The True and Better Day of Atonement (Lev 16) from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

“Again.” That’s what your gas tank says. And your stomach. Your shampoo. Your floss. Your homework. Your washing machine. Your email. Your treadmill. Your mortgage. Your coffee pot. Your bed. They’ll say it tomorrow and the next day, “again.”

And I could make a much longer list. We fill our weeks with tasks we’ve done countless times before. The short list would be those things humanity only does once. That list might fit on one hand, actually.

The Old Testament had once–for–all events, like Genesis 1’s creation, or the Exodus. But much of it laid out those things the Israelites were to do again and again. You likely think of the sacrificial system. They’d perform their burnt, cereal, peace, and sin offerings according to the detailed instructions laid out in the Pentateuch. And they did so again and again.

Once a year, God set aside a single day on their calendar for Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. It was the holiest day of the year.[1] And it would be the holiest day of the next year. And the year after that.

We’re going to look at this holy day briefly tonight. There are 34 verses, and I plan to have you out of here in 25 minutes. So I won’t say everything. Not even close. But stay with me as we do a flyover of Leviticus 16.

God limited access.

We’ve not been going through Leviticus on Sunday mornings, so let me give you two or three sentences for context. First, Leviticus should be considered to be something of a continuation of Exodus. The end of Exodus, as you know, was devoted to detailed instructions for building the tabernacle. The purpose of that tabernacle was for the manifestation of the Lord’s glory among His people. It’s about access. So, the Israelites build the tabernacle as Exodus describes. And the ESV study bible notes, the “entire content of Leviticus was given less than a month after the construction of the tabernacle.”[2]

This book mainly concerns itself with Israel’s holiness. And chapter 16 comes at the end of a section on purification. Some would say it’s the crown and pinnacle of that section.[3]

And it won’t take a verse for us to pick up on this holiness. Verse 1 says the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died. You know the story about Nadab and Abihu from Leviticus 10. We really don’t know much about what precisely happened, but we’re told there that they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And then they died. When they approached the Lord, maybe they did so carelessly, maybe irreverently, but they certainly didn’t approach how the Lord told them to.

So, right after this, the Lord speaks to Moses and tells him, v. 2, Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die.

God’s warning Moses to warn his brother. In essence, don’t just barge into the Holy of Holies whenever you want and however you want. Remember Nadab and Abihu?

We live in a day where access is assumed. I don’t have to get on a train or depend on the post office to contact you. We even have some access to people we don’t know. Penny Hardaway shows us his office; tells us where he’s going; sends video of himself on his private jet. Of course, it’s the illusion of access, but it makes us think we deserve it. And that’s with our fellow man.

What about with a Holy God? Do we think we deserve unfettered access? On our terms? His holiness and our sin says otherwise. God told Aaron not to come at any time, v. 2, so that he may not die. Why? V.2b For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.

A holy God is not safe for a sinful people. In mercy, God limited access. But that didn’t mean He restricted it completely.

2. In mercy, God told His people how to gain access. (v. 3-28)

I say, “in mercy,” because a holy God did not have to give si[...]