Leviticus 16

That’s a kind way to put it. The initial report suggests they came to the LORD in an inappropriate way. See Leviticus 10:1-5.

The largest and main part of the space inside the tent sanctuary was the Sacred Room. Aaron’s sons were allowed to go in this room. But the Most Sacred Room was off limits to everyone but Aaron and Moses. That’s where God met with Moses to give him instructions. This holiest place on earth to Israelite ancestors of the Jewish people is where they kept the gold-plated box that held the two stones containing the Ten Commandments. The box is best known as the Ark of the Covenant. A curtain separated this room from the main room in the tent worship center sometimes known as the Tabernacle and sometimes as the Meeting Tent.

More often called the Ark of the Covenant. It was a wooden chest plated with gold all over. Inside that chest was a golden jar with some manna, Aaron’s almond wood staff that budded, and stone tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments. Covering the chest was a lid with figures representing glorious celestial beings called cherubim. This was the place where God’s people found forgiveness (Exodus 25:10-22; Hebrews 9:4-5). It became Israel’s most sacred object. They taught that the lid of the box was God’s “footstool,” (1 Chronicles 28:2, English Standard Version).

A sin offering can refer to something the people of Israel brought to God after they realized they had accidentally broken one of God’s laws earlier. Some scholars say a better translation is the opposite of “sin” because the sacrifice is intended to “un-sin” people, to purify them. So those scholars call it a “purification offering.”

This was the most common sacrifice. Worshipers burned the entire animal. Burnt offering instructions: “Take the animal to the north side of the altar. Kill it there on this sacred site of the LORD. Aaron’s sons, the priests, will take some of the blood and splash it on all four sides of the altar. Cut the animal into pieces, including the head and the fat. A priest will set them onto the fire on the altar” (Leviticus 1:11-12). See also Leviticus 1:3-13; 6:1-6.

For a more complete description of the high priest’s clothing, see Leviticus 8:7-9.

More literally, “throw lots.” The “lots” may have been stones or dice-like objects they used to get a yes or no answer from God, since they believed God controlled everything that happened.

More literally, the second goat was designated “for Azazel.” Early Jewish scholars broke this word in two: ez ‘azel, “goat leaves,” which is where the term “scapegoat” came from. When Jewish scholars, a century or so before Jesus’ birth, translated this passage into Greek, the international language of the day, they translated this phrase as the goat “carrying away.” By implication, since Aaron was offering sacrifices for sins, the goat was carrying away the nation’s sins. Some scholars referred to Azazel as an otherworldly being opposite of God. So, the goat was designated to go to this evil being, while taking Israel’s evil with it.

Israelites taught that the lid of the box was God’s “footstool,” (1 Chronicles 28:2, English Standard Version).

Normally, all priests are allowed in this room, the largest of the two in the tent. But on this occasion, only Aaron and his successors as high priest can go inside.

Archaeologists have uncovered many “horned altars” in Israel and Palestinian Territories. Bible writers never explained why altars were built with the corners turned up like animal horns. Perhaps the horns were a tribute to the livestock sacrificed on the altar. One more common guess is that the horns gave priests something to which they could tie the dead animal. This could help keep the sacrificed animal from rolling off the fire before it was burned. Psalm 118:27 seems to add credibility to that theory: “Go ahead and tie the festival sacrifice to the four corners of the altar.” Consider how it might feel for a worshiper to watch the sacrificed animal roll off the flaming altar before the animal had even caught fire. We might understand that the animal fell off because the burning wood pile shifted as wood disintegrated in the fire. But someone offering a sacrifice to seek forgiveness for sin might think God had just rejected the offering.

Jewish people today call it Yom Kippur. In Bible times it was known as the Day of Atonement. Israelites followed a lunar calendar, with every month starting at the first tiny crescent after the new moon. A new moon is when the moon is hidden behind earth’s shadow for one day. The sun, moon, and earth are aligned, with earth in the middle. The seventh month usually occurred in September or October.

The term is more literally, “deprive your throats,” as in, “don’t eat or drink.” The practice is often called “self-denial.” Instead of eating, people are encouraged to pray and to confess the sins they’ve committed over the past year.