Daily Devotional for Tuesday, June 28

Within the Veil

Our passage for today opens with a reminder of Leviticus 10 when God killed Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, for offering profane fire. We do not know exactly what Aaron’s sons did wrong, but it may be that they entered the Holy of Holies inside the veil which God did not allow. Leviticus 16 describes the one and only time the high priest could enter within the veil on the Day of Atonement. 

The orders were strict, and disobedience equaled death for the priest. God is holy, and holiness was necessary to enter His presence. The high priest must wash and put on the holy garments and then offer a sacrifice for himself and his family. Only then was he ready to sacrifice for the people. 

The high priest took two goats from the people and cast lots over them. One was chosen for a sin-offering for all the people, its blood taken inside the veil of the Holy of Holies and sprinkled on the mercy seat of the Lord. This was the blood of atonement, symbolic of the blood that forgives sins, pointing to the blood of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 9:12). 

The other goat was the scapegoat. Aaron the high priest was to lay his hands on the scapegoat’s head, confess all the sins of the people putting them on the goat’s head, and then send the goat away into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:21, 22). This symbolized the removal of sin after the atoning sacrifice was made. When God forgives your sins through the blood of Jesus Christ, your sins are removed “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).

Thought: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). 

Phillip Miller