As far as the east is from the west, so far he has removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103.12)A favorite children's story I know is called "Seven In One Blow." It starts out with a tailor who is working on a belt. There are so many flies buzzing about his shop that the tailor gets frustrated and lashes his belt out onto the window sill. When he picks up the belt, there are seven dead flies on the sill. So the tailor inscribes the belt, "Seven In One Blow", signifying that he has killed seven flies at one time. He closes up the shop, and sets out to seek his fortune. He takes with him some cheese in his knapsack, and the belt around his waist. As he meets other people on the road, they give him a wide berth, because they interpret the inscription on his belt to mean that he once killed seven men with a single blow of his fist. As the story progresses, the tailor lies down on the grass and takes a nap. A bird flies down and lights on the ground beside him. The tailor wakes up and snags the bird, and puts it alive in his knapsack. In time the tailor meets a giant. The giant sees the boast on the tailor's belt, and challenges the tailor to feats of strength. The tailor challenges the giant to pick up a rock and squeeze it until liquid comes out. The stupid giant picks up the nearest large rock, and squeezes with all his might. No matter how hard he squeezes, he cannot get liquid to come out of the rock. He finally gives up, and the tailor reaches into his knapsack and pulls out the cheese. He starts to squeeze the cheese, and soon the whey seeps out of the cheesecloth. The giant is impressed, but wants a rematch. The tailor doubles down on the bet, and challenges the giant to throw a rock as high in the air as he can. The giant takes the rock and throws it straight up with all his might. The tailor counts to 700 and the rock finally comes falling back to the earth. Then the tailor reaches into his knapsack and pulls out the small, white bird. He tosses the bird in the air and it flies away. The giant counts to 700, then to 750, then to 800, and the "rock" never comes back to earth.
The moral of the story, besides to never take another man's bet, is that cleverness outperforms strength, or something like that. There is more to the story, but that is not why I brought it up. I was reminded of this story last week when I read Leviticus chapter 16, which in turn reminded me of a similar passage in Leviticus 14.
Let me explain.
The book of Leviticus documents the commands of God to the Levitical priests. These words were given to Moses after he gave the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, but before He led them accross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. The book outlines the expectations of God for sacrifices and other acts of worship. With any given situation, there were sacrifices involved. Chapter 14 deals with what to do if you discover an infectious skin disease. Clearly, if a man had a skin infection, it may have been contagious. Since there were no doctors in the camp that could tell whether it was contagious or not, the infected person was to show himself to the priests. The priest would set him outside the camp for seven days, and if the skin infection cleared up, then he could present himself to the priest again, and the priest would require a sacrifice from him before he could rejoin his family.
In most cases, it was assumed that the infectious skin disease was a result of sin in the man's life. So the man who was healed of the infection (and thus forgiven for his sins) was to present two birds to the priest for sacrifice. One of the birds would be killed by the priest. The other bird would be taken alive and dipped into the blood of the bird that had been sacrificed. The priest would sprinkle the man that had been cleansed of the infection seven times, and then the bird that had been dipped into the blood would be released into the open field.
Think about that for a minute. The Law says that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9.22). But the picture that is painted with this sacrificial act is that the blood that was shed for this sin was taken up to heaven on the wings of the other bird. The live bird, the one bearing the blood of the other, would not be seen again--he could not be recaptured, or snared. He was to be set free--it makes sense that he would fly away.
That's how far God takes our sin away from us.
Leviticus chapter 16 talks about The Day of Atonement. On this day, Aaron and the priests would make specific sacrifices for the sins of all the people. God commanded that there be a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. "From the Israelite community he is to take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. (verse 5)" The bull would be killed for the sins of Aaron and the priests. Then the goats would be presented to God, and God would choose one to die for the sins of the people. Aaron and the priests would cast lots, "one goat for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat (verse 8)".
Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it to the desert as a scapegoat." (Leviticus 16.9-10)
Again, the scapegoat is to be set free, but sent away into the desert, never to be seen again. God is painting a picture here, a representation that our sin is to be sent away, into the dry and arid land, never to be seen or heard from again. There is no lingering guilt. There is no holding on to the past. Our sins are to be sent to heaven and given to God. Our transgressions are on the head of the scapegoat, who is sent away into the desert, outside the camp and out of sight.
When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites--all their sins--and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it into the desert. (Leviticus 16.20-22).
The next time you are reminded of your past sins, think of the bird that was dipped in the blood of sacrifice and released to fly away; think of the goat on whose head the sins of all the people was transferred, and released into the desert to wander forever.
Isaiah 53 foretells of Jesus, God's Son.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by Him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53.3-6)
The disciple Peter saw the similarity in Isaiah to the man whose disciple he had been:
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Do not let sin overwhelm you. You are forgiven. Do not let sin overcome you. If Jesus Himself became our scapegoat, what power has sin over us? Do not let sin overshadow you. The shame as that of an infectious skin disease has been transferred to a bird, who has flown up to God. "Though I walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for God is with me." (Psalm 23)
