Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Wednesday April 22, 2015
The third prophecy that our Lord would fulfill in DAN 9:24 mentioned by the phrase "to make atonement for iniquity."
The word iniquity refers to sins against the laws of the land, especially sins against others, including criminal sins.
Atonement - the Hebrew noun kopher - verb kapher = to make atonement; to make reconciliation; or to atone by offering a substitute. It also connotes a satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; or to make amends.
Atonement is the doctrine concerning the fact TLJC reconciled God to man which was accomplished through His life, suffering, and His spiritual death - It also means to remove the guilt in man.
The Old Testament atonements offered by the high priest were temporary and a foreshadow of the real and final atonement made by TLJC.
DAN 9:24, "to make atonement for iniquity" including the worse sins of all such as the sins concerning the violation of the laws of the land which are called criminal sins.
JAM 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
JAM 2:11 For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not commit murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
One sin will put you in jail for committing it, and in some cases you will even be killed for committing it (murder), whereas, the other sin (adultery) will not.
The main point is that our Lord not only died for the sin but also the iniquity or the negative results that the sin produces, such as guilt, fear, shame, and condemnation.
Iniquities contain a lot more negative consequences than sin and when our Lord died for us He also set us free from the guilt that accompanies the most wicked sins that could ever be committed.
Atonement says that God is not only satisfied with the sinner who believes but also covered and repaired the wrongs or the injuries that resulted from the sin.
PSA 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to Thee, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord"; And Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin. Selah.
There are different consequences for different sins, but the Lord even took care of the most wicked ones man could commit as well, called in our passage iniquity.
In the O.T., there were three things in the tabernacle which were used to illustrate eternal salvation and what we saw as he unlimited atonement.
There is the right thing to do, which is to build the ark, but it must be down in the right way to build it, which is according to the pattern that God would show them.
PHI 3:17 Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.
This ark of the covenant had a Mercy Seat on top of it (Vs 17-22), and was placed inside what is known as the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle.
The Holy of Holies was the inner chamber of the sanctuary in the Jewish Tabernacle and later on the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, and it was separated by a veil from the outer chamber.
It was reserved for the presence of God and could be entered only by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement.
LEV 16:29 mandates establishment of this holy day on the 10th day of the 7th month as the day of atonement for sins. It calls it the
Sabbath of Sabbaths and a day upon which one must repent for their sins.
LEV 23:27 decrees that Yom Kippur is to be the Day of Atonement and a strict day of rest.
The Ark of the Covenant speaks of redemption focusing in on Christ paying for our sins.
Also the ark was a box made of acacia wood and overlaid with God. Wood speaks of the humanity of Christ, Gold speaks of the deity of Christ, together it reveals the hypostatic union.
The Ark of the Covenant was a picture of Christ bearing our sins because of the Box representing TLJC.
a) Tables of law = Rejection of the 10 commandments. b) A Pot of Manna representing Rejection of God’s provision. c) Aaron’s rod that budded: Revolt against God’s authority (Levitical tribe).
The ark of the covenant was filled with items that represented man's sins and pointed to 2CO 5:21 — “He who knew no sin was made sin for us.”
Over the top of the box was a Mercy Seat (a solid gold throne) and on each end of the throne was a cherub (highest ranking of all angels).
First cherub represented the absolute righteousness (+R) of God.
Second cherub represented the justice of God.
+R looks down and condemns sin in man, ROM 3:23. Justice looks down and places a penalty — ROM 6:23.
Once a year on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies twice (once for himself and once for the people), and sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on the altar over the top of the Mercy Seat.
+R looks at the blood (which spoke of Jesus’ spiritual death) and was satisfied.
Justice looks at the blood and was satisfied (Christ being judged for us).
We have in the Ark and Mercy Seat a picture of God’s satisfaction with the work of Jesus Christ (Propitiation) or the divine viewpoint of salvation. +R and Justice are satisfied.
The first covenant (OT) has to with the covenant or the promises God made to the children of Israel and the regulations concerning how to worship Him.
Those three items mentioned in verse 3 is our subject, the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the Law, the ten commandments.
The ark of the covenant (with the Mercy Seat on top) was in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle.
The ark was a box made of acacia wood and overlaid with God. Wood speaks of the humanity of Christ. Gold speaks of the deity of Christ.
1. The Tables of law: Sin in the sense of violation or transgression of God’s order.
2. The Pot of Manna which was rejection of God’s provision.
3. Aaron’s rod that budded: Revolt against God’s authority (Lev tribe).
The ark of the covenant is a box 45 inches long by 27 inches wide and 27 inches high. It was constructed of acacia wood and plated with gold.
The content of the box is not only described here in Hebrews 9:4 but also in Numbers 17:8,10.
The urn of manna representing sin in the sense of rejection of God’s provision.
Aaron’s rod which germinated and sprouted some kind of a flower. This represents sin in rebellion against God’s order and God’s authority.
The third item was the tables of the law. These represent sin as a transgression of God’s love.
Most of you are familiar with the Mosaic Law and how the Jews made a golden calf when Moses was on the top of Mount Sinai receiving the ten commandments from God.
Those commandments were put in the ark as a sign of the rebellion and sins of the Jewish people.
The Lord told Moses to put some of the manna inside of the ark because it simply spoke of Israel's rejection of the food that God gave them in the wilderness which was angel food or food from heaven.
The Jews rejected the authority God gave His man Moses and rebelled and therefore Aarons rod was placed inside the ark as a symbol of their rejection of authority.
First of all, in verses 1-3, we have a test commanded by God where we have the gathering of rods, identified with each tribe.
A rod was a symbol of authority, because shepherds would use a rod to guide and correct the sheep, PSA 23:4b Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.
As a shepherd, Moses had a rod in his hand when tending sheep in the wilderness (EXO 4:2); this rod later became known as the rod of God - a symbol of the authority God gave to Moses (EXO 4:20).
This same rod demonstrated Moses’ authority in action, by miraculously becoming a serpent, and then becoming a rod again and was used to bring about the 10 plagues on Egypt.
In gathering rods, and inscribing each with the name of a tribe, and on Levi’s rod inscribing Aaron’s name, God would declare which tribe possessed priestly authority by choosing one of the rods.
Now, when it says in verse 5, the rod of the man whom I choose will sprout or blossom, the blossoming of dead wood spoke of miraculous fruitfulness being present when godly authority and leadership is being practiced.
Even though the Lord said in verse 5, I will rid Myself of their grumblings and murmurings.
In verses 6-7, God gave them tests and the tests would vindicate Aaron as God’s priestly leader.
When Moses checked on the rods the next day, Aaron’s rod - and only Aaron’s rod - had sprouted. It not only sprouted, it had put forth buds.
God gave, as in the words of Acts 1:3, many infallible proofs, to demonstrate His approval of Aaron’s leadership.
God gives us more than enough evidence; our problem is a lack of willingness to see what He has made clear.
Vs 10, that Aaron's rod was be kept as a sign against the rebels: The rod of Aaron was to be kept as a museum piece, to remind the children of Israel that God had chosen a priesthood, and nothing would change that.
The phrase to bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony means that Aaron’s rod was to be kept in the ark of the covenant, as another example of Israel’s failure and rebellion.
When God looked down from heaven into the ark, He saw emblems of Israel’s sin: The tablets of the Law they broke, the manna they complained about, and Aaron’s rod that they rebelled against.
In the spiritual realm, this was all covered paid for and fulfilled when our Lord fulfilled the third prophecy mentioned in DAN 9:24......"to make atonement for iniquity."