Day of Atonement


The Day of Atonement was a great ritual and this ceremony had at least 14 steps which had to be very carefully followed as instructed by the Lord.

The people had to fast on that day. The priest made atonement for the most holy place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, for the priests and all the community. Atonement had to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites and it was done as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Sacrifice
Two goats were chosen. One was sacrificed as the sin offering. The other was presented alive and used as the scape goat which was sent into the desert. Aaron had to lay both his hands on its head and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion and all the sins of the Israelites and sent it away to a solitary place in the desert.

Rules to Remember
▪️ All sacrifices had to be done at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and presented to the Lord in front of the Tabernacle. If anyone sacrificed in the camp or just outside the camp he was cut off from the people.
▪️ The blood of any creature should never be eaten as the life of every creature is in its blood.
▪️ Anything found dead and torn by wild animals should not be eaten.
▪️ Anyone who had detestable practices like unlawful sexual relationships was cut off from the people.

Obedience
The Lord was holy and He was determined that His people should be holy. So He told Moses of the many decrees and laws the people had to follow. They should never forget the Lord who brought them out of Egypt.

The Lord wanted His people to be clean in their speech and actions free from deception. Honesty should be shown in all their work. They should maintain holiness in their daily life and in their bodies. The Lord God should be revered. The elderly should be respected and the aliens treated kindly. The Sabbaths should be observed and the people should have reverance for the sanctuary. All the laws had to be followed carefully by the people of God.

Bless the Lord O my soul
Even if I had a thousand tongues I would not be able to thank God for His great love towards me. The Lord’s ONE AND ONLY sacrifice on the cross of Calvary perfected the forgiveness of my sins for ever. Glory be to God!

Mrs Caroline Chellappa 📝
Chennai
09-08-2020

Don’t look into the ark! Look at Jesus!

Leviticus 16: 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.

The Bible tells us that the ark held the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, the pot of manna and Aaron’s rod (see also Heb 9:4)

These items were tokens of man’s rebellion:

The two tablets of the Ten Commandments represented man’s rejection of God’s standards.

The manna represented man’s rejection of God’s provision.

Aaron’s rod, man’s rejection of God’s appointed priesthood.

Once a year on the Day of Atonement, Aaron the high priest would enter the Holy of Holiest to sprinkle on the mercy seat the blood of the animal that had been sacrificed. The two cherubims on the mercy seat stood as guardians of God’s righteousness and holiness.(Ex37:8)
Representing God’s eyes too, they looked at the blood on the mercy seat. As long as the blood was there, the entire nation of Israel was forgiven. God’s judgment passed over them and they were blessed for another year.

God did not want to look at these tokens of rebellion. He wanted to be merciful to His people, so He instructed them to place the items in the ark and to cover the ark with its mercy seat, which is also the place where the blood of the animal sacrifices was sprinkled.

Today, the blood sprinkled on the mercy seat is not the blood of bulls and goats, but the precious, eternal blood of the Son of God (see Heb 9:12)! Jesus is our “mercy seat” for “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
The word “propitiation” in the original Greek text is the same word as “mercy seat” (see Rom 3:25, Heb 9:5).

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 1John 2:2

Beloved, God does not see your sins and count them against you because He sees His Son’s blood. He sees His Son’s perfect work that has more than satisfied Him. He does not want you to look inside the ark by focusing on your sins. He wants you to focus on Christ and His finished work!

Stay Blessed 😊
Ravi