At One-Ment - Leviticus 16

Once a year, the high priest entered the Holiest place on earth and offered sacrifice for the people's sins. This particular day came with many rules and regulations to avoid offending God. Here are a few that God gave to Aaron.

Come at the set time each year

Bring a

Bull - sin offering

Ram - burnt offering

Take a bath

Put on

Tunic

Underwear

Sash

Turbin

Take from the people

Two male goats - sin offering 

Ram - burnt offering

Offer the bull for your (Aaron's) own sins.

Present the two goats at the entrance of the meeting tent

Throw dice for the two goats to see which one will be sacrificed and which one will be sent into the desert as the scapegoat. You will slaughter the bull for your family's sins.

You will take a censer of burning coals from the altar and some finely ground incense. You'll put that on the inner altar to make enough smoke to hide the Ark of the Covenant, and then you can go into the Holiest place. 

And that is just the first thirteen verses of this unique chapter. Minutiae? Crazy stuff? If someone asked us to do all of this these days, we'd tell that someone to go jump in the lake. It's strange and weird. So what does it all have to do with anything?

If you look objectively at Leviticus these days, you will be baffled by the blood and gore. Yet, since this is the third book of the Bible, we must not blow it off as a mere Lorem Ipsum text. It is important. But why?

One author says, "The Book of Leviticus, like others in the Old Testament, offers ... lessons for today's people of faith. One example is the enduring truth in Leviticus 11:44: 'For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy.' "In many ways, the Book of Leviticus schools people of faith about God's holiness. It also clarifies God's expectations for his people. For example, the necessity of ritualistic sacrifice and atonement preceded Jesus' sacrifice in the New Testament."

A Holy God, plus sinful man, leads to a need for approximation. Holiness is the goal, and it is also impossible to attain. Leviticus shows us just how impossible with all of its rules, regulations, and bloody sacrifices. Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow.