Moses Did as The Lord Commanded
December 14, 2021
Commentary
After you have purified the most holy place, the sacred tent, and the bronze altar, you must bring the live goat to the front of the tent (v. 20). There you will lay your hands on its head, while confessing every sin the people have committed, and you will appoint someone to lead the goat into the desert, so that it can take away their sins (v. 21). Finally, this goat that carries the heavy burden of Israel’s sins must be released deep in the desert (v. 22). Aaron, after this you must go inside the sacred tent, take a bath, put on your regular priestly clothes, and leave there the clothes you put on before entering the most holy place (vv. 23-24). Then you will come out and offer sacrifices to please me and sacrifices for your sins and for the sins of the people. The fat from these sacrifices for sin must be sent up in smoke on the bronze altar (v. 25).
The one who led the goat into the desert must take a bath and wash his clothes before coming back into camp (v. 26). The remains of the bull and the goat whose blood was taken into the most holy place must be taken outside the camp and burned (v. 27). And whoever does this must take a bath and change clothes before coming back into camp (v. 28).
The Lord told Moses to say to the people: On the tenth day of the seventh month of each year, you must go without eating to show sorrow for your sins, and no one, including foreigners who live among you, is allowed to work (v. 29). This is the day on which the sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sins will be made in my presence, and from now on, it must be celebrated each year (vv. 30-31). Go without eating and make this a day of complete rest just like the Sabbath. The high priest must offer the sacrifices for cleansing from sin, while wearing the sacred linen clothes (v. 32). He will offer these sacrifices for the most holy place, the sacred tent, the bronze altar, all the priests, and for the whole community (v. 33- 34) You must celebrate this day each year-it is the Great Day of Forgiveness for all the sins of the people of Israel. Moses did exactly as the Lord had commanded.
Application
Lord, help me to live a life like William Booth did in the example given above.
Leviticus 16:20– 34 (NET)
20 “When Aaron has finished purifying the Holy Place, the Meeting Tent, and the altar, he is to present the live goat. 21 Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, and thus he is to put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the desert by the hand of a man standing ready. 22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, so he is to send the goat away into the desert.
23 “Aaron must then enter the Meeting Tent and take off the linen garments which he had put on when he entered the sanctuary, and leave them there. 24 Then he must bathe his body in water in the Holy Place, put on his clothes, and go out and make his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering. So he is to make atonement on behalf of himself and the people.
25 “Then he is to offer up the fat of the sin offering in smoke on the altar, 26 and the one who sent the goat away to Azazel must wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp. 27 The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the Holy Place, must be brought outside the camp and their hide, their flesh, and their dung must be burned up, 28 and the one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp.
29 “This is to be a perpetual statute for you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves and do no work of any kind, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner who lives in your midst, 30 for on this day atonement is to be made for you to cleanse you from all your sins; you must be clean before the Lord. 31 It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves. It is a perpetual statute.
32 “The priest who is anointed and ordained to act as high priest in place of his father is to make atonement. He is to put on the linen garments, the holy garments, 33 and he is to purify the Most Holy Place, he is to purify the Meeting Tent and the altar, and he is to make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 This is to be a perpetual statute for you to make atonement for the Israelites for all their sins once a year.” So he did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.