Leviticus 16:1-34
And the LORD spake unto
Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before
the LORD, and died; And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy
brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the
vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for
I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. Thus shall Aaron come
into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram
for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall
have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen
girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy
garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them
on.
And he shall take of the
congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin
offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his
bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement
for himself, and for his house. 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. And Aaron 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 with him, and to
let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. 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: 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:
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: 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.
Then shall he kill the
goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood
within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the
bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:
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. And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the
congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place,
until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his
household, and for all the congregation of Israel. And he shall go out
unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it;
and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the
goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall
sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse
it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
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: 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. And
Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put
off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy
place, and shall leave them there: And he shall wash his flesh with
water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and
offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make
an atonement for himself, and for the people. And the fat of the sin
offering shall he burn upon the altar. And he that let go the goat for
the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and
afterward come into the camp. And the bullock for the sin offering, and
the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make
atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and
they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their
dung. And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his
flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
And this shall be a
statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day
of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all,
whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth
among you: 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.
It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls,
by a statute for ever. And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he
shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's
stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes,
even the holy garments: And he shall make an atonement for the holy
sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the
congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the
priests, and for all the people of the congregation. And this shall be
an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children
of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD
commanded Moses.
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From
EASTON'S BIBLE DICTIONARY - Atonement, Day of
The great annual day of humiliation and expiation for the
sins of the nation, "the fast" (Acts 27:9), and the only one commanded in the
law of Moses. The mode of its observance is described in Leviticus 16:3-10; 23:26-32;
and Numbers 29:7-11.
It was kept on the tenth day of the month Tisri, i.e., five days before the
feast of Tabernacles, and lasted from sunset to sunset.
LDS BIBLE DICTIONARY - FASTS
The Day of Atonement appears to be the only fast ordered by the law. Other fasts
were instituted during the exile (Zechariah 7: 3-5; Zechariah 8: 19); and after the
return, fasting is shown to be a regular custom (Luke 5: 33; Luke 18: 12). It
was regarded as a natural way of showing sorrow. Along with the fasting were
often combined other ceremonies, e.g., rending of the garments, putting on
sackcloth, refraining from washing the face or anointing with oil (2 Samuel 12:
20; 1 Kings 21: 27; Isaiah 58: 5). All such observances were, of course, liable to
become mere formalities, and the danger of this was recognized by the prophets (Isaiah
58: 3-7; Joel 2: 12-13; Zechariah 7: 5-6; cf. Matthew 6:16-18).
The Day of Atonement was the 10th day of the 7th month. The directions for its
observance are given in Leviticus 16; Leviticus 23: 26-32; cf. Numbers 29: 7-11; Exodus 30: 10.
The day was kept as a national fast. The high priest, clothed in white linen,
took a bullock as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering for himself and
his house; and two he-goats as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering for
the congregation of Israel. He presented the bullock and the two goats before
the door of the tabernacle. He then cast lots upon the two goats. One was to be
for the Lord for a sin offering. The other was for Azazel (the completely
separate one, the evil spirit regarded as dwelling in the desert), to be sent
away alive into the wilderness. He then killed the bullock, his own sin
offering, and, taking a censer full of live coals from off the brazen altar with
two handfuls of incense into the Holy of Holies, cast the incense on the coals
there, so that the cloud of smoke might cover the mercy seat and, as it were,
hide him from God. He then took of the blood of the bullock and sprinkled it
once on the east part of the mercy seat (as an atonement for the priesthood),
and seven times before the mercy seat (as an atonement for the Holy of Holies
itself). Then he killed the goat, the congregation’s sin offering, and sprinkled
its blood in the same manner, with corresponding objects. Similar sprinklings
were made with the blood of both animals (bullock and goat) on the alter of
incense (Leviticus 16: 15; Exodus 30: 10) to make an atonement for the Holy Place. No
one besides the high priest was allowed to be present in the tabernacle while
these acts of atonement were going on. Lastly, an atonement was made for the
altar of burnt offering in a similar manner. The goat for Azazel was then
brought before the altar of burnt offering. Over it the high priest confessed
all the sins of the people now expiated to the Evil One to convince him that
they could no more be brought up in judgment against the people before God. Then
the high priest took off his linen garments, bathed, put on his official
garments, and offered the burnt offerings of two rams for himself and his
people.
In Hebrews 9: 6-28 a contrast is drawn between the work of the high priest on the
Day of Atonement, and the work of Christ, the great High Priest, who offered
once for all the perfect sacrifice of himself. The sacrifices provided an annual
"remembrance" of sin (Hebrews 10: 3,4), while the sacrifice of Christ removes the
sin and leads to the complete sanctification of the believer (Hebrews 9: 12, 14,
26; Hebrews 10: 10 - 18).
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