The expiation in the Old Testament is a type of the propitiation Christ accomplished in the New Testament – Christ made propitiation for sin. This refers to the Lord appeasing the situation between us and God by His death on the cross through the shedding of His blood.
What we see in the Old Testament is a type, a figure, a picture of propitiation, which is called expiation, but what we see in the New Testament is the reality, the propitiation Christ has accomplished for us on the cross.
Expiation was made in two steps, first the goat for sin offering had to be slain, and then the blood had to be sprinkled on the lid of the ark and on the bronze altar, then the goat for Azazel had the sins of the people confessed over it and was sent away to a deserted place.
We sinners are “goats”, unclean and sinful, but Christ came to be like one of us – He put on human nature and became flesh, having no sin in the flesh, so that He may bear our sins in His body on the cross.
This One, Jesus Christ, who has no sin and knew no sin, this One was crucified for us as a man in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, and when He was on the cross He was a goat in God’s eyes, bearing all the sins of the world on Himself.
Christ was slain on the cross, He shed His blood, and He brought His blood into the heavenly Holy of Holies, sprinkled it on the lid of the ark in God’s presence, and He also sprinkled it on the bronze altar in the outer court.
On one hand Christ sprinkled His eternally effective blood in God’s presence for His satisfaction, and on the other, He sprinkled it on us, the sinners, to satisfy us and give us peace.
When God sees the blood of Jesus, He is satisfied, and when we see the blood, we are at peace and are assured that Christ made propitiation for sin – for our sins.
Christ poured out His blood for the cleansing of our sins and their removal, and His blood is eternally effective, being able to be applied to us in time and space whenever we believe into the Lord.
When we simply believe into the Lord and confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
When we confess our sins, He cleanses us, washes us, and removes the stain of sin from us. This opens the way for us to come forward to God through the new and living way that Christ has opened for us, His blood, that we may fellowship with God, He may speak to us, and He may infuse us with His element.
How we thank the Lord for the propitiation Christ has accomplished for us to come back to God, back to the tree of life, back to our birthright to enjoy God as our portion!
Christ Dealt with Sin on the Cross and Sent Sin back to Satan to Bear it in the Lake of Fire
In Leviticus 16 we have a unique name, Azazel, which is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible.
One of the goats was to be slain for a sin offering, to accomplish expiation for the people, and the other, which was the goat for Azazel, was sent away in the wilderness to bear away all the iniquities of the children of Israel on itself (see Lev. 16:9-10, 20-22).
One of the goats was a type of Christ who was slain for our sin offering, bearing our sins in His body on the cross.
The other goat was for Azazel. Many translations do not render this name here but say, scapegoat. This term, scapegoat, was first invented by Tyndale in the 16th century when he got to this portion of the Word and thought that one of the goats was killed and the other escaped, so he translated it as, scapegoat.
In today’s understanding, a scapegoat is someone who is blamed for something which is not his fault. But Satan, who is typified by Azazel, is not a scapegoat – he is blamed not for something which is not his fault but for something that he did.
Christ as the reality of the sin offering was slain for the forgiveness of our sins, and then He sent the sins away to Satan, back to the source of sin.
Satan did escape death, but he didn’t escape judgment. All the sins of mankind, even those of the angels and the demons, are returned to Satan as the source of sin, and he carries them forever in the lake of fire. Azazel signifies Satan, the devil, the sinful one, the one who is the source, the origin, of sin (John 8:44).
Christ as the sin offering for God’s people, on the one hand, deals with our sin before God, and on the other hand, sends sin, through the efficacy of the cross, back to Satan, from whom sin came into man.
Without reading Lev. 16 – even after feeding the whole New Testament – we would not get this understanding. Satan is the source of all sin, he’s the source of all rebellion, and he is the original sinner.
There would be no sin if there is no Satan. But sin was passed on to us, from Satan to man, and we bear the weight of these sins. We all can testify that, before we were regenerated, we bore the weight of the sins on us, and this weight grew heavier and heavier.
But when we received Christ as our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer, He took our sins and bore them for us on the cross. But this is not where sin ends up – sins return to where they came from, back to Satan the sinner, and he will bear all sins for eternity.
This is a judgment worse than death, but it is a just judgment for Satan.
Through the cross the Lord Jesus had the position and qualification with the power, the strength, and the authority to take away sin from the redeemed ones and send it back to its source, Satan, who will bear it in the lake of fire forever (see John 1:29; Heb. 9:26; Rev. 20:10). Hallelujah!
