The Day Of Atonement

                                                                 Sunday School Lesson


Lesson Focus: And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
(Leviticus 16:16)

Introduction: The forgiveness of God, in my opinion, is the most powerful and therapeutic idea in the world,” said Leslie Weatherhead. A Christian counselor from Colorado said, “The lack of forgiveness is at the root of most all interpersonal conflicts.” We should not be surprised that forgiveness is one of the most emphasized topics in the Bible. The Bible speaks to the importance of forgiving others (Matthew 18:35). The current therapeutic culture speaks of the importance of forgiving ourselves. The Day of Atonement speaks to the importance of God’s forgiveness of us and was at the heart of Israel’s calendar.

The Priests' Sins Were Forgiven
Leviticus 16:11-14KJV

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, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself:
¹² And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:
¹³ And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:
¹⁴ And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.

Israel was to be a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6). But this did not negate the need for certain people from the Levitical tribe to serve God’s people as mediators of sorts. Aaron, Moses’ brother, was the first to serve in this capacity as high priest. Even though he assisted in bringing God’s people out of Egypt (Exodus 4:14-17), he clearly had feet of clay (Exodus 32:4-6).So before the people could be forgiven, the one who facilitated that forgiveness for the people had to be forgiven. This was so serious that if done incorrectly the high priest might die (Leviticus 16:13). In fact, two of Aaron’s sons already died over inappropriate offerings (10:1-3). The first section of our text deals with Aaron’s personal forgiveness. The steps for that forgiveness were as follows: 1) Slaughter a bull for a sin offering for himself and his family; 2) Take coals from the altar of burnt offering with some incense inside the veil into the holy of holies; 3) Create a smoke barrier between the ark of the covenant and the high priest himself; 4) Sprinkle blood—seven times—from the bull sacrifice on the mercy seat above the ark of the covenant. This would ensure that the priest was pure to mediate for his people.

The People's Sins Were Forgiven
Leviticus 16:15-19KJV

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, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself:
¹² And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:
¹³ And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:
¹⁴ And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.

Once the priest’s sins had been atoned for, it was time to make atonement for the community of Israel. The priest was to take a goat and do with its blood for the people what he did with the bull’s blood for himself. Thus, he entered the Most Holy Place a second time on this special day.
This had to be done because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. Uncleanness (mentioned three times in our printed text) can sometimes refer to ceremonial impurity, but here it is an equivalent to sin. This salvific act could atone for Israel’s sins for the past year. The priest was pure. The people were clean. Now the space where the atonement took place must be made sacred. Aaron was to do the same for the tent of meeting. The space was so sacred that Aaron was to occupy it himself, without help from anyone else. When Aaron came out of the tabernacle he was to take some of the blood from his sacrifice and some of the blood from the people’s sacrifice and sprinkle it on the altar of burnt offering. This blood was especially to be applied to the horns on the altar, and he was to do this seven times..