1-3 | 4-7 | 8-10 | 11-12 | 13-15 | 16-17 | 18-19 | 20-22 | 23-25

Leviticus 16

Leviticus 16:1. "The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died. And the Lord said to Moses, 'Tell Aaron, your brother, not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil before the mercy seat that is on the ark so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. But in this way, Aaron shall come into the Holy Place. With a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body. And he shall tie the linen sash around his waist and wear the linen turban. These are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body and water and put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.’"

The Day of Atonement

Today here in chapter 16, we're looking at the Day of Atonement, commonly in modern times thought of as Yom Kippor. This was the most important day of the Jewish religious calendar, and Leviticus 16 is the introduction of this day. There's no coincidence, likely, that it's found here at the center of the priestly manual, the center of the book of Leviticus. And not only in the center of Leviticus, but really if you space it out, it's at the center of the Torah itself, Genesis through Deuteronomy. This is an important day, and the ceremonies described here were for the priests to engage in on this special day.

Now, the day, of course, was a reminder that the nation's ritual uncleanness put the whole nation before God in jeopardy. They had a sacrificial system, but the idea was that our sin risks our relationship with God. And so the Day of Atonement was a way for God to say, "Despite your sin, I want to make a way for you and me to be in fellowship with each other." It really is a day that reminds us much of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because he is the one who fully atones for the sin of man. The Day of Atonement points forward to Jesus. In fact, as we go through this chapter, we're going to be pointing out the book of Hebrews quite often, because Hebrews mentions Jesus as the better Day of Atonement or the fuller Day of Atonement.

But as I said, their uncleanness really risked a lot in bringing in a separation between God and man. Risking, in a sense, not a breaking of the covenant, but forcing God's hand to deal with them according to their sins. Uncleanness, we've learned in the book of Leviticus, could defile the Lord's tabernacle, God's dwelling place. And we'll see that again in this chapter. Impurity could make God's continued dwelling in their midst impossible. As you see later in the book of Ezekiel, God actually withdrew his glory from the temple because of Israel's persistent disobedience to God. And if uncleanness was not dealt with, it could actually lead to an outbreak of God's wrath amongst the people so that they would snap back into allegiance and obedience to him. It was important for them to take their relationship with God seriously. So the various sacrifices were needed to purge their uncleanness. But still, this Day of Atonement was needed.

The Preparation

Now, the idea here is that the priest had to prepare themselves particularly for this Day of Atonement. They would offer a sin offering and a burnt offering, we just read in those first five verses. They would also put on their holy garments, garments that we've already seen detailed in the book of Exodus. And they would bathe themselves in water. In other words, they were approaching God with sobriety. They were approaching God according to the dictates that he had laid out for them.

1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, 2 and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 3 But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

Now, in the first verse that we read, it says that the timing of this command was "after the death of the two sons of Aaron." You remember earlier in Leviticus, the two oldest sons of Aaron offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, and they were killed as a result. It's possible that with that as the backdrop, these commandments are then given. Look, the priests, they also need to be covered for their sins, thus the Day of Atonement. Some of the sins, God seems to be pointing out, were found right there at the very beginning in Aaron's older sons. And so the priest, whenever they would approach God on the Day of Atonement in the years to come, they had to go through these various rites and ceremonies in order to make sure that they were ready in holiness approaching the Lord. It's probably the backdrop for the day. And so really, these first five verses are a protection, if you will, for the priest. This is a proper way for the priest on the Day of Atonement to approach God.

Now, this is actually very helpful to us as Christians, because it helps us realize, or perhaps appreciate in a fresh way, that on the one hand, we can only approach God according to the way that he has dictated we approach him. But it also refreshes us because he has now presented to us on this side of the cross that we approach him by the blood of Jesus. We approach him with the not only borrowed, but the imputed righteousness of Christ. His righteousness deposited into the life of every person who trusts him for salvation, believes in his gospel message. So we can only approach God the way that he dictates, but the way that he dictates is one that is full of grace, as we find it in Jesus. It says in Hebrews 7:25 that Jesus is "able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them." But the point that I want to draw out from that Hebrews 7:25 reference is that we draw near to God through Jesus.

Now, it also says in verse two, "Moses is told by God, 'Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil.'" So not only do we, as Christians, get to approach God, unlike these priests, we get to approach God through the blood of Jesus. The borrowed righteousness of Christ that has been put onto us permanently, not just once a year. But we can, because of that, go to God at any time. Aaron and the subsequent high priests could not come at any time. But we, as God's children, with him as our Father now because of what Christ has done, we can come to God at any time. There's a contrast. The comparison here is a contrast. Aaron's relationship with God was far different from our relationship with God.

Hebrews 10:19 says, "Therefore brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."

We have the right now because of Jesus, what he did for us, to draw near to God. This right is not given to us based on our works, our merit, our service to God. If you serve at your church for five Sundays in a row, you do not have a stronger right to approach God than you did before you served God in that way. Your access to God is driven by what Christ has done for you. But for Aaron and the priests, they could not come at any time.

Overview of the Offering

6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel. 

Now, in verse six, we get an overview of the offering that was given on the Day of Atonement. Verse six through 10, let's read that together. It says, "Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel."

Now, in a moment, when we get near to the end of this chapter, we're going to talk about this Azazel figure and try to think about who or what that is. But suffice it to say, here in this overview of the offering on the Day of Atonement, there are three major movements. The priest puts on their garments; a bowl is offered as a sin offering for the priest and his household, or the priesthood; and then a goat is offered as a sin offering, and another goat is offered as a scapegoat for the nation.

Details of the Offering

11 “Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. 12 And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil 13 and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. 14 And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. 

Now, those offerings are detailed starting in verse 11. It says, "Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself and he shall take a sensor full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord. And two handfuls of sweet incense, beaten small. And he shall bring it inside the veil and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony so that he does not die. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat, on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat, he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times."

So again, the priest had his own sin to deal with first, so he offers a bowl offering or a sin offering for himself. And he brings the blood of it and this incense and the coals from the fire, that's what he brings inside the veil, and offers these coals on the altar of incense that's in the Holy Place, just outside the most inner room, the Holy of Holies. And what it says happens in verse 13 is that these coals and this incense mixed together would produce a cloud of smoke burning from that fire. And likely, the idea is that it would cover the glory of the Lord. It says that the incense, verse 13, may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony so that he does not die. So likely here, there's the idea that the smoke would dilute the full blast of the glory of God that was found there on the mercy seat inside the Holy of Holies. Presumably that's what's happening here with this cloud of the incense.

And then he took some of the blood of the bull, in verse 14, and he would sprinkle it in the Holy of Holies, and would be there basically asking God to forgive them of their sin. They were pleading with God that their sin would be atoned.

This was an intense moment in the Jewish year, likely the most intense moment of the entire year. It's tantamount to our Good Friday as Christians. That memory, at least, of what Christ performed on the cross. But for them, this was not just an annual memory, as our Good Friday services are, but it was an annual event. For us, we're going back to remembering what Christ performed on the cross. But they were literally going through this each time, asking God to atone for their sins.

Some Jewish traditions say that this was the one time each year that the priest would say the name of God, Yahweh or Jehovah according to certain scholars and traditions, would say the name of God in front of God. And that all other times, they refrained from saying God's name directly. But here, one time before God, they would say his name. It was just a powerful and ominous moment. And of course, the nation was there on the outside of the tabernacle waiting to see whether the sacrifice was accepted.

15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. 17 No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel. 

Then in verse 15, it says, "Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Thus, he shall make atonement for the Holy Place because of the uncleanness of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness. No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.

"Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar all around. And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the people of Israel."

Here in this paragraph, the high priest would turn his attention to the people. He's offered a sacrifice successfully for himself, and now he offers a goat for the people that is a sin offering. And he was dealing with, according to verse 16 and 17, the uncleanness of the people. And so this made a way, because they would take that blood and apply it in the Holy Place, this made a way for the priest to regularly each day go into the Holy Place, not the Holy of Holies, the innermost room, but the Holy Place, to intercede for the nation throughout the year. But it was unusable unless the blood of this sin offering on the Day of Atonement was accepted by God. Even the altar, verse 18 and 19, that they would sacrifice on throughout the year was cleansed by the blood of this sin offering.

20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

And verse 20, "He has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place in the tent of meeting and the altar. He shall present the live goat, and Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness."

Now, this is an interesting moment. First of all, Aaron, or whoever was acting as the high priest at that time, would take both of their hands and put them on the head of the sacrifice. This was the only ritual that required both of his hands to be placed upon the head of the sacrificial animal. And Aaron would confess the sins of the people. You can imagine this taking a certain amount of time as he cried out to God. How specific would the high priest get? How granular would his prayer become? Back in Exodus 32 to 34, Moses offered a confession before God for a few chapters. Maybe that was a good model for Aaron to follow.

