The Lord sees man as unclean and therefore needs to be cleansed. Everything that I read this morning from being cleansed from leprosy, to the laws regarding bodily admissions shows man's uncleanness and need for cleaning. If you are to come before the Lord you must be made clean and if not you are separated and considered by all to be unclean.
The law of Atonement is huge. This is everything that Jesus did on the cross. The English word propitiation in Romans 3.25 is translated into English from the Greek word Helasterion, which means mercy seat. The mercy seat is the place of God on top of the Ark of the Covenant. The high priest comes before the Lord one day each year, in the seventh month on the 10th day. He offers a bull as sacrifice for his own sins. Jesus is our High Priest, He need not offer sacrifice for Himself because He is sinless. Then the priest offers two male goats, one as a sin sacrifice and the other is a scapegoat. Lots are cast between the two goats, one goat sacrificed the other the priest confesses the sins of the people on and releases it into the wilderness. The sacrificial goat represents Jesus Christ on the cross. The other represents faith in Jesus taking our sins away.
Bibliography
New American Standard Bible. (1995). The Lockman Foundation.
New American Standard Bible. (1995). The Lockman Foundation.
