Set Apart: Holiness Revealed
A Biblical View of Holiness
Notes prepared by Paul Barker
Focus: God’s holiness is deadly to sinful humanity, but he creates a way for people to have a relationship with him.
Leviticus 16:1–5, 20–22, 29, 30 ESV
1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, 2 and the Lord said to Moses, “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. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 3 But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
20 And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
29 “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.
30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins.
The Text in the Story of Redemption
Leviticus is the middle book of the Pentateuch. It details the answer to the question continually raised in Exodus:
“How can a holy God have a relationship with a sinful people?”
The Exodus narrative contains two events concerning fire. The first is the fire in the bush (3:1–5), and the second is the fire on the mountain (19:18). In both cases, the fire represents the holiness of God and the threat that holiness is to sinful humans. The Passover narrative in Exodus answers how a holy God can dwell with sinful people.
Passover night redefined Israel’s problem. Hitherto, they had lived under the threat of a genocidal king, but now another king is on his way, even more fearful than Pharaoh. With this King, there is no negotiation. The ensuing death of the firstborn of Egypt showed how real the threat was. But while there was no negotiation, there was a provision: “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.”
Without the lamb’s blood, Israel was naked before the avenging angel. But covered by the blood, they were protected.
The concluding chapters of Exodus lead naturally into Leviticus. Leviticus explains how God’s covenant people will maintain the relationship God established through the Passover blood.
The Passover solution finds its highest expression on the Day of Atonement—the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Commentators agree that Leviticus 16 is one of the mountain peaks of the Scriptures. They have called it the Good Friday of the Old Testament. It is the day when the holiness and grace of God find their fullest Old Testament revelation.
“In Leviticus 16, the sacrificial law of Moses attains it supreme expression, the holiness and the grace of God, their fullest revelation. If every sacrifice pointed to Christ, this most luminously of all. What the fifty-third of Isaiah is to his Messianic prophecies, that, we may truly say, is the sixteenth of Leviticus to the whole system of Mosaic types—the most consummate flower of the Messianic symbolism. All the sin offerings pointed to Christ, the great High Priest and Victim of the future; but this with a distinctness found in no other.”
-S. H. Kellogg, The Book of Leviticus (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1903), 272.
1. Our sin is much worse than we think.
Leviticus 16 begins with a reference to the death of Nadab and Abihu.
The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died . . . (Leviticus 16:1)
The death of Aaron’s sons provides the context for the events that unfold throughout the chapter.
Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his peace. (Leviticus 10:1–3)
The death of Aaron’s sons vividly illustrates that no sin is small in the presence of a holy God.
God is fearsome in his holiness, and his holiness is intense and dangerous to sinful humans. It is little wonder that the vision of the Holy God is both awe-inspiring and frighteningly terrible.
Humans either retreat in dread or bow in contrite worship. The glory would devour anyone who approached the Holy unclean or unworthily.
Leviticus reveals the great gulf that exists between us and God. Nadab and Abihu were confused because their actions blemished God’s holiness and did not glorify the Lord. The Scriptures record many other times when seemingly small sins had enormous consequences. Adam ate some fruit (Genesis 3:6). Lot’s wife looked back at a burning city (Genesis 19:26). Moses hit a rock twice (Numbers 20:11). Uzzah touched the ark (2 Samuel 6:7).
Ananias and Saphira lied about real estate profits (Acts 5:1–11). What do we learn from these events? There are no small sins against a holy God.
“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” (Isaiah 64:6) The term “polluted garment” refers to “ornamental dress.” The analogy is clear. When we try to dress ourselves up to look good, we are still polluted. Even though sin defiles us, we try decorating ourselves with our deeds to masquerade our true state.”
-Paul Barker
Sin only seems trivial to us when God’s holiness seems trite. God is an all-consuming fire who dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16; Hebrews 12:29). There is no impurity in him whose eyes are too pure to look on evil (Psalm 92:15; Habakkuk 1:13). Sinless angels who unceasingly cry “Holy! Holy! Holy!”—while covering their eyes and feet—do so because God’s unfiltered holiness is unbearable to endure (Isaiah 6:4; Revelation 4:8). When righteous Isaiah stood before God, he exclaimed, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). When we see God as holy, we see that no sin is small.
2. God’s grace is much greater than we think.
The priests sacrificed two goats on the Day of Atonement, each illustrating a different aspect of God’s grace. The High Priest chose the first goat by the lot and then sacrificed it for the sins of the nation. The death of this goat as an innocent substitute represents the atoning sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world. (The following verses confirm this truth.)
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats . . . but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats . . . sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrew 9:11–14)
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2 NIV)
The first goat pictures atonement—the theological truth that God has restored our broken relationship with him and paid for our sins; they no longer have a claim on us. If you wreck someone’s car and their insurance pays the damage, that person has no more claim against you. The debt is settled.
God settled our debt through the death of his sinless Son—an event prefigured in the death of the innocent goat.
