Stories from the Bible - Ep 9 The Horrible Dilemma (Leviticus 16)

Episode Date: November 22, 2021

Last time we heard how Israel rejected God at the very mountain he had spoken to them from. How could God ever be in friendship with them?  Picture of tabernacle High Priest garments The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved

Beauty, perfection, desire, deception, rebellion, judgment, hope. You're listening to Stories from the Bible. Bible stories told in order, using the words of the Bible, with introductions to give a recap and provide context. At the end of each story, you might want to pause and take a moment to reflect on what you noticed in the story, things you liked or didn't like, something the story showed you about God or about people. Don't worry if not everything makes sense. Keep listening to each episode and sit with the journey. I'm stoked to have you on the ride.

Okay, so you'll notice this episode's story is a bit different to the ones that have come before and the ones that will come after. We're going to cover a bit of detail, but hopefully it will help us to come to grips with some really crucial concepts that will unlock our understanding of the Bible's whole story. So hang in there with me. When the first people, Adam and Eve, rejected God's word, it brought the penalty of death. They could no longer live in God's presence. They were sent out of the garden, and God placed angels with flaming swords guarding the entrance into Eden. Anyone who tried to re-enter God's garden would instantly die. You see, once Adam and Eve chose to follow their

own hearts instead of God's word, they, and all their descendants after them, lived in a state of rebellion against God. The Bible calls this state of rebellion sin. And this rebellion, this sin, means death for anyone who approaches God's perfect holiness. How could it be possible for humans to ever be in a close relationship with God ever again? Well, throughout the rest of the Bible, we hear the story of how God goes about bringing rebellious, sinful people, his enemies, who would rather ignore him, back into friendship with himself. Now, last time, we heard how God had gathered the nation of Israel at the base of Mount Sinai in the desert. He spoke to them and promised that if they listened to his

words and obeyed everything he commanded them, they would enjoy being his friends, his special people. But sadly, the Israelites did not listen. They did not obey. Despite wanting to when they first heard the power and terror of God's voice, their hearts quickly followed their fears once the memory of God's voice died away over time. We heard how they did the very thing God commanded them not to do. They created a gold idol, the golden calf, and bowed down to it in place of him. They gave honour to the gold calf for rescuing them from Egypt. How could God ever remain friends with the Israelites when they behaved as his enemies? Let that thought hang.

Do you remember last episode we also mentioned that Moses stayed up Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights? Well, during that time, God was giving Moses instructions on how the Israelites were to live as his special nation, different from the other nations of the earth. And most significantly, God gave Moses very specific instructions on how to build an incredibly unique and special tent known as the tabernacle. It would be a physical place that showed that God lived with his people. It was also called the tent of meeting because it was the place where God would actually meet with his people. The tabernacle tent thing was inside a courtyard. The tent itself was divided into two parts, the holy place and the most holy place.

Once Moses had completed the building of the tabernacle, the cloud of God, remember the one that God was leading the Israelites in the desert with, came down and filled the tent. Remember how we said before that sinful people can't enter God's holy, pure presence without dying? Well, once the tent was filled with the cloud, it could only be entered under very special conditions. You see, the very design of the tabernacle and the way in which it was to be used would teach the Israelites that God could live with them and that it was possible to enter his holy presence, but only on the

condition that unblemished substitute animals were sacrificed instead. Because entering God's holy presence was such a dangerous thing to do, God gave Moses very specific instructions that had to be carefully followed. Those instructions covered the type of animals that were to be used, the way the animals were to be sacrificed, who was going to do the sacrificing, exactly what those people had to wear, and when the sacrifices were to be made.

For example, only priests could enter the holy place, and only one particular priest, known as the high priest, could enter into the most holy place, and that only once a year. If any of the people treated the tabernacle carelessly, there were bad consequences. In fact, Aaron's sons, who were priests, died instantly after they went into the most holy place without following the right procedure. They didn't take God seriously. They thought they could approach him however they wanted. Today's story starts here. The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons when they approached the presence of the Lord and died. And the Lord said

to Moses, tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the holy place inside the special curtain in front of the atonement lid to enter into the sanctuary, with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He must put on a holy linen tunic. Linen leggings are to cover his body, and he is to wrap himself with a linen sash and wrap his head with a linen turban. They are holy garments,

so he must bathe his body in water and put them on. He must also take two male goats from the congregation of the Israelites for a sin offering and one Israelites for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. Then Aaron is to present the sin offering bull, which is for himself, and is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. Next, he must take the two goats and stand them before the Lord at the entrance of the meeting tent, and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats and stand them before the Lord at the entrance of the meeting tent. And Aaron is to

cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel. Aaron must then present the goat which has been designated by lot for the Lord, and he is to make it a sin offering. But the goat which has been designated by lot for Azazel is to be stood alive before theering bull, which is for himself, and he is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. He is to slaughter the sin-offering bull, which is for himself, and take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and a full double handful of finely ground fragrant incense, and bring them inside the curtain. He must then put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the cloud of

incense will cover the atonement lid, which is above the ark of the Testimony so that he will not die. Then he is to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the eastern face of the atonement lid and in front of the atonement lid he is to sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger. Aaron must then slaughter the sin-offering goat which is for the people. He is to bring its blood inside the curtain, and he is to do with its blood just as he did to the blood of the bull. He is to sprinkle it on the atonement lid and in front of the atonement lid.

So he is to make atonement for the holy place from the impurities of the Israelites and from their transgressions with regard to all their sins. And thus he is to do for the meeting tent which resides with them in the midst of their impurities. Nobody is to be in the meeting tent when he enters to make atonement in the holy place until he goes out. And he has made atonement on his behalf, on behalf of his household, and on behalf of the whole assembly of Israel. The story ends there. Thanks for joining us for today's story.

You might like to take a moment to pause and think about what you noticed. Things you liked, things you didn't like. Something the story showed you about God. Perhaps you might even have thoughts about how this story fits into the bigger narrative of the Bible. If you'd like to look it up, it's from Leviticus chapter 16. The sacrifice of innocent animals is pretty horrible when you think about it. In fact, most of us would rather not think about it. But God was using it to show Israel that sin is horrible. God knows the Israelites naturally don't take their sin seriously.

Do you think the regular sacrifice of bulls and goats would be a permanent fix for Israel's sin? Stay tuned. You've been listening to Stories from the Bible. I'm Jen, and I look forward to sharing more stories with you.