Multiply 15: Sacrifice and Atonement
10. Creation
11. The Fall
12. God’s Covenant with Abraham
13. Exodus and Redemption
14. God’s Covenant with Moses
15. Sacrifice and Atonement
16. God’s Presence on Earth
17. The Kingdom of God
18. Exile and the Promise of Restoration
God invites humanity into a relationship with Him. As God made covenants with people, however, it created a serious tension
because it impossible for a holy God to stay connected to sinful people? Some important questions include: Will God need to lower
His standards? Could He lower His standards even if He wanted to? Will God’s people be able to live sinless lives so they can enjoy
God’s presence? Of course, the answer to all of these questions is no. God’s solution for the problem of sin is sacrifice.
1. Explain what you already know about the Old Testament sacrifices. Have you ever thought of Jesus’s sacrifice in light of the Old
Testament sacrificial system? How so?
Sacrifice in the Unfolding Old Testament Story: Once Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they felt ashamed of their nakedness
and tried to cover themselves with leaves. Later, God made clothes for Adam and Eve out of animal skins. An animal had to die so
that the shame of sin could be covered. God had made a way to deal with sin through sacrifice. In Genesis 22, God asked Abraham to
sacrifice his only son, Isaac. When Abraham arrived at the place that God designated for the sacrifice, he prepared the altar, and
raised his hand to sacrifice his son. But at the last moment, God stopped him and provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice in place of
Isaac. This story suggests that God could potentially accept a human sacrifice for sin and that God could accept a substitute.
2. Why was sacrifice an important theme in the Old Testament?
Sacrifice in the Law of Moses: The Law dictated their civil life and government, their moral behavior, and their religious and
ceremonial practices. It was specific about when to sacrifice, what to sacrifice, and how to sacrifice. Each type of offering served a
different function and was designed to show gratitude to God, to demonstrate a contrite heart before God, and to atone for sin.
 Atonement is reconciling, making amends for what has gone wrong, and reestablishing peace where there was conflict.
 Atonement allowed people who were distanced from God because of their sin to once again enjoy being “at one” with God.
3. Summarize the role that sacrifices played in the way Israel related to their God.
A Graphic Reminder of Sin: Try to imagine yourself in ancient Israel. Your community is prone to sin. But on a regular basis, you are
required to bring the appropriate sacrifices in order to make atonement for your sin and restore peace with God. Every time a
sacrifice was offered, an animal would die, its blood would flow, and the blood would be splattered on the altar. Every time you
witnessed this, you would be reminded of the seriousness of sin and its awful consequences.
4. How should the Old Testament sacrificial system put our sin into the proper perspective?
16:1 The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons when they approached the presence of the LORD and died, 16:2
and the LORD said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil-canopy in
front of the atonement plate that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the atonement plate. 16:3
“In this way Aaron is to enter into the sanctuary – with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 16:4 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. 16:5 He must also take two male goats from
the congregation of the Israelites for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 16:6 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. 16:7 He must then take the two goats and
stand them before the LORD at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, 16:8 and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the
LORD and one lot for Azazel. 16:9 Aaron must then present the goat which has been designated by lot for the LORD, and he is to make
it a sin offering, 16:10 but the goat which has been designated by lot for Azazel is to be stood alive before the LORD to make
atonement on it by sending it away to Azazel into the wilderness. 16:11 “Aaron is to present the sin offering 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,
16:12 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 veil-canopy. 16:13 He must then put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the cloud of incense will
cover the atonement plate which is above the ark of the testimony, so that he will not die. 16:14 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 plate, and in front of the atonement plate he is
to sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger. 16:15 “He must then slaughter the sin offering goat which is for the
people. He is to bring its blood inside the veil-canopy, 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 plate and in front of the atonement plate. 16:16 So he is to make atonement for the holy place from
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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. 16:17 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. 16:18 “Then he is to go out to the altar which is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He is to
take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it all around on the horns of the altar. 16:19 Then he is
to sprinkle on it some of the blood with his finger seven times, and cleanse and consecrate it from the impurities of the Israelites.
