Bible Readings for the Home Circle Part 64

7. Where was G.o.d to meet with Israel?

"And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee _from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony_." Verse 22.

8. What was in the ark, under the mercy-seat?

"And He wrote on _the tables_, according to the first writing, _the ten commandments_.... And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and _put the tables in the ark_ which I had made." Deut. 10:4, 5.

9. When did the priest minister in the first apartment of the sanctuary?

"Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in _continually_ into the first tabernacle, accomplis.h.i.+ng the services." Heb.

9:6, R. V.

10. Who alone went into the second apartment, how often, and for what purpose?

"But into the second went _the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people_." Verse 7.

11. What were sinners desiring pardon instructed to do?

"And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord ... then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned. And _he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin-offering, and slay the sin-offering in the place of the burnt offering_." Lev. 4:27-29.

NOTE.-According to this, if a man sinned in Israel, he violated one of the ten commandments that were in the ark under the mercy-seat. These commandments are the foundation of G.o.d's government. To violate them is to commit sin, and so become subject to death. 1 John 3:4; Rom. 6:23. But there was a mercy-seat reared above these holy and just commandments. In the dispensation of His mercy, G.o.d grants the sinner the privilege of confessing his sins, and bringing a subst.i.tute to meet the demands of the law, and thus of obtaining mercy.

12. What was done with the blood of the offering?

"And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and _shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar_." Verse 30.

NOTE.-After a person discovered his sin by the law which demanded the death of the transgressor, he first brought his offering, then he confessed his sin while laying his hands on the head of the victim, thus, in figure, transferring his sin to the victim; the victim was next slain in the court, or outer part of the sanctuary, and its blood put on the horns of the altar and poured at the foot of the altar. In this way sins were pardoned, and, in the typical service, transferred to the sanctuary.

13. After the acc.u.mulation of the sins of the year in this way, what service took place on the tenth day of the seventh month of each year?

"And this shall be a statute forever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, ... 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_." Lev. 16:29, 30.

14. How was the sanctuary itself to be cleansed, and how were the sins of the people to be finally disposed of?

"And he [the high priest] shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin-offering.... And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot _for the Lord_, and the other lot _for the scapegoat_."

Verses 5-8.

NOTE.-The Hebrew word for scapegoat is Azazel. See margin of verse 8. It is used as a proper name, and, according to the opinion of the most ancient Hebrews and Christians, refers to Satan, or the angel who revolted and persisted in rebellion and sin.

15. What was done with the blood of the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell?

"Then shall he kill the goat of the sin-offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, ... _and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat_, and before the mercy-seat." Verse 15.

16. Why was it necessary to make this atonement?

"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." Verse 16.

NOTE.-Sins were conveyed into the sanctuary during the year by the blood of the personal sin-offerings offered daily at the door of the tabernacle. Here they remained until the day of atonement, when the high priest went into the most holy place with the blood of the goat on which the Lord's lot fell; and, bearing the acc.u.mulated sins of the year in before the mercy-seat, he there, in type, atoned for them, and so cleansed the sanctuary.

17. After having made atonement for the people in the most holy place, what did the high priest next do?

"And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: 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_." Verses 20, 21.

NOTE.-The offering of the Lord's goat cleansed the sanctuary. By this offering the sins of the people, transferred there during the year, were, in type, atoned for; but they were not by this offering finally disposed of, or destroyed. The scapegoat, symbolizing Satan, the great tempter and originator of sin, was brought to the sanctuary, and upon his head were placed all these sins which Satan had tempted G.o.d's people to commit.

18. What final disposition was made of the sins of the people?

"And _the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited_: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." Verse 22.

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

The Scapegoat. "And Aaron shall ... confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel." Lev. 16:21.

19. What was this earthly sanctuary and its round of service?

"Which was _a figure_ for the time then present." Heb. 9:9.

20. Of what sanctuary, or tabernacle, is Christ the minister?

"A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, _which the Lord pitched, and not man_." Heb. 8:2.

21. Of what was the blood of all the sacrifices of the former dispensation only a type?

"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but _by His own blood_ He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Heb. 9:12. See Eph. 5:2.

NOTE.-Through the sacrifices and offerings brought to the altar of the earthly sanctuary, the penitent believer was to lay hold of the merits of Christ, the Saviour to come. In this way, and in this way only, was there any virtue connected with them.

22. At the death of Christ, what miraculous occurrence signified that the priestly work and services of the earthly sanctuary were finished?

"Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

And, behold, _the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom_." Matt. 27:50, 51.

NOTES.-Type had met ant.i.type; the shadow had reached the substance. Christ, the great sacrifice, had been slain, and was about to enter upon His final work as our great high priest in the sanctuary in heaven. The priestly work in the earthly sanctuary was typical of the work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. In the earthly, the atonement was performed on the last day of the ceremonial year. All who did not then have their sins atoned for were "cut off," and the camp was cleansed from sin. The atonement day was virtually a day of judgment for Israel, and the people whose sins had been atoned for were free from sin, and could enter upon the services of the new year clean in the sight of G.o.d. This work was kept up year after year. In the heavenly sanctuary, the sacrifice is offered but once; and but one atonement, or cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, can be made, which must take place at the time a.s.signed of G.o.d for it. And when the great atonement, or cleansing, of the heavenly sanctuary has been made, G.o.d's people will be forever free from sin, and the fate of all will be forever sealed. See Rev. 22:11. This, as in the type, will be a day of judgment.

The round of service in the earthly sanctuary was G.o.d's service.