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Propitiation for Sin: The Doctrine of Atonement in the Book of Exodus

Tags: lord blood aaron

When you think of “atonement,” what comes to mind? Many believers think of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for the sins of the world, and that is essential to the Christian faith: if Christ has not risen from the dead, then we are yet in our sins. Thus, in the atonement, the Father shows His love for the world and Jesus lays down His life, the righteous for the unrighteous, the godly for the ungodly, the just for the unjust.

In this study, we are going to take a look at the Doctrine of Atonement as it is revealed in the Word of God, the atonement bible verses. Now, we’re all familiar with atonement as it relates to Jesus being “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” as John says in John 1, but the concept of atonement in Scripture, including atonement in the Old Testament, shows that atonement was used not only to refer to the Crucifixion but was also used in a foreshadowing context to refer to the removal of sin and the wrath of God from the people of God. To see this, we’ll examine passages in Scripture that explicitly mention the word “atonement.”

Atonement in Exodus 12

Before the laws regarding sacrifices was written, while the Jews were in Egypt, the Lord mandated that they offer a sacrifice and apply its blood to their houses to avoid the deaths of their children – a punishment the Lord would bring upon the Egyptians:

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. 10 You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. 11 And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.

12 ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

14 ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. 17 So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”

21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. 24 And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. 25 It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. 26 And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. 28 Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

The Lord tells the people that they are to keep the Passover by eating unleavened bread (no leaven, meaning that the bread wasn’t given any time to rise), along with bitter herbs. And they were to kill a lamb, sheep, or goat, and take the blood of the animal and put it on the lintel and doorposts of their homes (they were not to travel out that night). The Lord would strike the Egyptians and kill their firstborns, but he would spare Israel and the “stranger among them” if the blood of accepted animals was placed on the doorposts. Animals had to be slaughtered and blood applied to the lintel and doorposts for the Israelites to be spared the loss of their firstborn children.

Notice that the Lord told them to slaughter an animal, and take some of the blood and apply it to their homes. In Exodus 12:12-13, the Lord tells the Jews that the sign that will cause Him to pass over the Jews: 12 “‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” The blood would be the sign that would save the Jews. The blood would cause the Lord to pass over His people and not strike them by way of the plague. And the blood had to be applied to their homes in order to spare their lives.

There is a takeaway from Exodus 12: that is, that the lamb and the blood are indicative of the atonement Christ would provide as the Lamb of God who would be slain for the sins of the world (John 1:29). Next, the blood of the Lamb, shed for the remission of sins, had to be applied to their doorposts – and today, it must be applied to our hearts by faith. As Paul says in Romans 5, the gift of salvation must be received:

11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. (Romans 5:11)

17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) (Romans 5:17)

In short, the Exodus from Egypt was a salvation experience. Moses and the people sing once the Lord rescues them at the Red Sea and drowns the Egyptians:

“I will sing to the Lord,

For He has triumphed gloriously!

The horse and its rider

He has thrown into the sea!

2 The Lord is my strength and song,

And He has become my salvation;

He is my God, and I will praise Him;

My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

3 The Lord is a man of war;

The Lord is His name.

4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea;

His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.

5 The depths have covered them;

They sank to the bottom like a stone.

6 “Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power;

Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces.

7 And in the greatness of Your excellence

You have overthrown those who rose against You;

You sent forth Your wrath;

It consumed them like stubble.

8 And with the blast of Your nostrils

The waters were gathered together;

The floods stood upright like a heap;

The depths congealed in the heart of the sea.

9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue,

I will overtake,

I will divide the spoil;

My desire shall be satisfied on them.

I will draw my sword,

My hand shall destroy them.’

10 You blew with Your wind,

The sea covered them;

They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

11 “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods?

Who is like You, glorious in holiness,

Fearful in praises, doing wonders?

12 You stretched out Your right hand;

The earth swallowed them.

13 You in Your mercy have led forth

The people whom You have redeemed;

You have guided them in Your strength

To Your holy habitation.

14 “The people will hear and be afraid;

Sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia.

15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed;

The mighty men of Moab,

Trembling will take hold of them;

All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away.

16 Fear and dread will fall on them;

By the greatness of Your arm

They will be as still as a stone,

Till Your people pass over, O Lord,

Till the people pass over

Whom You have purchased.

17 You will bring them in and plant them

In the mountain of Your inheritance,

In the place, O Lord, which You have made

For Your own dwelling,

The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.

18 “The Lord shall reign forever and ever.” (Exodus 15:1-18)

In Exodus 15, we see the Jews praising the Lord for their deliverance from Pharaoh and from Egyptian bondage after 430 years. In verse 2, they sing “the Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.” The word “salvation” implies more than just being rescued from one incident. In Exodus 15:13 they sing, “You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed.” “Mercy” implies sin, the need to be pitied, and that describes the nation of Israel. God led them out of Egypt because He had pity on them, He sorrowed over His people being in bondage and grew tired of all they’d been through over 4 centuries. In verse 16, the Jews refer to themselves as “whom You have purchased.” The Jews are called the “purchased” people of the Lord. The Jews are called “the ransomed of the Lord” in Isaiah 35:10 and Isaiah 51:11:

A highway shall be there, and a road,

And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.

The unclean shall not pass over it,

But it shall be for others.

Whoever walks the road, although a fool,

Shall not go astray.

9 No lion shall be there,

Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it;

It shall not be found there.

But the redeemed shall walk there,

10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,

And come to Zion with singing,

With everlasting joy on their heads.

They shall obtain joy and gladness,

And sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:8-10)

“Mercy,” “you have purchased,” “salvation,” and even “wrath” in Exodus 15:7 all point to salvation as we know it, spiritual deliverance (not just literal here or physical deliverance from bondage). In Exodus 14, we’re given more insight into the salvation experience of the Jews:

30 So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses. (Exodus 14:30)

“The Lord saved Israel that day,” a reference to their salvation from physical and spiritual bondage. Then, “the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord,” these words in verse 31 referring not to terror but to faith and trust. They “believed the Lord,” and this faith language referred to salvation. After all, “Abraham believed God” in Genesis 15:6, and Paul uses this faith language to refer to Abraham’s salvation:

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. (Romans 4:1-4, 13-25)

Genesis 15:6 is quoted in Romans 4:3, but we see in Romans 4:13 that Abraham as the heir of the world was “through the righteousness of faith,” so here we see that Abraham’s faith was not just in an act but in God and in His salvation that He’d bring about through the lineage of Abraham by way of Jesus Christ. In Romans 4:23-24, we see that the imputation of Christ’s righteousness or the righteousness by faith will be imputed “to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.”

Abraham’s faith in God here and the gift of righteousness given to him by faith will also be given to those of us who believe in God who raised Jesus from the dead. In other words, Abraham’s faith in being the heir of the world was salvific in nature. So Paul quotes Abraham’s faith in God and the heir that was to come because he believed in the gospel. Paul doesn’t say Abraham believed in the gospel here, though he implies it. He does go on to say this in Galatians, however:

5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. (Galatians 3:5-9)

In Galatians 3:8, we see that the “Scripture…preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand,” a reminder that Abraham got the gospel too. He professed faith in the gospel, that Jesus would come as the Savior of the world through him, through his lineage, and he was saved by faith in the gospel. So, yes, the Jews “believed the Lord” and “feared the Lord,” and these phrases used after the Lord delivered them from Egypt points to spiritual salvation, that they belonged to the Lord, that they came out of spiritual bondage and were saved by faith in the work of God.

Isaiah 63 says that the Israelites had the Holy Spirit:

I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord

And the praises of the Lord,

According to all that the Lord has bestowed on us,

And the great goodness toward the house of Israel,

Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies,

According to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses.

8 For He said, “Surely they are My people,

Children who will not lie.”

So He became their Savior.

9 In all their affliction He was afflicted,

And the Angel of His Presence saved them;

In His love and in His pity He redeemed them;

And He bore them and carried them

All the days of old.

10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit;

So He turned Himself against them as an enemy,

And He fought against them.

11 Then he remembered the days of old,

Moses and his people, saying:

“Where is He who brought them up out of the sea

With the shepherd of His flock?

Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them,

12 Who led them by the right hand of Moses,

With His glorious arm,

Dividing the water before them

To make for Himself an everlasting name,

13 Who led them through the deep,

As a horse in the wilderness,

That they might not stumble?” (Isaiah 63:7-13)

The Lord calls the Jews “My People,” and “He became their Savior,” again pointing to a spiritual relationship between the Lord and the Israelites. In verse 9, “the Angel of His Presence saved them,” with the Angel being likely a referent to God Himself. He saves His people. In verse 10, the Jews “rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit”; how would they rebel and grieve the Holy Spirit if they didn’t have the Holy Spirit, if He only came on people in the Old Testament but didn’t live in them?

The distinction of “He came on people in the Old Testament but lives in believers now” is a false dichotomy, a distinction without merit, if Isaiah 63:10 means anything. The same thing is said, but more explicitly, in Isaiah 63:11: “Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them,” a reference to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit with the Israelites. Yes, the New King James Version says “who put His Holy Spirit within them” — not “on” them, or “around” them, but “within” them. The text is clear enough.

The blood of the lamb on their lintel and doorposts saved them in Egypt, and the Lord put His Holy Spirit within the Israelites (not merely on them, as some theologians have stated).

Psalm 78 tells the same story about the Israelites belonging to the Lord and being His people, in relationship with Him, saved:

For He established a testimony in Jacob,

And appointed a law in Israel,

Which He commanded our fathers,

That they should make them known to their children;

6 That the generation to come might know them,

The children who would be born,

That they may arise and declare them to their children,

7 That they may set their hope in God,

And not forget the works of God,

But keep His commandments;

8 And may not be like their fathers,

A stubborn and rebellious generation,

A generation that did not set its heart aright,

And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,

Turned back in the day of battle.

10 They did not keep the covenant of God;

They refused to walk in His law,

11 And forgot His works

And His wonders that He had shown them.

12 Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers,

In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He divided the sea and caused them to pass through;

And He made the waters stand up like a heap.

14 In the daytime also He led them with the cloud,

And all the night with a light of fire.

15 He split the rocks in the wilderness,

And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.

16 He also brought streams out of the rock,

And caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 But they sinned even more against Him

By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.

18 And they tested God in their heart

By asking for the food of their fancy.

19 Yes, they spoke against God:

They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, He struck the rock,

So that the waters gushed out,

And the streams overflowed.

Can He give bread also?

Can He provide meat for His people?”

21 Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious;

So a fire was kindled against Jacob,

And anger also came up against Israel,

22 Because they did not believe in God,

And did not trust in His salvation.

23 Yet He had commanded the clouds above,

And opened the doors of heaven,

24 Had rained down manna on them to eat,

And given them of the bread of heaven.

25 Men ate angels’ food;

He sent them food to the full.

26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens;

And by His power He brought in the south wind.

27 He also rained meat on them like the dust,

Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;

28 And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,

All around their dwellings.

29 So they ate and were well filled,

For He gave them their own desire.

30 They were not deprived of their craving;

But while their food was still in their mouths,

31 The wrath of God came against them,

And slew the stoutest of them,

And struck down the choice men of Israel.

32 In spite of this they still sinned,

And did not believe in His wondrous works.

33 Therefore their days He consumed in futility,

And their years in fear.

34 When He slew them, then they sought Him;

And they returned and sought earnestly for God.

35 Then they remembered that God was their rock,

And the Most High God their Redeemer.

36 Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth,

And they lied to Him with their tongue;

37 For their heart was not steadfast with Him,

Nor were they faithful in His covenant.

38 But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity,

And did not destroy them.

Yes, many a time He turned His anger away,

And did not stir up all His wrath;

39 For He remembered that they were but flesh,

A breath that passes away and does not come again.

40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness,

And grieved Him in the desert!

41 Yes, again and again they tempted God,

And limited the Holy One of Israel.

42 They did not remember His power:

The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,

43 When He worked His signs in Egypt,

And His wonders in the field of Zoan;

44 Turned their rivers into blood,

And their streams, that they could not drink.

45 He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them,

And frogs, which destroyed them.

46 He also gave their crops to the caterpillar,

And their labor to the locust.

47 He destroyed their vines with hail,

And their sycamore trees with frost.

48 He also gave up their cattle to the hail,

And their flocks to fiery lightning.

49 He cast on them the fierceness of His anger,

Wrath, indignation, and trouble,

By sending angels of destruction among them.

50 He made a path for His anger;

He did not spare their soul from death,

But gave their life over to the plague,

51 And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt,

The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.

