We will be concluding Chapter 16 today and our study of the instructions for how the Day of Atonement is to be conducted.
Aaron has made the sin offering for himself and his household. He's made the sin offering for the nation of Israel. He's sprinkled some of the atoning blood of these sacrifices on the Ark of the Covenant, on the altar of sacrifice, and all around the tabernacle. He's confessed the sins of Israel over the scapegoat and the scapegoat has been taken into the wilderness and turned loose. Now the Lord explains how the Day of Atonement is to be wrapped up and He installs it as a yearly holy day.
"Then Aaron is to go into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments he put on before he entered the Most Holy Place, and he is to leave them there. He shall bathe himself with water in the sanctuary area and put on his regular garments." (Leviticus 16:23-24a) The Bible doesn't explain to us why Aaron must bathe and change clothes after making the sin offerings but before making the burnt offerings, which is what he will do next. I think it may have to do with the fact that he handled the scapegoat, putting his hands on its head and confessing the sins of Israel over it, because in a symbolic sense in that moment the scapegoat became sin. The sending away of the scapegoat represents the sending away of the people's sins until this time the next year when the sins they commit in the meantime must be atoned for. The reason I think the handling of the scapegoat may be the cause of Aaron having to bathe and change is because further down in today's text we'll find the man who set loose the scapegoat having to do the same thing.
"Then he shall come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people, to make atonement for himself and for the people. He shall also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar." (Leviticus 16:24b-25) You'll recall that a burnt offering is wholly given to the Lord. It represents a complete surrender. Along with the burnt offering, Aaron presents the fat from the sin offering he's already made.
"The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp." (Leviticus 16:26) This man has to clean up outside the camp and put on fresh clothes before he can come back in. He can't enter while still contaminated, if you will, by his contact with the goat that symbolizes sin. The Bible doesn't tell us the identity of this man and I tried doing an internet search on the subject to no avail. My best guess is that a different man was probably chosen for this task every year but we aren't provided with an explanation of how he was chosen and whether or not this task was considered an honor or a burden. If the identity of the person was something we needed to know, or if his identity had any spiritual significance, I believe the Bible would have given us further information.
"The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; their hides, flesh and intestines are to be burned up. The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp." (Leviticus 16:27-28) Here we see another unnamed man performing an important duty on the Day of Atonement. In our churches today we have a lot of people who work behind the scenes to make sure things run smoothly. They quietly and humbly show up time after time to do whatever small thing they can. I honestly can't tell you who is in charge of things at my church like cleaning the restrooms or printing the bulletins or planting the flowers outside, but I can guarantee you the Lord knows every one of these people by name. They aren't seeking any recognition for the time they volunteer but I believe the Lord will reward them for their faithfulness to His house.
"This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work---whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you---because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance." (Leviticus 16:29-31) In the original language the words translated into English as "you must deny yourselves" means something like "you must afflict your souls". This has traditionally been interpreted as meaning the people should fast on that day and solemnly consider the fact that they are sinners who have fallen short of God's perfection. It is a day for humbling oneself. No one in the nation is to do any work, whether they are a native-born Israelite, whether they are a Gentile who has converted to Judaism, or whether they are a servant or slave of another nationality. Everyone is to be still while they consider the holiness of God and the trespasses they've committed against His holy laws.
"The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community." (Leviticus 16:32-33) The man who is next in line for the high priesthood also has duties to perform on this day.
"'This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.' And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses." (Leviticus 16:34)
We'll close with three items from today's text that parallel items from the New Testament.
First, the scapegoat symbolically became sin and then carried the sin away from the people into the wilderness. The scapegoat itself had no sin because animals are incapable of understanding or committing sin, but the sins of the people were placed upon him. Likewise, although the Lord Jesus could understand the concept of sin, it was impossible for Him to sin. Our sins were placed upon Him on the day He made atonement for us: "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21) As we discussed over the weekend, the Lord (like the scapegoat) carried our sins away from us, but He carried them down with Him into the grave and left them there when He rose to life in victory. Our sins are buried so deeply that they cannot be resurrected. What Christ has interred no man can disinter.
Second, in our text today we find the bodies of the sin offerings burned outside the camp. Our Lord was crucified and put to death outside the camp---outside the walls of Jerusalem. The Apostle Paul compares the death of the Lord Jesus Christ to the material we've studied today, saying, "The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood." (Hebrews 13:11-12)
Third, we find a son anointed and ordained to be the next high priest. Who is the son who is anointed and ordained to be a high priest forever? The Lord Jesus Christ, about whom it is said He is a "merciful and faithful high priest" (Hebrews 2:17), and that He is our "apostle and high priest" (Hebrews 3:1) and that our high priest ministers on our behalf not in an earthly tabernacle but in the very throne room of our God and Judge as "a great high priest who has ascended into heaven" (Hebrews 4:14), and that He has an unending priesthood as "a high priest forever" (Hebrews 6:20), and that like the high priests He made a sacrifice, but not year after year after year on the Day of Atonement, but on one day in history "He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself" (Hebrews 7:27).
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