In the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus, we have the directions for the great Day of Atone- ment. The Great Day of Atonement is a type of Christ in His substitution. It is well at this point to pause here and read Leviticus 16 through very carefully.
  The bullock is killed for the sin offering. The High Priest takes a basin of blood as far as the laver. There he bathes his body and puts on the linen garments. Once more he takes the basin and carries it into the Holy Place. There he takes a censor filled with live coals and puts upon it a handful of sweet incense. The smoke from the burning incense fills the Holy Place. He now pushes back the heavy curtain that hides the Holiest of Holies, and in a cloud of incense goes in and sprinkles the blood upon the Mercy Seat.
  The word "atonement" means "to cover." He was under a covering of smoke of incense until he could make an atonement with the blood he carried. This sacrifice was made but once a year to cover Israel who were dead in trespasses and sins.
  Leaving the Holy of Holies, he goes to the scapegoat that has been held in readiness by a young man, and lays both of his hands upon the head of the live goat, confessing over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel. He puts all the sins and transgressions upon the head of the live goat which is to be led into the wilderness to be destroyed by wild beasts. You notice in this that God makes a distinction between what Israel is (that is, spiritually dead) and what Israel does (that is, the sins that are the result of spiritual death).
  The sins are borne away on the head of the scapegoat. Jesus put away our sin nature and made provision for the remission of our sins when we are born again.
  The High Priest going into the Holy Place and making the yearly atonement is a figure of Christ going into the Heavenly Holies of Holies and making eternal redemption for us. Jesus made one sacrifice for sins forever, but the earthly High Priest made atonement once a year (Hebrews 10:1-21).
  Thus far we have seen that redemption demands an incarnation., Therefore, God is working toward the time when redemption shall become a possibility through the incarnation of His son.
  The reason for choosing a covenant people was that through them He might preserve a righteous line through which man's redeemer would come. Abraham's descendants became God's covenant people. We have seen their deliverance from Egypt by the hand of their covenant God. We have learned to appreciate their rights in that covenant and what it meant to God to say, "By Myself I have sworn."
  We have studied the tabernacle, priesthood and offerings, which are God's provision for Israel for fellowship with Almighty God.
  Now as we continue to study the further history of this people, we shall touch it only briefly until we come to the incarnation of Christ.
  However, we want no portion of the word neglected. So we are giving in this lesson a chronology in six divisions of the material given to us from Genesis to the birth of Christ. We believe that this chronology which you may use for reference work, will be valuable to you.

Click for Chapter 16