And though it is “impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4), the Israelis who had faith in God had their sins taken away by “the Lamb of God who was slain from the creation of the world”
(Revelation 13:8 NIV).
“Surely, Sinner, there is nothing that should move you to repentance like the thought of that great Sacrifice of Christ which is necessary to wash away your guilt. Law and terrors do but harden, but I think the thought that Jesus died is enough to make us melt. It is well, when we hear the name of Calvary, always to shed a tear, for there is nothing that ought to make a sinner weep like the mention of the death of Jesus.”
“Alas! And did my Savior bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
Drops of grief ought to flow—yes, streams of sympathy with him—to show our grief for what we did to pierce the Savior. Afflict your souls, O you children of Israel, for the Day of Atonement is come! Weep over your Jesus! Weep for him who died, weep for him who was murdered by your sins! Then, better still, we are to ‘do no work at all,’ as you find in the same verse, the twenty-ninth. When we consider the Atonement, we should rest and ‘do no work at all.’ Rest from your works as God did from his on the great Sabbath of the world. Rest from your own righteousness, rest from your toilsome duties—rest in him. Now I will no longer seek to save myself—it is done, it is done forever!”
-Charles Spurgeon, The Day of Atonement, August 10, 1856.
The second goat was called “azalea.” This Hebrew word means “the goat that departs”—traditionally called the “scapegoat.”
The High Priest would lay his hands upon the scapegoat and confess all the nation’s sins. This symbolic act transferred the transgressions of the people onto the scapegoat. A chosen Israelite would then lead the goat into the wilderness, where the goat would wander off and, presumably, die.
The second goat pictures the result of the atonement. We see what has become of our sins—they are gone forever. When the man returns from the wilderness, he informs the people that the scapegoat is gone, and the people clap their hands, for their sins are all gone too. This is cleansing—the theological truth that God pays for our sins and removes them as far from us as the East is from the West (Psalm 103:12 NLT).
3. Jesus is our High Priest that solves the problem of our sin.
The noted author Corrie Ten Boom often said, “When we confess our sins, God casts them into the deepest ocean, and they are gone forever. I believe God then places a sign there that says, ‘NO FISHING ALLOWED.’”
“The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man puts himself where only God deserves to be; God puts himself where only man deserves to be.”
-John Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 160.
Usually, all the priests participated in the sacrifices, but on the Day of Atonement, only the High Priest performed any work. He did everything that day: lighting the candles, the fires, the incense, and all the required offices. He was the only one to take the blood beyond the veil into the Holy Place. Jesus is our High Priest who provides our atonement; only he can go beyond the veil.
We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever . . . (Hebrews 6:19–20)
But after the Day of Atonement, work was complete; the High Priest would put on his golden garments again.The High Priest wore his golden garments every other day of the year, but on the Day of Atonement, he shed his royal robes and donned simple linen vestments. Jesus Christ, then, when he made atonement for our sins, laid aside his glory and took on humble human flesh. He did not atone for our sins arrayed in the glories of his ancient throne. There was no royal diadem upon his brow save the crown of thorns.
Christ, having suffered once for sin, is never to die again. He will return as a royal king.
4. We must receive God’s grace by faith.
God required the Israelites to respond to the events of the Day of Atonement by humbling themselves and doing no work.
And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work. (Leviticus 16:29)
The High Priest was to do all the work, and the people could do none. “And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people” (Leviticus 23:30). This is a clear picture of the gospel. We add nothing to the finished work of Christ.
Paul wrote to the Galatians concerning this topic, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6–9). In this passage, the contrary gospel Paul refers to is a religion that places human effort at the center. Anyone who embraces that religion is accursed just like anyone who works for their atonement is cut off from among the covenant people.
The Apostle Paul summarized the message of the Day of Atonement with these words, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).
The pardon God issues on the Day of Atonement must be received by faith. If an Israelite did not believe in the work of God’s grace, he would not receive the pardon offered.
In 1829, George Wilson robbed the US Mail, jeopardizing the mailman's life. He pleaded guilty to the charges, and the court sentenced him to death by hanging. Friends arranged for President Andrew Jackson to issue Wilson a pardon. But Wilson refused the pardon, and the case went to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the official ruling for the court. “A pardon is an act of grace,” he said, “the validity of which is not complete without acceptance. It might be rejected by the person to whom it was offered, and the court could not force it upon him. The court cannot give the prisoner the benefit of the pardon unless he claims the benefit of it.”
We cannot receive the benefits of Christ’s atonement unless we receive it by faith.
5. Holy living results from our experience of God’s grace.
The first fifteen chapters of Leviticus lead to the Day of Atonement. These chapters teach us about worship and the way to God. The last eleven chapters follow from the Day of Atonement. They are about holy living and our walk with God. This is an essential pattern in the Bible: God’s work of salvation comes first; our obedience is done in response. Holy living always follows worship.
Worship is our response to God’s complete work to secure our redemption. Holy living is what follows our experience of the grace of God.
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher