Page 86 - Pentateuch - Student Textbook

his initial consecration. This is a yearly sacrifice. The bull is a sin
offering for himself and his household (v. 6). He must take coals and
incense into the Holy of Holies to conceal the atonement cover (vv. 12-
13). Then he takes some of the blood into the Holy of Holies and
sprinkles it on the atonement cover (v. 14). The high priest with all the
priests needs forgiveness in order to approach God for anyone else.
The next step is to take two goats to make atonement for the
congregation. One is offered as a sin offering. Aaron sprinkles its blood Fig. 58: Clothing for day of atonement
on the atonement cover as he did with the bull’s blood. (Blood from
both are also sprinkled on the altar seven times, vv. 18-19.) Now the entire nation is safe from tainting
the tabernacle with their uncleanness.

The second part of the Day of Atonement remains. The priest places his hands on the head of the live
goat, confessing over it “all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites – all their sins—and put them
on the goat’s head (16:21).” The goat is then sent away into the wilderness, a symbol of getting rid of
sin. It is outside the camp away from the people.
92
Both Aaron and the man who takes the goat into
the wilderness must wash and bathe. Animal
remains that cannot be used in the sacrifice are
taken outside the camp to be burned (v. 27). This is
a lasting ordinance for everyone in Israel. “It is a
day of Sabbath rest,” and the nation is supposed to
fast. The sacrifice is for “all the sins of the Israelites
(v. 34).”

Some eighteen times the word “atonement” is
used in this chapter alone. The purpose is to allow
Fig. 59: Two goats
the tent of meeting, the place of God’s presence,
to continue with Israel “in the midst of their
uncleanness” (16:16, 30). The Day of Atonement does not just take care of the types of uncleanness in
the previous chapters (16:16, 19, 30). It also deals with “transgressions” or “rebellions,” one of the
strongest words for sin (16:16, 21). The generic word “sins” is all inclusive (v. 34). By sacrificing a bull
and goat and by sending a goat out into the wilderness, God is communicating in the strongest possible
way about the grave danger of sin and about the forgiveness of sin. “God in his mercy has set aside one
day in the year when his people can unload all the junk and garbage in their lives.”
93

The Hebrew word for “atonement” implies some type of payment. In Genesis 32:20 the word is used by
Jacob in sending gifts to his brother Esau. He knew he had wronged Esau, so he said, “I will pacify
[atone] him with these gifts.” A similar sense can be found in 1 Samuel 12:3. Samuel insists on his own
carefulness in connection with money. “From whose hand have I accepted a bribe [atonement] to make
me shut my eyes?” When the word is used with sacrifices, it means to atone by offering a substitute.

92 Some have suggested that the scapegoat is a gift to Satan. Yet in the very next chapter sacrificing to
“goat idols” is forbidden. It is better to see the act as banishing evil to the wilderness outside the camp.
93 Hamilton, Handbook, 276.

85