52 But He made His own people go forth like sheep,

And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;

53 And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear;

But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

54 And He brought them to His holy border,

This mountain which His right hand had acquired.

55 He also drove out the nations before them,

Allotted them an inheritance by survey,

And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.

56 Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God,

And did not keep His testimonies,

57 But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;

They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

58 For they provoked Him to anger with their high places,

And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.

59 When God heard this, He was furious,

And greatly abhorred Israel,

60 So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,

The tent He had placed among men,

61 And delivered His strength into captivity,

And His glory into the enemy’s hand.

62 He also gave His people over to the sword,

And was furious with His inheritance.

63 The fire consumed their young men,

And their maidens were not given in marriage.

64 Their priests fell by the sword,

And their widows made no lamentation. (Psalm 78:5-64)

The words “they did not keep the covenant of God,” “refused to walk in His law,” “they sinned even more against Him,” “rebelling against the Most High,” “they tested God in their heart,” “they did not believe in God, and did not trust in His salvation,” “in spite of this they still sinned,” “did not believe in His wondrous works,” “the Most High God their Redeemer,” “their heart was not steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant,” “forgave their iniquity,” “they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert,” “again and again they tempted God,” “when He redeemed them from the enemy,” “they tested and provoked the Most High God,” “turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers,” and others remind us that the issue in Psalm 78, as was the issue in Isaiah 63, was covenant agreement and faithfulness/unfaithfulness. God doesn’t covenant with anyone unless he or she accepts Him as their Lord, their God, and is spiritually saved. So, the Israelites had the atonement blood applied to their homes, which was symbolic for their lives, back in Exodus 12, in order to be rescued from the divine wrath in Egypt.

Atonement in Exodus 29

“And this is what you shall do to them to hallow them for ministering to Me as priests: Take one young bull and two rams without blemish, 2 and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil (you shall make them of wheat flour). 3 You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams.

4 “And Aaron and his sons you shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall wash them with water. 5 Then you shall take the garments, put the tunic on Aaron, and the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the intricately woven band of the ephod. 6 You shall put the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. 7 And you shall take the anointing oil, pour it on his head, and anoint him. 8 Then you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. 9 And you shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and put the hats on them. The priesthood shall be theirs for a perpetual statute. So you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.

10 “You shall also have the bull brought before the tabernacle of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull. 11 Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 12 You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour all the blood beside the base of the altar. 13 And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bull, with its skin and its offal, you shall burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

15 “You shall also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram; 16 and you shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood and sprinkle it all around on the altar. 17 Then you shall cut the ram in pieces, wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and with its head. 18 And you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

19 “You shall also take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram. 20 Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar. 21 And you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar, and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, on his sons and on the garments of his sons with him; and he and his garments shall be hallowed, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

22 “Also you shall take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, the two kidneys and the fat on them, the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), 23 one loaf of bread, one cake made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord; 24 and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and you shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 25 You shall receive them back from their hands and burn them on the altar as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.

26 “Then you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion. 27 And from the ram of the consecration you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering which is waved, and the thigh of the heave offering which is raised, of that which is for Aaron and of that which is for his sons. 28 It shall be from the children of Israel for Aaron and his sons by a statute forever. For it is a heave offering; it shall be a heave offering from the children of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, that is, their heave offering to the Lord.

29 “And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed in them and to be consecrated in them. 30 That son who becomes priest in his place shall put them on for seven days, when he enters the tabernacle of meeting to minister in the holy place.

31 “And you shall take the ram of the consecration and boil its flesh in the holy place. 32 Then Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 33 They shall eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; but an outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy. 34 And if any of the flesh of the consecration offerings, or of the bread, remains until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

35 “Thus you shall do to Aaron and his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Seven days you shall consecrate them. 36 And you shall offer a bull every day as a sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to sanctify it. 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it. And the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar must be holy. (Exodus 29:1-37)

The Lord tells Moses what to do to “hallow” the priests. The word “hallow” is hagiasai, a word that means “to consecrate” or “to set aside as holy.” The word “hallow” means “to set aside as holy.” It is the same word used when Jesus refers to God the Father in the Lord’s Prayer, when He says “Hallowed be Your Name” (the word “hallowed” in the Greek is hagiastheto, which comes from the same parent word as the hagiasai of Exodus 29.

To consecrate Aaron and his sons, the Lord told Moses that the food offering should consist of one young bull without blemish or spot, two young lambs without spot or blemish, unleavened bread (bread with no yeast), unleavened cakes with oil, and unleavened wafers with oil. The offering (Grk mosxarion) was to be taken, consisting of a “Bown” (pronounced Bo-own) a cow or an ox without blemish (Grk. amomous) and two rams without blemish. In verse 2, the bread, cakes, and wafers are all unleavened (Grk azoumous), the parent adjective of azumous being azumos, referring to that which is unfermented or doesn’t have yeast. The bread, cakes, and wafers were not to have any yeast in them, yeast being a sign of contamination or pollution. Paul used the Passover feast as an analogy in his letter to the Corinthian church to tell them about purging the corruption and sin from their midst:

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! 2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:1-8)

“Purge out the old leaven,” Paul says, and keep the “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” in light of the Passover. What’s interesting about the analogy is that the Passover refers to an Israelite deliverance experience in the people’s history. The Lord delivered the Israelites out of bondage by way of the Passover. He told the nation to kill a Lamb and sprinkle its blood on the doorposts of their houses. If they did this, the death angel would “Pass Over” them – which is the reason behind why the Passover was aptly named. The Israelites were too busy getting prepared to flee Egypt at that time, which is why they didn’t have time to eat leavened bread but could only eat unleavened (bread in which the yeast hadn’t risen). The unleavened bread of “sincerity and truth” is contrasted in 1 Corinthians 5 with the “leaven of malice and wickedness,” a statement that says that leaven was bad and unleavened bread was good.

10 “You shall also have the bull brought before the tabernacle of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull. 11 Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 12 You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour all the blood beside the base of the altar. 13 And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bull, with its skin and its offal, you shall burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

15 “You shall also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram; 16 and you shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood and sprinkle it all around on the altar. 17 Then you shall cut the ram in pieces, wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and with its head. 18 And you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

19 “You shall also take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram. 20 Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar. 21 And you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar, and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, on his sons and on the garments of his sons with him; and he and his garments shall be hallowed, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

22 “Also you shall take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, the two kidneys and the fat on them, the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), 23 one loaf of bread, one cake made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord; 24 and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and you shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 25 You shall receive them back from their hands and burn them on the altar as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.

26 “Then you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion. 27 And from the ram of the consecration you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering which is waved, and the thigh of the heave offering which is raised, of that which is for Aaron and of that which is for his sons. 28 It shall be from the children of Israel for Aaron and his sons by a statute forever. For it is a heave offering; it shall be a heave offering from the children of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, that is, their heave offering to the Lord. (Exodus 29:10-28)

In verse 10, Aaron and his sons are to place their hands (Grk ?a??? ?a? ?? ???? a?t?? t?? ?e??a? a?t?? ?p? t?? ?efa??? t?? µ?s???) upon the bull, the offering. This action was to show that their sins, the sins of Aaron and his sons that they’ve committed in their sinful humanity, are transferred to the bull, who takes on the sins of Aaron and his sons and whose life is sacrificed for them. This is to happen by t?? ???a? t?? s????? t?? µa?t?????, a phrase referred to as “the doors of the tabernacle of testimony,” though the New King James Version refers to the tabernacle as “the tabernacle of meeting.”

In verse 11, the Lord God tells Moses to “kill the bull before the Lord,” the word “kill” here in the Greek Old Testament (known as the Septuagint) being the word sphakseis. The Greek command here is sf??e?? t?? µ?s??? ??a?t? ??????, the word sphakseis coming from the Greek word sphadzo or sf??? meaning “to slaughter, slay, or wound.” In context, we know that the bull is killed because the Lord tells Moses to take some of the blood and put it on the horns of the altar, and at the altar base, and to take the kidneys, entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the fat that covers the entrails and cook it, while burning the skin of the bull and “its offal” outside the camp (Aaron and his sons are not to eat these portions because “it is a sin offering,” the Lord says in Exodus 29:14).

