LEVITICUS 16:29-34 PICTURE A DAY OF BETTER ATONEMENT2021 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Leviticus 16:29-34 Picture A Day Of Better Atonement

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2021.

Well, here in Leviticus chapter 16, we're looking at and talking about the Day of Atonement. But I've titled the message this morning, Picture a Day of Better Atonement. Now, the Day of Atonement was the kind of the biggest day of the year, the biggest holiday of the year for the Jewish people in a sense, because it was the day that they were

Now, you know, there was three feasts every year that the Israelites were required to attend and participate in. And those feasts were, you know, reminders of works that God had done and celebrations of different aspects of God's work in their lives in the past. And they were all part of the feast.

But the Day of Atonement is a lot different because it was a gathering together of the people, but it was not a feast and it was not, you know, a celebration in that kind of sense. It was a very solemn day where the Lord called them to stop and reflect on their sinfulness and

and then experience the forgiveness and the pardoning of all of their sins. And it was happening every year, year by year, that they would have this encounter, this experience, coming to the tabernacle and having all of their sins cleansed. It's the day of atonement.

The word atonement, sometimes it's described as, like by pronouncing it a little bit differently, at-one-ment, just as justified, right? Just as if I had never sinned. This is a way to remember what atonement means. It's that at-one-ment with God, that you are at one with God, that you are able to have a clean slate before God.

The New Living Translation translates the word atonement to right with God. That is, to be made right with God is the idea of atonement.

It involves a payment, the paying of a price in order for this one-ment, for this fellowship to be able to be restored, that there would be this opportunity for, even though there was sins and issues, for the slate to be cleared and now we can be right with God, have oneness with him and real fellowship with him.

And so this Day of Atonement is something that God established in their calendar and in his law to give them this opportunity. Now, as I was reading through this this week and praying over it and thinking about it, I began to be curious because, well, we have already, and we looked at a couple weeks ago, the sacrifices of the first few chapters of Leviticus, right?

The sin sacrifice, the trespass sacrifice, and there were these sacrifices that individuals would bring in response to their sin and to understanding a wrong that they had done in order to get atonement, to get right with the Lord in that way.

And so I began to wonder, well, so what further need was there for the Day of Atonement then? Since we have these other components of the sacrificial system, why did God also have this separate day, this special day? I think it's important, of course, to remember that God knew the whole plan from the beginning.

First of all, we need to understand that the sacrificial system, the old covenant, the Levitical law was not a failed experiment. It wasn't that God tried it and, you know, it didn't go so well. And so he had to come up with a new plan. And so then he sent the Lord Jesus. No, that's not the way that God worked. From the beginning, from the foundations of the earth, the lamb was slain, the scriptures say, right? So God knew his plan, but he built this plan, this Levitical system, and he built it.

as a way to foreshadow and declare the things that would come, what the final solution would be in Christ.

And so here in the Day of Atonement, we have a little bit different than the sacrifices that we saw in chapters 4 and 5, but similar concepts, but a furthering of the picture, a furthering of the illustration that God wants to use to paint the picture of the Savior and what God

that would mean when he would come. And so what further picture was needed? What further symbolism was needed beyond the normal sacrifices? Well, there's a lot of things that we could look at, but there's three points I'd like to consider with you today to help us picture a day of better atonement. We'll be considering the day of atonement and how great that was, but

But God was using that to point to there's still something better. This isn't the full completion of the plan. There's something better in store. And so be looking forward to that. And for you and I today, we don't have to look forward to that. We get to experience and to walk in that if we believe God at his word. And so the first thing to consider to help us picture a better atonement or a day of better atonement is prayer.

Here's point number one. Picture a better removal of sin. Picture a better removal of sin. Looking at verse 29 and 30 again, it says this. This shall be a statute forever for you. In the seventh month, on the 10th day of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells with you. For on that day, the priest shall make atonement for you to cleanse you.

that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.

Here as we look at these first couple verses, we're jumping into the conclusion of the passage, and really 29 through the end is the summary of all the verses that came before it. And there's a lot more details, and we'll kind of hit a couple previews of those as we work our way through. But here as God is kind of summing it up, he's saying, look, this is to be a statute forever for you. Every year in the seventh month, the 10th day of the month,

That works out to about the middle of September for us on our calendars. He says, you shall have this special day. And it's a specific day that you are to afflict your souls. You're to be really somber and reflective and consider your sinfulness. Because on this day, he says, you will be cleansed from all your sins there in verse 30. He says, do this, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.

And this gives us a little bit of the contrast between the sacrifices we saw in chapters 4 and 5 and the Day of Atonement here in chapter 16. And that is that the sacrifices were individual sacrifices that were brought by individuals for individual sins that they discovered or knew about or were found out in. But the idea here is...

Those sacrifices in chapter 4 and 5, listen, you wouldn't be aware of all of your sin enough to bring enough sacrifices to cover all of your sin under that system. You wouldn't be aware of enough of your sin because we sin more than what we know about. There's more sin happening in our lives than we are aware of. That is always the case. You can count on that.

And God will reveal sin in our lives, and he will reveal situations and issues within our hearts so that we can address it. And as we address it, then we might feel like, all right, now I'm done. I'm good. But no, no, there's more, and the Lord will show you more if you'll allow him to. There's a constant work of sanctification in us, and then some of those things that, you know, we conquered in our past,

uh rear up again and so we get forward and we think i'm done with that i'm never going to struggle with that again and then it comes back up right there is always a persistence of sin in our lives and so chapters four and five the offering of the sin or the sin offering and the the trespass offering they were important in responding to that sin that was known to to responding to the sin that was uncovered but

It was not a real guarantee of at-one-ment with God because there was also the sins that were unknown. The sins that you couldn't confess because you were unaware of them. The sins that you couldn't confess because they hadn't been brought to your attention yet. They were happening as part of your sinful flesh, but

But you weren't aware of the sin yet. And so here on the Day of Atonement, one of the aspects of it was the covering of, okay, anything you forgot to confess, anything you didn't know about, all the things that, you know, were not automatically covered, now they're going to be kind of swept into one important sacrifice on this Day of Atonement.

And so there was a very unique sin offering that would take place here on the Day of Atonement. A little bit different than the sacrifices that we saw previously. This time, when the offering was given for the people and the sins of the people, the offering was given in the form of two goats. It's referred to as a sin offering. It's one sin offering, but it takes the form of two goats. And one of these goats is sacrificed on the altar.

But the other one becomes what is referred to as the scapegoat. And that one is released into the wilderness. And so you have these two goats combining to complete this picture of cleansing from sins for the children of Israel. Again, the point here in verse 30 is that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.

Let's jump back to verse 7 and 8 for a moment. It says, These two goats that were part of this important day, that were part of the offering for the people, they were to be brought before the Lord, and then the Lord would choose by the casting of lots.

Now, that was either by, maybe you could equate it to like rolling the dice, that kind of thing, that the Lord had provided this opportunity for them to do something of chance, but God is the Lord of all things. And so it was a way to give God the opportunity to choose. And so the Lord would choose a goat, the one that would go free, and then the other one would be sacrificed.

And so in verse 9, Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lots fell and offer it as a sin offering. He shall kill the goat, verse 15, kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. And so you can see there, I'm kind of jumping around a little bit, right? But staying focused on these two goats, right?

There's a bunch of things that are happening in sequence on the Day of Atonement, and you can read through the chapter and kind of put together that sequence a little bit better if you'd like to. But here, just considering these two goats, these two animals, which were part of this one offering. The Lord said, that one's mine, burn that one on the altar.

And so both goats had to measure up to the standard of a sacrifice. And again, we read through that in chapters four and five. Both goats had to be similar and equitable. And yet one of them would be chosen to die upon, well, not die upon the altar, but to die and be burned on the altar. And then the other one would be released into the wilderness. Verse 10 says,

The goat on which the lot fell to be scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement upon it and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. And so it's really interesting to me because the atonement is partly from the sacrifice on the altar, but also there's atonement involved in the scapegoat that is released into the wilderness.

And the picture here is important because it's showing different aspects of the work of the Lord. It's showing different aspects of forgiveness and the dealing with sin that is necessary. Now, the sacrifice upon the altar, I think we've talked about that a few times enough already. We're pretty familiar with that.

But the scapegoat's a little bit different. That's not in the other sacrifices. And so what's up with that? And how do we understand that? Verse 21 and 22 gives us the details for how Aaron is to accomplish that. In verse 21, it says, Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat,

confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. Verse 22, the goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. So the picture here is one goat on the altar, the other goat,

Aaron takes both his hands. It says he confesses over it the iniquities of the children of Israel. This is done once a year, right? So he lays his hands on the head of the goat and he confesses a year's worth of iniquity for the children of Israel. Probably not, you know,

record of every sacrifice that was brought and every sin that was committed, right? But probably speaking very generally, but kind of specific issues that they were facing as a society, addressing those, confessing them before the Lord. Lord, we have failed this way, and we have failed this way, and we have fallen short in this, and we have forgotten you in that, and recounting for Israel their issues in their relationship with God.

