Read Leviticus 16
The Day of Atonement
16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.
3 “This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy Place: He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He is to put on the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments; so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. 5 From the Israelite community he is to take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
6 “Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. 7 Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. 9 Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. 10 But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.
11 “Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household, and he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. 12 He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them behind the curtain. 13 He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the covenant law, so that he will not die. 14 He is to take some of the bull’s blood and with his finger sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover.
15 “He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. 16 In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the tent of meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 No one is to be in the tent of meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household and the whole community of Israel.
18 “Then he shall come out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar. 19 He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and to consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.
20 “When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. 21 He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.
23 “Then Aaron is to go into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments he put on before he entered the Most Holy Place, and he is to leave them there. 24 He shall bathe himself with water in the sanctuary area and put on his regular garments. Then he shall come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people, to make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 He shall also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
26 “The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp. 27 The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; their hides, flesh and intestines are to be burned up. 28 The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp.
29 “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you— 30 because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins. 31 It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. 32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments 33 and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community.
34 “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.”
And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Go Deeper
Leviticus 16 is a shift away from the regulations regarding uncleanliness and into a new section on the day of atonement. When reading Leviticus, we modern believers are tempted to disregard the regulations and rituals as belonging to the God of the Old Testament. We read the litany of requirements to make sacrifices at the temple and (perhaps too easily) dismiss the potency of what these scriptures reveal about God today. This chapter, as we read about the Day of Atonement, is one of the most significant in the Old Testament as we read through the lens of a Christ follower.
If God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), then we must let Leviticus challenge us with the truth that God is altogether Holy and completely pure. He does not wink at disobedience or nod at white lies. He is light and there is not one atom of shadow or darkness within the expanse of His brilliance (James 1:17). Too easily we shortchange the exhaustive grace of Jesus, by minimizing the utter sanctity of a God who will not allow his name to be associated with anything but holy reverence and undiluted honor. All of the washing and clean linen directives, the sacrifices and incense aren’t just rituals. They are directly in response to the Lord striking down the sons of Aaron for being flippant in their duties to Yahweh. There is no such thing as a little sin with a holy God. He does not categorize sin. For Yahweh, partial obedience is complete disobedience.
It is interesting, too, the order and magnitude of sacrifice for Aaron and for the Children of Israel. Aaron must sacrifice a full bull as a sin offering for just his sin and the sin of his household. And he must offer that sacrifice for his own sin before he deals with the sin of Israel. Moreover, the sacrifice for the millions of Israelites was simply a goat. It seems to correlate with Jesus’s statements in the New Testament about removing the plank in your own eye before you seek to remove the speck from your brother’s (Matthew 7:3-5). Confession and absolution are personal first and public second. How often have we prayed for the redemption of our fallen culture when we haven’t even dealt with the very same sin issue in our own lives? Leviticus 16 seems to say that our heart’s position is exponentially more important than our heart’s petition.
Questions
- What does Leviticus 16 teach you about God? What does this chapter teach you about humanity?
- What ways have you allowed the grace of the cross to diminish your understanding of God’s holiness?
- As you pray for the sins of the nation and for a turning of people’s hearts to God, have you hardened your heart against personal repentance and obedience?
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11 thoughts on “Leviticus 16”
Yom Kipper, the day of Atonement
Begins Oct 1, 2025 at sundown; ends at nightfall on Oct 2, 2025.
“In a nutshell the Biblically stated purpose of Yom Kippur is twofold: 1) to purify the Tabernacle (and later the Temple) from the uncleanness brought into it and it’s grounds by priest and commoner alike. And 2) to purify the people, the priests, and the High Priest. So the goal was to maintain a ritually pure sanctuary. This was because if Yehoveh’s earthly dwelling place were defiled He would NOT maintain His presence there; it is impossible that His infinite Holiness could cohabitate with earthly uncleanness. This is not an assumption as Scripture clearly states that premise.” (Tom Bradford, The Torah Class)
The motto of the Yom Kippur Sabbath it would be “abstain”. Abstain from food, work, drink, bathing, sex…..if it’s personally enjoyable you’re not to do it. Shabbat is joyous and a large meal is served, so this is the difference in Sabbaths.Hebrews 9 tells about how Jesus is our mediator now. Hebrews9:25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Aaron had to cleanse himself of all sin with the bull. He had to be righteous to enter into the Holy of Holies where God abides. It seems to me we are so flipant with ourselves about our sin. God cannot be where sin is. Until HC I never was taught about confession of sin being a daily habit. It was just when you accepted Christ and on occasion if you sinned BAD. But what I learning is that it is very important if you want God to involved in your life.
