoned for Aaron is to lay his hands (press hard) on the scapegoat, confessing the sins of Israel over it and then send it away into a barren and uninhabited part of the wilderness by the hands of a suitable man (a man of time – one used to the journey, conditioned to it and appointed for it).
      • Aaron then entered the Tabernacle of Meeting where he changed out of his Official High Priestly robes, washed his body in water, put back on his normal priestly garments to offer the burnt offerings for himself, his family and Israel this was offered along with the fat of the Sin Offering.
      • The one who took the scapegoat had to wash his clothes and bath in water before he could return into the communion of the camp.
      • The one who carried the remains of the animals offered for the Sin Offering (the skin, unused portions and dung) had to burn them outside the camp and then wash himself and his clothes in water before returning to the camp.
        • It is possible that the significance of burning these things outside the camp, symbolically signified how Jesus was made LIKE sinful flesh in his humanity (the unused portions and the dung aldo representing things pertaining to the flesh) and was made sin on our behalf 2Cor. 5:21, how he was crucified outside the city and removed from His people. It may even bear a passing reference to the eternal separation of sinners in hell because of Jesus’ reference to the Roman burning of the garbage and sewage OUTSIDE the city when talking about Gehenna. It was a place FILLED with decay, worms and fire.

This was a day of national repentance and sorrow for disloyalty to God in sins, transgressions and uncleanness.

NO WORK was to be done on this day. This was symbolic of man’s efforts at righteousness and in redeeming themselves as well as a practical consideration to make certain that every mind was focused on the importance of the day!  

It was also a Sabbath of solemn rest which was recognized on the 10th day of the 7th month of the Jewish “religious” calendar which the Jews would have to struggle to enter into once the new way had been made by His blood. – Heb. 4:11

This is the what the writer of Hebrews was talking about in quoting the Old Testament when he said, “This is the covenant I will make with them in those days…I will write my law upon their hearts…they will all know me…I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and the lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

You see, every sin an Israelite committed was to be atoned for upon committing it along with the appropriate Offering for Sin or Transgression, but that was NOT the last they heard of it!

ALL of their sins were remembered again once a year on the day of NATIONAL atonement.

So this passage in Hebrews 8:12 and the one in Hebrews 10:17, did not mean that any sin committed would not be recognized by God once a person is born again – as MANY false teachers are proclaiming today, – because that would contradict MOST of the New Testament in which John, Peter, James & Paul are CONSTANTLY reminding people of the seriousness of their sins and the need to confess and forsake them.

No, this passage is saying that once CONFESSED and FORSAKEN – they would be forgiven and He would not bring them up again as He did under the Old Covenant once a year.

 

Leviticus 17

God teaches Israel the Fear of the Lord

  • Just like Aaron had procedures to follow which showed honor for God and respect towards Him – so did the people. PARTICULARLY the Fathers (the heads of households) who were the ones presenting the sacrifices to the Lord for themselves and their households.
    • BEFORE this time in history, there were no places specifically designated by God for offering sacrifices – except in a few special circumstances.
    • NOW – God had designated a specific place and method for approaching Him with sacrifice and if one did not submit to it – they were cut off from God’s people.
      • Though it may sound like it, this is NOT too severe.
        • 1st off – ALL KNEW IT.
        • 2ndly – to reject God’s plan had a symbolic meaning which pointed to rejecting God’s means of salvation through Christ in preference to your own way.
  • The animal sacrificed had to be killed before the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle of meeting and offered upon the altar by the officiating Priest.
  • This was an ordinance which was in support of the commandment to have no Idols nor to have any other gods before Him in that in pagan religions – sacrifices were mostly offered anywhere one desired.
  • It was also done BEFORE the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle as a way of holding this in check!

Regarding Blood

  • Also, there was to be no consuming of blood because it is the LIFE of the animal. In offering the blood – you are offering the life and character of the animal.
    • The Life (nephesh – soul or character). Literally it means the breath – the emotions and thoughts of the flesh are in the blood.
    • This may be a contributing factor of the use of relatively docile herd animals as sacrifices.
      • Young bulls, goats and sheep are all docile animals when handled properly and with care.
      • SIDE NOTE: When milking cows are handled properly and with calm and kind care milk production is increased up to 20% higher yields. Whereas, use of the rbST hormone is estimated to increase milk yield by a maximum of 17%.
  • They were to pour out an animal’s blood on the ground and cover it with the dirt of the earth. Remembering that God took man out of the dust of the ground and upon breathing into his nostrils he became a living SOUL (nephesh). But that upon death it is said, “For dust you are and to dust you shall return” – Gen. 3:19.
  • I taught on this a few times but most specifically both HERE and HERE …and it would be VERY good for you to go back and familiarize yourself with this teaching because it isn’t well known nor taught in modern Christian circles – but it explains MUCH concerning the visiting of sins to multiple generations, the need for blood, the need for the virgin birth and the reason why the scriptures sometimes substitute the word soul (nephesh) for blood.
    • You remember that:
      • Without the shedding of blood there can be NO remission of sins.
      • That it is offered to make atonement for your SOULS!
      • That Jesus’ blood is what “washes us from our sins”
      • …and yet, Isaiah says, God offered Jesus’ SOUL an offering for sin!
      • Let’s read this and then we will close…turn to Isaiah 53

Eating what dies naturally was ok so long as it was a ceremonially clean animal and had not reached the point of decay, but if you did you were unclean and had to wash your clothes and bath and remain unclean until evening. If you did not – you would bear your guilt upon your own head (like the scapegoat).

There is more information in the audio/video of the actual message. I hope you listen, learn and enjoy!

Blessings! 

 

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Neither money nor attendance at our church will be mentioned.

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Blessings!

 

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!