Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

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Leviticus 16

The Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur

Leviticus 16:¹ Now the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), and died; ² and the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

• The Hebrew meaning of “ark” is “coffin”. The law that kills is also in the coffin. The mercy seat where the blood is applied covers the law.

• The symbolic meaning of the number two for the two sons of Aaron is “it is decided and it is done”. See The Symbolic meaning of numbers.

Leviticus 16:³ “Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. ⁴ He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water, and put them on. ⁵ And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering.

• Linen is symbolic for “righteousness”. Revelation 19:8
• To bathe is a physical act for a spiritual cleansing.
• “Holy” garments are clothing separated from wearing any other clothes. They are to be worn in the temple only.

Leviticus 16:⁶ “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house.

• The bull is for Aaron. A bull represents a religious leader. The Bull is in God’s name “El”.
• The male ram is like the ram whose horns were caught in the thorns when Abraham offered to sacrifice Isaac. The ram is a substitute sacrifice.
• The two goats:
  • The two goats are both named Jesus. Only one Jesus will be killed while the other Jesus is released into the wilderness.
  • One goat is Jesus Barabbas whose last name means “son (bar) of the father (abba)”. He was released into the wilderness on Passover.
  • The other goat is Jesus the Messiah who is the “Son of the Father). He is killed for the sins of the people on Passover.

Leviticus 16:⁷ He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ⁸ Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) and the other lot for the scapegoat. ⁹ And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s (Yᵊhōvâ) lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

Leviticus 16:¹¹ “And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. ¹² Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil.

Leviticus 16:¹³ And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony (Law, Witness), lest he die. 14 He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east (qeḏem) side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

• East: (See Genesis 3 Directions-East)
  
  “On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16:14 describes that when the High Priest is in the Holy of Holiest he is to sprinkle the blood on the atonement cover “qedma.” To the east? Some translate this as “on the front of the atonement cover,” which could be correct. After all, qedem does also mean forward, or front. But if it really means “east,” then how would it be practically possible? The tabernacle, and later the temple, was facing east, so the High Priest in the Holy of Holiest would stand facing the west, with his back to the east. How could he then sprinkle blood to the east? The only way would be to sprinkle the blood on the atonement cover, and then backwards, to the east, thus creating a straight vertical east-west line of blood. The next sentence says that he shall sprinkle seven times “before the atonement cover,” i.e. a straight horizontal line of blood.
  
  Did the High Priest use the blood of the sacrifice to draw a cross in the Holy of Holiest every Day of Atonement? A cross of blood, which stretches to the north, south, east and west?
  
  It all depends on how we translate “qedma” in that passage,
  https://biblesocietyinisrael.com/the-four-directions-in-ancient-hebrew/
  
• Sprinkling the blood with his finger seven times, on the seventh it means “It is finished, completed, God is satisfied”.

Leviticus 16:¹⁵ “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. ¹⁶ So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. ¹⁷ There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.

• @Prophecy Fulfillment Alert: Heb 9:7-14 (Prefigures Christ’s once-for-all death and atonement) (Old Testament prophecy fulfilled by Jesus)

Leviticus 16:¹⁸ And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord (qeḏem), and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. ¹⁹ Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

• The four horns of the altar:
  
• The four horns symbolize the four faces of God:
  

Leviticus 16:²⁰ “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. ²¹ Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. ²² The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

• Jesus Barabbas is a reflection of Jesus the Christ, carrying the iniquities of Israel. He was the visible manifestation of the sins of Israel as a murderer and a thief, while Jesus the Christ was sinless but died for the sins of man.

Leviticus 16:²³ “Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. ²⁴ And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement (kāp̄ar) for himself and for the people. ²⁵ The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. ²⁶ And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.

• The meaning of atonement (kapar): to cover, purge, make an atonement, make reconciliation, cover over with pitch (the pitch Noah used to “seal” the ark. Likewise men are “sealed” with the Holy Spirit from Jesus’ blood of atonement.)

Leviticus 16:²⁷ The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood (dām) was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. And they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal.

• @Prophecy Fulfillment Alert: Matt 27:33; Heb. 13:11-12 (Suffering outside the Camp) (Old Testament prophecy fulfilled by Jesus)

• blood (dām) is part of Adam’s name because Adam was made from the red clay of the earth. The Hebrew word for earth is also part of Adam’s name as Adamah because their is red in the earth. dām can be either “red blood” or “red wine”, like the last supper.

Leviticus 16:²⁸ Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.

Leviticus 16:²⁹ “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. ³⁰ For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).

• The day is Yom Kippur on the 10th of Tishri: the Day of Atonement.
• It is the last day of ten days and part of the Days of Awe.
• The High Holy Days are part of the Autumn Jewish Feasts.
• They appear to follow the pattern of Prophecies of Jesus’ second return, in the same way the Spring Jewish Feasts also followed Prophecies of Jesus’ first time on earth.

Leviticus 16:³¹ It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. ³² And the priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments; ³³ then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. ³⁴ This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.” And he did as the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) commanded Moses.

• When Jesus returns He will go through the eastern gate and, as High Priest, He will sit in the Holy of Holies as the sacrificial Lamb of God on the mercy seat. As the Son of God He will be the Light in the temple. He will rule in Jerusalem as the King of Kings in perfect justice as the Kinsman Redeemer.