But you would imagine that given the irregularity of this sacrifice, meaning only once a year, that the priest would want to pray very robustly in confessing their sin before God, making sure that he covered every facet of Israelite society. Not people by name, but generally as a nation, the different sins that they could commit. You could imagine the humility that would come into the hearts of God's people as they interacted with their own sin, confessing it to God, hearing the priest saying the different crimes that they've committed before God. Their fleshly impulses that they've acted on, the greed that they'd given into, the pride that they had harbored, the lack of hospitality that they'd shown to foreigners, the unwillingness to care for those less fortunate than themselves. The list could have gone on and on and on.

And of course, the priest would have been informed about what to confess based on the word of God, based on scripture. He could have meditated upon the word in the days leading up to the Day of Atonement, and been thinking about different areas that he was sure that they had, at least in some part, in some secret way, been guilty. And so he would cry out to the Lord for their sin.

Then they would take that goat that they had placed their hands on, and they would give it to a man who took it out into the wilderness and let that goat go free in the wilderness. One way that you could say this is, this is the best that the Old Covenant could do. It couldn't really erase sins, couldn't really subsume sins, couldn't really separate sins from them as far as the east is from the west. All they could do was just, in an emblematic way, transfer them to this goat that then went and wandered in the wilderness. But with that, the Day of Atonement was considered complete. For us, we have something far better in Jesus. True forgiveness, true removal of the stain of sin.

23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. 24 And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 And the fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. 26 And he who lets the goat go to Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 27 And the bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. Their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be burned up with fire. 28 And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 

"Then Aaron," verse 23, "shall come into the tent of meeting, and shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments, and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. And the fat of the sin offering, he shall burn on the altar. And he who lets the goat go to Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body and water. And afterward, he may come into the camp. And the bowl for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering whose blood was brought in to make atonement for the Holy Place shall be carried outside the camp. Their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be burned up with fire. And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp."

So after the high priest is cleansed, they would dispose of all the elements that were left over from the burnt offering and from the sin offering. He would take off his linen garments and replace them with his regular garments. And the ceremony would be, for all intents and purposes, completed.

Now, I mentioned earlier, this Azazel. It's talked about there in verse 10- also here in verse 26, and I think also back in verse 22, when it speaks of a remote area, the word wilderness that the scapegoat is brought to. The word [Azazel 00:25:20] or the personal pronoun, the personal name Azazel means the goat that departs or the wilderness goat, and it has baffled scholars and interpreters for many years. Some suggest that this is actually the name of a demon named Azazel, a power of that region or that time, or that was believed in by people superstitiously in that era and in that place. A desert demon, some have even identified a Azazel as Satan himself. And the idea being that the sins of Israel placed upon the scapegoat were then sent back to the original source, the original tempter, so to speak. But the idea here of the Bible commending or involving the demonic realm in expiation or cleansing or forgiveness, it's just kind of a foreign idea in Scripture.

It could just be a reference to the goat itself since Azazel might mean the wilderness goat or the goat, the deposit just could just mean that's who Azazel is. They call the goat itself Azazel, but some understand this to be a term meaning a rocky place. It's an ancient language and so there's bound to be some confusion with some words from time to time.

And so some have thought it means a rocky place, perhaps from which they would or to which they would take the goat and then maybe push it off the cliff so that it would die. I mean, you didn't want the scapegoat returning back to camp with all of the sins of the nation from the last year placed upon it. Or some think that it's just an abstract term, meaning complete destruction or entire removal or something like that and that that's the idea. The goat is sent to complete destruction and entire removal. So my guess would be that that is what the reference is too, that this goat is sent away permanently and somehow Azazel is reference to the permanent nature of it being sent away. But still, it's hard to say with total certainty.

Now it's interesting because in the Book of Hebrews chapter 9, there's a mention of Jesus's ministry and what he will do that is very similar to the action of the high priest on the Day of Atonement. What the high priest did is he came before the people and offered the offering, then took the offering and went into the presence of God with that offering, sprinkled it, the incense burned, then came back out to the people, put his hands on the scapegoat, prayed, sacrificed the goat and sent the scapegoat away. So the priest appears, the priest then disappears so to speak, but appears before God. And then the priest reappears before the people, before dealing with that sin from that year once and for all for them. But in Hebrews chapter 9, Jesus is said to have be following that same outline from the Day of Atonement in his ministry right now.

