King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Thursday, February 18, 2021
Chapters: Leviticus 16-17
Message: The Blood Makes The Atonement
Hello My Friend,
I noticed something when I was putting together the chapters for the next three days, Jesus often quoted Old Testament Scripture. When He tells us, [Matthew 19:19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.], it is nothing new, and has already been something that God expects of His people. Let me tell you, Old or New Testament times, God has never changed His views on anything, sin is always sin no matter how many people attempt to sugar coat it to make it look as though God is okay with it as long as we are saved. There has never been a time where God has said that it was okay to commit sin. Yes, He is merciful and gracious to forgive us of our sin when we confess them, but we need to start taking our salvation more seriously, and hold ourselves accountable, instead of placing the blame on someone else or ignoring the fact that we are sinners who need repentance every day, [John 5:14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.]
Sin will forever be a thorn that pricks at your body, mind, and spirit if it is not addressed. We need to understand that God is longsuffering in that He has the patience to let us overcome sin as we walk daily with Him in repentance, but we do need to acknowledge our sin and be repentant. Jesus gave His life for us, and if we are not going to take that seriously, and continue to live in sin without feeling one morsel of guilt, then we are going to suffer. Atonement, which is the expiation or payment for sin, is nothing to take for granted. The payment for sin is hell, it does not matter if we are ignorant to the fact that something we have done is sin. God knows this and that is why He came up with His Law regarding the sacrifices to redeem a soul bound for hell. God made a law, in which once a year atonement could be made for the entire congregation, including those who were not Israelites, but wanted God in their lives.
[Leviticus 16:5-8,29-30 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house. 7 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. 29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: 30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.]
[that ye may be clean from all your sins] It does not matter who we are, whether we are born of the Jews, or the Italians, or the Greeks, every soul is subject to hell, and every soul has the same opportunity to be saved, [Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.]
The Day of Atonement was more than just the normal sacrifices made for atonement and reconciliation with God for their sins. It was an entire day of repentance and refection, beginning with the normal sacrifices made in order for the high priest to make the atonement for the people. On any other day it was forbidden for anyone, including the high priest to go beyond the veil where the Ark of the covenant was as well the mercy seat and where God would dwell. On this day, he was allowed to bring the offerings, the incense, and one other offering.
[Leviticus 16:13-17 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: 14 And 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. 15 Then 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: 16 And 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. 17 And 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.]
[And there shall be no man in the tabernacle] Remember, no one can stand before God defiled with sin and live, they needed the high priest to stand between God and the sinner, but he too had to be cleansed before he could stand before God as well. Jesus changed all that, He remained sinless the entire time He was here, He became our high priest, our sacrifice, and when He shed His blood up on that cross, it sent that sweet savor up to God, the veil was removed, and now we can stand before God sinless, [Hebrews 9:11-12 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.]
God really is merciful, He does not want to see one person end up in hell, but sin of any kind is just cause for judgment. Why? Because He is holy, and in order to stand before Him and live we too need to be holy. Think about it as a traffic light at a busy intersection, when it is red we need to stop and wait until it is green to pass. You could probably run a red light a time or two and avoid getting hit if you see no cars coming, but eventually someone is going to come out of no where and hit you. You could die, even worse, kill someone, and if you survived the crash, spend the rest of your life suffering for it. No sin comes without consequence, but it can be forgiven and actually forgotten by God, which was the purpose for the second goat. Now, once the first goat was chosen and offered up to God, the high priest would take the second goat and bring him before the people.
[Leviticus 16:20-24 And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. 23 And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put 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 flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.]
[and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel,] All of the sins of the entire congregation were cast upon the head of the goat as they were confessed. The goat was then let go into the wilderness, taking the sin with him, freeing the people of them. Both of these goats are Christ all wrapped up into one, He is the sacrifice offered to the LORD by the high priest to make an atonement for us, taking each and every sin to the cross with Him. His burial cast all those sins in the grave, and His resurrection carried them all away, and once and for all, [Colossians 2:13-14 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;]
When Jesus gave His life, and shed His blood for us, He did away with the need for a yearly sacrifice, but we still need to make an appoint to afflict our souls, and reflect on what He did for us. And this is why we observe Resurrection Day (Easter) every year, but we should not wait a year to get right with God. This is not one rule for the Baptists or Jews, this rule is for all who believe in God and want Him in their lives. Now, all of the sacrifices offered by Israel or a stranger who chose to dwell among them, were to be presented before the door of the tabernacle, and the flesh was to be returned to the one bringing the offering.
[Leviticus 17:3-6, What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp, 4 And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people: 5 To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the LORD. 6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto the LORD.]
[for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.] Since the blood of an animal was the temporary fix for atonement, it is very precious to God. If someone killed an unblemished animal and did not offer it to God, it offended Him, and they would be held accountable for killing it without just cause. Without the shedding of blood there is no atonement, and until Christ came this was the only way a soul could be forgiven and have their sin debt paid off, [Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.]
Have you ever someone eat a steak that was rare? You can still see the blood coming out of it. Well, blood is so important to God, that He even forbade anyone to eat of it, which would be as though someone were eating a rare steak. [Leviticus 17:10-12,15-16 And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. 15 And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean. 16 But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.]
[For the life of the flesh is in the blood:] Blood, it is the life of every living creature, without blood, we die, without the proper blood, we die, without clean blood, we die. The same thing rings true for our soul, we need blood for it to live, not just any blood, we need the blood of Jesus Christ. The second we receive Jesus Christ as our Saviour we get an instant transfusion of His blood upon our soul, [John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.]
[then he shall bear his iniquity.] Keep in mind that while our salvation is bought and paid for by our faith in Christ, there is a need for daily confession and repentance, otherwise, we will bear our iniquities, [James 1:23-25 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [Leviticus 16:21-22 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.]
Today’s Prayer: God, thank You for life, and for eternal life through Your Son, His precious blood gave me more than life to my soul, it gave me a new life all together. Thank You so much for Your mercy and Your grace in saving a sinner like me, I know my flesh and I have defiled it more times than I can count, but I am forgiven through my faith in Your Son alone, and all of that is forgotten. Thank You for Your indwelling Spirit that replaces my sinful nature with Your Spirit. As I walk in Your ways year after year, I am aware of sins that wreck my relationship with You, help me to understand and remove any sin that may be hindering my walk with You. Lead me and guide me with Your mercies, and grace, teach me, grow me, and put You hedge around me so that I may not even be tempted to sin against You. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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