Leviticus 16 Summary: A Short Breakdown in 5 Minutes

Leviticus 16 Summary - A Quick Overview

WHEN:

• Leviticus picks up where Exodus left off. The children of Israel are on their way through the wilderness to the Canaan land.

• According to Leviticus 8, the Tabernacle had already been erected, which would place the year at approximately 1490 B.C. (one year after the Israelites left Egypt).

DEFINITIONS:

• Azazel – The identity of Azazel is a hotly debated topic and requires more time than we can devote in a 5-minute study. Leviticus 16 is the only chapter in the Bible where the word is found. Some suggest Azazel was the name of a place, while others theorize it was the name of a demon or a fallen angel.

TABERNACLE DIAGRAM

OUTLINE:

• SACRIFICES FOR THE DAY OF ATONEMENT (16:1-11):

  • God spoke to Moses following the death of Aaron’s 2 sons in the Tabernacle (Lev 10) and told him to instruct Aaron not to enter the Most Holy Place except under very specific conditions.

  • When the time came for Aaron to enter the Most Holy Place, he was to cloth himself in the priestly garments and take a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering to the Tabernacle.

  • From the people, he was to take two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.

  • The bull was to be offered as a sin offering for Aaron’s house.

  • Aaron was then to take the two goats and cast lots over them.

  • The goat which was selected by the lot was used as a sin offering.

  • The other was presented to the Lord to make atonement and then set free into the wilderness to Azazel.

• THE HIGH PRIEST ENTERS THE MOST HOLY PLACE (16:12-28):

  • Aaron was to take fire from the bronze altar and burn two handfuls of incense in front of the Most Holy Place so that the smoke covered the mercy seat.

  • He was then to take some of the bull’s blood on his finger and sprinkle it on and in front of the mercy seat.

  • The goat for the sin offering was to be killed and its blood sprinkled in the same way.

  • By doing this the high priest made “atonement” for the sins of himself, his house, and all the people of Israel.

  • No one but the high priest was allowed in the Tabernacle while this was happening.

  • When this was complete, Aaron was to put some of the blood on the bronze altar to atone for it, just as he had atoned for the Most Holy Place and the rest of the Tabernacle.

  • Then Aaron was to take the second goat, the one on which the lot had not fallen, and confess all the sins of Israel over it while his hands were on its head.

  • God said, “The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.”

  • Following this, Aaron was to bathe himself and offer the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the nation.

  • The man who took the goat out into the wilderness was to bathe himself before reentering the camp.

• A STATUTE FOREVER (16:29-34):

  • This day of atonement (known today as Yom Kippur) was to be observed by the Jews every year on the 10th day of the 7th month.

  • They were to “afflict” themselves (traditionally understood as fasting) and were to abstain from ordinary work on that day.

  • The day was dedicated to their cleansing from sin.

APPLICATION:

• Why did Jesus have to die if sins could be forgiven by killing animals.

• The New Testament tells us these animal sacrifices didn’t truly have the effect of atoning for sin, but they were put in place for a time, as a symbol, until true atonement could be realized.

• Hebrews 10:4 – For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin.

• The scapegoat which was sent off into the wilderness was a perfect illustration of this reality. It carried the sins of the Israelites away into the wilderness, but it was still alive out there somewhere.

• The problem of sin still needed to be dealt with once and for all.

• That is what Jesus did on the cross.

• He offered His body “once for all” (Heb 10:10).

• “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. For by a single offering, He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”

• God also said, “‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’ Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin” (Heb 10:17-18).