May the mumbling commence!
Once a year, it was time for Israel to do its fall cleansing and consecration. In Hebrew, they called it Yom Kippur, which usually falls somewhere in September on our calendars. “Yom” means day in Hebrew, and “Kippur” means to hide or to obliterate sin – expiation. The instructions for this High Holy Day are found in today’s Scripture from Leviticus 16.
In the first couple of verses in chapter sixteen, I found an answer to one of my earlier questions about the deaths of Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu. The Lord told Aaron, through Moses, that Aaron was not to approach the Lord at just any time. Though it is not clearly stated, I infer that the sin of Nadab and Abihu was entering the presence of the Lord in the Holy of Holies at an inappropriate time. Indeed, the only appropriate time was Yom Kippur. And, then, only the high priest could enter – with fear and trembling.
The entire Israelite community helped to prepare. The day was set aside for a Sabbath rest, and the people were to fast. The community also presented two goats to the high priest. The high priest provided a bull for his family and his own sins and a ram for burnt offering. Before the ceremony started, the high priest must bathe and put on the vestments of the high priest. Then, the bull was offered to make atonement for the high priest and his family. The two goats supplied by the community were presented to the Lord, and the high priest cast lots. One goat would be sacrificed to the Lord, while the other was to be the scapegoat. Most people are familiar with the concept of scapegoat, but many do not realize it has Biblical foundations.
After the sacrifice of the bull, the high priest would take up the censer, which was full of burning coals. It must have been a frightening time for Aaron, after two of his sons died doing the same thing before the Lord. Two handfuls of fragrant incense were to be thrown into the censer so that the smoke would conceal the atonement cover on the Ark of the Covenant. This smoke would prevent the priest from dying.
Then, the high priest would sprinkle some of the blood of the bull on the front of the atonement cover and sprinkle some of the blood seven times on the ground before the atonement cover. The high priest would emerge from the Holy of Holies and sacrifice the goat; and, then, he would reenter the Holy of Holies to do the same with the goat’s blood. Both the bull and the goat blood were also used to cleanse and consecrate the Tent of Meeting, which was in the midst of their uncleanness. For this ceremony, no one but the high priest was allowed inside the Tabernacle. Finally, the altar outside the Tent of Meeting was cleansed and consecrated with the blood. The live scapegoat was, then, led out into the desert, symbolically carrying the sins of the nation with it. Though it was not killed directly by human hands, the scapegoat was left to die in the desert. Then, the high priest was to return inside the Tent of Meeting and remove the high priest’s clothes and bathe and put on his regular garments.
The people of Israel must have breathed a sigh of relief at this point. The high priest would then offer the burnt offerings upon the altar and the fat from the sin offerings. The rest of the animals’ bodies from the sin offering would be taken outside of camp and burned. Just as the scapegoat was removed from the community, so were the carcasses of the bull and goat. Sin had no place in Israel, the Lord’s nation of priests.
Neither does sin have a place among God’s people today. The blood, which contains the life of the animal, is what makes the atonement. That is why, in Leviticus chapter 17, that the Israelites were commanded not to eat blood or meat with the blood still in it. However, we no longer need the blood of bulls and goats and lambs because the blood of the perfect Lamb of God has been offered. It is the blood of Christ that covers and obliterates our sin. All of the ceremonies and sacrifices of the Hebrew Bible foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice that God made through Jesus.
But the call is still there to remove sin from our Christian communities. Though we are all recovering sinners, we should find ways to remind ourselves that sin should have no foothold among us. For this reason, we must cling to the season of Lent and the practices of confession (in both senses of the word confessing our sins and confessing the power of our God to save us from our sins).
Enough mumbling for today…
Peace Out
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