Thank You Lord Jesus for dying for us and dealing with sin before God. Thank You for bearing our sins in Your body on the cross. Hallelujah, we no longer have to bear the burden of sin, for Christ took it upon Himself. Thank You Lord for what You have done and for what You are doing. We praise You for taking all the sins and putting them all on Satan, the source of sin, for him to bear them forever. Amen, Lord, sin belongs with and on Satan, and he is the reality of Azazel bearing the sins in the lake of fire for eternity. We praise You Lord Jesus!
Christ made Propitiation for Sin on the Cross, Appeasing God by Paying our Debt
The expiation in the Old Testament is a type of the propitiation Christ accomplished for us in the New Testament (see Rom. 3:24-25; Heb. 2:17; 4:16; 1 John 2:2; 4:10).
This word, propitiation, is mentioned five times in the New Testament: twice it refers to Christ Himself as the propitiatory sacrifice (see 1 John 2:20; 4:10), twice it refers to the place where propitiation was accomplished (see Rom. 3:25; Heb. 9:5), and once it refers to the action of propitiation (Heb. 2:17).
It is also mentioned in Luke 18:13 when the tax collector prayed in the temple.
What does propitiation mean, what is expiation, what is reconciliation, and what is redemption – and how do they differ from each other? The Bible doesn’t use words interchangeably – each specific word has its meaning and place.
Reconciliation includes propitiation, but there’s a difference between them. Propitiation involves the fact that there’s a problem between us and someone else; we may have either offended someone or we owe him something, and there’s a problem between us.
Because of this problem or debt, there’s a demand on us, and unless this demand is satisfied, the problem cannot be solved; therefore, there’s the need for propitiation.
The root word for propitiation shows that we wronged someone and we’re indebted to that person, so we must act to satisfy the demands of the other person. We have wronged God; we trespassed against Him, we committed sins – which are lawlessness – and we need propitiation.
This word, propitiation, is also translated as atonement; atonement is composed of “at”-“one”-“ment”, making two parties one. Christ died on the cross for our propitiation, and because of His death we are now brought into oneness with God, for the problem of sin has been solved.
Christ made propitiation for sin. Propitiation is to appease the situation between us and God and to reconcile us to God by satisfying His righteous demands (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2).
This is to solve the problem between us and God – our sins – that kept us away from God’s presence and hindered God from coming to us (1 John 4:10).
It was impossible for us to pay the debt of our sins, but through the Lord’s redemption, this debt has been paid, and now we have no problem in coming to God, and God has no problem in coming to us. God is happy to see us and we are happy to see God.
As sinners, we needed propitiation to appease our situation with God and to satisfy His demands (Rom. 3:23; Luke 18:13-14).
We thank the Lord for His death on the cross which has satisfied the demands of God and has paid the debt for us; He appeased God for us, appeasing God’s righteousness and all His requirements on us, thus settling every problem between us and God.
Thank You Lord Jesus for making propitiation for our sins to reconcile us to God by satisfying God’s righteous demands on us. Thank You Lord for making propitiation for our sins through Your work on the cross. We cannot pay the debt of our sins, but You came, paid our debt, and appeased God for us. Thank You Lord Jesus for settling all the problems between us and God. Now based on Your redemption, we can fellowship with God and God is satisfied with us. Hallelujah for the propitiation Christ has accomplished for us on the cross!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Mark Raabe for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Romans, msg. 5 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Leviticus (2), week 6, The Expiation.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Thy judgments, Lord, we must admit, / Are holy, righteous, fair. / We own our sins as crimson are, / We’ve no excuse to bear. / We’ve no argument, no plea; / No veil our sin can hide. / But, praise Thee, Lord, Thy precious blood / Is to our sin applied! (Hymns #1126)
# I had a debt I could not pay, / He paid the debt He did not owe, / I needed someone, / To wash my sins away. / And now I sing a brand new song, / “Amazing grace” all day long, / Christ Jesus paid the debt, / That I could never pay. (Song on, I had a debt I could not pay)
# There was One who was willing to die in my stead, / That a soul so unworthy might live, / And the path to the cross He was willing to tread / All the sins of my life to forgive. / They were borne on the cross, / They were borne on the cross, / O how much He was willing to bear! (Hymns #1067)
About aGodMan
