Cleansing the Burden of Sin

Date: Saturday, February 14, 2026

Readings: Leviticus 16 | Psalm 38:11-22

You might want to watch this short video overview of Leviticus from the Bible Project, providing context for the next leg of our journey through the "grand narrative" of Scripture.

Leviticus 16 brings us to the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the most solemn day in the Hebrew calendar and the lives of Jewish people, even today. It’s the sanitation system for the soul. In a world of “clean” and “unclean,” sin is a literal contaminant that threatens to drive God out of the camp. The rituals are this: the two goats, the incense, the blood on the mercy seat. They feel archaic and perhaps even gruesome to our modern sensibilities. But they point to a profound theological truth: sin has a cost, and that cost must be paid in blood in order for life to continue in the presence of the Holy.

In the grand narrative, the Day of Atonement is a placeholder. It provides a temporary fix for a permanent problem. The High Priest had to do this every single year, proving that the blood of bulls and goats could never permanently take away sins (Hebrews 10:4). One goat is sacrificed (the penalty of sin), and one goat, the scapegoat, is sent into the wilderness (the removal of sin). This is the double cure of Christ. He is both the sacrifice and the scapegoat. Time is the great divide that forces us to soak this in while we are “sanctified” until the day we are “glorified” and the presence of sin is removed when Jesus returns.

Psalm 38:11-22 describes the isolation and abandonment of a sinner. Christ took that isolation upon Himself so that we would never have to. When we read Leviticus 16, we shouldn’t see a list of dead rituals; we should see divine values captured in a ritual that we can't forget, by the God who is obsessed with making a way for His people to be near Him, no matter what it takes.

Devotional Prompts:

• Why is the concept of “blood sacrifice” so difficult for modern people to grasp, and what is lost when we ignore it?
• Consider the scapegoat carrying the sins away. What sins do you need to see carried into the wilderness today?
• How does the yearly repetition of this day emphasize the “not-yet” nature of the Old Covenant?
• In what ways does the holiness of the Tabernacle challenge our casual approach to worship today?

Prayer: High Priest of our Salvation, who entered the Holy Place once and for all: thank You for being both our sacrifice and our scapegoat. We rest in the knowledge that our sins are not just covered, but removed. Grant us the courage to live as a people who have been truly cleansed. Amen.