And in confessing it, it wasn't a proclamation in the sense of, you know, this was Aaron's chance to preach to everybody and say, all right, everybody, this is where I see all of you failing. The idea is here is that in the confession of the iniquities, the iniquities are being conveyed onto the goat. It says putting them on the head of the goat. And so the goat is now bearing the sin of the people.

And so there was one goat that would bear the sin of the people and the consequences of it, the punishment of it, and so it would be sacrificed. It would die and be burned upon the altar. But the other goat bore the sins in a different way. The other goat bore the sin and then was sent out of the camp, sent out into the wilderness and released to never be seen again. And the picture here is powerful.

Because you see the penalty of sin being taken care of by the sacrifice. But the picture that is painted by this goat that is released is the removal of guilt, the removal of the sin from the presence of the people completely. That, you know, you could understand that there would be the idea, it would be easy to kind of think as an Israelite, the penalty for my sin has been paid for because I offered the sacrifice completely.

I'm forgiven in that sense, but the sin is not gone, right? It's just that the payment was made. But on this day, the day of atonement, the payment is made and the sin itself, the guilt itself is removed. Pastor Thomas Constable puts it this way, "...the goat slain represented the judgment on sin that resulted in death necessary for atonement."

The goat sent off into the wilderness with the sinner's guilt imputed to it symbolized the removal of guilt. Where the Lord is saying, you are no longer guilty. Not just you no longer deserve this punishment, but it's a release of guilt. It's a release of sin. A release of the impact and burden of sin.

So much so, the people understood this, that they eventually developed a celebration chain. And that's not their term, that's what I'm referring to it as. But as this goat was led out into the wilderness...

This trustworthy man took the goat. He's leading it out into the wilderness. They would go out. Most traditions say that it was 10 miles that they would go out into the wilderness. That's kind of a bit of a distance, right? So how would they know when the goat was released? How would they know when it was out of sight?

Well, they would set up these stations to have, you know, the people call out, okay, the goat's passing me on the way out to the wilderness. And he would yell it back to the station behind him and station behind him, station behind him. And then back at the tabernacle, the people would hear, all right, the goat's passed station number four. And then as the goat went further out, finally to the last station, okay, 10 miles out, and the goat's wandering out in the wilderness. And it's going, it's going, it's going, it's going.

It's gone. It's out of sight. It's vanished. Your sins are removed. And that last post with send word back and send word back and send word back and send word back. And when the people back at the tabernacle got the word that the goat was gone, their sin was removed.

there would be great celebration. In contrast to what God required in verse 30, he says, or verse 29, that it should be a day of afflicting your souls, right? So there would be up to this point, the affliction of the soul, the somberness, the sobriety of, you know, reflection on how sinful we are. But now the sins are removed. The goat has left.

And the guilt is gone. We are clean. We are spotless. We are pure before God. And there would be great celebration from the people there back at the tabernacle. It's a powerful picture of that removal of sin. It's out of sight.

God doesn't see that sin when he looks at you any longer. He doesn't have that in view. It's not, you know, off to the side, I can still see it, kind of my peripheral vision, you know, I remember that sin that you did, you know. No, no. It pictures that absolute casting out of sin completely. It's a powerful picture. At the same time, it's not complete. Again, the point here, point number one is picture a better removal of sin. The reality was this was...

a condition of cleanness. They were clean from all of their sins for now, for this moment. And then they would begin to accumulate sins as the days went on.

And they would not be cleansed from all of their sins again until the next year on this day. And so every year they would have this celebration. It was the start of their new year, by the way. This month was kind of the beginning of their year. And so they would start out the year with a fresh, clean slate before the Lord. But by the end of the year, they needed a new start because their sins had built up. Their sins had continued to

It's a powerful picture, but it pictures also the incompleteness of it in that it needed to be done every year. The author of Hebrews refers back to and really draws from the pictures of the Day of Atonement a lot in the whole book of Hebrews. And so I'm going to refer to a few different passages throughout the time together this morning. Here's the first one. Hebrews chapter 10.

In verse 1, the author of Hebrews says, But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year.

You can see the reference to years here in Hebrews 10. He's not talking about the individual sacrifices of chapters 4 and 5. He's talking about the Day of Atonement. And every year, they had to have these sacrifices. And it was a great day. It was a powerful picture that the people would know that they're cleansed. But it was also a picture of a future day where there would be a greater cleansing.

