Leviticus 16:18

The Bible says in Leviticus 16:18-34, “And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.[19] 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.[20] 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:[21] 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 into the wilderness:[22] And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.[23] 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:[24] And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.[25] And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.[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.[27] 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.[28] And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.[29] And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, 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:[30] 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.[31] It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.[32] 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:[33] 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.[34] 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.” These verses are about the Day of Atonement. It is important to consider the scapegoat. In verse 21 it says, “And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat.” This symbolized the transfer of the sins from the human to the substitute. Our sins were transferred to Jesus. When He died on the cross, Jesus became sin for us. Jesus took our sins upon Him. Verse 22 says, “And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.” This is a great picture of forgiveness. When we are forgiven, our sins are taken away from us. The sins are totally and completely removed. There is a great verse in the Psalms on this same subject: “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our sins from us.” Of course, this has great significance as far as our relationship with God is concerned and as far as our conscience is concerned. From God’s perspective, those who are forgiven have no sins. God sees no sins when He sees a forgiven person. God does not think of the sins, God does not see the sins, and God will not punish the sins. Therefore, a person who has been forgiven, should view himself or herself in the same way: totally and completely forgiven with no guilt and no sins. That is how great was the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross.

Notice in Leviticus 16V31 that the Day of Atonement is called “a sabbath of rest unto you.” As we know in the law there were other Sabbath days in addition to the seventh day of the week. The key word here is the word “rest” which is meaning of the word “Sabbath.” Once sin is taken care of by the blood of the Innocent One, there is nothing for us to do but to rest in the finished work of Christ and in His shed blood. If you are relying upon your own works to get into heaven, you are not resting in Christ.

The Bible says in Leviticus 17:1-9, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[2] Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them; This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, saying,[3] What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp,[4] And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people:[5] To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the LORD.[6] And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto the LORD.[7] And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.[8] And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt offering of sacrifice,[9] And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the LORD; even that man shall be cut off from among his people.” The commandments were very detailed from God about what sacrifices to make, where, and how. And remember that this is the law. The failure to keep the law in any point resulted in death. We are blessed to live in the time of grace instead of the time of the law. If anyone offered his own sacrifice contrary to the place, the time, or the manner in which God required, that person received the death penalty. That is why it says at the end of verse four, “that man shall be cut off from among his people.” It is important to know the Word of God. God gave us His Word for a reason. Christians should be studying the Bible, especially the New Testament, diligently in order to know God’s will for their lives. God decides what is important and He has revealed those things through His Word.

Man has always been corrupting the will of Christ. Man’s teachings and man’s ways tend to go away from God’s revealed way. That is why it says in the New Testament in Second Thessalonians 2V3, “there shall come a falling away.” That is why the more established denominations have added many of man’s traditions and man’s ways that take away from God’s way. Independent churches have a chance to escape the teachings of man, and to do things the way the Bible teaches. Notice what it says in verse 7: “And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring.” Sacrifices were commanded by God. It is so easy for human beings to take something that is good, and corrupt it, and to make it something that is evil. All the religions of the world are a result of this problem. Once again: that is one of the benefits of the Bible. The Bible keeps before you God’s way of doing things and of believing. If you do not have the right amount of Bible, then corruption and human teaching enter in.

The Bible says in Leviticus 17:10-16, “And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth 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 to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.[12] Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.[13] And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.[14] For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.[15] And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean.[16] But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.” In verse 14 it is said clearly, “Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh.” As we know, these dietary restrictions had significance for the health of the Jewish people. Maybe we would still benefit if we all ate foods that were prepared in the Kosher method, not for religious reasons, but for dietary reasons. Also, in this restriction against eating blood, there is an important statement made in verse 7, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood.” This is the reason given that the Jewish people were commanded not to eat blood. This is the reason that the Jewish people were obliged to have a “kosher” diet in regards to meat. They have a special process to get rid of all the blood from meat in order to follow this commandment thoroughly. The spiritual meaning is: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood.” Jesus gave His life by giving His blood. Jesus had to give His blood in order to fulfil this truth. Jesus went to the bloody death of the cross because He knew that He had to give His blood in order to give us life. What a wonderful Savior.

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