[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the River Church podcast.
[00:00:03] Speaker B: We're all about bringing the life, hope and love of Jesus to everyone around us. For more information, check out our
[email protected] Lord, I thank you for your words that we have the honour and privilege of reading today.
I thank you because Lord, we believe you're going to speak to us. And Lord, I thank you because your word is a living word.
Just as it was alive 2,000 years ago, it's very much alive today in this church, but also in our not just as a communally but also personally. And so Lord, come and speak to us in Jesus name.
Amen.
Amen.
Have you ever seen a group of friends and you looked at them and just thought how on earth are they friends?
They're just completely incompatible.
Have you ever come across a group like that?
Maybe you just looked at them and you thought how did you guys meet?
Maybe the friendship was too one sided or maybe they're just completely totally different personalities and you just thought this friendship just isn't going to last.
Very good morning. You see we're in a series called the the Greatest Story where we're looking at, we're going through the whole Bible part by part and looking how each part of the Bible is part of a bigger story.
And so far we've gone through Genesis and pretty much most of Exodus.
And there are two themes that keep coming up over and over again.
And one of those themes is just how seemingly incompatible the relationship between God and his people is.
I mean, surely this isn't going to last.
That's the first theme. The second theme we'll look at in a moment.
But actually today's scripture brings these themes. They clash on a head to head.
And, and only once we've looked at these two themes can we then look at today's scripture reading from Leviticus 16.
And that's because the whole reason Leviticus as a book exists is to try and give an answer, to solve the clash of these themes.
Amen.
So the two themes that clash, why don't we look at the first theme which I've already alluded to, the theme of how this relationship between God and his people is just seemingly incompatible, or I think I've put it here as simply as holy God and a sinful people.
Holy God and a sinful people.
The problem is sin, right? We see this when we began this series, Adam and Eve, when they ate the forbidden fruit.
And then the next chapter, right, their firstborn son Cain murders their second born Abel.
A few chapters later we've Got God having to flood the whole earth and only save Noah and his family because of sin. And on and on and on it goes. This is recurring as sinful people.
And last week Karen spoke on the Golden Calf, didn't she?
God was giving Moses the ten Commandments.
And before Moses even got down to the bottom of the mountain, they'd broken the first one.
A holy God and a sinful people.
Of course, the problem with sin is sin leads to death and death is simply separation from God.
Yes, death entered the world because of Adam's sin. But actually what I really want to hone in on today is the spiritual death, which is the spiritual separation from God.
It's just like any other relationship, right? If you wrong someone, it kind of drives a wedge. If that's not resolved, it drives a wedge in the relationship. It causes a bit of a distance, it causes a separation.
It might not be physically, but almost in every other way. Maybe mentally, maybe socially, you just check out of the relationship.
So it's not like when you sin, God walks away, right? But actually it's not like when you sin, God sends you away. But sin is more. It's a rebellion from God when you choose to sin. When I choose to sin, I choose to do things my own way. So I step away from God.
It's me create in that distance.
I step away from God and choose to do things my way.
And this is the big problem.
Sin separates people from God.
But of course, you know, it's easy for me to be here, for us to be here, and to think this was just a problem for the ancient Israelites, but sin can cause the same problem for us today.
Just as sin separated the Israelites from God, it can separate us from God.
If you're anything like me, I don't always treat people the way I should, right? Jesus tells me I should love my neighbor and I should treat them the way I'd want them to treat me. And I get that wrong too many times.
The Bible is clear on envy, right?
It tells us not to envy and to want other people's things.
But doesn't social media just have a way of selling you someone else's life?
It just sells you someone else's life.
You'd be checking out that car or that house.
Or maybe it's just that you want that kind of relationship that looks like a match made in heaven.
Sin separates us from God.
Back to social media. Maybe you knew it's not quite time for that job or that promotion yet, but as soon as you heard your Friend. Got it.
You couldn't help but just wish you were in their position. You couldn't help but just envy for their position.
And these days with technology all around us, how easy is it when no one else is in the room to be looking at things you shouldn't be?
And sin can separate us from God, just as it could do for the Israelites.
