Key Verses: Leviticus 16:16, 16:22, 16:30
At the center of the book stands the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), given “after the death of the two sons of Aaron.” Once a year the high priest lays aside his glorious garments, bathes, and dresses in plain linen. He offers a bull for his own sin, then takes two goats: one is sacrificed as a sin offering for the people, and its blood is carried behind the veil into the Most Holy Place and sprinkled on and before the mercy seat — the only time anyone enters there, and only with blood. Over the second goat, the scapegoat, he confesses all the sins of Israel, laying them on its head, and it is led away into the wilderness, “and the goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area.” The sanctuary, the priesthood, and the people are cleansed, “for on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins.”
This is the theological summit of Leviticus and the Old Testament’s fullest picture of the cross. The two goats display two sides of one atonement: sin must be paid for by death, and sin must be carried completely away. Hebrews unfolds the fulfillment: Christ, our great High Priest, entered “the greater and more perfect tent... not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12). Where Aaron entered once a year and had to return, Jesus entered once for all; where the goat carried sin into a barren land, Christ removes it “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).
Key Terms & Words:
- כִּפֻּר (kippur) - Leviticus 16:30 - “Atonement”; the day the nation’s sin is covered and cleansed
- עֲזָאזֵל (Azazel) - Leviticus 16:8 - “Scapegoat” or “the goat that departs,” which bears sin into the wilderness
- הַכַּפֹּרֶת (hakkapporet) - Leviticus 16:14 - “The mercy seat,” where atoning blood is sprinkled before God
Cross-References:
- Leviticus 23:26-32 - The Day of Atonement in the calendar of feasts
- Psalm 103:12 - Sins removed as far as the east is from the west
- Hebrews 9:6-14 - Christ entering the true Most Holy Place with His own blood
- Hebrews 10:1-14 - The single sacrifice of Christ perfecting those who are sanctified
Discussion Questions:
- Why does the whole book pivot on this one day, and what does it accomplish?
- What do the two goats together teach about how sin is dealt with?
- How does Hebrews present Christ as the fulfillment of the high priest, the blood, and the entry behind the veil?