6 "Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household . 7 "He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting . 8 "Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats , one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat . 9 "Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell , and make it a sin offering . 10 "But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord , to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat . 11 "Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household , and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. 12 "He shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before e the Lord and two handfuls e of finely ground sweet incense , and bring it inside e the veil . 13 "He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord , that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony , otherwise he will die . 14 "Moreover, he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times .
15 "Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people , and bring its blood inside e e the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull , and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat . 16 " He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins ; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities . 17 "When he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel . 18 "Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides . 19 " With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it, and from the impurities of the sons of Israel consecrate it.
20 "When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar , he shall offer the live goat .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Leviticus 16:6-20
Commentary on Leviticus 16:1-14
(Read Leviticus 16:1-14)
Without entering into particulars of the sacrifices on the great day of atonement, we may notice that it was to be a statute for ever, till that dispensation be at an end. As long as we are continually sinning, we continually need the atonement. The law of afflicting our souls for sin, is a statue which will continue in force till we arrive where all tears, even those of repentance, will be wiped from our eyes. The apostle observes it as a proof that the sacrifices could not take away sin, and cleanse the conscience from it, that in them there was a remembrance made of sin every year, upon the day of atonement, Hebrews 10:1,3. The repeating the sacrifices, showed there was in them but a feeble effort toward making atonement; this could be done only by offering up the body of Christ once for all; and that sacrifice needed not to be repeated.
Commentary on Leviticus 16:15-34
(Read Leviticus 16:15-34)
Here are typified the two great gospel privileges, of the remission of sin, and access to God, both of which we owe to our Lord Jesus. See the expiation of guilt. Christ is both the Maker and the Matter of the atonement; for he is the Priest, the High Priest, that makes reconciliation for the sins of the people. And as Christ is the High Priest, so he is the Sacrifice with which atonement is made; for he is all in all in our reconciliation to God. Thus he was figured by the two goats. The slain goat was a type of Christ dying for our sins; the scape-goat a type of Christ rising again for our justification. The atonement is said to be completed by putting the sins of Israel upon the head of the goat, which was sent away into a wilderness, a land not inhabited; and the sending away of the goat represented the free and full remission of their sins. He shall bear upon him all their iniquities. Thus Christ, the Lamb of God, takes away the sin of the world, by taking it upon himself, Hebrews 9:7. The high priest was to come out again; but our Lord Jesus ever lives, making intercession, and always appears in the presence of God for us. Here are typified the two great gospel duties of faith and repentance. By faith we put our hands upon the head of the offering; relying on Christ as the Lord our Righteousness, pleading his satisfaction, as that which alone is able to atone for our sins, and procure us a pardon. By repentance we afflict our souls; not only fasting for a time from the delights of the body, but inwardly sorrowing for sin, and living a life of self-denial, assuring ourselves, that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. By the atonement we obtain rest for our souls, and all the glorious liberties of the children of God. Sinner, get the blood of Christ effectually applied to thy soul, or else thou canst never look God in the face with any comfort or acceptance. Take this blood of Christ, apply it by faith, and see how it atones with God.