Over the past four weeks, the world’s largest religious gathering has been taking place in India. It’s a six-week festival called the Kumbh Mela. It began on Jan 14 and will last through Feb 26.
During this period, it’s expected that there will be 400 million participants in this pilgrimage. For perspective, that’s about 100 million more people than the entire population of the United States.
What is the Kumbh Mela? It’s a major Hindu festival that takes place in northern India at the confluence of three holy rivers (2 rivers are real, physical rivers; 1 is a spiritual river). The origin of the festival comes from a Hindu tradition which recounts a story of gods and demons fighting over a pitcher that carried the nectar of immortality.
The drops from the nectar of immortality fell into these rivers, hence the belief that bathing or washing in these rivers cleanses you from your sin. The pilgrimage involves washing in the rivers to atone for your sins.
Now, the Bible teaches us God has put eternity in our hearts (Ecc 3:11). What this means is that human beings have an innate sense of God. Human beings at bottom are religious creatures. We are irreducibly religious.
Apart from God’s revelation, human beings are going to come up with the wrong solutions.
The Kumbh Mela festival highlights this reality. What does it get right? It rightly understands that human beings are sinful creatures in need of atonement. What does it get wrong? At a very basic level, it gets the solution––the means of atonement––wrong, among other things.
This reality should sober us. 400 million people seeking atonement for their sins, ultimately in the wrong places.
This is one reason why we should pray as a church that God would raise up from among us, from this church, laborers for the harvest.
Here’s my point in bringing up the Kumbh Mela festival. Broadly speaking, people participating in this festival have some conception of sin.
Their understanding of the nature sin will be different than the Bible’s view. Nevertheless, my point is simply that there’s an awareness of the need for atonement from sin.
This stands in contrast with Western society today. In the West, in America in particular, I would argue that we are living in the eclipse of sin. Sin has become eclipsed by the therapeutic.
What do I mean by that? We don’t speak in explicitly theological categories when we speak about human beings. This can happen within the church.
In our age of empathy and self-esteem, we don’t like to say that human beings are sinful by nature––because that’s bad for your self-esteem. On this view, sin is not the fundamental problem but shame, which is usually brought about by something external.
In the eclipse of sin, we don’t have a proper view of who humans are by nature. In the church, if we’re not careful, we can essentially have the assumption that humans are basically good—and all we need is a little help or self-improvement.
In the West, we want a God who is loving and gracious—which of course he is.
It is only when we have a proper view of the depths of human sin that we truly grasp the depths of God’s love and grace.
All of this has been a lengthy introduction to set up the following point: the Bible teaches us the right questions to ask.
In our culture, if we are not thinking of human beings as sinful by nature, then when we approach the Bible, we are going to ask the wrong questions.
The Bible teaches us what questions we should be asking.
This morning, we will be in the book of Leviticus. Chapter 16.
Leviticus is the place where Bible reading plans go to die. If yours has died, there is good news—we believe in resurrection.
Reading Leviticus can be strange to us, like culture shock. It’s so different from our experience: all the sacrifices, the discussion of cleanness/uncleanness–– all of this can be confusing.
This morning, the sermon is going to focus on Lev 16:1–22. If you have a Bible, you can turn there now.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Bible, Leviticus is the third book. Lev 16:1–22. Big number = chapter number. Small numbers = verses.
This passage is about the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur; kipper means to cover sin).
In America, Christmas and Easter function as high points in our calendar. For ancient Israel, the Day of Atonement was the high point in Israel’s festal calendar.
The Tabernacle is the place of God’s dwelling. The sins of the people not only brought guilt upon themselves, but sin polluted the tabernacle itself. The Day of Atonement, then, is a purification ritual which provided cleansing and purification from sin. It purified not only the people but also the place.
Here’s the key question that our passage seeks to answer:
How can a holy God dwell among sinful people?
That’s the question we should be asking, according to this passage.
If you’re not a believer in Christ, how would you answer this question? How does the Bible’s answer differ from yours?
How can a holy God dwell among sinful people?
The Bible’s answer: Only through God’s gracious atonement.
Ultimately, God’s gracious atonement is fulfilled in the cross of Christ.
Jesus is our Great High Priest who provides atonement for us. Through Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice, God deals with the problem of sin, cleansing us from our sin and canceling our guilt, while upholding the standard of his holiness and satisfying his justice.
Let me summarize chapter 16 (While I’m not going to read it, I encourage you if you have a Bible, to have your Bible open in your lap so you can follow along):
The Day of Atonement is a purification ritual to provide atonement for the sins of the people and to cleanse the tabernacle itself from the uncleanness of the people’s sin. There are multiple sacrifices/offerings involved in the one ritual. One Bull, two goats, and one ram. Verses 1–10 provide general instructions for the entire ritual.
Before, the High Priest atones for the people’s sins, he must first present a bull as a sin offering for himself and his household. Verses 10–14 describe this process. Then after he has presented this sin offering, he takes the two goats and casts lots for them.
