Covered - Part 3 [Notes]

Beginning in the Garden of Eden, where God took the life of an animal to cover Adam and Eve, we see the first temporary covering that points to the final and complete covering found in Christ’s shed blood on the cross. Along the way, we’ll trace this theme through the first Passover in Exodus, the sacrificial system in Leviticus, and the arrival of Jesus as the Lamb of God in the Gospel of John. 

…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
– Hebrews 9:22b

In Christian thought, [atonement is] the act by which God and man are brought together in personal relationship. The term is derived from Anglo-Saxon words meaning “making at one,” hence “at-one-ment.” It presupposes a separation or alienation that needs to be overcome if human beings are to know God and have fellowship with him.
– R.W. Lyon

Atone: The verb primarily describes the action of covering over iniquity.
— A.M. Rodrigues

…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
– Hebrews 9:22b

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
– John 1:29

Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins
— Hebrews 10:4

…we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.
– Hebrews 10:10b

Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his own firepan, put fire in it, placed incense on it, and presented unauthorized fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them to do.  Then fire came from the Lord and burned them to death before the Lord.
— Leviticus 10:1-2

The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron’s sons when they approached the presence of the Lord and died. The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he may not come whenever he wants into the holy place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
– Leviticus 16:1-3

“Aaron is to enter the most holy place b in this way: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.  He is to wear a holy linen tunic, and linen undergarments are to be on his body. He must tie a linen sash around him and wrap his head with a linen turban. These are holy garments; he must bathe his body with water before he wears them. He is to take from the Israelite community two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. “Aaron will present the bull for his sin offering and make •atonement for himself and his household.
– Leviticus 16:1-6

Next he will take the two goats and place them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. After Aaron casts lots f for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other for azazel, he is to present the goat chosen by lot for the Lord and sacrifice it as a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot for azazel j is to be presented alive before the Lord to make purification with it by sending it into the wilderness k for azazel. “When Aaron presents the bull for his sin offering and makes atonement for himself and his household, he will slaughter the bull for his sin offering. Then he must take a firepan full of fiery coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, l and bring them inside the veil. He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud n of incense covers the mercy seat that is over the testimony, or else he will die.
— Leviticus 16:7-13

He is to take some of the bull’s blood q and sprinkle it with his finger against the east side of the mercy seat; then he will sprinkle some of the blood with his finger before the mercy seat seven times. “When he slaughters the male goat for the people’s sin offering and brings its blood inside the veil, he must do the same with its blood as he did with the bull’s blood: he is to sprinkle it against the mercy seat and in front of it. He will purify the most holy place in this way for all their sins because of the Israelites’ impurities and rebellious acts. He will do the same for the tent of meeting that remains among them, because it is surrounded by their
impurities. No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the most holy place until he leaves after he has made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole assembly of Israel.
— Leviticus 16:14-17

Then he will go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on the horns on all sides of the altar. He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse and
set it apart from the Israelites’ impurities. “When he has finished purifying the most holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he is to present the live male goat. Aaron will lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess w over it all the Israelites’ wrongdoings and rebellious acts—all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on it all their wrongdoings into a desolate land, and he will release it there.
— Leviticus 16:18-22

The need for atonement is brought about by three things, the universality of sin, the seriousness of sin and man’s inability to deal with sin.
– L.L. Morris

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