And there would not need to be the ongoing year-by-year sacrifice for sins. Instead, he says, in those sacrifices, it's the reminder of sins every year. Their sacrifices every year on the Day of Atonement reminded them they still had a lot of outstanding issues when it came to their relationship with God. And they were not free to approach God and to know God and walk with God. They were reminded year-by-year that

that these sacrifices had to be offered. They had the reminder of their outstanding issues of sin. Now for you and I today, as we look at Christ, he is a different kind of sacrifice, where it was one sacrifice for all, one sacrifice forever, one sacrifice, and that was it. His death upon the cross is the full completion of sin.

And we still have reminders of the cross, don't we? I mean, the Lord gave us communion and we partake of communion and remember what he has done, right? But it's a different kind of reminder. It's not a reminder of our outstanding issues of sin before God. It's a reminder of our once and for all sacrifice done on our behalf. It's a different reminder. It's a better reminder. It's a better picture that we remember

we have had our sins removed completely. This goat, these two goats, picture all the different aspects of the removing of sin in a great way, a powerful way. But it also points to the better picture, Christ, where the sin is permanently dealt with, not just year by year, reminding us how much we fall short.

Instead, we have the reminder of how much we get to be in the presence of God. Again, Hebrews chapter 9, verse 24, it says,

He would then have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world. But now once, at the end of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Picture a better removal of sin. We don't have to picture it like the Israelites did in the sense of we don't have to imagine that one day there will be this opportunity. We instead get to live in the reality of this truth. Once, at the end of the ages, one sacrifice, Christ died.

has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Not one day a year, but one day in all history. One day for all sin of all time. If the Levitical system were still active and still a means of approaching God as far as God was concerned,

well, then the Day of Atonement would still be required. And you and I, in order to have our sins dealt with, would need to go and participate. Yom Kippur 2021. It's Wednesday, September 15th. We would need to go to Israel. We would need to be part of the Day of Atonement and be part of the sacrifices and have our sins removed. But those were pictures that pointed to Christ, which is the fulfillment of

of all the things that God has been saying and the once and for all dealing with sin, the removal of sin from us. Pastor Thomas Constable says this, "'The promise of God is one that the Israelite was to believe and by which he could enjoy assurance of his fellowship with God. It is very clear from this verse that God promised forgiveness and cleansing to all who trusted in the efficacy of the sacrifices that he provided and prescribed.'"

I think this is an important aspect to consider. The requirement here was for the Israelites to trust God following these procedures resulted in their cleansing of sins. As we talked about when we talked about the sacrifices, God didn't need them. They weren't for him. They were for us. They were for people. That we would have the opportunity to trust God, to express our trust in God. God promised forgiveness to those who trusted God

in the sacrifices that he provided. And you can imagine being an Israelite there on the Day of Atonement, and you get word back that, you know, the goat is gone. I could imagine being an Israelite saying, well, I don't feel any different. I don't know if I should celebrate because I don't feel anything. It doesn't seem like, what changed? I can't tell what changed. Something, you know, happened 10 miles away from here, and how is that supposed to affect me? I could imagine an Israelite saying, I don't feel anything. I don't feel forgiven. It wasn't about that.

It was about them trusting as they obeyed God in these things, they were forgiven. It wasn't a matter of how they felt. It was a matter of their trust in the word of God. In a similar way for us, you know, sometimes we believe in Jesus, but we don't feel forgiven. And so all of this is to point us back to this powerful picture to say, look, you may not feel forgiven, but

And so you act like you're not forgiven and you're living, you know, under a burden of guilt. You're living under the burden of sin as if you weren't forgiven, but you are forgiven. And so let these pictures point you to the reality, to the truth, that if you believe the Lord at his word, oh, there's a day of better atonement for you. And it's not someday in the future. It's right now, if you'll allow it. If you'll trust the Lord, it's right now that

your sins have been completely removed. You may not feel it, but you can believe it. You can believe God at his word. You can trust him. He said, believe in me and your sins are forgiven. You're cleansed, washed. The psalmist in Psalm 103 really caught the view of this picture, I think. In Psalm 103 verse 10, he says, he has not dealt with us according to our sins. He

nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgression from us. Understand the mercy and grace of God towards you that results in the removal of your sin. How far into the heavens can you travel?

Even if Elon Musk eventually gets us to Mars, that's just like a small fraction of what's available in the heavens. It's just a short distance compared to what exists beyond that. He says in verse 11, as the heavens are high above the earth, as great as that distance is, you can go up and you can keep on going up and you can keep on going up for much bigger numbers than I know how to communicate or calculate.

