The Covering

By Jerry D. Ousley

            It seemed funny, to say the least, walking into the holy of holies, dressed in the outfit commanded by God to Moses.  It was only a few days before when his two oldest sons had been burned to death by God.  They, in a drunken stupor, had attempted to enter this same place in order to burn the incense on the altar of incense, with strange fire, that is to say, fire not taken from the altar – a fire that had been kindled by God Himself.  Because of their attempt to take a shortcut they had been consumed.  The hardest part had been that, in order to stay ceremonial clean, Aaron hadn’t been allowed to go near the dead bodies of his sons.

            And now, here he was preparing to make atonement for the sins that had been committed by his sons and also his own sins and the sins of the people.  He could only do this once each year.  It was the beginning of what would become to be known as the Annual Day of Atonement.  He had bathed and dressed in the holy garments and now was entering the Holy of Holies, which he alone was permitted to enter but even then, only one time each year.  He carried the blood of a bull and of a goat which he was to smear on the mercy seat of gold that covered the ark of God. But before doing this he also carried coals from the sacrificial altar in order to burn the incense that would conceal his presence in that holy place.  If the cloud of smoke didn’t cover the mercy seat first, he himself would be in danger of being slain.

            Before this he had killed the bull for the blood offering.  Two goats had been brought to him upon which he cast lots (sort of gambling sticks).  One goat was chosen to die and the other goat was to be taken away from the camp after he had placed his hands on its head and pronounced upon it his own sin and the sins of the people.  A man had been chosen to lead the goat into the wilderness and let it go, thus signifying that their sins had been removed and cast out.

            Only after completing this ceremony (which also included removing his clothing and bathing again, then redressing and offering the fat of the sin offerings on the altar of sacrifice before God).  The rest of the bull and goat for the sin offerings were to be taken outside the camp by the man who had released the goat into the wilderness.  He would burn them, bath and only then could he re-enter the camp.  You can read in detail about the Annual Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16.  There it gives the complete ceremony.

            We know today that this was all a type of what was to come.  The sacrifices, all of them in the Old Testament, were only temporary and were significant in that they represented what our Lord, Jesus Christ, did for us.  He not only became our High Priest who performed the Day of Atonement, but He also become the sacrifices for our sin, the bull, the sacrificed goat and the goat sent to the wilderness with their sin pronounced upon it (called the scapegoat). 

            The good thing is that He doesn’t have to do this for us every year.  In honesty, every year wouldn’t be enough for me.  In my case He’d have to do it every day!  But He did it once for all!  His spilled blood because the Atonement for each of us for all of time!  What an exciting thing to contemplate.

            But let’s take a good look at the entire scenario.  Man’s sin has always had to be paid for in blood.  Since the day Adam and Eve sinned in Eden and God had to kill two animals in order to make clothing for them, blood has had to be shed.  You see, God is the most perfect Being in all of eternity.  Sin cannot be tolerated – AT ALL!  It was very strange when, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48).  How could that ever be possible?  If God is the most perfect being in all of eternity, how can I be as perfect as He is?  Yet, that is what is required in order to please God.  Impossible, right?

            The horrible tragedy of it all is that, unless we can be perfect as God is perfect, we are doomed to eternal destruction in Hell.  I know, I know, it doesn’t seem fair.  But that is the only option after sinning willfully against God. It’s an awful, terrible, horrible thing, but there it is.  Did the sacrifices for the Israeli people in the Old Testament make them perfect as God is perfect?  The Bible doesn’t say, but in my opinion, I think not.  However, the New Testament tells us that the belief of those in the Old Testament was accounted to them for righteousness.  In other words, their belief in God is what pulled them through.  When Christ came, died and was resurrected, His act of love became the complete and once for all covering mankind needed.

            Let’s take a quick look at the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies.  The mercy seat was made of pure gold.  It had two angels face to face with their wings touching, looking down towards this mercy seat.  Under the Mercy Seat was the Ark of the Covenant, a wooden box that contained three things:  The tables with the Ten Commandments, a sampling of the Manna that God provided as food for the Israeli people while in the wilderness, and Aaron’s rod that had budded as a sign of God’s chosen leadership.  While these articles had been removed for one reason or another over time, they represented man’s sin in not obeying God’s law (we all have broken the Ten Commandments to a degree and if we are guilty of breaking one we are guilty of breaking all), not being appreciative of God’s provision (they complained about the Manna after a time), and not accepting God’s leadership (that’s why Aaron’s rod budded, to show the people that it was indeed God who had chosen Aaron and not just because he was Moses’ brother). 

            The angels look down on man’s sin and his disobedience.  But when Jesus died on the cross and rose again, His blood was spilled for us.  It is His blood that the angels look down upon now.  His blood covers our sin and disobedience.  The blood of Jesus becomes that propitiatory covering that we need to be perfect as God is perfect.  It is only Christ that can be perfect as God is perfect and He covers our sin for us.

            Accepting Christ and His sacrifice, believing that He died and rose again for us, taking Him as our Savior, is our only hope to escape the eternal punishment for sin.  Believe you me, it isn’t going to be a party in Hell.  It isn’t over in a few minutes, but it is experiencing death forever.  Never ceasing.  But we don’t have to.  We can accept God’s covering; His provision and we can be eternally with Him.  Our choice.  But please, please, please – choose wisely!

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.?  Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.