Why Animal Blood Only Covered Sin — Leviticus 16 Explained

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Let's continue our discussion of all that was completed when Christ died and shed His blood, was buried, and rose from the dead. So you can be turning with me now, we're going to look at the atonement aspect as it was covered in the Old Testament, the day of atonement. So those of you here in the studio, you can turn with me to Leviticus chapter 16. And again for those of you on television, we always like to welcome you into our classroom, and we trust that you'll take your Bible and your pen and follow us along, because we've always said we don't want you to hear what I say, but we want you to see what the Book says. Even if you may not agree with me, I don't expect everyone to just take everything I say and swallow it, but hopefully if we can just raise your dander a little bit and you'll get into the Book, and study, and see if what I say is right. If you're convinced that I'm wrong, then if you're comfortable with it, well that's fine. But I just have to teach it as I see it, and trust that the Lord will bless hearts by it, and we know from our mail and from our phone calls that a lot of hearts are indeed. In fact one of the gentlemen here today was saying, and I said how long I've prayed for someone to come that could open the Word, and he said, you're it. Well I had a phone call from a gentleman out in North Carolina, and he basically said the same thing. He said, Les for three years I've prayed, Lord send me somebody that can open this Book, and he said, you're it. He's also sending the tapes clear over to the Philippines, and Hong Kong, and so anyway the Word is getting out, and a lot of hearts we trust are seeing a lot of things they never saw before. Now let's look at Leviticus chapter 16, and the Day of Atonement as again it was begun back in the days shortly after they came out of Egypt, the same as all the other Feast Days, Passover, and First Fruits, and Unleavened Bread, and all the rest of them. But as I mentioned in one of the other programs, you want to always remember that Passover was the Feast in the Spring, the reminder or the memorial of the Night of the Passover in Egypt when the death angel flew over, and they were protected by the blood. But Atonement was in the Fall, and the present name as most of you are acquainted of it in the English is Yom Kippur. Now Yom Kippur is a far better definition or explanation of it than Atonement. You see back here in Leviticus, the word Atonement is really a misnomer. I don�t think the English translators should have called it the Day of Atonement, because there was no Atonement. Animal bloods couldn�t take away sin, and that�s what Atonement speaks of. You can split the word into three sections, it�s At-one-ment, and that�s a good definition. Atonement is the At-one-ment, but there�s no way a man can become one with God until he has experienced the resurrection power, and the finished work of the cross, and that hadn�t happened back here yet. So the blood of animals couldn�t take away sin, but all they could do was cover them. The Hebrew word that is translated Atonement was Kephar, and it�s spelled K-A-P-H -A-R in the English, and the Hebrew pronunciation is more or less K-A-W -F-A-R. As I can understand the translation now, I know I�ve got Jewish people listening to my program, and they may call and say, �Hey, you just totally goofed up the pronunciation on that.� That could be, but anyway the word Kephar meant to cover. In fact it was associated with when they would cover something with bitumen. They would Kephar it, and so the Day of Atonement was not a day of removing the sin of Israel. That couldn�t happen with animals� blood, but it was a covering. Now if you know your Bible, you remember that David in the Psalms says, �Blessed is the man whose sins are covered.� They weren�t done away with, they couldn�t be. Now that again opens up another whole can of worms if you want to use that expression. But you see that�s why the Old Testament believer couldn�t go into glory when he died. His sins weren�t atoned for, they were covered. And what were they waiting for? The true atoning work of the cross. And so then after the cross, after the supreme sacrifice, the divine blood had been shed, then their sins were atoned for, and then as we taught here several months ago, God took paradise up into heaven. But before that the Old Testament believer went down into paradise, he couldn�t go into the presence of God because his sins weren�t atoned for, they were only covered. So let�s look at this Day of Atonement, and how Christ now then fulfilled all of these pictures back here when He went to the cross on our behalf. Chapter 16. I�m not going to take all this verse by verse, it would take too long, but verse 1. The Lord spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord, and died. And he said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times, or every day, into the holy place within, or behind the veil, before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark, that he die not. For I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat, and it was there that the Shekinah glory was upon, that was the very presence of God, and they could only go into that behind the veil once a year on this Day of Atonement. Now here are the preparations that the priest again had to go through. Now watch the analogy, even as the Passover lamb had to be perfect without blemish, so also this high priest has to go through the whole ritual of cleansing. Now look at verse 3. Ephesians 1.2a 3. Thus shall Aaron come in to the holy place behind the veil, with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burn offering. Now he didn't take the animal of course, he took only the blood. Verse 4. He shall put on the holy linen coat, now what does linen speak of in Scripture? Righteousness and cleanliness. He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and he shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen miter shall he be attired. These are holy garments, and therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and put them on. Now not only was his clothing impeccable, not a spot, not a wrinkle, but also his own body of flesh had to be washed so that everything was impeccably clean. Now what does that speak of our high priest? The same way. He was clean, he was without spot, he was without blemish. Now let's move on quickly. Verse 5. He was to take of the congregation of the children of Israel, two kids for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. Now we're not going to pay so much attention to them, we're going to deal with Aaron, the high priest. Verse 6. