Appendix C to My Series on "Love Wins": On OT Sacrifice

I was reading Leviticus 16 today, and thought it, along with the footnotes found in the Orthodox Study Bible I was reading it in, might help show forth more of what I was talking about in my critique on the "Dying to Live" section of my series on "Love Wins"  Here's Leviticus 16, starting from verse 3, the footnotes given being set in:

     Thus Aaron shall come into the holy place with a young bull of the oxen as a sin offering, and 

     a ram as a whole burnt offering.

               Here begins the description of the annual Day of Atonement, the single most important 

               day in the calendar of Ancient Israel.  Virtually every detail of this day was a type of the 

               work of Christ and His atonement for our sins.  It is rewarding to give careful attention to 

               the specific details of this day.

     He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a 

     linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired.  These are holy garments.  Therefore 

     he shall wash his body in water and put them on.

               Aaron was to thoroughly wash himself in water.  Here was not only a type of baptism in 

               general, but also of the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.  Jesus 

               said to John the Baptist, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all 

               righteousness" (Mt 3:15; words in italics in the Orthodox Study Bible are additions for 

               clarity in translation).  The true High Priest was preparing to go into the holy of holies 

               for the sins of the whole world.  He only is without sin, so it was not for His own sins that 

               He was baptized, but for the uncleanness of the people for whom He would suffer.

          "Then he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as

     a sin offering, and one ram as a whole burnt offering.

               Five animals were offered on this day, a bull for a sin offering for himself, a ram for a

               burnt offering, two male goats as a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.  Each 

               animal offered provided types of the work of Christ.

     Aaron shall offer the young bull as his sin offering, to make atonement for himself and his 

     house. 

              An offering must be made for the priest and his household before he could carry out his 

              duties of the day.  So too, the clergy of the Church should never assume they do not 

              need cleansing, for they too--and their households--sin as do others.  The role of the 

              clergy is unique, but they are still sinners in need of a sacrifice.  It is not only the people 

              who confess themselves to be chief of sinners at every Divine Liturgy--the clergy do as 

              well.

     He shall take the two kids and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of 

     testimony.  Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two kids:  one lot for the Lord and the other lot for 

     the scapegoat.

               Both goats together are one sin offering.  Aaron cast lots over the two goats.  The one 

               on which the lot fell was for the Lord, and was to be slain.  The other would be the 

               scapegoat, to be let go into the wilderness.  It takes both goats to make clear as one 

               picture what was happening.

               [St.] Theodoret [of Cyrus] writes regarding these two goats, "I will however mention the 

               sacrifice in which two goats were offered, the one being slain, and the other let go.  In 

               these two goats there is an anticipative image of the two natures of the Savior; in the 

               one let go, of the impassible Godhead, and in the one slain, of the passible manhood

     Aaron shall bring the kid on which the Lord's lot fell and offer it as a sin offering.  But this kid 

     on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make 

     atonement upon it, to let it go as the scapegoat into the desert.

         "Then Aaron shall offer the young bull as his sin offering, to make atonement for himself 

     and his house.  Thus he shall kill the young bull as his sin offering.  He shall then take a censer 

     full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of the incense 

     compound, beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil.  He shall put the incense on the fire before 

     the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat on the testimonies, lest he dies.  

     He shall take some of the young bull's blood with his finger and sprinkle it upon the east side 

     of the mercy seat seven times.

          "After that, he shall kill the kid of the sin offering before the Lord on behalf of the people, 

     and bring some of its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the 

     young bull, and sprinkle it upon the east side of the mercy seat seven times.  So he shall 

     make atonement in the holy place because of the impurities and injustices of the children of 

     Israel, for all their sins; and thus he shall do this in the tabernacle of testimony, built among 

     them in the midst of their uncleanness.

               Blood from the young bull was sprinkled seven times on the east side of the mercy 

               seat--the symbol of completion.  This was to cleanse the holy of holies--to make 

               atonement for the holy of holies itself, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel.  

               Similarly, Christ sprinkled His own blood in the heavenly holy of holies so we might 

               enter there in worship (Heb 9:23-24).

     There shall be no man in the tabernacle of testimony when he goes in to make atonement in 

     the holy place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, his household, 

     and all the congregation of the children of Israel.  Then he shall go out to the altar before the 

     Lord and make atonement upon it; and he shall take some of the blood of both the young bull 

     and the kid and put it on the horns of the altar all around.  Then he shall sprinkle some of the 

     blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse and sanctify it because of the 

     impurities of the children of Israel.

          "When Aaron shall finish making atonement in the holy place, the tabernacle of testimony 

     and the altar, and shall also cleanse matters concerning the priests, then he shall bring the 

     living kid.  Aaron shall place his hands on the head of the living kid, confess over it all the 

     transgressions of the children of Israel, and all their lawlessness, and all their sins; and he 

     shall put them on the head of the living kid, and send it away into the desert by the hand of a 

     suitable man.

               The high priest laid his hands on the head of the live goat.  In so doing, he laid the sins 

               and transgressions of the sons of Israel on the head of the goat.  The goat, an innocent 

               victim, bore on itself all the iniquities of the people.  The goat, taken by a designated 

               person, was then sent off into the wilderness.

               The picture is clear.  As the goat goes into the wilderness, so do the sins and 

               transgressions of the people--never to be seen again.  This reminds us of the 

               Psalmist's words, "As far as the east is from the west, / So he removes our 

               transgressions from us" (Ps 102:12).  This marvelous reality is part of the foundation of 

               what the Orthodox priest says in the Sacrament of Confession:  "And now, having no 

               further care for the sins you have confessed, go in peace."

