Does the Old Testament teach the atonement?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

God is holy (Leviticus 11:44) and cannot dwell with sinners (Habakkuk 1:13). Atonement refers to the covering or removal of sin to restore a sinner’s relationship to God. The Old Testament laid the foundation for Jesus’ future atonement (cf. Isaiah 53) through the sacrificial system. It illustrated atonement through animals, showing that the death of animals was not sufficient to atone for human sin (Hebrews 10:4). To do that, God prescribed certain sacrifices, known as “guilt offerings,” that would atone for the Israelites’ sin (Leviticus 5:14–19), allowing Him to continue to dwell with them (Leviticus 16:16). Unlike Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, those sacrifices did not completely remove sin, but demonstrated God’s requirement for death for sin. In addition to ongoing sacrifices, Israel was also given one day a year known as the Day of Atonement. That day illustrated God’s sovereignty in atonement (Leviticus 16:29–30), the need for it (Leviticus 16:16), and the removal of sins through it (Leviticus 16:21–22). Because God is holy, He must punish sinners. However, He has provided a perfect sacrifice, Jesus, as the one way through which we can have our sins atoned. It is therefore imperative that we repent of our sins and trust in God’s Lamb!

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• The foundation for the need for atonement is found in the relational gap between God and humankind. God is holy (Leviticus 11:44). Being holy means that not only is He sinless, but He cannot even look at sin (Habakkuk 1:13) and must destroy all sin (Psalm 5:4–6). That holy God created us in His image (Genesis 1:26–27), meaning we were created good and to be in relationship with Him. However, our rebellion (Genesis 3) severed that relationship. While God has continued to refrain from destroying humanity entirely, examples such as the flood (Genesis 6–9) show God’s hatred for sin and the relational damage caused by sin.
• When He chose the Israelites, He dwelt with them so that He could display His holiness to all nations (Exodus 19:5–6). However, they were sinful. To refrain from consuming them in His wrath, He set up a sacrificial system whereby they could offer sacrifices, known as “guilt offerings,” to cover (atone for) their sin (Leviticus 5:14–19). The sacrificed animal had to die because “the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life” (Leviticus 17:11). This established the fact that something had to die to atone for sin.
• While the sacrificial system teaches the atonement, the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) was a yearly observance that fully demonstrated the purpose and possibility of atonement. In it, we learn that God gave the Israelites a path to restore their relationship with Him (Leviticus 16:29–30). It also teaches that it was needed because “because of the uncleanness of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins” (Leviticus 16:16). Additionally, it illustrated the removal of sin through two goats, one that was sacrificed and the other that was released into the wild (Leviticus 16:21–22).
• In addition to illustrating the need for atonement, the Day of Atonement and other sacrifices showed that it was impossible for sinners to offer the sacrifices, since they themselves were sinners. In the Old Testament, Aaron, the high priest, would first make atonement for his own sins and then facilitate the atonement of the rest of the Israelites (Leviticus 16:11–14). This taught that a mediator between God and mankind was needed to make a true Atonement.
• The Old Testament indicated that God would send just such a mediator who would also be the sacrifice. In Isaiah 53, we read, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—everyone—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:4–6). This is atonement language, with the Servant being crushed by God for the sin of others.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• The entire book of Hebrews is an extended argument that Jesus is the better sacrifice than the Old Testament system. In it, he explained that the death of animals never actually took away sin (Hebrews 10:3–4), but was a shadow pointing forward to Jesus’ sacrificial death (Hebrews 10:1).
• It also showed that, whereas the Old Testament sacrifices had to be offered unendingly, Jesus only had to die once (Hebrews 9:26; 10:10–14). The reason Jesus had to come was that humanity needed a sinless human sacrifice. While eternally God (John 1:1), Jesus added on a human nature (Philippians 2:6–7). Being fully human meant that He was exactly like us, but without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Unlike the animals, whose deaths were insufficient to pay for human sin, Jesus’ death was sufficient to pay for human sin.
• Additionally, Hebrews explains that Jesus is our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14–15). Not only was He the perfect sacrifice, but He was also the perfect one offering the sacrifice. Jesus is therefore the mediator between God and man (Hebrews 9:11–12), and only through Him can we have a relationship with God (John 14:6).
• The Old Testament laid the foundation for the one means by which God’s wrath could be appeased: atonement through a sacrifice. Then the New Testament introduced the perfect Lamb of God, who takes away sins (John 1:29) and who died to atone for the sins of all who would believe and trust in Him.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

Understanding atonement is fundamental to understanding how God can allow sinners to live. Because God is holy, everything He does must be holy. If He allows any unholiness to remain unpunished, His holiness is called into question.

Peter made a comment about how the things of salvation were “things into which angels long to look” (1 Peter 1:12). When Satan first sinned, the angels witnessed God’s holy and immediate justice as He cast him from heaven (e.g., Luke 10:18). That was the expected response from God by the angels since He is “holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3). However, when Adam and Eve sinned, God didn’t immediately destroy them but promised them a savior (Genesis 3:15). That would have mystified the angels. Later, God would tell Moses something about Himself that was equally confusing: He was a God “forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty” (Exodus 34:7).

How can God be holy and forgive sin while also holding the guilty accountable? The answer was through atonement. In the Old Testament, God provided the sacrificial system, with the priests atoning for the sins of the people through the death of the animals. In the New Testament, Jesus was revealed as the true and complete atoning sacrifice, and through His blood, sinners can have their sins atoned for.

God’s wrath burns against unrepentant sinners (John 3:36), but if you repent of your sin and trust in Jesus, then the Father will count His death as an atonement for your sin. We implore you to do that now, as there is no other way to salvation (John 14:6)!

UNDERSTAND

• The Old Testament sacrificial system established the foundational principles of atonement.
• Sin creates a gap between a holy God and sinful humanity that can only be resolved through the death of a substitute.
• The Old Testament sacrifices were never sufficient to remove sin permanently but pointed to Jesus, who fulfilled everything the atonement system anticipated.

REFLECT

• How does understanding the Old Testament sacrificial system as pointing forward to Jesus deepen your appreciation for what He accomplished on the cross and why His death was necessary?
• In what ways does the imagery of the Day of Atonement and the two goats help you grasp the two dimensions of what Jesus accomplished in bearing and removing your sin?
• How does knowing that Jesus is both your High Priest and your sacrifice change the way you approach Him?

ENGAGE

• How does the Old Testament sacrificial system shape our understanding of what sin costs and why substitution is necessary for restoring relationship with God?
  
• What does the repetitive nature of the Old Testament sacrifices reveal about the insufficiency of any human effort to resolve the sin problem permanently, and why could only a divine solution accomplish that?
• How do we see atonement introduced in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New?