Leviticus16

Leviticus 16 details the annual Day of Atonement rituals, initiated after the death of Aaron's sons. Aaron, as High Priest, performs specific ceremonies to make atonement for himself, his household, and the entire congregation of Israel. This involves sacrifices, blood sprinkling in the Most Holy Place, and the symbolic sending away of a scapegoat bearing the people's sins into the wilderness. This day is established as a perpetual statute for cleansing from sin.
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Introduction to the Day of Atonement

1
Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron’s sons when they approached the presence of the LORD. ​
2
And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most 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. ​

The High Priest's Preparation and Offerings

3
This is how Aaron is to enter the Holy Place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
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He is to wear the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments. He must tie a linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are holy garments, and he must bathe himself with water before he wears them. ​
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And he shall take from the congregation of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.
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Aaron is to present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household.
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Then he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
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After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat, ​
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he shall present the goat chosen by lot for the LORD and sacrifice it as a sin offering.
10
But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement by sending it into the wilderness as the scapegoat. ​

Atonement for the Priest and Sanctuary

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When Aaron presents the bull for his sin offering and makes atonement for himself and his household, he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering.
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Then he must take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and take them inside the veil.
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He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the cloud of incense will cover the mercy seat above the Testimony, so that he will not die. ​
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And he is to take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the mercy seat.
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Aaron shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and bring its blood behind the veil, and with its blood he must do as he did with the bull’s blood: He is to sprinkle it against the mercy seat and in front of it.
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So he shall make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the impurities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting which abides among them, because it is surrounded by their impurities. ​
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No one may be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in 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.
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Then he shall 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 all the horns of the altar.
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He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.

The Ritual of the Scapegoat (Azazel)

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When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he is to bring forward the live goat.
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Then he is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man appointed for the task. ​
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The goat will carry on itself all their iniquities into a solitary place, and the man will release it into the wilderness. ​
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Then Aaron is to enter the Tent of Meeting, take off the linen garments he put on before entering the Most Holy Place, and leave them there.
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He is to bathe himself with water in a holy place and put on his own clothes. Then he must go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering to make atonement for himself and for the people. ​
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He is also to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
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The man who released the goat as the scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.
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The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; and their hides, flesh, and dung must be burned up. ​
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The one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and afterward he may reenter the camp.

The Annual Statute of Yom Kippur

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This is to be a permanent statute for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you shall humble yourselves and not do any work—whether the native or the foreigner who resides among you— ​
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because on this day atonement will be made for you to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD. ​
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It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, that you may humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute.
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The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest shall make atonement. He will put on the sacred linen garments
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and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the assembly.
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This is to be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement once a year for the Israelites because of all their sins.” And all this was done as the LORD had commanded Moses. ​

Study Notes for Leviticus 16

Verse 1

Links the establishment of this ritual directly to the unauthorized approach and subsequent death of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10), stressing the mortal danger of approaching God improperly.

Verse 2

The most sacred area, the Holy of Holies, could only be entered once a year by the High Priest, demonstrating God’s absolute holiness and the necessity of strict mediation.

Verse 4

The High Priest wears simple white linen garments instead of his usual ornate robes. These emphasize humility, purity, and equality before God during this solemn rite.

Verse 8

The two goats function together as a single sin offering, divided by lot. One is sacrificed to the Lord, and the other is sent away, symbolizing two aspects of atonement: propitiation and removal.

Verse 10

The term 'scapegoat' is a translation of the Hebrew *Azazel*, which likely refers either to the place of removal or the complete removal of sin, carried away to an uninhabited land.

Verse 13

The heavy cloud of incense shielded the High Priest from the direct, unbearable presence of God (the Shekinah glory appearing on the mercy seat), preventing immediate death.

Verse 16

This verse highlights a unique aspect of Yom Kippur: the atonement not only covers the people but also ritually cleanses the holy objects and the sanctuary itself from the defilement caused by Israel's sins.

Verse 21

The laying on of hands symbolizes the transfer of all the nation’s sins and transgressions onto the living goat, which then physically carries the guilt away from the community.

Verse 22

The sending away of the goat into an uninhabited land illustrates the totality of God’s forgiveness and removal of guilt, ensuring the sins are completely severed from the camp.

Verse 24

After completing the most sacred work, Aaron changes back into his regular, ornate priestly garments to resume the standard burnt offerings.

Verse 27

The sin offerings whose blood was used inside the Holy Place were considered extremely holy yet highly contaminated by sin, and therefore had to be burned completely outside the camp.

Verse 29

'Afflict your souls' is the fundamental requirement for the people on this day, understood in Jewish tradition as mandatory fasting, abstinence, and deep repentance.

Verse 30

Yom Kippur is the only day mandated in the Law where a comprehensive, corporate cleansing and atonement is made for the entire nation's sins accumulated over the whole year.

Verse 34

This emphasizes the yearly necessity of the ritual, pointing toward the New Testament understanding that Christ's once-for-all sacrifice fulfilled and transcended this repeated annual requirement (Hebrews 9:25-28).

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