Probably the best way to understand atonement is to separate it into its parts: at•one•ment. It is the making for ourselves to be at one with God. Although Leviticus seems complicated, this is its main thrust. Let’s see if we can break it down into understandable chunks. There are four main elements of atonement. Let’s look at each of them

Propitiation: This sounds like a complicated word, but it simply means, “the appeasement of God’s wrath.” Mankind cannot appear before God in his current condition and live. God told Moses, “Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die” (Lv 16:2). He also told Moses, “No one may see me and live” (Ex 33:20). I know that sound kind of harsh, but God was really trying to protect them and keep them safe. Remember, God sets the standard, not ourselves.

This brings us to the function of the Mercy Seat, or Atonement Cover, which would appease this wrath of God because of the blood placed on the Mercy Seat. It allowed Aaron, the High Priest, to appear before God once a year. If you recall, the Ark of the Covenant was in a separate part of the Tabernacle by itself in a place called the Holy of Holies. This is where the Shekinah glory of God would meet with the High Priest once a year for national atonement. The Mercy Seat was set over the ark. It is really a symbol for Christ. Paul tells us Christ presented himself as a sacrifice of atonement (i.e., propitiation) (Ro 3:25), and John stated Christ is the atoning sacrifice (propitiation) for our sins (1Jn 2:2), and God sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice (propitiation) (1Jn 4:10).

Reconciliation: This is a word meaning the reestablishment of friendship between God and mankind. God stated that if the atonement before God and the Mercy Seat was made, “then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins” (Lv 16:30). This is a representation of what Christ’s death did for us. He reconciled us to God: “God reconciled us to Himself through Christ, does not count our sins against us, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2Co 5:18-19); “the death of Christ reconciles both Jews and Gentiles – there is no longer a barrier (balustrade) between the two” (Ep 2:16). Therefore, he has reconciled all of mankind to Himself.

Justification: This is a word that means, “Declared righteous by God.” We can never earn our right standing before God. As we have seen in a previous post, God’s standard is perfection—something we cannot attain ourselves. Because of Christ’s reconciliation, we are then justified, or declared righteous, by God. Because of the act of the high priest on the Day of Atonement, God said, “Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins” (Lv 16:30). The sacrifice made pointed to something much deeper: “God does not delight in sacrifice but in a broken and contrite heart” (Ps 51:16); “by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many” (Is 53:11); “the righteous will live by his faith” (Hk 2:4). What we could not do, God did for us. We only need to believe and put our faith in His actions. “We are justified by faith through Christ: since we have been justified (declared righteous) through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ro 5:1).

Cleansing: This is a term meaning to be made acceptable and useful in service to God. Cleansing was an important part in Old Testament worship: various requirements for becoming clean were required (Lv 11-15), and even the elements of worship needed to be cleansed: “make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the community” (Lv 16:33).

This requirement of cleansing is likely one of the main reasons for why sacrifices will be required during Christ’s Millennium Kingdom. Sinful man will live in the presence of a holy God. Again, elements for worship must be cleansed, especially the altar for sacrifice (Ek 43). Even today, even if we accept Christ through faith, we do not lose our sin nature. John tells us, “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify (cleanse) us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn 1:9).

As you can see, although God sets a high standard, he knows our shortcomings and loves us enough to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Isn’t that like a Good Father. Are you expressing your thanks to Him?

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Did you ever feel that the world is obsessed with the obtainment of perfection? Yet, it only seems to yield feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and depression. That can’t be good. Some then conclude we should therefore just accept ourselves as we are—you get what you see. But that doesn’t sound right either. So, what’s the solution? Let’s look back at Leviticus and see what it can tell us.

Believe it or not, perfection is God’s standard. That’s what most of Leviticus is about. Why is that? First, let’s see what God required of Israel. One of the things we see is all the purification laws imposed upon them (hence why many feel it is such a boring book). Many believe this is just so the Israelites can live more disease-free lives. That is likely a part of it. After all, these verses are dealing with such things as clean and unclean food (Lv 11), purification after childbirth (Lv 12), skin disease regulations (Lv 13), skin disease cleansing (Lv 14), and bodily discharges (Lv 15). These are certainly not good for casual reading but are very important for practical daily living. Yet, it’s more than that. How Israel dealt with these daily issues set them apart from other nations and peoples and made them unique (Lv 20:26). It drew the attention of other people to them and made them ask questions. Then, God could be brought into the conversation. It was to become part of their witnessing tool to the rest of the world. After all, Israel was charged to be the priests to the world (Ex 19:6).

Perfection is the standard which God expects. Part of perfection is being unblemished and pure—one of the reasons for the sacrificial requirements of the animals having to be unblemished. This is also the reason for the charge to the priests to teach the people the difference between what is clean and what is unclean. It also helped to point out that this standard of perfection was a high goal—above one’s ability on their own to achieve. It would then raise the question, “How can I achieve this?” The answer came by realizing the ultimate purpose pointed to one to come who would be able to achieve this standard of perfection.

The same is true for us. We also can’t attain this level of perfection. We, like they, need to look toward the one who could, and did, achieve this perfection. God knew we couldn’t do it on our own, so he did it for us. Yet, we must accept what He did on our part. We must humble ourselves and admit we can’t do it ourselves and turn to what God did for us on our behalf, just as the Israelites had to do (2Ch 7:14). What about you? Are you willing?

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens