16:23-28
We now read of the priest coming out of the most holy place, and then out of the tent of meeting. The special clothes he had to wear in order to enter the Most Holy Place are to be taken off. This was to protect them from contamination, and also maybe to signify that the priest was just a man like the rest of the Israelites. The man who had seen off the scapegoat also had to wash before reentering the camp, this was to remove any contamination from the scapegoat. What we have here is a drama being played out. The writer to the Hebrews states that all these sacrifices were in themselves ineffective. They were all pointing forward to the one true and effective sacrifice (Heb 10:11,12). There were also instructions for the disposal of the carcass of the sacrificed animals.
16:29-34
This is the conclusion of the chapter, where it is established as “a lasting ordinance”. As the writer to the Hebrews makes clear, the Old Testament sacrifices did not provide true atonement, they were only a shadow of what was to come. Christ is the one and only true and effective sacrifice. Until Christ came the Jews were to observe the Levitical Law. Done properly, they were acting in faith of what was to come. On the day of atonement no one was to do any work. It is a key element of God’s forgiveness that it is all down to Christ, we contribute nothing other than the sins for which He died.
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