One goat is for the Lord and is a sin offering for the people. The other goat is for Azazel (which means wilderness). I’ll discuss the details with these two goats later. That’s found in verses 15–22.
There’s more to the chapter, but I’ll just stop at vs 22.
That’s the macro summary. Here’s what I want us to consider from this chapter.
How does this passage answer how sinful people may dwell in God’s holy presence?
I think it answers this question in three ways, which will be the three main points of my sermon.
Point #1: God’s holiness demands we approach God on his terms. (vv. 1–14)
Point #2: God requires a substitutionary sacrifice that cleanses us from sin and removes our guilt (vv. 15–22).
Point #3: Jesus is our Great High Priest who provides atonement for us.
Point 1 is the longest, Points 2&3 are short.
Let’s start with Point #1. God’s holiness demands we approach God on his terms.
We see this in verses 1–14.
For starters, our passage begins in vs 1 with “The Lord spoke to Moses…” Vs 2 continues, “the Lord said to Moses.” Vs 3. Says, “But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place.”
Everything that follows is God’s instruction. These are God’s terms. Chapter 16 ends with “And Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses” (vs. 34).
This entire chapter is bookended with God’s terms. God is setting the parameters for how he is to be worshiped.
When I say God demands to be worshiped on his terms, we should not think of that as an arbitrary narcissistic demand, like a controlling boss who never compromises.
No, that’s not what’s going on. There’s something about God’s nature that demands we approach him on his terms.
In fact, God laying out his terms is actually God’s gracious provision for us to be able to approach him. It’s not narcissistic at all.
God demands to be worshiped on his terms.
What does this passage teach us about the nature of God and the nature of humanity?
In short, it teaches us that God is holy and human beings, as a result of the Fall, are sinful by nature.
Twice in this passage, in vs 2 and vs 13, we see the phrase “so that he may not die/so that he does not die.”
We know from vs 6, that even the High Priest is sinful. Before he offers sacrifices of atonement for the people, he must present a sin offering for himself.
When the High Priest enters the Holy of Holies before the mercy seat, a cloud of incense must veil God’s holy presence…so that he may not die. The imagery of the incense cloud is evocative of God’s holy presence on Mount Sinai where God’s glory settled on the mountain in thick clouds of darkness and smoke. The cloud creates a veil.
The Bible here simply assumes an understanding that when sin enters the unmediated presence of the holiness of God, death—judgement—is the result.
Let’s consider why this is so. What is the holiness of God?
The holiness of God is his majestic perfection. It is essential to his nature.
Exodus 15:11 “Who is like you O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?”
Angelic host in heaven cover their faces before the throne in heaven and cry, “Holy, holy, holy.” (Isa 6:3).
God’s holiness is his majestic glory, but it is also his moral perfection.
God is the Father of lights (James 1:17) who dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:16). His work and ways are perfect; he is just and upright (Deut 32:4; Ps 18:30). There is no unrighteousness in him (Ps 92:15). God is light and in him is no darkness (1 John 1:5).
Because God is holy, he is fully devoted to his own glory and goodness.
The Puritan theologian Stephen Charnock says this: “As God necessarily loves himself, so he must necessarily hate everything that is against himself.”[1]
To be clear, what God detests is sin. He does not detest human beings. Human beings, made in God’s image are the crown of his creation (Gen 1:26–27). Yet, because of the Fall, human beings are sinful by nature (Gen 3:17–19; Rom 5:12–21).
God detests sin because it detracts from his own glory, and it squanders humanity’s ability to flourish according to God’s design.
A few points of application.
If you’re a believer in Christ, how often do you reflect on the nature of God as holy?
In my class I’ve been teaching through River Christian Training, we’ve spent time reading Matthew Barrett’s book None Greater on the attributes of God. I like the subtitle of his book: The Undomesticated Attributes of God.
Do you view God as holy? Or is your view of God domesticated? By that Barrett means tamed/controlled. “God is there to give me what I want or to help me achieve self-fulfillment.”
Another point of application. If God is holy and detests sin, do you detest sin in your life? Or do you think it’s not really a big deal?
Don’t grow complacent. Out of a holy desire to love what God loves; put to death the sin in your life. This is one reason we do small group ministry at River. These are your battle buddies. These are you brothers and sisters in Christ to whom you can say, “Help me put this sin to death.” “Help me name this sin when I don’t want to.”
If you’re not a believer in Christ, recognize that your sin stands under God’s righteous judgement. So, trust in Christ today for forgiveness and atonement for all your sins.
Let’s remember the first main point here. God’s holiness demands we worship God on his terms.
God is holy, we are not; therefore, atonement must be made for sinful people to dwell in God’s holy presence.
As God lays out his terms so that the people of Israel can approach him, it’s important for us to recognize that the entire Levitical system is God’s gracious provision for a means back to his presence. This is grace. This is a foreshadowing of the gospel.
The Levitical system should not be thought of as human beings purifying themselves (as with the Kumbh Mela festival). Importantly, it is God who purifies his people.
As the Lord says in Lev 20:8 “I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” The people participate in the sacrifices, but God sanctifies.