God lead me in Your Word, help me hide it in my heart that I might not sin against You. When I do sin thank You for being able to confess my sins, for You are faithful and just to forgive me of my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Thank You for showing me when my pride rears its ugly head that I can get the plank out of my eye. God thank You for today and these minutes of this day that You are what I need and You are what I am searching for. Thank You for helping me see others as You do, loving them where they are at, speaking kindness and gentleness. God I give You the glory and honor for these minutes, today, in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for today’s Digging Deeper notes. I appreciate the connection of Aaron’s sin offering to Matthew 7:3-5 (removing the plank from your own eye). I have never thought of that correlation until now. It is a great reminder to focus on my own sins first.
Yes!
10 “But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.“
We use the term “scapegoat” today to describe someone upon whom the blame for something is placed unfairly. This passage is where that concept originally comes from. While still alive, being sent out into the wilderness was a pretty treacherous fate for the poor, little goat!
In reading the rules, regulations and requirements for the Day of Atonement, the Holy Spirit gave me a gentle nudge that it’s all about surrender to Holy God. I don’t need understanding of the instructions to give my full obedience to our trustworthy God. If he said it, then it’s valid and my response is to heed his word.
My first question on reading this chapter is this:
“HOW could Aaron possibly serve right after his sons died?”
Online commentary offers these insights:
According to Leviticus 16, Aaron was able to continue serving as a priest even after his sons died because the instructions for the Day of Atonement ritual were given to him “after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died”; this meant that the ritual was specifically designed for him to atone for his own sins and the sins of the people, despite the tragic loss of his sons, allowing him to continue his priestly duties while carrying the weight of his grief.
Key points about this situation:
• God’s instruction:
Despite the tragedy, God instructed Moses to tell Aaron that he must still perform his priestly duties, including entering the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement.
• Symbolic meaning:
This act of continued service, despite personal loss, could be interpreted as a demonstration of unwavering devotion to God and the importance of fulfilling one’s sacred responsibility even in the face of immense grief.
Oh my.
Called to serve out our “sacred responsibilities” in the face of grief … as an act of “unwavering devotion to God?”
Wow.
The second, far more significant takeaway is this:
EVERYTHING in this text points to the Christ, who came to offer himself up as the perfect sacrificial lamb. Despite unthinkable suffering and sorrow, he NEVER wavered in his sacred responsibilities … or his Divine devotion.
WOW … doesn’t even begin to describe it.
❤
Such contrast. Bull/ plank – Goat/speck Powerful wisdom.
My takeaway is that God’s holiness demands purity and atonement for sin. The rituals of Leviticus foreshadow the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
♥️
I felt like this passage, spoke directly to one of my prayer requests of the year. My request was that I would abide and obey God full heartedly. Something that really stood out to me was God‘s faithfulness through it all. That God, in his holy and pure self would allow for broken, sinful, unclean humans to be with him in the Old Testament and still today. Something I felt was profound and personal in the Go Deeper section was the last sentence which says, “Leviticus 16 says that our hearts position is exponentially more important than our hearts petition”. I felt as thought the implication of this meant that if our hearts are aligned with Christ and are fully surrendered and focused on him and his will in obedience to him, so our heart’s petitions, prayers, and desires will follow.
My goal for this new year is that I would follow Jesus in full obedience and abide in Christ so that I can be made more like him.
Kelsey, yes!
I loved this so much:
“Our heart’s position is exponentially more important than our heart’s petition.”
AND I loved your thoughtful follow-up:
“When my heart is surrendered to Christ, my heart’s desires and prayers will follow.”
So, so good!