Reflection Guide
take the time to journal about the story you just heard. process it. let it sink in.
1. Are you currently carrying any guilt or shame? Are you carrying it as a weight or a weapon?
2. How do you know you are truly forgiven?
3. How have past actions effected your current beliefs?
2. How do you know you are truly forgiven?
3. How have past actions effected your current beliefs?
Bible Study
Read Leviticus 16: 20-22
Leviticus is a book of the bible that, honestly, can seem a bit scary to touch. After all, it’s the book people go to when pointing out the weird laws that the bible commands. However, Leviticus is the story of the Israelites and can give us great insight into God’s provision and promise to His people.
What is one weird law you've heard of in the bible?
The Day of Atonement is the passage you read at the top of this study. In this passage, Aaron was to place a live goat on the alter and confess the sins of the people on its head. After doing this, he was to have someone take this goat to the wilderness and “set it free.” Essentially, God asked Aaron to move the sins of the people far away from them.
In verse 26, the word “scapegoat” is used. What does this word mean in this context?
Our God is a present god, but he cannot be with unholiness. In removing the sins from the Israelites, the sins are basically ceremoniously “given” to the goat. God has always desired to have a relationship with His people, but cannot coexist with unholiness.
For the people at the time, this atonement meant that the sin couldn’t really be eliminated only “put away.” There was potential still to “run into” their sin, if the encountered the goat in the wilderness. While this worked for the time before the Messiah, it makes it clear that it would take an act of God to reconcile us to God.
Read Psalm 103:11-12.
How does God remove sins from east to west in the Old Testament? What about in the New Testament?
In Leviticus we see one way that God removed the sins as far from the people as possible. In the New Testament, it is both a physical and non-physical act. Both ways show us that there are still consequences for actions, that removing the sins doesn’t remove the consequences of actions. But in lifting the shame, guilt, or darkness from the action, we are able to move forward in our spiritual walk.
How does knowing that your sins are removed allow you to move closer to God?
Read 1 Peter 2:24.
When studying a verse in scripture, it is important to take a look at the verses around it. With 1 Peter 2:24, in verse 22 we see Peter describe what exactly set Jesus apart, "He committed no sin..." And in 23 we see that Jesus "...entrusted himself to him who judges justly." In these surrounding verses, we see an image of a man who lived a perfect life, yet suffered and died. Sometimes, I think that we tend to skip over the fact that Jesus suffered in the death on the cross. But according to an article published from JAMA, death on the cross was "intended to produce intense agony..." (Edwards et al 1986) Jesus' suffered, but trusted that good would come from His suffering.
In 2:24, we hear that on the cross Jesus bore our sins. He did this for us. He did not do this so we could continue to live in a way that was astray from God (v. 25). But Jesus wanted to reconcile us to the Father, that we may "live for righteousness."
How might you live for righteousness today?
Leviticus is a book of the bible that, honestly, can seem a bit scary to touch. After all, it’s the book people go to when pointing out the weird laws that the bible commands. However, Leviticus is the story of the Israelites and can give us great insight into God’s provision and promise to His people.
What is one weird law you've heard of in the bible?
The Day of Atonement is the passage you read at the top of this study. In this passage, Aaron was to place a live goat on the alter and confess the sins of the people on its head. After doing this, he was to have someone take this goat to the wilderness and “set it free.” Essentially, God asked Aaron to move the sins of the people far away from them.
In verse 26, the word “scapegoat” is used. What does this word mean in this context?
Our God is a present god, but he cannot be with unholiness. In removing the sins from the Israelites, the sins are basically ceremoniously “given” to the goat. God has always desired to have a relationship with His people, but cannot coexist with unholiness.
For the people at the time, this atonement meant that the sin couldn’t really be eliminated only “put away.” There was potential still to “run into” their sin, if the encountered the goat in the wilderness. While this worked for the time before the Messiah, it makes it clear that it would take an act of God to reconcile us to God.
Read Psalm 103:11-12.
How does God remove sins from east to west in the Old Testament? What about in the New Testament?
In Leviticus we see one way that God removed the sins as far from the people as possible. In the New Testament, it is both a physical and non-physical act. Both ways show us that there are still consequences for actions, that removing the sins doesn’t remove the consequences of actions. But in lifting the shame, guilt, or darkness from the action, we are able to move forward in our spiritual walk.
How does knowing that your sins are removed allow you to move closer to God?
Read 1 Peter 2:24.
When studying a verse in scripture, it is important to take a look at the verses around it. With 1 Peter 2:24, in verse 22 we see Peter describe what exactly set Jesus apart, "He committed no sin..." And in 23 we see that Jesus "...entrusted himself to him who judges justly." In these surrounding verses, we see an image of a man who lived a perfect life, yet suffered and died. Sometimes, I think that we tend to skip over the fact that Jesus suffered in the death on the cross. But according to an article published from JAMA, death on the cross was "intended to produce intense agony..." (Edwards et al 1986) Jesus' suffered, but trusted that good would come from His suffering.
In 2:24, we hear that on the cross Jesus bore our sins. He did this for us. He did not do this so we could continue to live in a way that was astray from God (v. 25). But Jesus wanted to reconcile us to the Father, that we may "live for righteousness."
How might you live for righteousness today?
"Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." Luke 8:39