Bible Readings for the Home Circle
The Atonement in the Old Testament.
WHAT prominent figure was connected with the first covenant?
"Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service,
and a worldly sanctuary."
Hebrews 9:1.
2. At whose command was this sanctuary built?
"And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saving, Speak unto the children of Israel,
that they bring me an offering; . . . and let them make me a sanctuary;
that I may dwell among them."
Exodus 25:1-8
3. Did Moses himself plan the sanctuary?
"According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle,
and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it."
Verse 9;
Acts 7:44; Hebrews 8:5.
4. Of what was the frame-work of the building formed?
"And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up."
Exodus 26:15.
5. With what were the boards overlaid?
"And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for
places for the bars; and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold."
Verse 29.
6. Of what materials were the coverings of the sanctuary made?
"Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen,
and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubim of cunning work shalt thou
make them."
"And thou shalt make curtains of goats' hair to be a covering
upon the tabernacle; eleven curtains shalt thou make."
"And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red,
and a covering above of badgers' skins."
Verses 1, 7, 14.
7. How many apartments had the sanctuary?
"And the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy."
Verse 33.
NOTE. — The sanctuary, or tabernacle, was about forty-five feet (13.7+ meters)
long by fifteen feet (4.56+ meters) wide, and divided into two parts, — the
outer apartment, or "holy place," being two thirds of the whole building,
and the inner apartment, or "most holy place," one third. Three sides of
the building were of upright boards overlaid with gold, but the east, or front
end, consisted of a curtain, which was put aside to form an entrance.
8. What was in the first apartment?
"For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick,
and the table, and the showbread; which is called the sanctuary."
Hebrews 9:2.
9. What other article was in the first apartment?
"And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the vail."
Exodus 40:26; 30:1-6.
10. What was contained in the second apartment, or the most holy place?
"And after the second vail, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all;
which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about
with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that
budded, and the tables of the covenant."
Hebrews 9:3, 4; Exodus 40:20, 21.
11. By what name was the cover of the ark known?
"And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt
put the testimony that I shall give thee."
Exodus 25:21.
12. Where was God, by the symbol of his presence, to meet with Israel's high priest?
"And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the
mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony."
Verse 22.
13. What was in the ark, under the mercy-seat?
"And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing,
the ten commandments.
. . . And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables
in the ark which I had made."
Deuteronomy 10:4, 5.
14. When this building was completed, for what purpose was it used? and who daily officiated in the first apartment?
"Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always
into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God."
Hebrews 4:6.
15. Who only was allowed in the second apartment? how often? and for what purpose?
"But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood,
which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people."
Verse 7.
NOTE. — The round of service in the earthly sanctuary was God's service.
It had to do with the sins of the people; not that the blood offered there could
take away their sins, for the Bible says expressly (Hebrews 10:4) that it could
not do so. It could, however, show their faith in the efficacy of Christ's
blood yet to be spilled, and to which the sanctuary work constantly directed
their minds. The work done there was a type, or shadow, of Christ's atoning
work, and, as such, carries with it a significance that cannot be overestimated.
With this thought in view, we proceed to learn the process by which, in a
figure only, their sins were put away from them.
16. How does one commit sin?
"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law;
for sin is the transgression of the law."
1 John 3:4.
17. And what is the wages of sin?
"The wages of sin is death."
Romans 6:23.
NOTE. — Then if a man sinned in Israel, he violated one of the ten commandments
that were in the ark, and under the mercy-seat of God. These commandments
were the pillars of God's government; to violate one of them was
to rebel against God's government, and so become subject to death. But
there was a mercy-seat reared above these stern arbiters of God's justice.
In the dispensation of his mercy, God grants the sinner the privilege
of bringing a substitute, to meet the demands of the law.
18. When one of the common people thus sinned, what must he then do, to save his life?
"And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth
somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord, . . . then he
shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his
sin which he hath sinned. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the
sin-offering, and slay the sin-offering in the place of the burnt-offering."
Leviticus 4:27-29.
19. What was done with the blood?
"And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon
the horns of the altar of burnt-offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof
at the bottom of the altar."
Verse 30.
20. How was the body of the sin-offering to be disposed of?
"This is the law of the sin-offering: In the place where the burnt-offering is killed
shall the sin-offering be killed before the Lord; it is most holy. The priest
that offereth it for sin shall eat it; in the holy place shall it be eaten,"
Lev. 6 : 25, 26,
NOTE. — After a person discovered his sin by the law which demanded the death
of the transgressor, he first brought his offering; then he confessed his sin
while laying his hands on the head of the victim, thus transferring (in a figure)
his sin to the victim; the victim was next slain, and some of its blood was put
on the horns of the altar of burnt-offering; the priest took the flesh into the
holy place, and there ate it. This was the case with the sin-offering of the
common people; but if a priest or the whole congregation had sinned, the
victim was burned without the camp, and the blood was taken into the sanctuary.
In this way sins were transferred from the sinner into the sanctuary,
there to await further disposal.
21. After the accumulation of the sins of the year in this way, what took place on the tenth day of the seventh month?.
And this shall be a statute forever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the
tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls; . . .
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."
Leviticus 16:29, 30.
It seems by this that the atonement was not completed till the end of the ceremonial year.
Atonement signifies
"expiation; satisfaction or reparation made by giving an equivalent
for an injury." — Webster.
22. After making an offering for himself, what did the high priest next do?
"And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door
of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two
goats, one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scape-goat."
Leviticus 16:7, 8.
23. What was done with the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell?
"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."
Verse 15.
24. Why was it necessary to make this atonement?
"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."
Verse 16.
See also verses 18, 19.
NOTE. — As already seen, sins were conveyed into the sanctuary during the
year by the blood and the flesh of the personal sin-offerings, which were offered
daily at the door of the tabernacle. Here they remained until the day of
atonement, when the high priest went into the most holy place with the
blood of the goat on which the Lord's lot fell; and bearing the sins of the
year in before the mercy-seat, he there atoned for them before God, and so
cleansed the sanctuary, or as the Dutch and German translations of
Ezekiel 45:18 render it, "unsinned" the sanctuary.
25. After the high priest came out of the sanctuary with the sins still on him, having atoned for them in the most holy place, what did he next do?
"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; 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."
Leviticus 16:20, 21.
26. Then who bore the sins of the people, after the high priest had put them off, and the camp was cleansed from them?
"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."
Verse 22.
NOTE. — In this way the sins of Israel were disposed of each year.
It will be noticed, however, that the atonement work of that dispensation only availed
for those whose sins had been confessed and conveyed unto the sanctuary by
the sacrifice of the victims offered daily at the door of the tabernacle.
If any one chose to keep his sins upon himself, he received no atonement,
but instead, was cut off from God's people at the close of that day's work;
though the privilege of making an offering was extended to the people,
even while the high priest was engaged in the closing exercises of the year.
See Numbers 29:7-11, and the work entitled, "The Sanctuary and 2300 Days," pp. 289-297.
It is clear, then, that no atonement can be made for a person before he confesses
his sins. This subject is further discussed in the following reading.
LORD, we are vile, and full of sin,
We're born unholy and unclean;
Sprung from the man whose guilty, fall
Corrupts this race, and taints us all.
Soon as we draw our infant breath
The seeds of sin grow up for death;
Thy law demands a perfect heart,
But we 're defiled in every part.
Nor bleeding bird, nor bleeding beast,
Nor hyssop branch, nor earthly priest,
Nor running brook, nor flood, nor sea,
Can wash the dismal stain away.
Jesus, thy blood, thy blood alone,
Hath power sufficient to atone;
Thy blood can make us white as snow;
No other tide can cleanse us so.
ISAAC WATTS.