If you ever find yourself in a court of law, you will probably want to hire an attorney to present your case. Law courts are intimidating places, and they operate under some complex rules. So you need an attorney to speak on your behalf.
In the Old Testament, the priests did something similar. They represented the people before God and spoke on their behalf. They served in a mobile worship center called the tabernacle. It was separated into different areas by a series of curtains and contained various pieces of symbolic furniture.
At the center of the tabernacle was the Most Holy Place, which was screened off from view by a heavy curtain. Inside was the Ark of the Covenant, a wooden chest carried on poles, with a lid on top. Rising from the lid were two golden figures of cherubim—angels representing the judgment of God. Between these two figures was an area known as the atonement cover or the mercy seat.
A Five-Act Drama
Once every year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would go behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place. God Himself would come down, just as He had done on Mount Sinai. He did not make Himself visible, but He appeared in a cloud over the mercy seat and met with the high priest (Leviticus 16:2).
Act 1: The Priest Appears
If you saw the high priest, you would immediately have known that he was one of the most important people in the land. His magnificent robes displayed the dignity of his office.
But on the Day of Atonement, the high priest discarded his robes and appeared in the streets wearing a simple white cloth, the kind of clothing the lowest servant would wear. People would line the route to view the spectacle of the high priest dressed as a common slave as he made his way toward the tabernacle like a boxer entering the ring.
Act 2: The Priest Prepares
Before the high priest could enter the presence of God to offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people, his first priority was to deal with his own sins. He took the blood of a slaughtered bull into the Most Holy Place and sprinkled it on the mercy seat.
This must have made a powerful impression on the people. The high priest, holding one of the most dignified positions in the land, was saying, “I stand in need of a sacrifice myself.” The high priest was recognizing, as every other priest, pastor, or religious leader would always have to admit, “I have sins of my own, and therefore I am in no position to deal with yours.”
Act 3: Atonement Is Made
Then two goats were brought forward. One was slaughtered, and the high priest took its blood behind the curtain and sprinkled it on the mercy seat between the two golden figures of the cherubim, which represented God’s judgment. Justice was satisfied, and mercy was released when the sacrifice was made.
Just as in the garden God had diverted the curse away from Adam and onto the ground, so now, God allowed the death sentence to be passed on an animal instead of the sinner.
Act 4: Sin Is Confessed
What happened next was the most dramatic part of the whole Day of Atonement.
The second goat was brought forward. God had instructed the high priest to “lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins” (16:21).
In churches today, when there is a service of dedication or baptism for an infant, the pastor or priest will hold the child as he says a prayer. This can cause some problems with children, thrust into the hands of a stranger, who understandably do not want to be separated from their parents.
I have often struggled to offer a coherent prayer as a wriggling infant tried desperately to escape my clutches. But such problems are nothing compared to what the high priest had to do here. He had to confess all the sins of Israel while holding onto a live goat!
The high priest identified specific sins in his prayer, and if you were in the crowd, you might have heard a prayer similar to this: “Almighty God, we confess our idolatry. We have loved Your gifts more than we have loved You. We confess our envy. We have seen what You have given to others and have coveted it for ourselves. We also confess our anger. We have been short-tempered and resentful toward others…”
Since the high priest had to confess all the sins of the people, this would have been a long prayer. But he prayed in such a way that the people would recognize the sins he confessed as their own. If you had been standing in the crowd, eventually you would have thought, yes, that sin is one of mine.
When the high priest confessed the sins of the people with his hands laid on the head of the goat, an act of transfer took place in which God moved the guilt of these sins onto the goat. “Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat” (16:21). So now you have one guilty goat!
Act 5: Guilt Is Removed
What happened next is a marvelous picture of how God deals with our sins when they have been confessed and their guilt has been transferred. God told the high priest to send the goat away “into the wilderness” (16:21).
Imagine the scene as the goat is led away, between the tents and then outside the camp and into the desert. You watch until the man and the goat are only a dot on the horizon, and then you cannot see them at all.
I cannot imagine a more powerful visual presentation of the gospel. This five-act drama was like a preview showing us what God would do when Jesus Christ came into the world.
From the Preview to the Main Event
Run forward through fifteen hundred years of history and you arrive at the main event, featuring Jesus Christ in the role of the High Priest who came to make atonement for our sins. The Old Testament tells us what this would take; the New Testament tells us how this was done.
Act 1: Christ Appears
Jesus Christ is our great High Priest! He is the Son of God, and His glory is far greater than the splendid clothes worn by any other priest. He shared the glory of the Father before the world began. But just as the high priest discarded his magnificent clothing on the Day of Atonement, so Christ laid aside His glory and took the form of a servant. He was wrapped in strips of cloth and laid in a manger.
Act 2: Christ Prepares
Jesus Christ lived a life that is different than any other life that has ever been lived. Jesus did the will of the Father and fulfilled all the work the Father had given him to do. “He committed no sin” (1 Peter 2:22), and so He needed no sacrifice for Himself.
Act 3: Christ Makes Atonement
After three years of His public ministry, Jesus was arrested and sentenced to be crucified. On the cross, he became the sacrifice for our sins. When His blood was shed, God’s justice was satisfied, and God’s mercy was released. Our great High Priest made atonement for us and opened a new and living way into the presence of God.
Act 4: We Confess Our Sins
Remember, there were two goats on the Day of Atonement. One was sacrificed, and the other was led into the wilderness. Both of these animals help us to understand what Christ does for His people. He is the one who sacrificed His life as the atonement for our sins, and He is also the one who takes our guilt away.
This is where you have a part to play in the drama. Just as the high priest laid both hands on the head of the live goat and confessed the sins of the people, God invites you to “lay hold” of Jesus Christ in an act of faith and confess your sins to Him. When you do, your guilt will be taken away.
Act 5: Our Sins Are Removed
When your sins have been laid on Christ, God promises that He will take them as far from you “as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).
Try to imagine a person who has been struggling with a troubled conscience. Let’s call her Sarah. She has made a foolish choice and wonders if God can ever forgive her.
Sarah is in the crowd watching the great drama of the Day of Atonement, but she is struggling with her conscience when a friend comes to talk with her.
“Sarah, think about what you have just seen. What happened when the high priest grabbed that goat by the head?”
“He confessed our sins.”
“And did he confess your sin, Sarah?”
“Yes, he did, and I felt so ashamed.”
“What happened, Sarah, to the sins he confessed?”
“They were laid on the goat’s head.”
“And what happened to the goat?” Sarah’s friend asks.
“It was taken away.”
“How far was it taken, Sarah?”
“Farther than my eyes could see.”
Take that picture and apply it to your life.
Opened
The Day of Atonement illustrates how Jesus dealt with our sins. When His blood was shed, mercy was released for sinners. The atonement is applied to your sins, in particular, when by faith you lay hold of Christ, believing in Him and confessing yours sins to Him. God will transfer the guilt of your sin to Christ as you lay hold of Him by faith. And when God transfers your guilt, He removes it from you so that you can look up to God with the joy and freedom of someone who is truly forgiven.
Pause for Prayer
Gracious Father,
Thank You that the Lord Jesus Christ has come into the world to be my High Priest. Thank You that He was willing to lay aside His glory and to be born in a manger. Thank You for His perfect life that qualified Him to make atonement. Thank You that He did this by laying down His life and shedding His blood.
I confess my sins to You… [Take time to confess your sins to the Lord.]
Thank You that Christ died for my sins. Help me now to enjoy the peace of knowing that You have taken them as far from me as the east is from the west, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.