That's how high, that's how great his mercy is towards those who fear him. Listen, you trust God, you fear God, and you get to benefit from mercy that is unlimited, never needs to be refilled because you never reach the end of it. He says, as far as the east is from the west, that's how far our transgressions have been removed from us. And it's been pointed out many times over the years. You start traveling north,

If you're on planet Earth, start traveling north, you reach a point where you're going the same way. You haven't changed course, but now suddenly you're going south. You start going south, you don't change course, eventually you'll start going north. That's the way directions work. That's why I'm so confused directionally all the time, because it doesn't make any sense. North meets south, and south meets north. But east and west are different. Start traveling east, and if you don't change course...

and you have unlimited fuel, you'll always be traveling east. You start traveling west, and you have unlimited fuel, and you don't change course, you'll always be traveling west. West will never meet east. East will never meet west. And so as far as the east is from the west, you can go infinitely that direction, infinitely that direction. They will never meet. That's the idea here. And that's how far he's removed our transgression from us. That's how far your sin has been removed from you. You may not feel that way.

But believe the picture that God has painted for us here. Your sins are permanently removed from you by faith in Jesus. Believe it and live accordingly. And so we need to picture this better removal of sin. That was already a good one with these two goats, pictured it really well, but there was a better picture, a better removal of sin fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Well, the next thing for us to consider in verse 32 now is picture a better high priest. The high priest was the main person involved in these events here of Leviticus chapter 16 on the Day of Atonement. He had a significant role, a very important part, and his part was prominent. But there was something better that God was picturing through the work of the high priest on that day. Verse 32 says this,

And the priest who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father's place shall make atonement and put on the linen clothes and the holy garments. Here, again, summarizing many of the details that were included in the previous verses of the chapter, it refers to this high priest. But it refers specifically to the current high priest. On the day of atonement, the

Atoning sacrifices were the job of the high priest and the high priest alone. Other days of the year, the high priest was involved in some sacrifices, but the rest of the priests carried the bulk of the load and did the majority of the work for the rest of the sacrifices. But on this day, the high priest could have no help. Perhaps it's one of the reasons why God required high priests to retire early.

They couldn't serve for too long. It was limited because there was these special days where there was going to be a lot of work. He was going to have to butcher, I think, four or five different animals by himself. That's a lot of effort. That's a lot of work. And so the high priest alone, but it's referring to the current high priest here in verse 32. He said, the one consecrated to minister as priest in his father's place. And so the first high priest was Aaron. Aaron.

And the way that God laid it out was that Aaron was to be high priest, but then he was to pass that role on to his eldest son. And so that would be the new generation high priest. And then he would pass it on to his eldest son, and that would be the next generation's high priest, and so on and so forth. And so here we have built into this verse reference to the reality that there was always...

a changing of the high priest. And I would ask you to think about this or consider it this way. When it comes to forgiveness of sins, when it comes to access to God and fellowship with God, if the one that you're coming to for forgiveness doesn't live forever, you're in trouble. If the one that you're coming to for forgiveness has to be replaced by a new generation and by a new generation and by a new generation and a new generation, then you're in trouble because what

What we need is more than what other people can provide us. And built into this was the picture that, well, the high priest, it was a prominent position. It was an important role. And yet at the same time, it wasn't permanent. It wasn't lasting. It didn't fulfill completely.

This is really important for us to consider in those times where alternatives to Christ are being offered to us. We need to understand and to think about kind of the bigger picture, eternity. You know, sometimes things can sound really smooth and really great and deception comes in very powerfully, but there is no substitute for and replacement for a high priest that doesn't need to be replaced. Hebrews chapter 7 says,

This time, verse 23, it says, The high priest served an important role and was a valuable part of God's plan in the Levitical system.

But he also pictured something far better than the high priest could ever be. The high priest and the role of the high priest pictured something far greater than anyone who ever would fulfill it could measure up to. It pictured the Lord Jesus. There were many priests because they died. They ran out of time. They were subject to sin and death. But he, because he continues forever, he has an unchangeable priesthood.

He doesn't have to try to pick up where the previous one left off. You can imagine, just like we have varying degrees of greatness in our leaders, right? The next season comes, and it's like, oh man, we got a bad batch this time. Next season comes, okay, we got a good batch. There's hope for us. We get the next season, oh, there's a bad batch, and got to make up for that in the next season of the good ones, right? Like with the high priests, they would get a new generation every few years. New generation, new generation.

