In order to understand propitiation in its fullest biblical sense, especially as it applies to the days of JESUS Christ, you have to understand the Old Testament background. To do that, you have to go back to one of the least read books of the Bible, the book of (Leviticus). In (Leviticus 16) we read the story of the activities of the Day of Atonement. Remember in the Old Testament the Day of Atonement came up just once a year. On the Day of Atonement the High Priest would take off his regular regalia and put on a different uniform. On the Day of Atonement he would take a goat and offer it up as a sacrifice. Then he would take the blood of the goat and very carefully he would go inside the tabernacle into the Holy Place, behind that curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. Taking the blood of the goat into the Most Holy Place, there he would come to a strange looking box, called the Ark of the Covenant. Inside the Ark of the Covenant there was placed a little bit of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded and, most importantly, a copy of the Ten Commandments. On top of the Ark of the Covenant there was a lid made of pure gold and there was the sculpture of the wings of the cherubim from one side of the ark to the other. There in the middle, on the top of that golden lid, the High Priest would take the blood of the goat and he would sprinkle it, surrounded by the clouds of incense. The Bible says in (Leviticus 16) that on the Day of Atonement, just once a year, when the High Priest would take the blood of the goat into the Most Holy Place, when he sprinkled it on the mercy seat, on the lid of the ark of the covenant, GOD would look down from heaven and atonement, or forgiveness, the covering for sin, would be made.
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 13:18:08 +0000