Christ is the fulfilment of all OT sacrifices. Here we see the importance of the atonement and the role and power of blood.
Leviticus 16: The Day of Atonement
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Moses did as the LORD commanded him.
Leviticus 17: The Place of Sacrifice
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.
Laws Against Eating 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."
Things to think about…
1. Was God too hard on Aaron, Lev 16:1,2? Not really. Remember Aaron had a problem with fickleness and an understanding of the holiness of God – he allowed the gold calf to be built and led Israel away. He was learning fast however with the death of two sons. The Lord was telling him that he could approach the holy of holies – but not any way he chose. We of course can only come to the Father through Christ. Jesus makes us holy.
2. What and where is Azazel. It is a mountain in Judea. Azazel has also been known to be translated ‘scape-goat’. The second male goat was released in the wilderness towards Azazel, Lev 16:10. Jesus was sacrificed for us and we are the ones who have been set free. The Lord’s goat was sacrificed as an atonement for the people on the altar. But we are called to be His representatives living a life of sacrifice on His behalf even though we are free. We are living sacrifices for Christ.
3. The word ‘afflict’ in Lev 16:31 means to examine yourself. We should do this often, but especially at the Lord’s table where we remember Christ and what He has done for us personally and as a people corporately.
4. There is a reason for orderly worship. In Lev 17:1-9 all sacrifices were to be done at the tent of meeting and not outside the camp. All the sacrifices outside the camp were cursed. Christ was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem. The curse of sin was laid upon Him for us. We are now brought near, inside the walls of the Lord because of His atonement on our behalf.
5. ‘Goat demons’ Lev 17:7 represented Egypt and hence the world. These were worshipped at what was called the “gates of hell” in Caesarea Philippi in the north of Israel. Idol worship for us today is simply living lives for ourselves when we sacrifice time for the flesh rather than sow into the spirit.
6. The blood, Lev 17:10-16 represented life, vs 11. And was given for sacrifice, not to eat. Christ’s blood was poured out for us. We do remember Him by the command to ‘drink His blood’ John 6:53. You can see how offensive this was for the Jews at the time of Christ. We do this every time we gather for Communion in our remembrance of Him. Drinking His blood is simply a metaphor for His sacrifice and we partake in the sacrifice as we follow Him – as living sacrifices.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Life groups on this week. Ric Beson will be taking the Life Group at church 6:30pm and will be looking at the life of Christ in the church.
Pastor Jay will be starting the young adult’s life group after Sunday mornings message. It will be a Christian topics and apologetics class.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for Tad as he is in hospital for prostate treatment.
2. Pray for the start of Kids@Church, Life groups and church community days.
3. The conflicts in Israel and Ukraine. Praise for the peace of Jesus to reign.
4. Mathys has a prayer time at church on Monday afternoons. He would be happy for you to join him and to send prayer requests.
5. That we be bold in our witnessing for Christ. Pray for a heart to see those around you to be saved. Pray for the blessing over the new pastoral care and hosting program.
6. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Wonderful start to the Life groups at church this week – good discussion around the meaning and role of the church.
2. The Lord blessed us with truth and a sense of His presence in all our meetings on Sunday.
3. Praise God for the church leaders. May the Lord bless as they make their plans, that He guides our steps.
4. Steve Hawkins testimony on Sunday.
5. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Groups start back on Wednesday night at Church – 6:30pm. New Christians and Young Adults – Sunday after church.
2. Combined Baptist Church service at Beacon Baptist 5pm 11th Feb.
3. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
4. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for January...
Q. 16. Who were our first parents? A. Adam and Eve.