16:20 “When he has finished purifying the holy place, the Meeting Tent, and the altar, he is to present the live goat. 16:21 Aaron is
to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in
regard to all their sins, and thus he is to put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man
standing ready. 16:22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, so he is to send the goat away in the
wilderness. 16:23 “Aaron must then enter the Meeting Tent and take off the linen garments which he had put on when he entered
the sanctuary, and leave them there. 16:24 Then he must bathe his body in water in a holy place, put on his clothes, and go out and
make his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering. So he is to make atonement on behalf of himself and the people. 16:25
“Then he is to offer up the fat of the sin offering in smoke on the altar, 16:26 and the one who sent the goat away to Azazel must
wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp. 16:27 The bull of the sin offering and the goat of
the sin offering, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the holy place, must be brought outside the camp and their hide,
their flesh, and their dung must be burned up, 16:28 and the one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his body in
water, and afterward he may reenter the camp. 16:29 “This is to be a perpetual statute for you. In the seventh month, on the tenth
day of the month, you must humble yourselves and do no work of any kind, both the native citizen and the foreigner who resides in
your midst, 16:30 for on this day atonement is to be made for you to cleanse you from all your sins; you must be clean before the
LORD. 16:31 It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves. It is a perpetual statute. 16:32 “The
priest who is anointed and ordained to act as high priest in place of his father is to make atonement. He is to put on the linen
garments, the holy garments, 16:33 and he is to purify the Most Holy Place, he is to purify the Meeting Tent and the altar, and he is
to make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 16:34 This is to be a perpetual statute for you to make
atonement for the Israelites for all their sins once a year.” So he did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
5. Read Leviticus 16. What stands out to you from reading this description of the Day of Atonement?
The Day of Atonement: On the Day of Atonement, the high priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies and stand before God on
behalf of the people. Imagine waiting outside of the Holy of Holies as the high priest entered to make his offering on behalf of the
people. Here was a sinful man entering into the very presence of Almighty God! Imagine the joy you would feel as the high priest
safely emerged from God’s presence, a sign that the sacrifice had been accepted and your sins had been atoned for. The priest
would then take the second goat (the first goat had been sacrificed), symbolically lay his hands on the head of the goat to represent
the sins of the people being transferred to this animal, and then release that goat to “bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote
area.” Their sin was being removed, carried off to a remote location, never to visit them again.
6. What does the Day of Atonement teach us about the nature of sin and the reality of forgiveness?
The Problem with Animal Sacrifices: The need to constantly repeat these sacrifices points to a limitation inherent in the Old
Testament sacrificial system. Furthermore, the effectiveness of these sacrifices was never based on the mere performance of a
ritual. From the very beginning, it has been about the heart of the worshipper, not about the value of his or her offering.
 God said explicitly, “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hos 6:6).
 God said explicitly, “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my
altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand” (Mal. 1:10).
7. How should God’s emphasis on the heart of the worshipper affect the way we approach God in our worship and in our
everyday lives?
The Ultimate Sacrifice: The sacrifices that Israel offered on a regular basis laid the groundwork for the coming of Jesus.
8. Read Hebrews 9:11–10:25. In light of what you’ve studied about the Old Testament sacrificial system and what you read in
Hebrews, how does the Old Testament system of sacrifice and atonement help us to better understand the significance of Jesus’s
death?
9. Spend some time in prayer. Ask God to affect your heart with the significance of the sacrifice that Jesus offered on your behalf.
Ask God to break your heart over the sin in your life. Ask Him to give you the strength and motivation to identify and uproot that
sin. Pray that your life would be the “living sacrifice” that Paul described in Romans 12:1. And most of all, thank God for
sacrificing Jesus as a substitute for you.
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