A Shadow of the Good Things Coming

The Lord said to Moses: "Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place...or else he will die." --Leviticus 16:2

So then just what must Aaron do to enter the Most Holy Place? Simple!
#1-Bring a young bull for a sin offering
#2-Bring a ram for a burnt offering
#3-Bathe himself with water
#4-Put on the sacred garments: tunic, undergarments, sash, tunic
#5-Take 2 male goats for a sin offering from the Israelites
#6-Take a ram for a burnt offering from the Israelites
#7-Offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself
#8-Cast lots for the 2 goats--one as a sacrifice, the other as a scapegoat
#9-Sacrifice the one to the Lord
#10-Make atonement with the scapegoat by sending it into the wilderness
#11-Take a censer full of burning coals from the altar & 2 handfuls of finely ground incense behind the curtain
#12-Put the incense on the fire so that the smoke from it will conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the covenant law, so he will not die.
#13-Sprinkle with his fingers some of the bull's blood on the front of the atonement cover
#14-Sprinkle the blood 7 times before the atonement cover
#15-Slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people.
#16-Take the blood behind the curtain and do the same thing as with the bull's blood.

Alright, so the Most Holy Place is atoned for now, but there's still the altar and the tent of meeting which involves more sprinkling of blood, etc.

Then Aaron must take the scapegoat & lay hands on its head, confessing over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites--and put them on the goat's head. A man appointed for the task will lead him into the wilderness. He must bathe himself with water before coming back into the camp.

Then go into the tent of meeting, take of the sacred garments & leave them there. Then he shall bathe with water & put on his regular garments again.

Now he can sacrifice the burnt offerings for both himself & for the people. This will also make atonement.
And he shall burn the fat from the sin offering on the altar. Also they should take the hides, flesh, & intestines outside of the camp and burn them. That man must bathe before he comes back, too.

Twenty-nine verses later, we're finished! Simple, huh? Maybe not...
The Lord says: "...on this day, atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins....This is to be the lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites."

I think Leviticus kind of has a bad rap in the Bible because of all the laws & details. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't skim through a few of the chapters on mold & bodily discharge BUT this chapter 16, details and all, is exactly what Hebrews 10 is talking about when it says...

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming...For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship...But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

"Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when THIS Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God and since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool. For by ONE sacrifice HE has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."

So not only are we made perfect forever, but it gets better! Instead of trying to memorize all these laws, God promised to put His laws in our hearts and to write them on our minds. This is the Holy Spirit! Can you imagine trying to follow God without the Holy Spirit? I think it can be easy to criticize the Israelites for being so fickle and wanting to go back to Egypt and what not, but they didn't have the Holy Spirit! We would be just the same as them if we didn't have the Holy Spirit helping us each step of the way.

And sometimes we ARE the same even with Holy Spirit in us. Holy Spirit wants to help us & make us holy, but He's a gentleman. He's not going to force Himself on you if you're not asking or surrendering. Take a moment and think about this :: Who do you think you're like more often--Jesus, our ultimate example of a life lived by the Holy Spirit--or the Israelites--a people that turned to idols, failed to trust God, complained a lot, and failed in the commitment to God frequently? Take advantage of the GREAT GIFT of the Holy Spirit in you. Tell Him right now that you want to start being more like Jesus and less like the Israelites.

God promised in Jer. 31:34 that our sins and lawless acts, He will remember no more. And the Hebrews author says quite plainly: "Where sins have been forgiven, sacrifices are no longer necessary!"

What a drastic difference between the verse in Leviticus I started this post off with and this one in Hebrews 10: "Therefore, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new & living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a GREAT Priest over the house of God...
[because of ALL that] ...let us DRAW NEAR TO GOD with a sincere heart and with FULL assurance that our faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is FAITHFUL."

He IS faithful! Start off your day praising our faithful & great High Priest. Thank God that you can draw near to Him boldly & with confidence, whenever you want, unlike Aaron who would die. Thank Jesus for His perfect sacrifice. As you sit in the Most Holy Place, tell Holy Spirit that you want to be more & more like Jesus. Tell God that the only sacrifice that you want to give now is your life. Because He is so, so, so worthy. He is so worth giving everything for. He is the only One worth "wasting your life" on. Ask Him to show you where you are actually wasting your life on other things. Tell Him that you want to be used by Him in any way that He chooses. Ask Him to help you surrender each day. Amen!