The Day of Atonement must have been an awesome experience for Aaron the High Priest. His heart must have beaten a mile a minute as he pulled the veil back and entered the forbidden Most Holy Place. His finger probably shook as he sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat seven times. Some numbers used in Scripture have great significance.
The number seven seems to represent perfection, and is the sign of God, divine worship, completions, obedience, and rest. The “prince” of Bible numbers, it is used 562 times, including its derivatives (e.g., seventh, sevens). (See Genesis 2:1–4, Psalm 119:164, and Exodus 20:8–11 for just a few examples.)
The number seven is also the most common in biblical prophecy, occurring forty-two times in Daniel and Revelation alone. In Revelation there are seven churches, seven spirits, seven golden candlesticks, seven stars, seven lamps, seven seals, seven horns, seven eyes, seven angels, seven trumpets, seven thunders, seven thousand slain in a great earthquake, seven heads, seven crowns, seven last plagues, seven golden vials, seven mountains, and seven kings.
The sprinkling of blood seven times shows the perfection and completion of Aaron’s work. Just as no one assisted him in his work of atonement, no one added anything in any way to that work. The atonement was a work of God alone. The sprinkling of the blood on the mercy seat was a clear picture of Christ presenting himself to the Father in sacrifice. Our Lord was the true propitiatory sacrifice that fulfilled and ended the whole sacrificial system. There will not only never be another Day of Atonement, but there will never be any kind of a blood sacrifice. The entire old covenant is forever done away. At Calvary our blessed substitute shed human but sinless blood and fully paid the debt we owed. The hymn writer had it right, “I owed a debt I could not pay. He paid a debt he did not owe.”
The full message of the blood being sprinkled on the mercy seat cannot be understood until we understand the great significance of the Ark of the Covenant. The whole system of atonement centered on the box, or ark, with the solid gold lid called the mercy seat. It is essential that we ask, “What made that box so important?” If you have never studied the biblical answer to that question, I would encourage you read Tablets of Stone and the History of Redemption. This is one of the first books I wrote, and it lays a foundation for the theology of law and grace.
One of the reasons the Ark of the Covenant1 was so important was because of what was in it. The ark was built for the distinct purpose of housing the Ten Commandments written on the two stone tablets of the covenant. We must also ask why the Ten Commandments were so important that a special box was built to store the tablets upon which those commandments were inscribed. A box, we might add, that was built with rings and staves to pick it up because God forbid anyone from even touching the actual ark. On one occasion they were moving the ark on a cart and the oxen stumbled. A man named Uzzah put his hand on the ark to steady it, and God killed him on the spot.
When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God (2 Sam. 6:6-7).
Nearly everyone, including me, agrees that the Ark of the Covenant was important because it housed the Ten Commandments. However, it had nothing to do with any idea that the Ten Commandments were the so-called “moral law of God.” That idea is a pure theological fantasy without an ounce of biblical evidence. It is a gross misunderstanding of the nature and purpose of the Ten Commandments to think of them as the so-called “moral law.” The Ark of the Covenant was holy because the Ten Commandments, or words of the covenant, were written on the Tables of the Covenant in the ark. The Ten Commandments were the summary document of the old covenant that established Israel as a special nation before God. The tablets of the covenant upon which the Ten Commandments were written were to Israel what the Constitution of the United States is to our nation. It is the founding covenant document. To think of the Ten Commandments as the so-called moral law instead of thinking of them as a covenant document is to totally confuse the true importance of those covenant terms written on tables of stone.
The Bible only uses the phrase “Ten Commandments” three times in all of Scripture. All three times are in the Old Testament. The New Testament never uses the words “Ten Commandments.” Here is a list of the phrases that the Bible uses as synonyms to describe the Ten Commandments.
Ten Commandments – used 3 times. Never used in New Testament.
Tables of the Testimony – used 2 times. Never used in New Testament.
The Testimony – used 42 times. Never used in the New Testament.
Words of the Covenant – used 4 times. Never used in the New Testament.
Tables of the Covenant – used 4 times. Used once in the New Testament in Hebrews 9:4.
As you can see from this list, the word “testimony” is used more than any other word or phrase as a synonym for the Ten Commandments. You can also see that not a single one of the terms in the list are remotely associated with a so-called “moral law.”
The first use of a term in Scripture usually defines the meaning of that term as it will be used in the rest of Scripture. In this case, the first use of the term “Ten Commandments” clearly shows its meaning to be “the words of the covenant.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, (Ex. 34:27-29a).
