Sermon: Sunday, 8th June, 2025
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Leviticus 16
These days, we have a good understanding of how dangerous dirt and viruses and bacteria can be. If you go to an operating theatre in the Victoria hospital, you would expect the whole room to have been disinfected and you would expect the surgical instruments to be sterile. Whatever comes into that operating theatre also need to be totally clean. For example, instrument trolleys entering the room must be clean. These things seem obvious to us. But it wasn’t always obvious. My grandmother was a midwife and when she worked with the indigenous people in the Amazon, they would cut the umbilical cords with dirty knives and so lost many babies. Thankfully, that was something they could learn and quickly put right and these unnecessary deaths stopped. Even small amounts of bacteria can be deadly. The pandemic brought that home to us too. You couldn’t have people carrying the corona virus walking into an old folk’s home and infecting the vulnerable. We got used to washing our hands again and again, wearing masks and some of us even wiped down our grocery shopping.
What is true in the physical realm regarding dirt and bacteria is also true in the moral and spiritual realm regarding sin. Sin is deadly. It contaminates and spreads easily. The wrong things we all do and say and think cause chaos in the world. Just as medics have a no-nonsense approach to bacteria in an operating theatre, so God has a no-nonsense approach to sin. He will not tolerate it. He hates it. It must be dealt with. And just a someone with dirty hands cannot just walk into an operating theatre, in the same way, we, contaminated as we are, cannot just saunter into the presence of God. And because God is the Creator of all things, he is the one who decides the way he must be approached. Sadly, this is not always obvious to us. But here’s the good news. Despite our rebellion and sin, God still loves the world. Astonishingly, he offers us reconciliation. He can be approached if, and only if, we come with sacrifice for our sin. And this sacrifice must be offered in the way he has commanded. We are not free to just make up our own terms.
When friends fall out, it is a beautiful thing when they reconcile; this often means both sides apologising. But with God, the blame is all on our side. The obstacles blocking our relationship with God is our guilt and rebellion and selfishness. How does God deal with all of these obstacles? How can we be reconciled to God. In one word, through atonement. God needs to do something to remove our sin, to remove the barrier which separates us. Jesus leaves Heaven and comes to earth to pay the penalty for our sin, so we can be at-one with God again. What is atonement? Atonement refers to the work of Christ in which he bears the penalty for sin, paying the debt owed to God’s justice and reconciling humanity with him. Jesus sacrifices himself to pay our debt.
Atonement is what is necessary for us to have a relationship with God, so it is absolutely crucial that we understand it well. And one of the best ways to understand atonement is to come back to the holiest and most important day in the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement, also called Yom Kippur. What lies at the heart of this day? ‘This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.’ (Leviticus 16:34) The heart of this day is that animals die as substitutes for the people. Blood is shed in sacrifice in order to deal with human sin.
1. A solemn warning: do not underestimate how holy God is
This chapter begins reminding us (verse 1) about what happened to Aaron’s 2 sons – Nadab and Abihu. These men ignored God’s clear instructions about how he is to be approached. They enter the Holy Place, where God’s special presence dwelt, but did so on their own terms, and not on God’s terms. They are behaving as if God isn’t really that holy and they weren’t really that sinful. Here’s the thing – God does want us to approach him but only in his way, on his terms. And today there is only one way to do so- through trusting in Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross. Jesus says: ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ (John 14:6)
Through Moses, the Lord once again warns the High Priest Aaron not to worship God any way he pleases. Everything has to be done according to the Lord’s instructions. This was a matter of life and death. ‘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.’ (Leviticus 16:2)
For the last few years, we have attended the fireworks display in Buckhaven. The bonfire is enormous and so the organisers put up a fence around it and try to ensure the safety of the public. It would not be wise to ignore this fence and start moving closer to the fire. It might be deadly. We need to respect the intensity of the fire. We don’t act as we please around it. Sometimes we forget that our ‘… God is a consuming fire.’ (Hebrews 12:29) We need to understand that we are unholy sinners and so if we want to draw close to a God who is totally holy and pure, we need to come carefully, on his terms.
AW Tozer: ‘God’s justice stands forever against the sinner in utter severity. The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions. It hushes their fears and allows them to practice all pleasant forms of iniquity while death draws every day nearer and the command to repent goes disregarded. As responsible moral beings we dare not trifle with our eternal future.’
Tozer is right. We have tried to domesticate God and water down his holiness. This is a huge mistake. Let us heed the warning given through Nadab and Abihu. We must approach God in God’s way. And the way is magnificent!
2. What happened on the Day of Atonement?
How did the Lord want to be approached by his people? On one day of the year, the Day of Atonement, one man, the High Priest, would come into the LORD’s presence to represent the whole nation. He has to wear special clothes and wash himself before putting them on. These clothes were not the impressive, regal clothes he would often wear, including the royal ephod with its 12 precious stones and the gold-plated turban (see Leviticus chapter 7) but a plain white linen tunic. In other words, he dressed like a slave in humble clothes, reminding us all that God must be approached with humility. Because no man can see God and live, he must take finely ground fragrant incense into the Most Holy Place, throwing it onto the fire, creating a kind of smokescreen, protecting him from the dazzling glory of God.
He must not come into God’s presence empty-handed but with sacrifices. Although Aaron was High Priest, he was still a sinner and so first a bull had to be sacrificed to make atonement for him and his household. The bull’s blood is to be sprinkled 7 times before the atonement cover (verse 14). Seven is the number of completion and so this speaks of total and complete atonement for all sin.
Now we come to the two goats. ‘He is to cast lots for the two goats — one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat.’ (Leviticus 16:8) The first goat is to be sacrificed as a sin offering (v9). Its blood will also be sprinkled on the atonement cover of the ark of the covenant (verse 15), which lies within the Most Holy Place. The reason given for this act is clearly given: ‘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.’ (Leviticus 16:16)
There was so much drama on this day. Part of the tension would have this- will the priest make it out alive? Will his sacrifices on behalf of the people be accepted by God? They would only know for sure when the priest reemerged from the tabernacle. What about the other goat, the scapegoat? We read: ‘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. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.’  : (Leviticus 16:21-22)
What happened to the scapegoat happened publicly, in the sight of all the people. Again, the meaning is clear: because the wages of sin is death, the sins of the people are symbolically transferred onto the scapegoat, which carries those sins away, never to be seen again. Why two goats? You could say that the first goat is sacrificed so God’s people would know their sins had been forgiven. The second goat, the scapegoat, is led far away into the wilderness, never to return, and this was so God’s people would know that their sins had been forgotten. What a powerful symbol.
3. The Day of Atonement fulfilled by Jesus
How should we respond in our hearts today to the rituals which took place thousands of years ago on the Day of Atonement? We must realise that these rituals were temporary yet important signposts pointing to the true Day of Atonement – Good Friday, when Jesus laid down his own life on the cross. So, as you picture the High Priest moving into the Most Holy Place, what should you be thinking about? You should be thinking about the real event itself – Jesus entering Heaven with his own blood to make atonement for us.
‘But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.’  : (Hebrews 9:11-12)
Sinclair Ferguson: ‘The rituals of the Day of Atonement was an acted parable, a copy of what Christ was to do on the great day when He made atonement. The blood of animals is both inappropriate and inadequate to provide the cleansing necessary to approach God. Animal sacrifice could not atone for human sin. Neither could any finite individual atone for sin against the infinite God. Only the blood of the divine image incarnate could cleanse our sin and enable us to enter safely into the presence of God, who is a consuming fire.’
The Day of Atonement was inadequate and never intended to be a permanent solution to human sin. Why were these rituals not enough?
• Very briefly, because the blood of bulls and goats cannot wash away human sin. Only Jesus’ precious blood can. ‘It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.’ (Hebrews 10:4)
• Also, the High Priests who taking part in the rituals were sinners themselves. We need a perfect High Priest, and only Jesus can be that for us.
• Finally, this Day of Atonement had to be repeated year after year. Only Jesus’ death can provide a once-and-for-all solution. ‘Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.’ (Hebrews 7:27)
Friends, when we read Leviticus chapter 16 understanding that it all points to a future Day of Atonement at Calvary, the actions here become all the more precious. The first goat which was slaughtered points ahead to Jesus who was slaughtered on the cross, as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Because of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice, when we come to trust in Jesus through faith, God’s rightful anger at us is turned away. Jesus’ sacrifice of himself atones for our sin and satisfies the just wrath of a holy God.
The word for turning away God’s wrath is propitiation. ‘If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.’ (1 John 2:1-2)
As we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we give thanks that the penalty for our sin has been paid for and now we have been reconciled to God. Because of Jesus’ blood shed for us, we now have the enormous privilege of being able to come into our Father’s presence any time we like. We no longer need animal sacrifices. They were just temporary. The rituals of the tabernacle and temple are now no longer required. This fact was dramatically displayed when Jesus died on the cross and simultaneously the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. Jesus’ death is all we need to make us clean in God’s sight. Truly, it is a marvellous thing that something as serious as my sin no longer blocks me from having a relationship with the Lord Each time you pray to your heavenly Father, instead of taking prayer for granted, rejoice in what Jesus has done to make it possible- he entered Heaven for us with his own blood to atone for all of our sins.
Think again of the scapegoat, this time more personally. Jesus is the true scapegoat. All of our sins were laid on him, and he carried them away, never to be cast before us again. This is wonderful news. Think of the scapegoat in the light of this verse: ‘All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ (Isaiah 53:6)
I have always loved Psalm 103:12 – ‘As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us’. The scapegoat expresses the same truth- our sins have been sent away with no possibility of coming back. They have been removed. Jesus’ blood is so powerful and effective that our sins have gone for good. Satan loves to remind you of all the ways you have let gone down. He loves to cast our sins before our faces. ‘Look what you did!’ We can say to him: ‘Satan, yes I am a sinner, but Jesus has carried my sins so far away that they are never coming back.’
Before the throne of God above
‘When Satan tempts me to despair, And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there, Who made an end to all my sin,
Because the sinless Saviour died, My sinful soul is counted free,
For God the Just is satisfied, To look on Him and pardon me.’
If you are not yet a Christian, what does God want you to do? ‘On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work…’ (Leviticus 16:29) ‘Denying’ ourselves speaks of humbling ourselves before God, recognising we are sinners and he is perfect. Who receives God’s grace? Those who humbly confess their sins. ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ (James 4:6:)
If you repent of your sin, and ask Jesus to cleanse you with his blood, you too can know the peace of being reconciled with God. Never come to God arguing you’re quite a good person. Come confessing your sin, and asking Jesus to wash you. In other words, come to God in God’s way.