On the heels of demonstrating His willingness to concern Himself with the baser aspects of our lives, God now reminds us that He is far above us, and we can come to Him only as He allows us. In the Old Testament access to God was severely limited: only the High Priest could come into God’s presence, only one day a year, and only under the conditions God specified. This was dangerous duty for the High Priest. If he failed to follow exactly the procedures for their atonement, God would strike Him dead as Nadab and Abihu had been suddenly stricken, and the nation’s sins would not be atoned for.
The concept of atonement is central to Scripture. Sin must be made right before God because He is just and because His holiness will not allow sin in His presence. If we are to enjoy relationship with Him, the sin must be paid for and cleansed. The method God has provided to do both is with blood – a life for a life -, and it’s called atonement. Atonement is cleansing for sin so that we can be made right with God and enjoy the intimacy with Him for which we were created. The animal sacrifices described in Leviticus 1 through 7, the sin and guilt offerings, were for unintentional sins; the rituals observed on the Day of Atonement were the only provision God made for all sin, intentional and otherwise.
We don’t have to have a priest accomplish this ritual for us every year because Jesus accomplished it for us once and for all on the cross. God preserved for us the commands regarding the Day of Atonement rituals for the same reason He preserved the descriptions of the other rituals: to help us understand the work that Messiah has done for us. Why not spend some time reflecting on what your Savior has done for you as revealed in the Old Testament object lesson of the Day of Atonement?