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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Leviticus 16:1 - 16:14
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Aaron's Sacrifices for Himself
v. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord and died, their unauthorized act bringing down upon them the destroying wrath of God, Lev_10:1-2.
v. 2. And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron, thy brother, that he come not at all times, at any time that he might choose, into the Holy Place within the veil, into the Most Holy Place, before the mercy-seat, which is upon the ark, the corer, or lid, of the chest which contained the tables of the covenant, that he die not; for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat. That was the place appointed for the peculiar manifestation of God in the glory of His mercy, Exo_25:22; for this cloud revealed the presence of God to the representatives of the people. To step into this place of highest consecration in an arbitrary way, without the special direction of God, would result in death to the offender.
v. 3. Thus shall Aaron come into the Holy Place, into the innermost section of the Tabernacle: with a young bullock for a sin-offering and a ram for a burnt offering. These were the sacrificial offerings for the faults of the high priest and for those of the entire priesthood.
v. 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 miter, the turbanlike head-dress, shall he be attired; these are the holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on. These white garments were reserved for the special ceremonies of this day, whereas upon other occasions the high priest appeared in his variegated dress, Exodus 28. The white color indicated that no unclean person, no sinner, should step into the presence of the holy God.
v. 5. And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel, as the joint offering of the entire people, and therefore supplied by them, two kids of the goats for a sin-offering and one ram for a burnt offering. Although the ritual dealt with the two young goats in an entirely different manner, yet they both together constituted a single sin-offering. Thus the sacrificial victims both for the priesthood and for the congregation were provided.
v. 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, the term here apparently including not only the immediate family of the high priest, but the whole order of priests. Since all the priests were representatives and mediators of the people in their dealings with the Lord, it was necessary that their own sin, first of all, be covered and expiated in the sight of God.
v. 7. And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, formally set them forth in their character as sacrificial animals, before the face of the Lord. According to Jewish tradition the two goats were of the same size and otherwise as identical as possible in their markings.
v. 8. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, the lots being drawn from an urn by some attendant; one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat, or Azazel, as the Hebrew has it, for the "Remover of Sin. " Both he-goats bore the sins of the people, the one through the act of sacrifice, the other by complete removal into the wilderness.
v. 9. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin-offering, in the manner prescribed for such sacrifices.
v. 10. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, to symbolize the complete removal of all transgression and iniquity, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. So much for the preparation for the sacrifices.
v. 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, for the entire priesthood, and shall kill the bullock of the sin-offering which is for himself. This was the first stage of the day's sacrifices.
v. 12. And he shall take a censer, a pan or vessel, full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, from the altar of burnt offering, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, the form in which its perfume would be strongest, and bring it within the veil, into the Most Holy Place;
v. 13. and he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense arising from its burning in the censer may cover the mercy-seat that is upon the testimony, that covers the tables of the testimony, that he die not. The cloud of incense protected the high priest, a sinful human being as he was, from the angry glance of the holy God.
v. 14. And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, which had been caught up by some attendant and meanwhile kept from coagulating by constant stirring, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy-seat eastward, on the side which faced the east; and before the mercy-seat, between the ark and the veil, shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. This was the second stage of the special sacrifices of the day, whereby the atonement for the priesthood was completed. The atonement was made, not without blood, for without the shedding of blood there is no remission, and for the high priest and his house first, Heb_5:1-3; Heb_9:7.