07 Salvation's Provision: Atonement
So Great Salvation • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 278 viewsWe can be at-one with God because His wrath for our sin was poured out on a substitute.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
There are many wonderful provisions of salvation:
Grace, Sealing, Redemption, Mediation, Born again, Reconciled, Forgiven, Justified
There is a word that encompasses the whole realm of words mentioned above.
This word is one of the most important expressions of salvation in the Bible.
Atonement
Atonement
This word was coined by William Tyndale in the early 1500s. Compound word: at-one-ment.
The key OT word for atonement (kaphar).
The key OT word for atonement (kaphar).
Literally means “to cover.”
It carries the broader meaning of “wiping away” or “canceling.”
In the KJB, this Hebrew word is translated atone, disannul, forgive, merciful, pacify, pardon, purge, put off, cleanse, pardon, and reconcile.
The key NT word for atonement (hiloskomai)
The key NT word for atonement (hiloskomai)
Twice as a verb
It is used in Luke 18:13 where the penitent sinner asks God to be merciful.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
“…be merciful...”
17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
“...to make reconciliation for...”
This word means to propitiate, to atone, or to reconcile.
Four times as a noun.
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
“propitiation”
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
“propitiation”
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
“propitiation”
5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
“mercyseat”
Jesus is our mercy seat.
And there was only one day in the OT Laws that the people interacted with the Mercy Seat.
Day of Atonement
Day of Atonement
Day of Atonement: Leviticus 23:26-32; 16:1-34
Read Leviticus 16:34.
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.
The lesson of Atonement:
We can be at-one with God because His wrath for our sin was poured out on a substitute.
The sequence of the High Priest’s work on the Day of Atonement | Lev 16
The sequence of the High Priest’s work on the Day of Atonement | Lev 16
The Day of Atonement was the only day that someone was permitted to enter into the very presence of God at the Mercy Seat.
TRANSITION: Let me describe the process that the High Priest had to go through on the rare occasions that he would have opportunity to enter the Most Holy Place.
1. The High Priest would prepare for the Day of Atonement in humility. | Lev 16:4
1. The High Priest would prepare for the Day of Atonement in humility. | Lev 16:4
Animals.
The priest would select five, flawless animals for the Day of Atonement.
A bull for himself for a sin offering
A ram for himself for a burnt offering
Two goats for a sin offering for the people
A ram for a burnt offering for the people
Clothing.
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.
He would enter the Holy Place
take off his elegant High Priestly attire,
wash himself thoroughly, and
put on the white linen clothing of the ordinary priest.
Someone observed...
When the High Priest spoke to the people for God, he wore the splendid robes.
When the High Priest spoke to God for the people, he wore the plain garments.
Holiness to the Lord: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus B. God Prescribes the Preparation for Entering His Presence (16:3–5)
Tidball suggests that when the high priest spoke to the people for God he wore the splendid robes of the office; but when he spoke to God for the people, he came with no authority.8 The lavish clothes made him look like a ruler, like someone with authority; but now in the presence of God he was stripped of all honor (Wenham, 230). This may very well be the point of the change of apparel.
Jesus did this.
Jesus laid aside His royal garments and “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”
Next, the High Priest did something that Jesus never needed to do...
2. The High Priest would purge his own sin. | Lev 16:6, 11-14
2. The High Priest would purge his own sin. | Lev 16:6, 11-14
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 High Priest would have to take care of his own sin.
The priest would sacrifice a bull for his own sins and for the sins of his family.
He would take the blood of the bull with him into the Holy Place
He would gather coals from the Altar of Incense in a censer. (The cloud was to so fill the air that the Priest could not see the Mercy Seat.)
He would enter the Most Holy Place through the veil.
He would allow the smoke of the censor to fill the air.
He would sprinkle the blood of the bull on the Mercy Seat.
He would sprinkle the blood of the bull before the Ark seven times.
3. The High Priest would purge the sin of the people. | Lev 16:5, 7-10, 15-22
3. The High Priest would purge the sin of the people. | Lev 16:5, 7-10, 15-22
Then the priest would take two goats and cast lots for which one should belong to the LORD and which one should belong to the people.
Leviticus 16:7-10
The LORD’s goat. | Lev 16:15-20
The LORD’s goat. | Lev 16:15-20
The priest would kill the LORD’s goat and
return to the Most Holy Place with the goat’s blood and
sprinkle it on and before the Mercy Seat for the sins of the people.
Mercy Seat = Place of Propitiation.
Holiness to the Lord: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus A. Entering God’s Presence Cannot Be Taken Lightly (16:1–2)
Central to this section and the ceremony to follow is the nature of the place of God’s presence. Inside the holy of holies was the ark of the covenant; and on the ark was a covering or lid commonly referred to as the mercy seat (Luther’s Gnadenstuhl). The item was a solid gold slab measuring 44″ by 26″ with statues of angels on either end, their wings touching in the middle. The Hebrew word kappōret (“place of propitiation”; related to kipper) is translated in the Septuagint with hilastērion (the -ērion ending signifying “place of …”). Wycliffe transliterated the term propitiatory from the Latin term, which was a translation of hilastērion. It referred to the place in the holy of holies where the blood sacrifice was made effectual, where God was present with his people, and from where he revealed himself to them (Exod. 25:22).