What kind of generation is this going to be? It pictured the need for something permanent, the need for something that would stand beyond time. It pictured the Lord Jesus. Well, that's not the only way that Jesus is pictured here. Thinking about a better high priest, one of the aspects of the Day of Atonement was the high priest would have to change his garments. Again, here in verse 32, it

At the very end, he says, put on the linen clothes, the holy garments. That's not referring to the normal garments the high priest would wear.

The normal garments the high priest would wear, you can refer back to Exodus chapter 28, they were impressive. They were intricately designed, incredibly valuable with the materials and decorative in the way that they were put together. And it describes this kind of beautiful garments, this beautiful uniform that the high priest would wear that would be made of very valuable materials.

That was his normal everyday wear. But on this day, on this very special day, on this most special of all special days, he would put on different garments. Verse 4 here in Leviticus chapter 16. He shall put on, I'm sorry, he shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body. He shall be girded with a linen sash and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments and

Therefore he shall wash his body in water and put them on. The garments, there's a couple of different pieces, all made of linen, were basic, simple, plain. Not decorative, not, you know, all fancy and ornate and, you know, filled with all these different materials and symbols and powerful visuals. This was like the most plain of garments that you could imagine.

simpler even than what the normal priests would wear. I mean, the high priest had this, you know, decked out attire, and the normal priests had somewhat decked out attire. It was less. But here, what the high priest would wear on this day was even more simple, more basic than the regular priests. And so you might ask, it caused me to ask, why dress down on the most important day of the year?

If your workplace has a most important day of the year, is that the day that you show up in shorts and a t-shirt? Probably not, right? That's the day you show up dressed the most, you dress all year long, right? Here on the most important day for them, the day of atonement, the day where sins are cleansed, the high priest is to dress down. More simple, more plain, more basic. Why? Because he's painting a picture. He's painting a picture of, well, the Savior that is to come. Think about Philippians chapter 2.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. Here in Philippians chapter 2, you have the kenosis, the emptying of himself. It's a great doctrine and one that can involve much discussion if you want to get into it.

But the idea here is he made himself of no reputation. He emptied himself. He laid aside his beautiful fancy garments and put on plain, simple humanity garments. He laid aside his garments of glory, put on the garments of humanity in order to make atonement for sin. On the day of atonement for the sin offerings, the priest would take off those garments, put on the plain ones, the Lord Jesus Christ

put off his garments of glory, put on the regular human garments in order to make atonement for sin. But it gets a little bit more interesting as you go forward in the account here of Leviticus chapter 16. The plain garments were worn by the high priest only for the sin offerings. After the sin offerings came the burnt offerings. And before he would offer the burnt offerings, he would change back into his normal priestly attire.

Check out verse 23 and 24. Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there. He shall wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. And so these linen garments, these plain garments, were for a segment of the day that

where the sin offerings were being sacrificed and his transactions in and out of the tabernacle, he would be wearing these basic, simple linen clothes. But then when it came time to offer the burnt offerings, to complete the atonement for the people, he would change back into his garments that were decorative, elaborate, full of beauty. It completes the picture.

You see Jesus laying aside his garments of glory in Philippians chapter 2, providing atonement for sin. He dies. He resurrects. He ascends into heaven and puts on his garments of glory again, providing the offerings of dedication.

Providing the opportunity for us to be living sacrifices unto the Lord. Completing the work that he began in us in the sanctification process. The whole picture of the burnt offering is the Lord's ongoing work for you and I. And he does that from his position of glory and his garments of glory. Remember in John chapter 17 as Jesus was about to head to the cross.

He checks in with the Father in his prayer and he says, glorify me together with yourself with the glory I had with you before the world was. I laid aside the garments of glory. I emptied myself. I became man. Now I'm going back to you, Father, and I'm going to receive that glory once again. And so here we have this picture in the Day of Atonement of this incredible role of the high priest,

How he is one of the people and he needs atonement for himself. That's an aspect that I didn't really get into for right now. But he, in verse 11, talks about the offering that is for himself. It points to the fact that the high priest was imperfect. In fact, the very first high priest, just a few months ago when these instructions are being given, the first high priest led the people into idolatry with the golden calf, remember? So high priest was a prominent role, but not a perfect person. But he points to you.

that role that will be fulfilled by the perfect person, Jesus. Picture a better high priest. Now again, from our standpoint, we don't have to imagine. We don't have to think about some point in the future where there is going to be some high priest that is able to offer these sacrifices in a more complete way. We look back to and understand that Jesus is the fulfillment of this. He is a better high priest because he lives forever.

