Leviticus 16:12-1912And 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: 13And 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: 14And 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. 15Then 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: 16And 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. 17And 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. 18And 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. 19And 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. (Leviticus 16:12‑19)
“AND HE [Aaron] 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 veil: 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.”
That cloud of sweet-smelling incense speaks of the graces and moral excellencies of the Lord Jesus who loved us and gave Himself for us. The cloud covering the mercy seat tells of how infinitely acceptable and precious in heaven is that blessed One who was obedient unto death, who gained the victory over it in resurrection, and ascended into heaven itself in all the fragrance of His excellence and worthiness.
But Aaron must take in blood as well as incense. That blood sprinkled once upon the mercy seat and seven times before it tells of the infinite value in God’s sight of the blood of Jesus shed in atonement, and assures our poor hearts of its eternal efficacy. Thus we are encouraged to approach God at all times in childlike confidence and assurance that cannot be questioned.
We have liberty at all times to be within the veil where Christ is. His purpose in suffering for our sins was to bring us to God, and His being there in the presence of God is our title to be there also. How wonderful is this grace of God which gave us such an acceptance and standing in Christ, as well as the liberty to enter into His holy presence at all times. What worship springs up in our hearts when we are conscious of being there!
We now come to the two goats. They had been presented before the Lord for a sin offering and Aaron had cast lots upon them. One lot was for the Lord, and the other for the scapegoat.
The goat upon which “the Lord’s lot” fell was slain and, as with the bullock, its blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat once and seven times before it. The altar was also sprinkled with the blood seven times. This shows us the connection between the throne and the altar, for the cross has met the claims of the throne of God. In the very fullest way the blood of Christ shed at Calvary has satisfied every claim of God. God has His own peculiar portion in the death of Christ. It gloried Him in the very place where sin had brought in such dishonor and ruin, and glorified Him as nothing else could.
The blood of atonement was sprinkled everywhere from the cherubim of glory within the veil to the altar that stood in the court. We learn from Hebrews 9:23-2823It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:23‑28) that the tabernacle was a pattern of things in the heavens. Thus this sprinkling of the blood foreshadows the cleansing of the whole scene, heaven and earth, in the soon-coming day. The effect of the cleansing power of the blood of Christ will be felt in the remotest bounds of the universe of God. How blest our occupation when we “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:2929The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)); “He is the propitiation for our sins: and... also for the whole world” (1 John 2:22And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)).
ML-05/14/1972