| The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons (Nadab and Abihu) when they offered profane fire to Him and He sent fire to devour them (Leviticus 10:1-2). God told Moses to tell Aaron not to come to the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat at just any time, lest he die. God said that He would appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. The conditions in which Aaron could go into the Holy Place are 1) he should come with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering 2) he should put on the holy garments – the tunic, trousers, sash, and turban, all made of linen. He should wash his body and wear them and 3) from the congregation of the children of Israel, he should take two kid goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering. Aaron should offer the bull as a sin offering for himself making atonement for himself and for his house. He should take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. He should cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. The goat on which the Lord’s lot fell should be offered as a sin offering. The goat that becomes the scapegoat should be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and then released into the wilderness. Aaron was to take the bull for the sin offering to make atonement for him and his family and kill it. Then he should take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord and with his hands full of sweet finely beaten incense, take it inside the veil. Aaron was to put the incense on the fire before the Lord so that the cloud of incense covered the mercy seat on the Testimony, lest he die. He was to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side. Before the mercy seat he was to sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. Then Aaron should kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do the same with the goat’s blood as he did with the bull’s blood – sprinkle on the mercy seat and before it as well. Aaron would make atonement for the Holy Place because of the Israelites’ uncleanness, their transgressions and all their sins. So shall he do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. No man should be in the tabernacle of meeting when Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he came out, while he made atonement for himself, his household and for all of the assembly of Israel. Then, he should go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it by taking some of the blood of the bull and of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar all around. Aaron was to sprinkle some of the blood on the altar with his finger seven times, cleanse it and consecrate if from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. When he had finished atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting and the altar, Aaron was to bring in the live goat. Aaron should lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities, the transgressions and sins of the Israelites, putting them on the head of the goat. Then he should send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat would bear all their iniquities to an uninhabited land when he was released into the wilderness. Then Aaron should go into the tabernacle of meeting and take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and leave them there. He should wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments and come out to offer the burnt offerings for himself and for the people to make atonement for them all. He should burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. The man who released the scapegoat should wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and afterwards he could re-enter the camp. The bull and goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place should be carried outside the camp. Their skins, flesh, and offal should be burned in the fire. The man who burns them should wash his clothes and bathe his body in water. Afterwards, he may re-enter the camp. This should be a statute to the them forever: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, they should afflict their souls (self-denial or humble) and not work at all, whether a native of their own country or a stranger dwelling among them. On that day the priest should make atonement for them, to cleanse them so that they would be clean from all their sins before the Lord. This is a sabbath of solemn rest for them and they should afflict their souls. This is a statute forever. The priest who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father’s (Aaron) place, should do the same as Aaron, making atonement by putting on linen clothes and the holy garments. Then he should make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar. He should also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. This should be an everlasting statute for them to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year. Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses. |
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