Wednesday October 30 Bearing Sin Read Leviticus 6:25-26; 10:16–18. What crucial truth is revealed here? By eating the offering at a holy place, the officiating priest would “bear away the guilt” of the offender. The meat of this offering was not just payment for the priests’ services (otherwise Moses would not have been so angry with Aaron’s sons for not eating of it), but it was a crucial part of the atonement. How does the eating of the sacrifice contribute to the process of atonement? Eating was required only of those offerings in which blood did not enter the holy place; that is, the offerings of the leader and the commoner. The Bible explicitly said that by eating the sacrifice the priests would “bear away the guilt,” which would “make atonement” for the sinner. To carry the sinner’s guilt implies that the sinner now goes free. In the Hebrew, Exodus 34:7 says that God “carries iniquity,” the same two Hebrew words used in Leviticus 10:16, where it’s clear that the act of the priest’s carrying the sin is what brings forgiveness to the sinner. Otherwise, without that transfer, the sinner would have to bear his own sin (Lev. 5:1), and that, of course, would lead to death (Rom. 6:23). The priest’s work of bearing another’s sin is exactly what Christ did for us. He died in our place. We conclude, then, that the priestly work at the earthly sanctuary typifies Christ’s work for us, because He has taken upon Himself the guilt of our sins. “The blessing comes because of pardon; pardon comes through faith that the sin, confessed and repented of, is borne by the great Sin-bearer. Thus from Christ cometh all our blessings. His death is an atoning sacrifice for our sins. He is the great medium through whom we receive the mercy and favor of God. He, then, is indeed the Originator, the Author, as well as the Finisher, of our faith.”—Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 9, p. 302. Imagine standing before God in judgment. What would you lean on—your good works, your Sabbath keeping, all the nice things you had done and all the bad things you hadn’t done? Do you really think this would be enough to justify you before a holy and perfect God? If not, what’s your only hope in that judgment?
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 09:35:49 +0000
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