Leviticus 16:3-34 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.… Now, what did such a ritual mean? If it be said that the Divine forgiveness depended upon such a day, then why did the world wait twenty-five hundred years before its appointment? If absolutely necessary, why was it not enjoined upon Abraham, and especially upon Adam in Paradise? What is the meaning of sacrifice? What relation does it bear to forgiveness of sin? We observe — 1. God's character is not changed by sacrifices. He neither regards sin with less hatred, nor loves the sinner more because of these. The Sacrifice of Calvary — compared with which all others are as shadows to the light — was the natural outcome of the Divine nature, rather than the means of changing that nature (Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:9, 10). 2. These mere sacrifices possessed no intrinsic value. If there were a value in these, it must have been either to Him in whose name they are offered, or to man for whom they were offered. Happily for us the Scriptures settle both points (Isaiah 1:13; Micah 6:6-8; Psalm 40:6; Psalm 51:16, 17). Thus much, therefore, follows: these sacrifices were not transactions of any intrinsic value to God, in themselves considered. Every part of that ceremonial for the childhood age was a Divine lesson, pointing to a greater offering and sacrifice to come. While God accommodated His laws to the perception of childhood, He made use of them to proclaim eternal truths — a fact we shall see illustrated in the lessons of the Day of Atonement. In it we have — I. THE DIVINE TESTIMONY AGAINST SIN. II. THE BASIS OF ATONEMENT. III. THE NECESSITY FOR A PERFECT HIGH PRIEST. (D. O. Mears.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. |
    |