The Sin Offering That Atones for a Nation s Sins, for One Year

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1 The Sin Offering That Atones for a Nation s Sins, for One Year 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. (Leviticus 16:30) For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. (Hebrews 10:1) And he [Christ] is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2) July 10, the Day of Atonement The manner for the sin offering is described in Leviticus chapter 16. The people of Israel could receive atonement for the sins committed for one whole year. A new door was opened for the people of Israel to cleanse all their sins for one whole year in one day. Prior to this method, they had to go through the sin offering process each time they committed a sin. The sin offering was held on July 10 of each year, and was called the Day of Atonement. On this day, the high priest, who represented the people of Israel, first gave the sin offering for himself with a bullock to atone for his sin, and then took two goats to offer them for the sin offering for the people of Israel. The high priest first gives the sin offering for the atonement of 52 The Good News May 2009

2 Shadow of Christ his sins. Then he kills one of the goats and enters into the tabernacle with the blood of the goat. There is a small inner room called the Holy Place inside the tabernacle. The priest has to pass through the veil in order to get to the Most Holy Place which is at the end. In the Most Holy Place, is the ark, which contains two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. The lid of the ark is called the mercy seat. The high priest represents all the people of Israel. When he enters into the Most Holy Place, he sprinkles the blood of the goat upon the mercy seat seven times. Then all the sins that have been committed in a year by the people of Israel are atoned before God. Afterward, the priest lays his hands upon the other goat, and sends it away into the wilderness by the hand of a fit man. Subsequently, one year s worth of sins for the people of Israel is perfectly atoned. Ringing of the Gold Bells The high priest sprinkles the blood of the goat on top of the mercy seat in the Most Holy Place seven times, but on this day, the people of Israel could not witness the works of the high priest sprinkling the blood of the goat. The Most Holy Place was the place where only the high priest could enter once a year. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: (Hebrews 9:7)... to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.... (Leviticus 16:34) On July 10, the high priest entered into the Most Holy Place with the sin offering to make atonement for the people of Israel. However, the people waiting outside could not see whether the sin offering was being performed correctly or not. If they could witness the process of the sin offering, wouldn t they believe that their sins were forgiven? For this reason, God prepared for the people of Israel an object for them to have faith in receiving atone- Sermon 53

3 ment for their sins. It was the gold bells that were sewn around the hem of the garment which the high priest wore. And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:... And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not. (Exodus 28:33 35) Accordingly, when the high priest enters into the Most Holy Place and sprinkles the blood of the goat on the mercy seat, the clear and strong sound of the gold bells rings out. When the blood of the goat is sprinkled seven times, the ringing of the gold bells is heard seven times. Through this process, the people of Israel, who waited for the sound of the gold bells from outside, would come to gain faith that their sin offering was finished by the sound of the seventh ringing of the gold bells. 54 The Good News May 2009

4 Shadow of Christ So then faith cometh by hearing.... (Romans 10:17) The sound of the gold bells is also called the gospel. The people of Israel could not witness the event of the sin offering or the sprinkling of the blood on top of the mercy seat for their atonement for sin. Nevertheless, through the sound of the gold bells on the hem of the high priest s garment, they could come to believe that their sins were forgiven. In the same way, we did not witness Jesus being crucified on the cross, but when we hear His Words, we can come to have faith that our sins have been clearly forgiven. All this is prepared so that any one whose ears are open and who hears the gospel of forgiveness of sins could come to have faith. God saw the blood of the goat that was sprinkled upon the mercy seat, and heard the sound of the gold bells. Therefore, God could declare that the people of Israel were clean by observing the blood of the goat on the mercy seat. 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. (Leviticus 16:30) The blood of the goat that was sprinkled on top of the mercy seat, which is the lid of the ark, not only cleansed the sins of the people of Israel, but also did the work of covering up and wiping out the law. Now, God does not wish to meet us through the law. If we were to rely on the law and met God, then when we abided by the law, we would be bold in coming out to Him, and when we broke it, we would be fearful and ashamed to come to Him. Now, God wants to cover the law that is in the ark with the mercy seat and hide it with the sweet smell, and to cover it with the blood of the goat. God wants to meet us through grace and mercy, not by the law. The Image and Shadow of Jesus Christ It is better to cleanse the sins for one year at a time than to cleanse the sins one by one. Still, that kind of sacrifice of the Sermon 55

5 Old Testament period would not solve our sins fundamentally. Therefore, we needed the kind of sacrifice that would cleanse all sins of mankind at one time. In order to wash away all of our sins, the lamb of the sin offering that came into this world was Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Then, why did they need sacrifices of the sin offering in the Old Testament? The sacrifices were not meant to cleanse our sins eternally, but served as a tool to show the image and shadow of the coming Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus has more power than the blood of an animal. It can forgive past, present and future sins of the world, and more is left to give. For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. (Hebrews 10:1) If you look at the model carefully, you will be able to understand the real thing. Yet, when the real thing comes, the model will not be needed. Accordingly, the sin offering that is illustrated in Leviticus chapter 16 is the model and shadow of the redemption of Jesus Christ. The two goats that die by carrying the sins of the people of Israel that appear in this chapter is the caricature of Jesus Christ, who will die on the cross, carrying the sins of the world. Then let s think about the goat that is carrying the sins. The sheep that was sacrificed for the sin offering of a person could only bear a single person s sin. The goat that was used in the sacrifice for the great sin offering only bore one year worth of sins for one 56 The Good News May 2009

6 Shadow of Christ nation. Moreover, when the sacrifice for the sin of a person died, it only redeemed the sin for the single account of sin, but if the goat for the great sin offering shed blood and died, then one year worth of sin was forgiven. If this is identified as the model and shadow of Jesus Christ, then what does this sacrifice teach us? The blood of a goat that was shed on July 10 forgave all the sins that were committed by the people of Israel during one year, no matter what kind of sins they may have been. The sacrifice for the sin offering shedding blood and dying is the caricature of Jesus Christ dying on the cross 2,000 years ago. The blood of an animal in the Old Testament period had power to forgive all the sins committed in a year by the people of Israel, but what about Jesus Christ, who came from heaven? The blood of Jesus has more power than the blood of an animal. It can forgive past, present and future sins of the world, and more is left to give. By the shedding of that blood, the sins of the whole world have been forgiven eternally. And he [Christ] is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our s only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2) Jesus Christ has taken care of all our sins since the creation of mankind, from the time of Adam to the end of the world, having taken the sins of all human beings living on the earth. All our sins have been purged by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. There is no single sin, which Christ cannot forgive. All sins have been cleansed on the cross. Accordingly, since sin has ended, death came to an end. Therefore, we are able to receive eternal life. This is the gospel. Pastor Han-kyu Lee Senior Pastor of Good News Bucheon Church Sermon 57