So someone could look at our relationship with God and say, this relationship between God and his people and us, surely it's not going to last.
That's the first theme. Sin separates us from God. Let's look at the second theme.
You see, we see God relentlessly pursuing his people.
So we see him save Noah, we see him approach Abraham, and even we see the daring rescue of the Israelites from the Egyptians.
But I think God's relentlessly pursuing his people, and it's increasing in relentlessness. And I'm excited because something happened, right?
Something happened a few chapters after the golden calf incident, which Karen spoke on last week.
And guess what?
God moved in with his people. God moved in.
You're not understanding. God moved into the neighborhood. He said to the Israelites, I want you to build me a tent. Just as you guys have tents, I want to live in a tent amongst you in your neighborhood. God moved in. How relentless is that pursuit for his people?
Relentless.
I know what some of you are. Stop it, guys. I can see your faces. I know what some of you are thinking. Some of you are thinking, I wonder how much a house in that neighborhood would go for on Right, Move. I can see it right now. I can see it.
But imagine that estate agents, what would they say, right? Neighborhood features, one holy God warning may expose all your sins.
But on a serious level, you see, guys, at the end of Exodus, the Israelites had finished building the tent.
So God called it the tent of meeting because it was going to be the tent where he meets his people.
But Moses couldn't go into this tent. No one could actually go into this tent because God was so holy and his people were so sinful.
God wanted it to be a tent of meeting where he can meet his people.
And eventually it just functions as what they call the tabernacle, which just means God's dwelling place. Supposed to be a place where God meets his people, but it ends up just a being God's tent where God lives.
These two themes clash, and that's helpful background through which we're going to pick up today's scripture.
Because in one way, if it was just the first theme, if it was just that sinful people, you know, holy God, sinful people. But God wasn't so relentless in his pursuit. Maybe just God gave up. Then it wouldn't be as much of a problem.
But we've got a sinful people and holy God, and we've got a God that just keeps pursuing. And this is going to clash today. This is going to come head to head in today's scripture, because now you've got a holy God living in the neighborhood.
How's that going to work? How's that going to work? You've got evil so and so there, evil Gary over there, a few hundred yards away from the tent of God. How do you make this work?
This is the big problem.
And you know what?
Big problems need big answers.
Maybe you can help me preach that, say to your neighbor, big problems need big answers.
I didn't quite hear you. Maybe you can tell them again, big problems need big answers.
And so that's what today's scripture reading is going to be. And that's what we're talking about today.
Because God provides the Israelites with an answer how to resolve this, this clash.
He gives the Israelites a plan, and actually he tells them to do something once a year.
And that thing once a year they're told to do is called the Day of Atonement.
At one month, it's the day in which God can come at one with his people. The Day of Atonement.
And it's the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, all right? It happens on the 10th day of the year. And so the Israelites have to fast for those 10 days. And so by the time they get to the 10th day, they've had nine days of making themselves holy, right?
And then on the 10th day, the day of Atonement happens. And it's actually the only day, the only feast, the only festival where God tells them to fast.
Every other festival is about feast and eating. But this one day a year, the Israelites fast and prepare for this day.
So it is a big answer.
And it's not just me trying to tell you it's a big answer. The Bible itself is trying to tell us this is the big answer to the problem.
So if you look at how the Bible structured the first five books, the Torah, or sometimes just called the Law, these books are structured in a way which points to exactly this, Leviticus 16.
So in the middle of the five books, you've got Leviticus saying it's the center of the law.
And even Leviticus itself is structured in a cemetery where everything is pointing up to chapter 16.
Everything after chapter 16 is pointing back to chapter 16.
And we're going to have the honor of trying to delve deep into these mysteries and see what is God trying to say.
I've got someone who's going to help us do the reading. So if you're kind enough, please, can you help me? Welcome. Mm. Who's going to read the scripture today?
[00:12:53] Speaker A: Good morning, Church.
So I'll be reading from Leviticus 16 from verse 7 to 10, then. He is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
He is to cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat.
Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering.
But the goat chosen by Lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.
Leviticus, verse 21:22.
He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites, all their sins, and put them on the goat's head.
He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task.
The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place, and the man shall release it into the wilderness.
[00:14:05] Speaker B: Thank you. Amen.
So, for context, there's a lot going on.
It's not the usual kind of bedtime reading you probably do. There's a lot of imagery that goes on in the Day of Atonement. You've got the high priest, you've got the tabernacle, but today we're just going to focus on two goats.
We did a series on Hebrews last year where we looked a lot at the imagery of high priests and the tabernacle. So if you're interested, can I encourage you to have a look? It's online. Or have a listen. It's online.
Right.
The Day of Atonement. There are three few things that make this day unique and separate from all the other days. Because as an Israelite, you could bring a sacrifice any day. Pretty much almost any day, there are sacrifices going on. But this event had three things that made it particularly unique.
The first is that it was the one day a year where the high priest, which is the Israelite chief priest, he was allowed, and he's the only one ever allowed, but he was allowed one day a year.
The most holy place Right. That's the room in the tent, the tent of meeting. We talked about the room in the tabernacle where God was said to stay, where God lived. And no one could go in that room. But once a year, the high priest could go into that room.
The second thing is that ordinarily people would bring their own sacrifices. You bring a goat, you bring a lamb or sheep, or if you don't have too much money, a pigeon or some wheat, and you'd offer your sacrifice.
But what's interesting here is that the high priests are doing everything right. There's only two goats. Well, there's two goats we're going to focus on in this, in this sacrifice, in this offering. And the high priest brings them.
Everything is brought by the high priest and everything is done by the high priest.
And the final thing that's different is that there's two goats.
The Bible says this is one sacrifice, it's one act of atonement. But involving two goats, that's very unique because it's the only time it happens.
So actually, I want to look at these goats and let me explain kind of what the scripture is saying. And let's look at the first goat.
And what was the scripture saying about the first goat?
So what would happen is the high priest will take the first goat.
He would kill the goats and take some of its blood in a bowl.
Then he would then walk around the tent, the tabernacle, and sprinkle the blood on some very key items around the tent.
And so that goat becomes a substitute. That's the sacrifice that was used to pay for the people's sins, for the people's guilt and shame.
I know 2026, this might seem a bit extra, a bit unnecessary.
And I think it's easy for us to say, why couldn't God just forgive them? Why do they have to do all of this?
I think the answer is simple when we think about it.
Justice.
Justice. God is a just God.
How would you like it if someone smashed your car or broke into your house? Then the judge says they can just get away scot free. They don't have to pay anything.
They can just go.
It's not quite right, is it? It's not justice.
And I think some might be saying, but, you know, the blood is a bit gooey and you know, why you got to kill an animal?
I think that's a fair question.
And so first of all, it's all about symbolism and imagery.
And so Leviticus 17, let me just talk through this imagery. Leviticus 17:11 tells us that for the life of a creature is in the blood.
And I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar. It is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.
So the symbolism going on here is that God is saying blood symbolizes life, right?
And life. Life is more powerful than death.
And so actually the life in the blood washes away the death, the taint of death and sin that comes from our sins. And that's a symbolism.
But if it makes you feel bad for the goat, I think good, because I think that's how God intended it to. Right. I think it should make us feel bad for the goat, but it should make us feel even bad for our sins, and then it should make us feel even better for the atonement, because we get to see that this hasn't come cost free. We get to see that actually our sins are not cost free.
How are we doing?
Hopefully that's going in. Right.
But you remember, there's two goats. So why don't we take a quick minute and let's look at the second goat.
The second goat.
The scapegoat.
The scapegoat. And it's actually where we get the term scapegoat, because this goat was to be kept alive.
Then the high priest would lay both his hands on the scapegoat, on this goat, and he would effectively put all the sins of the Israelites onto this goat. All the sins from the past year go on to this goat.
And the goat was led outside the camp as far away as possible, as far away east as possible.
And this was. So the first goat was very much. You couldn't see what's going on because that's in the tent. And only the high priest would go in there. But this was public and everyone could see this. And the symbolism is striking.
