Leviticus 16:5-10,20-22, Evidence (8)

How is forgiveness is illustrated in the Old Testament?

·        When a person sinned what did he do with his sin? Lev. 5:1,17.  He "bore" his iniquity; carried the guilt.  When a person sins they bear the guilt.  This is always true.  With any sin we bear guilt, a debt to the One to whom we are accountable.

·        What did the sacrificial animal do with the sin of the one who brought it? And what was the result to the one who brought it? Lev. 4:20. The sacrifice provided atonement, which by definition is “satisfaction for the guilt, the debt”.  Thus the worshiper was forgiven.

·        On the day of atonement what did the scapegoat do with the sins of the people? Lev. 16:22. Remember, as per today’s reading, there were two goats.  The scapegoat was the one that was set free in the desert.  The priest would lay his hands on that goat and confess the sins of the people.  Thus that goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land (Lev. 16:22). 

·        Why were 2 goats needed on the day of atonement?  As we noted in yesterday’s post, the scapegoat could not carry away the sins of the people unless the debt of guilt was paid.  So another goat was needed to shed its blood to provide atonement.  All of this was a provision of God’s grace, for it is God who determined, For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul, Lev. 17:11.

·        Did the blood of animals actually forgive sin or merely look forward to One who would forgive sin? Isaiah 53:6,12. It had been established from the beginning of sin that a Human would be required for this task (Gen. 3:15, the seed of the woman).  Gen. 22 in the story of Abraham and Isaac tells us this Human would actually be God’s only Son whom He loved.  Isa. 53:6 tells us this one who would bear our guilt would be the Servant, the Messiah: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  Again, He shall bear their iniquities (53:11).   And again, Because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (53:12).

·        How does this relate to Christ Jesus? John 1:29; Heb. 9:23-28.  John the Baptist saw Jesus and said, Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  He is the Scapegoat.  Yet, He is also the goat whose blood was shed: So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many (Heb. 9:28).

Any debt not paid by the one who owes it must be paid by someone else ... whoever forgives it, even if the one owed simply absorbs the loss. So in forgiving the man Jesus is acknowledging not only His deity but His role as the sacrificial Lamb of God! 

What is our role in our forgiveness?  It is that we put our faith in Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God.  Faith in Christ is how we do what the worshipers in the OT did in laying their hands on the animal when it was killed (e.g. Lev. 1:4).  It is the way we identify with the Sacrifice when He was killed.