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement, a covering for himself and for his house. Verse 7. He shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Now watch verse 8. Now remember he's got two goats and a ram, or a bullock, that is for himself. Now he's also had a couple for the children of Israel, but let's just look at the three and keep it as simple here as we can. Now with the two goats he was to cast lots, or draw straws, however you want to put it, upon the two goats. One goat was to be a lot for the Lord, and it would be sacrificed. What was to happen to the other one? It was to remain alive for a scapegoat. We still use the term today, what is a scapegoat? Well he's the poor fellow that takes the blame for the wrongs and the sins of someone else. So now he's got the two goats, and his own bullock. The one goat has been designated to be the scapegoat, and this one is going to have to be for a sacrifice. Now then, verse 9. Ephesians 2, verse 9 "...he shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement, or a covering with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness." Now we can't understand here in our part of beautiful Oklahoma, we can't comprehend the barren wilderness of Judea, and maybe even some of the Middle Eastern desert country. I mean it is wilderness, uninhabitable, God forsaken if I may use the term. Now this live goat then, over which the sins of Israel would be symbolically placed, he was taken alive, clear out into the unknown untracked wilderness, and let go. The other goat was immediately killed, and the blood was used then for a sprinkling on the mercy seat behind the veil. But only one man in Israel could do all this, and who was it? The High Priest. He alone could go in behind the veil, and sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. He alone could lay His hands on that scapegoat, and symbolically place all the sins of Israel upon that scapegoat. Now that was the work of the High Priest. Now I'm going to bring you back a moment again to Genesis, and put all this on hold for just a second. Genesis 14, we go all the way back to Abraham, and he has just pursued the kings that had overrun Lot's hometown of Sodom, conquers them, and brings Lot and his family back to Sodom. But on his way back in the area of present day Jerusalem, a strange thing happens doesn't it? Genesis 14, and the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedder-Laramar, and the kings that were with him at the valley of Shavuah, which is of Sodom. Now remember I'm always pointing out that that's the last five letters of Jerusalem, so it's the same little village, the same area. So the king of Jerusalem brought forth bread and wine. Now that's unusual isn't it? You didn't use bread and wine in the tabernacle worship. Bread and wine was never alluded to in the Old Testament economy, so where are we already leaping to? Well to the death, burial, and resurrection. The bread and wine spoke of his broken body and his shed blood. Now of course Abraham I'm sure had no concept of what Melchizedek was doing, but God did. God knew the end from the beginning, and so now this man Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine. He was a priest, not a priest of Judaism, not a priest of Moses and Aaron, but he was a priest of the Most High God. Now here again is where I say the Bible is so intricate in its makeup. Whenever the term Most High God is used, that is a reference not just to Israel, but predominantly to the non-Jewish world. The Most High God, and you'll see that in Daniel when Nebuchadnezzar referred to the God of Daniel. He didn't call Him Jehovah, he called Him the Most High. Well He was a Gentile. And so all these things have their purpose in Scripture, that now the Most High God is not just the God of Israel, He's the God of all. Now Melchizedek is not just the High Priest of Israel, Israel isn't even on the scene yet. So he's the High Priest of whom? The whole human race. He is a picture then of the priesthood that Christ would fulfill. Now on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would have to go in behind the veil, sprinkle the blood of the sacrificial goat on the mercy seat, and then He would come out and symbolically lay the sins of Israel on the scapegoat. Now let's go all the way back up to Hebrews again, and our time is flying. Hebrews 9, verse 11, "...but Christ, being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not of this building..." In other words, His tabernacle, His place of the sprinkling would not be here on earth, but it would be in Heaven. Hebrews 9, verse 12, "...neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood. He entered in once, not once a year, but once for all, into the holy place," again that's that place in the very throne room, or the very presence of God, "...having obtained," that is by His shed blood, "...eternal redemption for us." Now if you'll back up a chapter or two in Hebrews to chapter 7, verse 1, "...for this Melchizedek," who of course is referred to up there in verse 20, well better read verse 20 of chapter 6, "...whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." Not after the order of Aaron, but after Melchizedek. Now remember Melchizedek was also the king of Salem, the city of peace, but he was the priest of the Most High God. Now we pointed this out and we were way back in our Genesis teaching, but that's almost four years ago, so a lot of you folks haven't been in and all that. But you see there had to be a high priest, not just for the Jew, but for the whole Gentile world as well. And so this Melchizedek is the priest of the Most High God, which of course is like I said indicating predominantly the Gentile aspect, but he also is going to be the high priest of the Jew, not just of Gentile, but of all. And that's what Melchizedek was. He was the high priest of all, and so Christ's high priest is not after the order of Aaron, but after the order of Melchizedek. Let's come on down to verse 11. If therefore perfection were by the volabitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, that is under the Mosaic system, what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron? See there had to be a reason. For the priesthood being changed, there is a made of necessity a change also the law. Verse 13a. