It wasn’t enough that the high priest serve on the right day, for the right purpose, and that the people have the right heart attitude. It was also important that the high priest follow the right procedure that God gave to him. The day of Atonement was not a time for innovation because too much was at stake.
The high priest prepares (vv. 3–5). First of all, the high priest had to make sure the proper sacrifices were available: a bull and a ram for himself and his family, and two goats and a ram for the people. These animals had to be examined to make sure they had no defects.
The high priest then took off his glorious garments, washed at the laver, and put on the simple linen garments of an ordinary priest. He left his special garments in the holy place, where he would return later to put them on again. Laying aside his glorious robes was an act of humiliation, and washing at the laver was an act of sanctification. He was setting himself apart to serve the Lord and His people on this special day.
In a much greater way, our Lord Jesus Christ did all of this for us. “And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth’’ (John 17:19). He never needed to be cleansed from sin because He was sinless, but He did set Himself apart to serve us. He laid aside His glory and came into this world as a poor baby. As God’s Suffering Servant, He humbled Himself and died on the cross (2 Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:5–11). His work completed, He returned to heaven and “dressed Himself’’ once again in the glory that is rightfully His (John 17:1, 5).
The high priest offers his own sin offering (vv. 6, 11–14). Being now properly washed and dressed, the high priest then went to the altar where he sacrificed the bull as a sin offering for himself and his family, which probably included all the priests (Lev. 16:11). Taking some of the blood of the bull, plus a censer of coals from the altar and a supply of the special incense, he entered the Holy of Holies. He put the incense on the coals so that the cloud would cover the mercy seat upon the ark (v. 13), and then he sprinkled some of the blood on the mercy seat and some of the blood seven times before the mercy seat (v. 14).
Since the cloud of incense symbolized the glory of God, the high priest put God’s glory ahead of everything else. It reminds us of Christ’s first request in His high priestly prayer, “Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee’’ (John 17:1). We need to remember that the ultimate goal of God’s great plan of salvation is not the good of people but the glory of God (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14). The high priest needed a sacrifice because he was a sinner, but Jesus didn’t need a sacrifice for Himself because He is sinless (Heb. 7:23–28).
The high priest offers the sin offering for the people (vv. 7–10, 15–22). The two goats together constituted one sin offering (“two kids of the goats for a sin offering,’’ v. 5), even though only one goat was slain. The high priest cast lots over the goats, and one of them was chosen to die. He killed the goat and took some of its blood into the Holy of Holies, where he sprinkled it on the mercy seat and seven times before the mercy seat, just as he’d done with the blood of the bull. But he also sprinkled the goat’s blood in the holy place of the tabernacle and applied it to the horns of the brazen altar, along with the blood of the bull. Thus he purified the tabernacle and altar “from the uncleanness of the children of Israel’’ (v. 19).
The high priest then put both hands on the head of the living goat and confessed “over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins’’ (v. 21 niv). This goat was led out of the camp and released in the wilderness, never to be seen again.
This goat is called “the scapegoat’’ (vv. 8, 10, 26), short for “escape-goat,’’ that is, the goat that escaped death and escaped into the desert. The Hebrew word is azazel, which could be a compound of the two Hebrew words “goat’’ and “to go away.’’ Some Hebraists connect it with an Arabic word that means “to remove, to banish.’’ Regardless of the origin of the word, the meaning is clear: The releasing of the goat symbolized the sins of the people being carried away, never to be held against them again. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us’’ (Ps. 103: nkjv). “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’’ (John 1: nkjv)
Remember that the two goats were considered one sin offering (Lev. 16:5). One goat died because there must be blood sacrifice before there can be forgiveness. The other goat lived but was “lost’’ in the wilderness, having “carried away’’ the nation’s sins. Because the living goat was part of a sin offering, the man who led the goat out of the camp had to wash himself and his garments before he could return to the camp (v. 26).
The high priest washes himself and puts on his official garments (vv. 23–24). Once he was sure that the scapegoat was officially lost in the wilderness, the high priest went into the holy place of the tabernacle, took off the linen garments, bathed, and put on his official robes. This reminds us of our Lord’s return to heaven, where He received the glory He had laid aside when He was here on earth.
The high priest offers the burnt offerings (vv. 3, 5, 24). He offered a ram for himself and a ram for the people, each a symbol of total devotion to the Lord. At the same time, he burned the fat of the sin offering (see 4:8–10). “But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared’’ (Ps. 130: nkjv). Forgiveness and the fear of the Lord go together, for the privilege of forgiveness carries with it the obligation of commitment and obedience. Jesus offered Himself up to the Father in total obedience, and we cannot do less than follow His example.
Once the burnt offerings had been presented, and the fat of the sin offerings burned, the high priest supervised the carrying of the sin offerings outside the camp to be burned (Lev. 4:1–12; see Ex. 29:13–14). The man who did the job had to wash before he could return to the camp.
An appropriate picture (Zech. 12:10—13:1) Many see in the annual day of Atonement a picture of Israel’s future cleansing when their Messiah appears to deliver them, cleanse them, and establish them in their kingdom.
The seventh month begins with the blowing of the trumpets, and there is a future “trumpet call’’ for Israel to gather the people together. “And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall thresh, from the channel of the River to the Brook of Egypt; and you will be gathered one by one, O you children of Israel. So it shall be in that day. That the great trumpet will be blown; they will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, and they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem’’ (Isa. 27:12–13 nkjv). Jesus also referred to this future gathering of the Jews (Matt. 24:29–31).
Just as the day of Atonement was a day of personal “afflicting’’ for the Jews, so they will mourn when they see their Messiah (Zech. 12:10–14). God will give them “the spirit of grace and supplication’’ (v. 10), and they will repent of their sins and believe in Him. “They will look on Me, the One they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child’’ (v. 10 niv).
Israel’s repentance and faith will lead to their cleansing. “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and impurity’’ (13: niv). Their Messiah who died for them will be their sin offering and burnt offering, and they will make a new beginning as a forgiven people, beloved of the Lord. What the Lord said about the Jewish remnant returning home from Babylon will be true of the nation in that great day: “Search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare’’ (Jer. 50: niv).
The annual day of Atonement was followed by the Feast of Tabernacles, Israel’s most joyful time of celebration, and Israel’s future “day of Atonement’’ will be followed by the establishing of the kingdom God promised to His people (Isa. 11–12; 32; 35). Creation will be delivered from the bondage of sin (Rom. 8:18–22); Jesus will reign as King, and “in his days the righteous will flourish; prosperity will abound till the moon is no more’’ (Ps. 72: niv).