Everyone can see their sins on that goat being led away, far away into the horizon. And. And it's not just the sins, it's the penalty. It's what we deserved. It's our punishment, it's our guilt as far away as possible.
And you won't see it come back.
So, guys, if you're on Insta, this will make it onto your highlights reel. And I don't think you won't use any filters when you post this because you want people to clearly see that that goat is gone and it's not coming back if you don't use insta. It's fine, it's fine.
But.
So the psalmist celebrates this in, I think Psalm 103. And he says, as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Our sins are forgiven and forgotten, never to be seen again.
Wow.
Wow.
That is the solution to the clash. That is the solution to that God gave the Israelites. How amazing is that?
But of course, we all know that this system of sacrifice, it wasn't supposed to be permanent. It was always supposed to be temporary.
It was just a provision God made for the Israelites.
As Hebrews 10 tells us, the law is only a shadow of the good things to come. It's not the realities themselves.
It's almost like God using a credit card to cover their sins or putting it on the tab and saying, you know, those sins are covered. Saying, I've got you, These sins are covered, but they're not yet fully dealt with.
They're not yet paid for.
And they weren't paid for, of course, because there is no power to forgive sins in the blood of goats, right? Come on, guys. Surely verse four tells us it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
But I've got good news for you guys. Remember that. Remember God's relentless pursuit for his people.
Remember that when he moved into the neighborhood, well, he wasn't done.
Because the time came when, through Jesus, God moved into the neighborhood again.
But it wasn't now. Stuck behind a tent, he came as flesh, as a person. In Jesus, God continues his relentless pursuits.
And he steps down to earth and he says, it's time for me to settle this once and for all. It's time for me to settle this debt, to clear the tab.
And the Son of God, without sin, was crucified on the cross.
And so Jesus is our true atonement, sacrifice.
He's our true substitute.
You see, he is what the goat always foreshadowed. He is what the goat always pointed to.
But his blood, his blood was enough.
His blood was enough to wash away all our sins.
His blood was enough to clear the credit card, to clear that tab.
But there's more.
Unlike the goat, Jesus resurrected.
Jesus resurrected.
You see, he broke the power of death.
And so that means his blood really is powerful enough to wash away my sins and your sins. His blood really is powerful enough to wash away the taint of death that's associated with our sins. Something the goat could not do.
I know Simi wants me to say this, but something only the goat, the greatest of all time, Jesus, could do.
That's for you, Simi.
And like the scapegoat Jesus was led outside the camp, and that's where he was crucified.
And as Hebrews 13:9 tells us, so Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.
You see, our sins have not only been forgiven, they've been forgotten. But this time, finally and forever, and we've been sanctified.
God is making us pure.
So where does that leave us?
As I come to conclude, I think where it leaves us is simple.
There is therefore no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
The truth is we all struggle with the bad things we've done.
But God doesn't count this against us.
Because of Jesus, we will never have to pay that penalty, even for the worst things we've done.
And sometimes we feel the shame of the things we've done.
And sometimes there's a shame of remembering or shame of that others will know what we've done.
But Jesus was publicly shamed for us.
He died in the most. He was executed publicly in the most shameful way.
And so because of that, God chooses to forget and to never think of us badly because of what we've ever done wrong.
And so I think I want to encourage you. Stop treating God as if he's reluctantly accepting you.
He is relentlessly perfect pursuing you. He did all of that so that you can have a relationship with him.
So therefore we can draw nearer to God with confidence.
Our sin is paid for.
Draw near to Him. That's the challenge for today.
Study your Bible.
Ask Jesus questions. Ask him how you should respond in that difficult situation.
Ask him how he wants you to grow.
Draw near to him, because this is why Jesus died on the cross.
Can I invite the band back up, please?
Can I encourage you to rest from trying to atone for yourself? There is no need. It's done. It was done on the cross.
And at the beginning, I started by asking you if you've ever seen a relationship and thoughts that will never work.
Humanly speaking, a holy God and a sinful people should never work.
But God, but Jesus, the relationship not only survives, it flourishes.
So when you fail, run to God, not from him, because that's why he died on the cross, so we can run to Him.