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah, not Levi. See no one under the Mosaic priesthood could be a priest unless he was from the tribe of Levi. But our Lord didn't come from Levi, He came from Judah. Now let's read on. Verse 15a. And it is yet far more evident, for after the similitude of Melchizedek the high priest of all, before Israel is even a nation, so after the order of Melchizedek there ariseth another priest, who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. So who are we looking forward to? The Christ. And so in His eternalness, in His omnipotence, in His being a priest after the order of Melchizedek who was without beginning and without end, without genealogy, without father and without mother. It's after that order that Christ now becomes our High Priest. So how did He fulfill the role of the High Priest? Now I'm going to bring you all the way back to John's Gospel, and I imagine I'll run out of time, but we'll try. John's Gospel chapter 20, and if we indeed take the time to teach a few lessons out of John we may have time to look at this more in depth. But here on the resurrection morning now, and you all know the account of how Mary Magdalene went and was aghast. The tomb was empty, and so she quickly runs and tells Peter and John, who evidently had spent the night not too far away. And so they both run to the sepulcher, and you know the account, and we referred to this verse 9 in our earlier program. When they saw the tomb was empty, then they saw the evidence that He must have supernaturally been raised from the dead, then they for the first time believed and understood the Scriptures. But then you come down to verse 11 -16, and we have the account of Mary and the Lord. And I guess I'll start at verse 11. And Mary stood without at the sepulcher, weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down, and looked in, and saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they said unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? And she said unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And she said unto them, Does she understand yet? No. She had no comprehension. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Now you remember a couple of programs ago I pointed out from Isaiah that his visage would be so marred, so contorted, so disfigured, that that's the way Mary expected him if she were to see him after all this had happened. But here she sees a normal appearance of a human being, nothing grotesque about it whatsoever, and she turned herself back, knowing not it was Jesus. Then verse 15. And she said unto him, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? And she is supposing him to be the gardener. Now I always have to emphasize the point here. He didn't look bizarre, he didn't look like a ghost, he looked very human. He looked very normal, and she just assumed that he was a gardener. She says, Sir, if you have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Then verse 16. And Jesus said unto her, Mary, can't you hear him? Mary? And oh it just rung bells, and then she knew who it was. And she turned herself, and said unto him, Rabboni, and according to the next verse she was evidently going to embrace him, so thrilled to see him alive after all he had gone through. But he holds her at bay with a word, and he says to her, touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren, go to the disciples, and tell them that I ascend unto my Father, to your Father, to my God, and your God. Now then what's he doing? Well he ascends in that moment of time while Mary runs to tell the twelve, and then when they come back and they all meet him of course, he tells them to touch him, to check out his wounds, and so forth. But to Mary he says, touch me not, for I have not yet ascended. Well he had to ascend in the impeccableness again of that High Priest. Now that's why I cover all that. That High Priest had to be spotless, and Jesus couldn't even be touched by the hands of a lady like Mary Magdalene. But anyway he says, touch me not. He could not be defiled by human hands. Now let's come back again to where we were a moment ago in Hebrews, and hopefully we can wind all this up in the minute or two that's left. Hebrews chapter 9, I can't repeat this often enough. Now as the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, not after the order of Aaron, that would have been only for the Jew. But since He's the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, He covers the whole spectrum of humanity. You and I, black and white, red and yellow, rich or poor. That was the priesthood of Melchizedek. And as such verse 11, "...Christ being come, a High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, that one was in heaven." Now remember back in Exodus when Moses was given the instructions to build that tabernacle? What was it patterned after? The one in heaven. Now it's the one in heaven that Jesus has entered into, verse 12, "...not with the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once, into the holy place, having obtained." Now I've got 2 minutes, and I'm going to cover that point that I left you hanging last program. Come back again to Matthew chapter 27, and we have to look at those 3 hours between Hainan noon and 3 o'clock in the afternoon where there was darkness, total silence, not a word from the cross. Now you remember the scapegoat? It was left alive. Between 12 and 3, Jesus is still what? Alive. What do you think He becomes? I think the scapegoat. Now where was the scapegoat sent? Into the wilderness. Now what I like to think, and I may be wrong, but I'll tell you it's food for thought. In those 3 hours, He stepped out of time as the body hung on the cross. In soul and spirit, He stepped out of time into eternity and suffered the punishment for all of mankind's sin. Now remember, eternity you can cover a million years in 30 seconds. That's eternity. And so I feel that in that 3 hours, He stepped into the eternal and suffered the punishment for every human being's sin as the scapegoat, taking our sins far, far away, never to be remembered against us anymore. Then He comes back 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and He finishes His statements from the cross, and then He can say, it is finished. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 713.