Cleaning Day

Cleaning Day

On the tenth day of the appointed month in early autumn, you must deny yourselves. . . . On that day offerings of purification will be made for you, and you will be purified in the LORD’s presence from all your sins.

Leviticus 16:29-30

It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.

Isaiah 59:2

Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins.

Hebrews 7:27

Some people are pickier about cleanliness than others. While some of us can live in a messy room or eat in an unsanitary kitchen, others can’t. Cleanliness is very important to God. Not so much personal cleanliness, but spiritual cleanliness. God cannot tolerate the filthiness of sin in his presence.

To help us understand this, in Old Testament times God made himself at home in the Holy of Holies, a special room in the Jewish Temple that could only be entered by the high priest once a year. And even the high priest could enter only after he had cleansed himself carefully. God instructed the people of Israel to do an annual cleaning—a day set aside to cleanse God’s holy dwelling place—by making sacrifices for their sin. It wasn’t dust and dirt that God wanted cleaned out. It was the uncleanness of his people’s sinful attitudes and actions.

On that solemn day, the people of Israel fasted and prayed to God for forgiveness while the priest offered sacrifices. The sacrifices would cover the impurity of their sin for another year. But it was no permanent solution to the problem of sin. That special day foreshadowed and anticipated a greater, permanent cleansing of God’s people and of his dwelling place—the hearts and lives of believers. The day of cleansing to come would be accomplished by a special priest—Jesus—who did not need a cleansing ceremony. He was already perfectly clean. Christ’s death took care of our sin problem for good. He washed away our sin with his blood so we can become holy enough to live in God’s home with him forever.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

How much mess and dirt can you tolerate?

Why do you think God set aside a special day of cleansing for his people?

This special day was a time to reflect and mourn over sin. Would you and your family benefit from a time set aside for this?