Notice what the Word of God says and also what it does not say. Verse 27 is unmistakably clear, “in acco1dance with these words I have made a covenant with you” can only be referring to the Ten Commandments as the terms of the old covenant. In this text, the Ten Commandments are specifically called the “words of the covenant.” Verse 28 is even more specific, “he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.” It is impossible to more clearly state that the Ten Commandments are the “words of the covenant.” Verse 29 calls the Ten Commandments “two tablets of testimony.” As noted in the list above, the word “testimony” is used more times in Scripture than all other words or phrases put together to describe the nature of the Ten Commandments. When is the last time you heard the Ten Commandments referred to as the “Testimony” or “Tables of the Testimony?” This word testimony is used so often because the Ten Commandments are the words or terms of the covenant that will furnish the grounds for judging the nation of Israel. They became a nation by entering into a covenant with God on the terms, or words, of the Ten Commandments written on the Tables of the Covenant. They were rejected as a nation on the grounds of habitually breaking those covenant terms. What is missing in these verses is the slightest mention of any idea of the Ten Commandments being the so-called “moral law of God.”
The first time I listed these terms that are interchangeable with the Ten Commandments on a chalkboard a young man asked, “Mr. Reisinger, why did you not give any references to the Ten Commandments referring to the moral law?” I replied, “I wish every question I am asked was as easy to answer as that one.” The young man was quite surprised when I said, “I did not mention any such verses simply because there are none. The Bible never one time uses the phrase ‘moral law’ let alone use it as in some way being associated with the Ten Commandments.”
The other two places in Scripture that use the term Ten Commandments are just as clear and just as emphatic concerning the identity of the Ten Commandments as Exodus 34:27-29.
Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. (Deut. 4:12-13).
The Holy Spirit wants to be clear that when he is talking about the covenant he is talking about the Ten Commandments, and when he is talking about the Ten Commandments he is talking about “the words of the covenant.” The phrase “Ten Commandments” and “words of the covenant” are the same thing. It is impossible to miss the fact that the Bible clearly, consistently and emphatically teaches that the Ten Commandments are the words or summary terms of the old covenant that established Israel as a nation.
At that time the Lord said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden chest. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the chest.”
So I made the ark out of acacia wood and chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments he had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. (Deut. 10:1-4).
There is no way that you can make the Ten Commandments to be the so-called “moral law” of God. Covenant theologians insist on making the Ten Commandments to be the so-called moral law instead of being the words or terms of the covenant. They do this without a stitch of textual evidence. They ignore or deny the words just quoted that clearly state the actual “words of the covenant” are the Ten Commandments. This is a classic example of systematic theology interpreting Scripture instead of Scripture texts establishing systematic theology. If Covenant Theology is correct, we should call the ark that houses the Ten Commandments the “ark of the moral law.”
Exodus 32-34 records Israel’s sin of idolatry while Moses was on the mount receiving the Ten Commandments. When Moses came down from the mount and saw the orgy going on, he smashed the tablets of the testimony, or Ten Commandments, that God had written on the stone tablets. Moses did not smash the first set of the Tablets of the Covenant because they were the so-called moral law, but he smashed them because they were the “the testimony” or summary doctrine of the covenant that established Israel’s nationhood. The Holy Spirit calls them the “two tablets of the testimony.”
Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets (Ex.32:15-16).
We mentioned earlier that Matthew 27:51 was the key text for any discussion of the rending of the veil. On the cross Jesus cried, “It is finished” and yielded up the ghost. The moment he died the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom. There is a lot of discussion about what Jesus was referring to when he said, “It is finished.” He could have been referring to “the work my Father gave me to do,” or he could have meant “my necessary sufferings.” Nearly every suggestion fits the context.
One thing that is helpful in understanding the implication of that object lesson and understanding the phrase is seeing the connection between Jesus’ statement, “it is finished” and the rending of the veil. The context shows that the rending of the veil was a direct result of Jesus finishing whatever he was talking about. The veil could not be removed until Jesus could say, “It is finished,” and once whatever he was talking about was finished the veil was automatically obsolete. “It is finished” and the “rending of the veil” are tied together as essential cause and effect. As long as the old covenant was in effect, the veil must remain in place. The veil shielded the Ark of the Covenant. That veil must remain in place until the terms of the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments, were fully met and sin was paid for in full.
One thing that was finished was the old covenant. Everything without exception that the old covenant established, the Aaronic priesthood, the sacrificial system, the feast days, the special nation, etc., was totally and permanently finished and replaced with something better. This includes the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. Before the better things of the new covenant could be established, the old covenant things had to be perfectly fulfilled and done away with. Our kinsman redeemer was born under the covenant written on the stone Tables of the Covenant in the ark. He perfectly kept all of that covenant’s terms and earned the life and righteousness that it promised. He earned every blessing it promised because he kept every precept it demanded. He literally brought to the Tables of the Covenant the holy, sinless and obedient life it demanded. Every precept must be fulfilled. Every term had to be obeyed just as every prophecy had to be fulfilled. Not a jot or tittle could be left unfinished. On the cross our Lord’s mind went down through the Old Testament, and he saw one thing in Psalm 69:21 not yet finished (“They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” Psalm 69:21).
Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:28-30).
The moment the last old covenant prophecy was fulfilled, our Lord cried out, “It is finished” and gave up his spirit. The rending of the veil was the evidence that the old was finished and the new had come. Understanding the meaning of this evidence is the beginning of understanding New Covenant Theology.
The last thing put in place when the Tabernacle was built was the veil isolating the Most Holy Place. The Ark of the Covenant was put in place, the Tables of the Covenant, or Ten Commandments, were put in the ark and finally the veil was hung to shield the ark. When the veil was hung, the glory of the Lord filled the Most Holy Place signifying that God had taken up residence in the Most Holy Place. God was truly dwelling “among His people.”
The “glory” of God is his immediate presence. The first mention of God’s glory is when God appeared on the mountaintop at Sinai. They saw God’s glory from a distance. The next time his glory appeared was when the Tabernacle was finished. God had moved into the Most Holy Place, and he was now visibly, day and night, dwelling among his people. In the incarnation, God became flesh and we “beheld his glory.” God had moved closer to his people, but he was still hidden to some degree as Wesley wrote in his hymn: “veiled in flesh the Godhead see.” On the Day of Pentecost God sent his Holy Spirit to indwell every believer, and God came even closer. Our Lord’s prophecy in John 14:17 that the Holy Spirit “was with you and shall be in you” was fulfilled. Some day we shall see him face to face in all his glory.
When the Ark of the Covenant was first placed in the Most Holy Place it contained nothing but the second set of the Tablets of the Covenant. Moses smashed the first set when Israel worshipped the golden calf (Exodus 32). Later two more items were put in the ark. A pot of manna was put in the ark when the children of Israel complained against God for having nothing but manna to eat. This incident is recorded in Numbers 17. The second item put into the ark was the rod that budded when the sons of Korah challenged the authority of Moses and were rebuked by God. This is recorded in Exodus 16:1-34.
These three items in the ark reminded Israel of her sin. When the cherubim looked down on the ark, which signified God looking at the mercy seat, he saw the blood sprinkled; he did not see the emblems of sin in the ark. The sin was covered with the atoning blood. Without the blood, Aaron could not have stood before the mercy seat. The covenant terms, or Ten Commandments, in the ark demanded perfect obedience upon pain of death. As long as the covenant terms in the ark, the Ten Commandments, were in effect, Israel was “under the law” as a covenant of life and death. They were duty bound to obey the covenant terms, the Ten Commandments, written on the Tables of the Covenant in the ark. Once the covenant was broken, the Tables of the Covenant demanded an acceptable sacrifice that would satisfy God’s holy character. No son of Adam was ever able to give either of these things to the covenant.
The sacrifice on the Day of Atonement gave a yearly temporary covering, but nothing could actually pay for sin. Neither the people nor Aaron could meet the terms the Tables of the Covenant demanded. They could not bring to the covenant a holy sinless life that earned life and righteousness, nor could they bring an acceptable sacrifice that paid their debt to God and satisfied his holy character. As long as the Tables of the Covenant in the Ark of the Covenant were in effect, Israel’s only hope was a future Redeemer. Everything in the religion of Moses was temporary and typical. Its benefits were only for one year.
We need to be reminded that the Day of Atonement was a classic example of the doctrine of limited or particular atonement. There was not a single thing done on that day for the Philistines or any other pagan nation. When Aaron put his hands on the goat and confessed sins, it was Israel’s sins alone and not the sins of any pagan nation that he confessed. The blood sprinkled on the mercy seat was to make atonement for Israel not for the Philistines. Aaron had the names of the twelve tribes of Israel on his breast as he applied the blood on the mercy seat. The uniform teaching of both the Old and New Testaments is the coextension of the atoning work and the intercessory work of the High Priest. He prays for those for whom he makes sacrifice. Aaron prayed for those for whom he made sacrifice even as our Lord did the same thing. Jesus said,
I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours (John 17:9).
I find it impossible to believe that Christ would die for an individual and then not pray for that individual. If we accept the clear teaching of Scripture on the nature of true atonement, we have two choices: 1) Christ died an atoning death for all men, in which case all men without exception will be saved, or 2) Christ died for the sheep the Father gave him, in which case the elect chosen by the Father will be saved.
The type and the anti-type must both teach the same truth. Both Aaron and Christ must teach either a universal or a particular atonement. Everything on Israel’s Day of Atonement was particular. Every aspect of Aaron’s work involved only the nation of Israel. In John 17: 9 our Lord made it abundantly clear that on God’s great Day of Atonement, his son’s work was for the elect alone.