The Meaning of Atonement in Leviticus and Hebrews

After 2,000 years scholars are still uncovering biblical treasures.

For example, in Rethinking the Atonement, David Moffitt conveys important insights on the concept of atonement in Scripture.

What is atonement? An atoning sacrifice is an offering or sacrifice that restores our broken relationship with God.

The Sacrificial Process in Leviticus

Throughout the essays in his book, Moffitt emphasizes this point: sacrifice, as seen in Leviticus, was a process. He lays out the steps below:

(1) sacrifice moves in a particular direction—specifically, sacrifice involves bringing a gift into God’s house and so into his presence; (2) the gift moves from the offerer in the mundane realm into God’s holy space and presence by going through a series of hierarchically related steps—sacrifice involves a process; and (3) within that process no animals are slaughtered upon any of the Levitical altars . . . (162)

How did these gifts move from “the mundane realm into God’s holy space”? The priests carried the animal’s blood into God’s presence in the tabernacle, and, later, temple. Contrary to what many think, Moffitt contends animals were not killed on the altar. “Animals were slaughtered either in the courtyard before the outer altar and sancta or in a special place to the north of the outer altar, depending on the sacrifice (see e.g., Lev. 1:11; 3:2)” (169). After skimming through Leviticus, I should add a minor qualification: burnt offerings of birds were killed at the altar: “The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar” (Lev 1:15).

Applying the Sacrificial Blood

After the animal was killed, the priest carried the blood closer to God’s presence then applied it to particular objects. Leviticus 4 lays out these steps in the sacrificial process:

• a young bull is presented before the tent of meeting,
• the elders lay their hands on the bull’s head,
• the bull is slaughtered,
• the priest takes some of the bull’s blood into the tent of meeting,
• the priest dips his finger into the blood and sprinkles it before the LORD seven times in front of the curtain,
• the priest puts some of the blood on the horns of the altar (of incense) in the tent,
• the priest pours out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar,
• the priest burns the bull’s fat on the altar outside the tent,
• the priest takes the bull outside the camp and burns it (vv. 13-21).

Notice that the blood was only applied in front of the curtain or veil in the tabernacle. On the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur, however, the high priest, beginning with Aaron, carried the blood directly into God’s presence in the Holy of Holies then applied it to the ark of the covenant. For his own sin offering, the high priest was commanded to sprinkle the blood of a young bull “on the atonement cover, then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover” (16:14). The atonement cover is the lid on the ark of the covenant, also called the mercy seat. For the people’s sin offering the high priest performed the same rituals using goat’s blood.

The Basis of Atonement

While sacrifice was a process, it was not mechanical as in press #3 on the vending machine and get a Coke. At times, God rejected Israel’s offerings because they weren’t offered with sincerity. For instance, through Isaiah God says, “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! . . . Your hands are full of blood!” Atonement, even when the sacrificial process was followed perfectly, was ultimately God’s prerogative and, if granted, due to God’s mercy. But we know that God wanted his people to experience atonement because he prescribed the entire system.

The Book of Hebrews

What does this mean for Christ’s sacrifice?

Arguing from the book of Hebrews, Moffitt says, “the author thinks of Jesus’s sacrifice not as a momentary event that is reducible merely to the crucifixion but as a multistep process that culminates in his entry into God’s presence in the heavenly holy of holies, where he presents himself to God and interceded for his people” (34).

What’s the evidence for this assertion?

First, Hebrews is the only New Testament book that explicitly calls Christ a “high priest” so we know the author was thinking within priestly categories.

Second, just as the high priest entered the Holy of Holies, Hebrews contains references to Christ entering into God’s presence after his death. For example,

• Since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven (4:14)
• Behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf (6:19-20)
• Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being. (8:1-2)
• He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence (9:24)

Third, Hebrews connects Christ’s entrance into God’s presence with his own blood: “He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood” (Heb 9:12).

Conclusion

What does this mean for the Christian faith? If sacrifice is a process, what does this mean for Jesus’ sacrifice? It means we must think of the cross, but we must also think beyond the cross. Moffitt writes, “Jesus’s death, resurrection, and ascension are all atoning. To paraphrase Paul, Jesus saves his people by dying, yes, but even more by rising, ascending, and now interceding for them at the right hand of the Father (cf. Rom. 8:34)” (5). In sum, there is something going on in heaven right now that corresponds to what the high priest did on the Day of Atonement.