                    I want to speak briefly on Confession in Orthodoxy, since it is brought up in this 

                    footnote.  Unlike in Roman Catholicism, it is clearly to God, and the priest even says 

                    that he is nothing but "a witness" in the prayers before Confession.  To quote the 

                    Orthodox Study Bible's footnote to James 5:16-18,

                         Some allege that confession sins to God before a priest is not biblical.  The 

                         ancient Christian custom was to "confess your trespasses to one another" (v. 16).

                         When a Christian was guilty of sin, the matter was confessed before the whole 

                         Church as an act of repentance.  As the Church grew, and those not part of the 

                         community came to observe, the pressure in such public confession became so 

                         great that the priest, instead of the entire community, heard the confession, 

                         representing the people.  What is not taught in Scripture is a private confession 

                         only to God, which refuses to acknowledge sin to the community (1Jn 1:8, 10).  

                         Thus, the Church has effected healing through such works of faith as confession 

                         of sins and the power of intercessory prayer.

                    If we're members of the Body of Christ, when we sin, we sin against and estrange 

                    ourselves from the other members of that body, and must thus confess within the 

                    community, before the community, to God.  Indeed, the holy fathers teach that no sin 

                    is every truly personal, but rather the consequences of every sin reverberate through 

                    the entire cosmos.  So it must be just as here in Leviticus, where the priest 

                    confesses the sins of all Israel, within the community, before the community, over the 

                    type of the Lamb of God.  The only difference is, we confess to God and this 

                    sacrificial Lamb, as they are One.

     The kid shall bear on itself all their wrongdoings to an uninhabited land. Thus he shall send 

     away the kid into the desert.  Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of testimony and 

     take off the linen garments he put on when he went into the holy place; and he shall leave 

     them there.  He shall then wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, and 

     come out to offer his whole burnt offering and the whole burnt offering of the people, to make 

     atonement for himself, his house, the people, and in matters concerning the priests.  The fat 

     of the sin offering he shall offer on the altar.  He who sent away the kid which was set apart for 

     remission shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come 

     into the camp.  The young bull and the kid for the sin offerings whose blood was brought in to 

     make atonement in the holy place shall be carried outside the camp; and they shall burn them 

     in the fire:  their skin, their flesh, and their offal.

               The bull of the sin offering and the goat, the blood of which was taken into the holy of 

               holies, both were taken outside the camp and burned.  Another type of Christ:  "For the 

               bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest 

               for sin, are burned outside the camp.  Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the 

               people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.  Therefore let us go forth to Him, 

               outside the camp, bearing His reproach" (Heb 13:11-13).

     Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; and afterward, 

     he may come into the camp.

          "This shall be an ordinance forever for you:  In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the 

     month, you shall humble your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own 

     country or a resident alien who dwells among you.  For on that day the priest shall make 

     atonement for you, to cleanse you from all your sins before the Lord.  Thus you shall be clean.  

     It is a Sabbath of Sabbaths, a rest for you, and you shall humble your souls.  It is an ordinance 

     forever.  So the priest who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father's 

     place shall make atonement

                    To make it painfully obvious, I'll rephrase in terms of its fulfillment:  So the Great High 

                    Priest Who is Christ (which means, "Annointed One") and Consecrated to minister 

                    as Great High Priest in His Father's House shall make atonement

     and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments.  Then he shall make atonement in the most 

     holy place, the tabernacle of testimony and the altar; and he shall make atonement for matters 

     concerning the priests and all the congregation.

               The atonement granted this day to the people of Israel could only picture in a limited 

               way--as is true of all types--what Christ would do in His suffering and death.  This old 

               covenant offering could not make the conscience of the worshiper perfect (Heb 9:8-9), 

               though it did cleanse from all sin.

               But our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, entered the heavenly holy of holies, where He 

               sprinkled His sacrificial blood to deal fully with our sins.  Today is the Day of 

               Atonement.  Today is the eighth day--the day after which there are no more days.  In the 

               old covenant, the high priest went into the holy of holies once every year, and 

               necessarily came back out immediately.  Not so of Christ.  He went into the heavenly 

               holy of holies with His own blood to atone for our sins, and thus to reconcile us with 

               God.

     So this shall be an ordinance forever for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for 

     all their sins; and he shall do this once a year," as the Lord gave orders to Moses.

We don't believe in the gnostic monster-god of the Old Testament who is different from Christ.  These are holy types of the sacrifice of the Holy One.  It is unnatural that we should slaughter innocent animals, yes--because death, slaughter, and so forth are unnatural in general.  All was created without death (as opposed to the evolutionary view of "Adam" and "Eve" being descended from millenia of death and pain), and the animals as our servents, we as their loving masters.  At the fall came death and all the other consequences of sin; these sacrifices took our place, taking on our sins--in remissions and to remind us of the reality of the consequence of sin as death.  Anything that takes on sins must die, for death is the result of sin, and these sacrifices even more so had to die because the sin must also die for there to be remission.  So God, while showing the ultimate Justice intrinsic to Him and the reality of the consequences of sin that we chose for ourselves, even so gave mercy in the Old Testament remissions of sin for us, foreshadowing its complete fulfillment in He Who is Offered, Offering, and accepting the Offering, God Himself, who in the Person of the Son, though without sin took on and became sin that it might die once and for all in the Sacrifice on the Cross.  From the Orthodox Study Bible's page on "Sacrifice":  "The word 'sacrifice' means to make holy or sacred."  Sacrifice is a necessary part of our lives, for we must sacrifice all of our selves to Him, depriving our will, that it may fully be emptied and then be filled again as nothing more than a vessel of His Perfect Will.

In Christ,

Teopile/Theophilos Porter