Here’s how Wycliffe translated it in one of the earliest English translations in Exodus 25:22...
Fro thens Y shal comaunde, and speke to thee vpon the propiciatorye, ‛that is, ande fro the myddil of the two cherubynsf, that shulen be vpon the arke of witnessyng, alle thingis that I shal comaunde bi thee to the sones of Yrael
Wycliffe called the Mercy Seat the Propitiatory.
The sequence of events continued...
As he was leaving the Tabernacle, he would
(1) sprinkle the blood on each of the items in the Holy Place and finally
(2) in the courtyard (Tabernacle of the Congregation) where he would place blood on the horns of the Brazen Altar.
Conclusion. That was what happened to the Lord’s goat.
I was overflowed with praise to God when I realized this week that...
it was always the sacrifice that belonged to the LORD that was slain in my place.
The wrath of God was poured out on the goat.
The blood was applied.
The people’s goat. | Lev 16:21-22
The people’s goat. | Lev 16:21-22
The people’s goat was most often called the scapegoat.
William Tyndale invented the word atonement. Another term he coined relative to our study is the word scapegoat. | 16:9-10
The idea of the Hebrew word Azazel is “the goat has gone away.”
So Tyndale combined the words escape and goat. (The English prefix e- carries the idea of “out”)
Holiness to the Lord: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus A. Access to God Requires Full Atonement (16:6–10)
Tyndale’s scapegoat has the meaning of “one who takes the blame for others.”
In simple terms, the scapegoat was the “go-out goat.”
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.
Here’s what happened to the scapegoat.
Next the priest would take the living goat and...
he would place both of his hands upon the head of this goat and...
he would confess the sins of the people of Israel upon this goat.
Then the goat was to be led away into the wilderness and set free.
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:
Mishnah Yoma 6:2 gives the wording of the confession that the High Priest would make on the goat:
Mishnah Yoma 6:2 | “He comes to the goat which is to be sent forth and lays his two hands on it and makes the confession. And thus did he say, “O Lord, your people, the house of Israel, has committed iniquity, transgressed, and sinned before you. Forgive, O Lord, I pray, the iniquities, transgressions, and sins, which your people, the house of Israel, have committed, transgressed, and sinned before you, “as it is written in the Torah of Moses, your servant, For on this day shall atonement be made for you to clean you. From all your sins shall you be clean before the Lord.”
The next paragraphs from the same section have this (6:3-5).
Mishnah Yoma 6:3-5 | The High Priest “gave the scapegoat over to the one who was to lead it out. All are valid to lead it out. But High Priests made it a practice of not letting Israelites lead it out.” Along the way, the people “would pull out its hair and say, ‘take and go.’ The eminent people of Jerusalem used to accompany him.”
That sounds a lot like what they did to Jesus. Led out by Gentiles (Roman soldiers). Pulled out his hair. Followed out and observed the the elite of Jerusalem.
4. The High Priest would conclude the Day of Atonement in glory. | 16:23-24
4. The High Priest would conclude the Day of Atonement in glory. | 16:23-24
Restoration of his High Priestly position before the people.
Then the priest would
(1) return to the Holy Place and
(2) lay aside the common clothes of the ordinary priest,
(3) wash himself, and (everyone involved in the ceremony had to wash, Lev 16:11-28 )
(4) again clothe himself in his high-priestly garments.
Jesus didn’t remain in His earthly clothes.
After dealing with our sin, he returned to his rightful place at the Father’s right hand.
Philippians 2:8-10 | “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 - Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 - That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…”
Then came the burnt offerings.
The priest would then take two rams, one for himself and his family and one for the nation, and offer them as a burnt offering of consecration and dedication to the LORD.
Transition. That’s the sequence of events. Now let me point out just a few key areas of significance.
The Significance of the Day of Atonement | Lev 23:27-28
The Significance of the Day of Atonement | Lev 23:27-28
Stop working in order to find spiritual renewal. | 23:28; 16:29-30
Stop working in order to find spiritual renewal. | 23:28; 16:29-30
On this day, whether a Sabbath or not, no one, absolutely no one was permitted to do any work of any kind.
Not a citizen, not a child, not a servant, not a slave, not a stranger, no one.
28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God.
The only one who was permitted to do anything for the atonement of the people was the High Priest.
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.
The “priest” made the atonement while the people didn’t do anything.
But was not an ordinary Sabbath day of “not working.”
It was a day of mourning and contrition.
The people weren’t present at the sanctuary.
The priest did the work himself.
But everyone was to participate from wherever they were in the world by making it a day of contrition.
There was to be no celebrating on this day.
Not one ounce of their atonement was provided by any activity or action upon their part.
In fact, anyone who tried to do anything for atonement lost it all.
29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
If they followed God’s instructions, they were clean before the Lord. | 16:30
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.
The lesson of Atonement:
We can be at-one with God because His wrath for our sin was poured out on a substitute.