God has taken the initiative to provide a way for his people to enter his presence.
This points us to the heart of the Gospel. The gospel proclaims that we are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8–9). The gospel is not: wash yourself, clean yourself up so that you may be accepted before God.
The gospel begins with God’s gracious acceptance of you on account of Christ. God has washed you and made you clean. Then, you are empowered to go on living in ongoing holiness by the Spirit.
To worship God on his terms includes his gracious provision for atonement. This leads us to point #2.
Point #2: God requires a substitutionary sacrifice that cleanses us from sin and removes our guilt (vv. 15–22).
Verses 15–22 explain the ritual with the two goats. While there are two goats, it’s best to see this not as two separate acts but one sacrifice with two aspects: cleansing and removal of guilt.
The High Priest casts lots for the goats; one goat is designated for the Lord as a sin offering, the other is designated for Azazel (the wilderness).
The bull is offered on behalf of the priest and his household. The goat is offered on behalf of the people. The blood sprinkling rite represents purification from the pollution of sin.
In the Western mind, the whole idea of blood cleansing is strange to us. After all, blood stains things. But in the biblical worldview, blood cleanses and purifies. Why is this so? Why is blood required for purification?
Leviticus 17:11 provides some insight. It says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.”
Blood is sacred because it represents the life of something. Because death is a consequence of sin, blood represents a ransom. The goat represents a substitute, whose life (blood) is given as a payment for sin.
The blood sprinkling ritual signifies that while we deserve death, this blood, this life, covers you.
So, purification and cleansing from sin is the first aspect of the sacrifice. The second aspect concerns the removal of guilt, which occurs with the second goat.
Notice in vs 21 that the High Priest lays both his hands on the live goat and transfers the sins of the people to the goat. The goat bears the sins of the people.
Also notice the successive use of “iniquities, transgression, and sin.” Where else do we find this grouping of terms in the Bible?
Exodus 34:6–7. God reveals himself to Moses: The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…”
How will God forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin? Through this substitutionary sacrifice in which the goat carries all the people’s iniquities, transgressions, and sin.
The sins of the people are confessed over the goat, and the goat then is sent away outside the camp to die in the wilderness. This signifies the removal of guilt.
Taken as a whole, the people are cleansed from the pollution of sin and the guilt is cancelled.
This leads us to Point #3. Jesus is our Great High Priest who provides atonement for us.
For many of you, the connection to Christ is already self-evident. But it’s good for all of us to reflect on how Christ fulfills all that we see taking place in the Levitical system.
Even though the Levitical system represents God’s gracious provision of atonement so that he can dwell among sinful people, there was something about it that was incomplete.
That’s not due to incompetence on God’s part. This is by design. The tabernacle system had a built-in expiration date. It was always designed to pave the way forward and to find fulfillment in Christ, the perfect High Priest, the better sacrifice.
Whereas the High Priest was sinful and had to first offer sacrifices for himself, Jesus is the true and better Great High Priest without blemish and sin.
This means Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is qualitatively better than the sacrifices offered by the Levitical priests.
Hebrews 9:13-14 says, “For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”
There’s something deficient about the blood from bulls and goats. It was a provisional arrangement, so God could graciously dwell with his people, but it did not actually take away sins. Why?
Because the author of Hebrews tells us, these sacrifices had to be completed year after year: “it can never by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near…But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Heb 10:1-4)
This is fulfilled in Jesus’ all-sufficient perfect once and for all sacrifice. “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Heb 10:14).
There is nothing to add to Christ’s work. It is fully sufficient to cleanse us from all our sins and all our guilt.
Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jesus demonstrates his power over sin and death. Jesus’ blood cleanses us from our sin. Our hearts are sprinkled clean from an evil conscience (Heb 10:22). And the guilt of our sin was put to death. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who believe (Rom 8:1).
Jesus is God’s answer to how a holy God may dwell among sinful people. Through his perfect life and substitutionary death, he cleanses us from all sin and cancels our guilt.
If you’re not a believer in Christ, how are you trying to atone for your sins? Are you trying to wash yourself from your mistakes? Sin leaves a stain that no human effort can remove.[2]
As the old hymn says, What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Turn to Christ today and trust in him alone for the cleansing and forgiveness of your sins. There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins/ And sinners plunged beneath the flood lose all their guilty stains.
If you are a believer in Christ, maybe you need to be reminded of the truth that Christ has carried your guilt away. Like that goat sent away into the wilderness to die, the guilt of your sin has been cast into the depths of the sea.
2 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
Ps 103:12 “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
Micah 7:19 “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
You know Jesus has washed your sin, but you need to know the guilt and condemning power of sin has been cast away. That goat is dead, and he’s not coming back into the camp. He breaks the power of cancelled sin, he sets the prisoner free.
As we continue in worship, we are going to celebrate communion together. Let me pray for us, and then Rodney will lead us as we continue to worship together.
[1] Stephen Charnock, The Existence and Attributes of God, vol. 2, ed. Mark Jones (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022), 1058.
[2] Gordon J. Wenham, The Book of Leviticus, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), 96.