He ever lives to make intercession for you. He's a better high priest because he was sinless. He didn't need to offer sacrifices for himself. He's a better high priest. One other thing to consider is because he really understands us. Hebrews chapter four says, "'Seeing that we have a great high priest "'who has passed through the heavens, "'Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. "'For we do not have a high priest "'who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, "'but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.'"

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The high priest and the role of the high priest points to something far greater found in Jesus. A high priest that is perfect, but laid aside his garments of glory, put on humanity so that he can sympathize with all of us in our weaknesses. He understands what it means to be tempted in all areas.

He understands where we're coming from. He understands what it's like. He put on his garments of glory again, but he hasn't forgotten. He still knows. It makes him a sympathetic high priest. And so the conclusion is, so let's come boldly. We don't have to stay away from the Lord. We don't have to run from the Lord. No matter what temptation we've given into or failed in, no matter what area we've fallen in, he's sympathetic. He understands. He's compassionate. He knows what it's like.

And so he's able to help, to provide grace and mercy in times of need. And so picturing a day of better atonement, of course, we're picturing Christ in the removal of sin and a better high priest. And finally, verse 33 and 34, picture a better access to God. Picture a better access to God. The day of atonement pictures access to God, right?

But it also foreshadows a day where there will be better access. Verse 33 here of Leviticus 16 says, Then he shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary. He shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar. And he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. This shall be an everlasting statute for you to make atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Picture a better access to God. Notice, as you look through chapter 16, the different types of atonement. There was atonement for the priest. The priest had to get atonement for himself so that he himself could be right with God and have access to God. There was atonement for the people so that the people could be made right with God and have access to God. But also built into this day of atonement was atonement for the tabernacle, the actual tent itself.

Verse 33, he shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary. In the reminder of sins every year, the priest is reminded of his sin, the people are reminded of their sin, but they're also reminded that their sin affects their place of worship. It reminds them that their tabernacle is not perfect because it can be tainted by their sin.

It reminds them that the tabernacle, again, was always intended by God to be temporary. So there had to be atonement made for the tabernacle each year on the day of atonement. Now the tabernacle, just to kind of refresh our memory since it's a really important part of what the Lord is saying here, here's a quick layout of the tabernacle.

And here, this is based on what God gave them instruction for in the book of Exodus, modeling after the temple in heaven, right? Later on, the temple that Solomon would build would be modeled after this tabernacle. The tabernacle had around it a courtyard, and so it would be sitting inside a boundary of fences, and inside the courtyard would be the altar, right?

And then the laver, the altar was where they burned the sacrifices. The laver, the round thing there, that was where the priest would wash. So when you read about the priest washing here in chapter 16, that's where he would go and he would wash and then change his garments. That would happen right in front of the actual tabernacle tent. They would head in going upwards in this diagram to the holy place where there was the table of showbread and

the candlestick, and then the altar of incense. And inside this holy place, this was referred to as the tabernacle of meeting in verse 33. This is referred to as different things, obviously, but the holy place, the tabernacle of meeting, this is where the priests would go every day. They'd be in and out of this place every day, all day long, depending on what was going on, but they would be

attending to the candles and making sure they were still lit, attending to the showbread, offering incense on the altar of incense. And so they would be in and out of this every day. But then at the very top, you had the Holy of Holies, or what's referred to as the Holy Sanctuary in verse 33. And this was the place where the Ark of the Covenant was, and the presence of God dwelt. And as they were there, they were not allowed into the Holy of Holies,

except on this day, the day of atonement. And so in their daily ministry, they were going in and out of the holy place all day long. But the holy of holies, they never got to go in there except for one day a year. The priest would go in three times on that day, following very careful instructions here in Leviticus 16, being very careful not to die. If you look at verse one, it's attached to the death of Nadab and Abihu.

And these instructions probably came right, you know, after the death of Aaron's two sons, Nadab and Abihu, because they, seems like, tried to go into the Holy of Holies when they weren't supposed to. And God said, no, no, you can't just come anytime. Verse 1 and 2 talk about this. You can't just come anytime, follow these instructions, these particular patterns, on this one day, under these exact circumstances, in this exact sequence, and

Then you can come into the Holy of Holies where the presence of God is. And it was a powerful picture of the presence of God in the midst of Israel, but it was also a powerful picture that full access to God was not possible. They didn't have full access to God. They were kept from the presence of God. Very limited access to the presence of God, except for this one day on each year for the Day of Atonement, the cleansing of sins.

