161 And the Lord said to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they took in strange fire before the Lord and death overtook them; 2 The Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, your brother, that he may not come at all times into the holy place inside the veil, before the cover which is on the ark, for fear that death may overtake him; for I will be seen in the cloud on the cover of the ark. 3 Let Aaron come into the holy place in this way: with an ox for a sin-offering and a male sheep for a burned offering. 4 Let him put on the holy linen coat, and the linen trousers on his body, and the linen band round him, and the linen head-dress on his head; for this is holy clothing, and before he puts them on his body is to be washed with water.
5 And let him take from the children of Israel two he-goats for a sin-offering and one male sheep for a burned offering. 6 And Aaron is to give the ox of the sin-offering for himself, to make himself and his house free from sin. 7 And he is to take the two goats and put them before the Lord at the door of the Tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron will make selection from the two goats by the decision of the Lord, one goat for the Lord and one for Azazel. 9 And the goat which is marked out for the Lord, let Aaron give for a sin-offering. 10 But the goat for Azazel is to be placed living before the Lord, for the taking away of sin, that it may be sent away for Azazel into the waste land. 11 And Aaron is to give the ox of the sin-offering for himself and take away sin from himself and his house, and put to death the ox of the sin-offering which is for himself. 12 And he is to take a vessel full of burning coal from the altar before the Lord and in his hand some sweet perfume crushed small, and take it inside the veil; 13 And let him put the perfume on the fire before the Lord so that the ark may be covered with a cloud of the smoke of the perfume, in order that death may not overtake him. 14 And let him take some of the blood of the ox, shaking drops of it from his finger on the cover of the ark on the east side, and before it, seven times.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Leviticus 16:1-14
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.