First, Hebrews 9:26, "Jesus appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." That's his first appearance. Jesus came, sacrificed himself.

Second, Jesus disappeared from us, but appeared before God in that Hebrews 9:24, "He went into heaven itself. Now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf."

And then thirdly, Jesus like the priest who then left the Holy of Holies and came back to the people, Jesus also will come back. It says in Hebrews 9:28, "He will appear a second time to us here on earth, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him." So there seems to be a mirror of the activity of the high priest on the Day of Atonement with Jesus's ministry, or really a foreshadowing of Jesus's ministry from those Old Testament priest. They appeared, then they disappear, but appear before God. Then they leave God's presence and come back to the people. Jesus came and dealt with sin. Now he is before the Father. He is in the throne room of God, seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us today, but one day he will return and save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Instituted Annually

29 “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. 30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins. 31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. 32 And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. 33 He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” And Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses. 

Now, the Day of Atonement was something they needed to practice every single year. And that is mentioned to us in verse 29 and following, if we'd read that together. It says, "'And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the 10th day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.' And Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses."

So here we learn that every year in the October, November timeframe, the 10th day of their seventh month, the month of [Tishri 00:31:56], they would have this Day of Atonement. Very important day. It was a day of solemn rest, it was Sabbath before God, but also of affliction. They would fast and refrain from that kind of eating and feasting for a period of time so that they could seek the Lord in this fresh kind of way. Really the force behind this day or the attitude of this day was not to be mere ritual, but there was to be a element of contrition and humility and repentance before God. They were to be penitent, in other words, before the Lord. This day was not to be taken lightly in any kind of way.

I think for us as Christians, it probably speaks to us of the importance, not of trying to earn our salvation by being sad about our sin, not by being overly emotional about shameful things that we've done in our past or have done within our recent days. But for us, perhaps it speaks of having a real appreciation for what Christ has done for us and letting the gravity of that sink in to our hearts. I think sometimes as believers, we think that it's joy only that the Lord is looking for. And he does produce great joy in our lives, but sometimes that joy, if we really connect to where it comes from, it comes from remembering what Christ has done for us. And that can be a sobering reality for us. And so the Day of Atonement was a sober day. And so I think for us, perhaps what we might glean from it is the sober experience of remembering that our sin has been dealt with by Jesus. Might help us to take our walks with the Lord in a more serious kind of way than ever before.

The reality though, this Day Atonement, it was that it could not take away sins. Hebrews 10:1, the law was a shadow of the good things to come. The law in this day could never, by the same sacrifices continually offered every year, Hebrews 10:1, could never make perfect those who draw near. Hebrews 10:4, "It's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." So everything that this day offered, and I don't mean to suggest that from the Hebrews 10 quotations, that this day was somehow cheap or that nothing was happening. There are plenty of passages throughout the Book of Leviticus where forgiveness is most certainly mentioned. However, the idea here is that the full forgiveness would not come until the day of Christ.

Leviticus 17

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. 3 If any one of the house of Israel kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, 4 and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. 5 This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. 6 And the priest shall throw the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 7 So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations. 8 “And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9 and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from his people. 

Now, here we move on to chapter 17, which holds for us laws, governing animal sacrifice and the eating of meat for the people of Israel. And if in the first few chapters, first 16 chapters, the focus was on sin and impurity and sacrifice. Now we're going to get into a section where we're dealing with the practical life of the people of Israel, their relationship with God, and how to walk with him. And chapter 17 will bridge the gap between what the priests were supposed to be doing on the ritual days of the Day of Atonement and the expected behavior on the part of the people of Israel. What we're going to learn in this chapter is that sacrifices could only occur at the tabernacle. They couldn't occur all throughout the land. And also some requirements regarding the blood of animals and how that was to be consumed or not consumed by the people of Israel.

Laws Governing Animal Sacrifice And Eating Meat

So for the first section about the sacrifices needing to happen at the tabernacle, let's read verse 1 through 9.

It says, "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. If any one of the house of Israel kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. And the priest shall throw the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.

"And you shall say to them, any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from his people.'"

A few things to mention in this paragraph, the idea is of what they needed to do with animals that they were trying to sacrifice to God. You might read this paragraph and come to the conclusion that in Israel, you could not slaughter an animal for human consumption unless you first brought it to the tabernacle. But of course, that would be a very inconvenient thing, especially once they were established as a nation. To have to travel miles and miles and through counties and counties, to use our modern terminology, to get to the tabernacle or the temple in order to offer your meat and then bring it back to your home land, it would just be a very impractical thing. The idea here in verse 3, is the idea of killing an animal for a sacrifice. That word kills there in verse 3, is normally used to describe the slaughtering of an animal specifically for sacrifice.