The author of Hebrews points this out. This is a whole picture that was being painted by the Lord. Verse 6, when these things had been thus prepared, the priest always went into the first part of the tabernacle performing the services. But into the second part, the high priest went alone once a year and not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance. Again, this is a day of atonement. Verse 8, the Holy Spirit indicating this. See, it's painting a picture. The Lord is drawing an illustration with this day of atonement.

The way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.

It pictured so many things about God and what God was offering to them, but it also pictured this isn't the complete picture. It showed there's something greater to come where you will have full access to God. And that was, of course, uncovered in Mark 15, verse 37 and 38. Jesus on the cross, breathing his last breath, cried out with a loud voice, and the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

And so that veil that separated this holy place from the holy of holies, now it's torn, it's ripped. The veil was there originally, Hebrews says, indicating the Holy Spirit saying, look, the way in is not available yet. But then the veil is torn top to bottom, something only God can do. God saying, the way is available now. Through the death of Jesus Christ, you have access to God that's greater than

to a greater degree than the high priests of Israel following the Levitical law had. By faith in Jesus Christ, you have a greater access to the presence of God than was ever possible under the Old Covenant, under the Old Testament system. Picture a better access to God than what we have. You can't. The best system that's ever been designed...

for approaching God through, you know, a Levitical sacrificial type system. God designed it. It's here in Leviticus and Exodus and the law is there, but under that best system possible, it was limited access. But by faith in Christ, by believing in Jesus and what he has done for you, you have full, unhindered, unlimited access to God. It's really important to understand this because many times we think

allow ourselves to be tricked or deceived out of approaching God and fellowship with God. We have access to God no matter what because we've got a better sacrifice, a better removal of sin. We have a better high priest. We have the opportunity to know God. Now, the access to this better sanctuary, it's not physical. It's not this building, right? But at the same time, it's not imaginary, right? It's spiritual, right?

So there is a component where it's like, well, I don't feel different. There is a component where you might go like, well, what does that really mean then? And I would encourage you to really consider that because it's spiritual. It's not imaginary. At the same time, you have to decide. You have to choose. The author of Hebrews, I don't have time to go into that really, but Hebrews chapter 10 talks about this whole thing, summing it up in 10, 19 through 25. You can read through that later.

It says, since we have boldness to enter the holiest of all, this very thing that we're talking about, we have boldness to do this by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near. And he gives really three things for us to do as practical application as a result of all this. To draw near to God, to hold fast to our faith, and to consider one another to stir up love and good works. And so for you and I this morning, picturing a day of better atonement,

gives us the complete removal of sin. By faith in Jesus Christ, our sins are gone as far as the east is from the west. And we have access to God by faith in Jesus Christ, who is the best high priest that could be possible because he was sinless and perfect, but he became man to understand what it's like to be us, offered the perfect atonement, the perfect covering for all sin, and

ascended back up into glory, put on his garments of glory, and continues his ministry so he's able to save us to the uttermost, giving us full access to God so you can know God. The only limitation on your walk with God and your relationship with God is just how much effort you choose to put into it. That's it. You can know him. You can experience his presence, hear his voice, serve him, love him. Greater experiences,

than anyone in the old covenant could have. You can have. It's up to the Lord how he reveals and manifests himself to us. I'm not saying that, you know, you're going to see his glory like Moses did, right? But at the same time, you have better access to God than Moses ever did. Know him. Walk with him. Draw near. Hold fast to your faith and serve one another. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this great picture that you have painted for us here in the day of atonement.

It was so important and valuable, of course, for your people, Lord, as they lived through this season and this time period. But Lord, it continues to resonate as Christ has fulfilled all these different aspects and elements. Lord, for them, it was foreshadowing, telling what was to come for us. Lord, these things point us back to you. I pray, God, that you would allow these truths to take deep root in our heart, that we would hold fast our confession of hope in you.

trusting in your completed work and living, Lord, as if our sin has been removed, living as if we have been freed because you, Lord, your mercy is as high as the heavens are above the earth. Help us, Lord, to enjoy that kind of life, to enjoy that kind of forgiveness from you. And God, I pray that you would help us to take advantage of our high priest. Lord, you make yourself available, but you don't force us into your presence. And so, Lord, may we

Have our hearts stirred. We invite you to stir our hearts. We ask, Lord, that you would draw us near to you, turn our minds and our hearts toward you, that we would come frequently, come often, and come for long periods of time to be in your presence, to sit at your feet, to love you, and may it overflow with our love for one another. Thank you, God, for your goodness towards us. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

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