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Topic: A More Perfect Way
[DCLM Daily Manna 3 May 2020 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Leviticus 16:20-34
20 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:
21 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:
22 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.
23 And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there:
24 And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.
25 And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.
26 And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.
27 And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.
28 And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:
30 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.
31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:
33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.
34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
KEY VERSE: “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 16:30)
MESSAGE:
Sin is man’s greatest challenge on earth, It separates man from God. Sin enslaves and no one can on his own free himself from it. The more man attempts to pull himself out of sin, the more he sinks into the abyss of helplessness. To be free from sin therefore, would require the intervention of superior power; the One who created man, who alone knows how to disentangle him from the tyranny of evil and wickedness.
God took the initiative with the children of Israel when He appointed Aaron to be the high priest. His job was essentially to make atonement for their sins. To do this, a day was set aside each year for him to enter into the most holy place in the temple, make animal sacrifices to cleanse his own sin and the sin of the people. The animal sacrifices only covered sins for a short period but could not cleanse it indefinitely. So, every year, the entire nation stood still to allow the high priest repeat this ritual of atonement under very strict rules. Without doubt, this old system of atonement or covering sins, was grossly limited and did not provide a permanent solution to man’s sin problem.
Whilst Aaron’s animal sacrifices only succeeded in temporarily covering the sins of the people, Christ’s sacrifice of Himself brought total cleansing from sin, once and for all. While Aaron made long preparations before appearing before God, we can now come boldly to His throne to obtain mercy and grace in time of need. Of course, now, we do not just prepare our body but our hearts as we approach God in prayer of faith through Christ.
As many as are willing can have their sins forgiven and their guilt removed as they confess and forsake their sins; accept Christ as Lord and Saviour and place their trust in the spotless Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the whole world.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: In Jesus is found the only route to God.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Judges 5-7
