PM Feb 12th Lev 16

February 12^th     Leviticus 16       The Day of Atonement

1: And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died; 2: And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. 3: Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. 4: He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on. 5: And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. 6: And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house. 7: And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 8: And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9: And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. 10: But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. 11: And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself: 12: And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: 13: And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: 14: And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. 15: Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: 16: And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17: And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. 18: 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.

Leviticus 17       Blood is Sacred

1: 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; nd 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. 10: 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.

Leviticus 18       Forbidden sexual practises

1: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2: Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God. 3: After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. 4: Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God. 5: Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD. 6: None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD. 7: The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 8: The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness. 9: The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover. 10: The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness. 11: The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 12: Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister: she is thy father's near kinswoman. 13: Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister: for she is thy mother's near kinswoman. 14: Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt. 15: Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 16: Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness. 17: Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness. 18: Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time. 19: Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness. 20: Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her. 21: And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. 22: Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. 23: Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. 24: Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: 25: And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. 26: Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: 27: (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) 28: That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. 29: For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people. 30: Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

In today’s Bible reading we have described the final and ultimate sacrifice the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement. Then the Lord describes the most dangerous sins that can come to Israel. They can cause the Lord to turn against Israel and reject them. But first let’s look closely at the Day of Atonement. The Most holy place was never entered by any priest all year except on the Day of Atonement. First Aaron takes a young bullock for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering and afterward he is dressed in a plain linen coat and breeches. Then he is to take two kids of the goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. Then Aaron will offer the bullock for his own sins. Then he is ready to offer the Atonement for Israel. The two goats are brought to the door of the Tabernacle and they cast lots to decide which goat lives or dies. The one offering is for the LORD and the other for sin. We learn from this that Christ’s atoning sacrifice had two purposes. First it was an offering purely for God and secondly it was an offering for sin. One goat died on the altar and was completely consumed there the other was led into the wilderness and lost forever showing that our sins are removed completely out of sight. Often Christians misunderstand forgiveness because God does not forget anything (that is a human weakness) but he will never bring them up again. The blood of the sin offering is sprinkled before the Lord on the mercy seat. Its interesting that the sins of the people are confessed over the head of the live goat and he is set away never to be seen again. Confession leads to forgiveness because blood will be shed one day on the cross of Calvary. For the christian confession also leads to restoration of fellowship because it points back to the time when blood was shed on Calvary. The carcases of the sin offering is taken outside the camp and burnt there. The Day of Atonement was to be on the seventh month and the tenth day. After Israel had made an atonement they were in a state of peace. They were without sin. The Day of Atonement was a day of rest and serious reflection. The priest also makes atonement for the holy sanctuary, the tabernacle and for the altar. (Since the destruction of the Temple in Ad 70 Israel has been in a state of ‘Lo-Ammi’ in which they are unable to present themselves before the lord or make atonement.) The next thing that Moses gives instruction on is the question of blood. All killing of any animal is to be sacred in that the animal is to be brought to the door of the Tabernacle and dedicated to the Lord. if this did not happen then that man was to be cut off from the people i.e. executed. No sacrifice was to be offered to demons. Any man that ate blood was to be executed. The life of the flesh is in the blood and it is to be offered on the altar to make atonement. The blood atones for the soul. Next Moses turns his attention to the subject of forbidden sexual practises. The Lord reminds them of their deliverance from Egypt and of the gravity of their covenant. Then he says no man will have sexual relations with near family. And he gives the relationships which are forbidden. The Lord also warns them not to practise the heathen idolatry of burning their children. Then he says sexual intercourse with animals is forbidden. The Lord says the land itself will vomit you out of itself if you do these things. Anyone who did these things was to be executed.