Let’s break apart the instructions here. Moses was to sprinkle some of the blood of the bull on the horns of the altar with his finger (t? da?t??? s?? is “your finger” in Greek). Verse 13 is one worth breaking apart because it tells us just what Aaron and his sons could keep as a meal from the sacrifice: t? st?a? t? ?p? t?? ?????a? ?a? t?? ??ß?? t?? ?pat?? ?a? t??? d?? ?ef???? ?a? t? st?a? t? ?p? a?t?? ?a? ?p???se?? ?p? t? ??s?ast?????. The stear refers to animal fat, “that which is upon the entrails” or “belly” (koilias).

The hepatos refers to the liver, and tous duo nephrous refers to “two kidneys,” the two kidneys of the bull. Along with the kidneys, the Lord also told them to take the fat of the kidneys, and “sacrifice it upon the altar” (to cook the offering). The skin mentioned in Exodus 29:14 is derma, from which we get the English word dermatology. The word kopron refers to the internal organs and entrails of the animal; the internal organs and entrails outside of the two kidneys, liver, and fat surrounding them, were to be burned outside the camp, outside the tabernacle and city.

After killing the bull as the offering for sin, Aaron and his sons were to offer a ram as a sweet-smelling sacrifice to the Lord. The ram’s blood was to be sprinkled and placed on the altar, but all of its parts were to be washed and placed together and cooked on the altar as an offering to the Lord. Aaron and his sons were to place their hands on the ram as well, a sign of transference (in this case, a transference of acceptance of the sacrifice as the offering to God, a transference of a sweet-smelling sacrifice). While Aaron and his sons could not give themselves for their sin, humanity, like these, should have suffered for its own sin according to the divine law. And yet, the Lord had Aaron and his sons slaughter a bull and ram in their places.

In verses 19-21, after the Lord has received His ram offering, a sweet-smelling aroma, and the sacrifice for sin has been offered (bull), the second ram is used to consecrate Aaron and his sons and their priestly garments: some of the blood of the second ram killed is to be used upon the tip of the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe of Aaron and his sons, while some of the blood and the anointing oil are to be sprinkled upon the garments of Aaron and his sons. The second ram is referred to in the text as t?? ????? t?? te?e??se??, or rather, as “the ram of completion” or “the ram of consecration” (this ram was used as a sweet-smelling aroma for the Lord) in verse 31.

Verses 33, 36, and 37 of the chapter mentions “atonement”:

33 They shall eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; but an outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy. 34 And if any of the flesh of the consecration offerings, or of the bread, remains until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

35 “Thus you shall do to Aaron and his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Seven days you shall consecrate them. 36 And you shall offer a bull every day as a sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to sanctify it. 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it. And the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar must be holy. Exodus 29:33, 36, 37.

In verse 33, the word for the phrase “with which the atonement was made” is similar to the parent words consecrated or “made holy” or “hallowed” (Grk ????s??sa?) or “were set aside,” but it’s interesting that they must eat the sacrifice that consecrated them. They must eat the ram of consecration and digest it. Remember Jesus’ words about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, that His flesh and blood were also for atonement?

43 Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:43-58)

Jesus says that He is “the bread of life,” a phrase that would have made sense to the Jews, whose fathers “ate manna” in the wilderness. Jesus doesn’t stop there, though; He continues with an analogy of sacrificial animals, saying that the Jews had to “Eat His flesh” and “drink His blood” to have eternal life. Eating was synonymous here with partaking of the salvation Jesus was to deliver to the world.

Jesus says that you can “eat His flesh and drink His blood,” though this phrase was used by some in the earliest days of the church to imply that Christians were “cannibals” and ate humans. What is interesting is that the Lord God said in the Old Testament that you couldn’t drink the blood of an animal because the life was in the blood of the animal:

2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.

6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood,

By man his blood shall be shed;

For in the image of God

He made man.

7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply;

Bring forth abundantly in the earth

And multiply in it.” (Genesis 9:2-7)

The Lord would hold man responsible for killing man, but He would also hold man responsible if he drank the blood of the animals: “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood” (Genesis 9:4). And yet, we see Jesus in John 6 telling the Jews to “eat My flesh” and “drink My blood,” an interesting analogy when you look at how drinking the blood of any animal was forbidden. Of course, “drinking Jesus’ blood” is what it means to partake of the Holy Spirit, to have eternal life, to be saved.