So the idea of this paragraph is the people of Israel were not to be setting up alters and offering sacrifices all throughout the land, willy nilly, wherever, and whenever they wanted, no matter how spiritual that might make them feel, that would be mimicking the nations around them. God had a specific place for them to approach him and they needed to go to that place in order to offer their animal sacrifices to the Lord. So they were allowed to kill animals and livestock for human consumption and drain the animals and butcher the animals and all of that at home. But if they wanted to offer a sacrifice to God, they needed to go to the tabernacle or eventually the temple to do that form of worship.

But the whole idea here of this prescription is there's one God, and he has told them where he wants to be sought, and they need to listen to the one true God and worship in the way that he has prescribed and designed. What this would eliminate in Israel was a lot of the emotional feelings-based worship decisions that many of the nations around them engaged in. They would find high hills or green trees or beautiful meadows or beautiful rivers. And they would turn these scenic places, not into a place to appreciate the creator God, but as places to go worship in various forums, what they considered localized deities. And the people of Israel were to resist that temptation. They might feel inspired on a mountain peak or in a beautiful valley or under a tree, but they were not to turn that into a sacrifice to a deity of that region. They were to thank God from their hearts, pray to him from their hearts. And then if they wanted to go worship him, go to the tabernacle and offer a sacrifice in that way.

And some of this is hinted at, in verse 7, when it says that they were not to be offering these sacrifices to goat demons. The idea being that there were nations around them at that time, especially in the land of Canaan, who were offering sacrifices to some kind of demonic realm or spirit. And so the people of Israel are forbidden from that kind of activity. So this helps us know that God's people were to approach God in the way that he tells us we are to approach him or to look into his Word and discover as his people to worship him.

Laws Regarding the Blood

10 “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. 12 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. 13 “Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. 14 For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. 15 And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. 16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity.”

Then in verse 10, there are these directions concerning the blood of animals. He says in verse 10, "If anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it as the blood that makes atonement by the life. Therefore, I have said to the people of Israel, no person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

"Anyone also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore, I have said to the people of Israel, you shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity."

Now here we have a phrase mentioned that is very familiar in the Old Testament. "The life," verse 14, "of every creature is its blood." Or verse 11, "The life of the flesh is in the blood." The Lord has given blood the function of ransoming the lives of the offerers who presented at the alter here in the Book of Leviticus. These sacrifices as the blood was poured out upon the altar sprinkled in the holy place, or even sprinkled on the Day of Atonement in the Holy of Holies and on the Mercy Seat, on the Ark of the Covenant, that blood was important to before God. And in a sense, likely what's being communicated here by God, is he just basically says to the nation, "Hey, you guys can't eat the blood. The blood is important. You need to pour out the blood. You need to cover it with dirt. When you kill an animal in the field or of your livestock, you've got to deal and dispense with that blood. Don't have anything to do with it. The life of the animal, the life of beings is in the blood."

The idea here is likely that these believers, in the Old Testament sense and now even us as well, recognize that God is the one who has a right to the life of all flesh. It's God who ultimately makes the decision about the number of our days and all of that. So the loyal worshiper of God would present his offering to God alone. He would not offer that blood to anyone or anything else and would recognize that God is in charge of who lives, who dies. Ultimately, this life belongs to God. And so God is sort of saying, "This blood is representative of that life. You're not sovereign over life, I'm sovereign over it. So don't touch it, pour it out to the earth." And it has very serious consequences attached to it. He says, "Whoever eats it," verse 14, "shall be cut off." That could mean excommunications, separated from the people, or even capital punishment.

Now all of this, again, points us to Jesus's ultimate atonement because the blood of Jesus is the blood that really saves us. It deals with our sins. Hebrews 10:29 speaks of those who trample underfoot the blood of Christ. In other words, they don't view it highly. They take advantage of it. They believe in cheap grace. They sin so that the grace can abound antinomian spirit. All that kind of stuff is trampling the blood of Jesus under foot. There's not a respect for what the blood of Christ produces and has done and what it cost Jesus to win his victory for us. So here there's that warning for the people of Israel. Next week we will pick up with Leviticus 18. God bless you. I'll see you next time.