Eating the sacrifices was a responsibility given to Aaron and his sons (limits on the sacrifice for sin, though) to show that, like laying hands on the animals, they accepted the penalty of death that was being placed upon the animals in order to consecrate them and “make them holy.” The animals were to make atonement, to not only satisfy the penalty for the sins committed by Aaron and his sons, but also to deliver a sweet-smelling aroma to God.

In verse 36, the Lord says, “You shall offer a bull every day as a sin offering for atonement.” The word “atonement” is not found in the verse as it has been used earlier, but the bull is simply called “the sacrifice,” or mosxarion, and it is offered for sin “to the day,” which I’m assuming here means each day (the work hekastos meaning “each” is not used here, simply the dative form of day, “to the day”). In verse 36, one must also “sanctify,” or hagiadzein, from hagiadzo, meaning “clean,” when you offer the bull for sin each day, and the word “sanctify” returns at the end of verse 36 in the verb hagiasai.

The consecration of Aaron, the high priest, and his sons, lower priests, will take seven days, or ?pt? ?µ??a?, “hepta hey-meras,” and the altar will need to be cleansed after offering bulls for sin to sanctify them.The altar will need to be cleansed after Aaron and his sons are cleansed for the priesthood. The altar, like the priests, is to be sanctified, the Greek word hagiaseis, for seven days, and the altar is to be “holy of holy,” meaning that it is to be so consecrated that “whatever touches it,” or the one touching it, or all those touching it, will be sanctified (Grk hagiasthesetai).

The word “sanctified,” or “cleansed,” or “holy-fied,” as I say, permeates the passage. And with all the consecration and holiness being discussed, it’s safe to say that sin required an offering because it made the priests unclean, and that offering the sin offering upon the altar made the altar unclean; the altar, like the priests, had to be consecrated, too. The atonement discussed here is for sin, and the sacrifice mentioned in Exodus 29 is for the priests who themselves had to offer sin offerings. The word “sanctify” or “cleanse” or “make holy” is present in the text repeatedly, showing that it is the emphasis of making atonement here. The Lord tells us to be clean, not unclean, holy, not unrighteous, and the priests had to be consecrated in order to do the work of the Lord.

Exodus 30: Atonement on the Altar of Incense and with Ransom Money

Exodus 30 is another passage containing atonement bible verses. The Lord tells the people to make an altar of incense for Aaron, the high priest, to offer atonement on:

“You shall make an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its width—it shall be square—and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 And you shall overlay its top, its sides all around, and its horns with pure gold; and you shall make for it a molding of gold all around. 4 Two gold rings you shall make for it, under the molding on both its sides. You shall place them on its two sides, and they will be holders for the poles with which to bear it. 5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 6 And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you.

7 “Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. 8 And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer strange incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering; nor shall you pour a drink offering on it. 10 And Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement; once a year he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.” (Exodus 30:1-10)

The Lord tells the Jews to make an altar of incense out of acacia wood, to overlay it with gold, and have two golden poles under the moulding to carry it. The poles, like the altar of incense itself, are to be made out of acacia wood. Acacia wood was one of the only types of wood available to the Jews at that time, but it was a durable, decay-resistant wood that would last for a long time – making it ideal on which to build the altar of incense.

In verse 6, we see that the altar of incense on which the high priest was to burn the sin offering (once a year, we are told in verse 10) was to be placed before the Ark of the Testimony in front of the mercy seat. The mercy seat was over the Ark of the Testimony, so the altar of incense was to go in front of the mercy seat. The Lord told the Jews “I will meet with you” at the Ark of the Testimony. The priest was to burn incense, not drink, grain, burnt, or sin offerings. The incense was to be the sweet aroma to the Lord, and the high priest (Aaron) was to take the blood from the sin offering of the atonement and “make atonement” by placing the blood from the sin offering on the horns of the altar. This was done once a year, and was to never cease.

The altar of incense would burn a sweet fragrance every morning and every twilight (Grk ???, meaning “late in the evening” or “twilight”), Aaron was to offer incense when the lamps would be lit to provide light in the temple. The “morning” and “evening” here when Aaron would light the lamps reminds us of the “evening and morning” pattern for a unit of day we find in Genesis:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.



This post first appeared on Bible Knowledge Ministries - Bible Teaching Websit, please read the originial post: here

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Propitiation for Sin: The Doctrine of Atonement in the Book of Exodus

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