Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Jesus Christ as Antitype High Priest
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Leviticus 16:20-22
The entire sacrificial system pointed to Jesus Christ in some way; it was a “tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). This certainly includes all the instructions in Leviticus 16. There is a pitfall, however, in trying to make the sequence of the ritual precisely fit the timing of Jesus' ministry, death, and resurrection. This is crucial to understand because some identify the azazel as Satan on the assumption that the role of the azazel can only be fulfilled after Jesus was resurrected. The assumption is this: In Leviticus 16, the Lord's goat is slain to make payment for sin, understood to be a type of Christ's sacrifice. After His resurrection, He ascended to heaven to take on the role of High Priest. This line of reason leads to the conclusion that, since the first goat represented the slain Christ, and the high priest represented the resurrected Christ, then the azazel must represent someone entirely different from Christ. Yet, even though the entire sacrificial system pointed to Christ, the order in which He fulfilled things did not match the instructions given to Israel. He completely fulfilled the essence of those instructions, but it is impossible—and unnecessary—to fit the timeline of the reality into that of the shadow, the type. We will follow a brief tangent to see this, taking as our example God's instruction concerning the consecration of the Aaronic priesthood. Exodus 29 provides a specific order in which the various sacrifices for dedicating priests to their office were to be carried out. Performed first, the sin offering acknowledged sin and made symbolic atonement before anything else was done. Next came the whole burnt offering, representing a life given in complete service to God (different from a life sacrificed in payment for sin). Offered with the burnt offering was a grain offering, which similarly represents a life given—lived—in complete devotion to fellow man. Though this is not a complete expounding of Exodus 29, the order of these elements teaches that we cannot approach God until payment for sin has been made (sin offering), and that our highest priority after our justification is wholehearted devotion to God (burnt offering). Only after that can we truly love our fellow man and be devoted to him (grain offering). In contrast, Jesus' fulfillment of these sacrifices occurred in a different order. He did not become the sin offering until after He had lived a life of complete devotion to God and man—that is, after He had already fulfilled the burnt and grain offerings. Similarly, He did not qualify to be our High Priest until after He had fulfilled the burnt offering, grain offering, sin offering, and other offerings like the Wavesheaf and the Passover. What we see is that the actual sequence in which Christ fulfilled all these things was not identical to the sequence given to Israel in Exodus 29. However, He fulfilled their spiritual essence, which the Father accepted. Returning to the Atonement ritual, we observe the same thing. The instructions begin with the high priest entering the Holy Place (Leviticus 16:3-4). If, in interpreting the ritual's symbols, we require this chapter to follow the sequence that took place in Christ's fulfillment, we are immediately faced with an impossibility: He did not qualify to be High Priest until after His earthly work was completely finished—after His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension (see Hebrews 5:9-10). Therefore, trying to match the Leviticus 16 instructions with what actually happened leaves us starting out with Christ's earthly work already complete and after His installation as High Priest. It is not necessary to match up the order of these things, nor is it required that the azazel's antitype be fulfilled only after Christ's resurrection. Forcing a rigid, sequential fulfillment of Leviticus 16 results only in tying ourselves in symbolic knots.
David C. Grabbe
Who Fulfills the Azazel Goat— Satan or Christ? (Part Three)
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Psalm 133:2
Verses 2 and 3 describe what unity is like, comparing it to oil and to dew. David's choice of these two metaphors extends the idea of "good" and "pleasant." Oil, running upon Aaron's head and down into his beard and onto his garments, was good and pleasant. It was good in the sense that it was proper and fitting for a high priest to be ordained with oil. Our modern sensitivities may recoil at the thought of having oil poured all over us, but this oil was special, being mixed with many spices that gave it a very pleasing aroma. It was a sweet savor. In addition, it was reserved only for this one occasion, the anointing of the high priest. If one attended the anointing of the high priest, he would always associate this fragrance with that ceremony, and should he ever smell it again, it would bring back his memories of that time when a son of Aaron was raised to the rank of high priest. It was fitting, proper, and pleasant. Why did David choose to highlight Aaron and anointing with oil? These types have a deeper connection with the unity of the brethren than simply being "good and pleasant." Aaron is the prototype high priest. Who is the antitype? Jesus Christ, our High Priest, who now sits at the right hand of God and mediates on our behalf. In the Levitical ritual, it was in the person of the high priest that at-one-ment was made with the people on the Day of Atonement. Only he could go through the veil, after his and Israel's sins had been purged, to present himself before God and sprinkle the Mercy Seat with blood. The high priest is the vehicle of that oneness—unity with God. Is this not what Jesus Christ has done? Who else has gone through the veil to bring us into unity with the Father (see Colossians 1:19-22; Hebrews 9:24-28 10:19-22)? The picture that God trying to get us to understand is that unity comes from Him and His Son, and then down to us by His Spirit. A beautiful picture! He is the originator of unity, and without Him we cannot have unity. It is very interesting that there has been a debate for years about how far down the oil goes. Most people take it that the word translated in the New King James as edge and in the King James as skirts means "collar." It is literally "mouth" or "opening." What is the mouth of the garment? We have two choices: On a robe, it is either the collar, which goes over the head, or the skirt hem. Many, comparing this verse with the actual ritual, say that the high priest ws anointed with just a small amount that was ceremoniously put on his head and allowed to drip down his hair and into his beard and onto his shoulders. This is probably true. However, God may have inspired David to mean "skirt," the bottom hem down by the ankles, not the collar, because the whole of verses 2-3 is hyperbole, exaggeration. The dew of Hermon has never reached the mountains of Zion at Jerusalem; it is too far away. We must remember that the Hebrews frequently wrote in parallel units, and these verses parallel to each other. Since he exaggerates in one, he will exaggerate in the other. He does this to get his point across to us: We are covered with oil from head to toe, and the Holy Land is covered from north to south with dew. Both oil and water are symbols of God's Spirit. It covers the whole church, every member, not just the Head. The picture here is of the fullness or completeness of the Spirit. As the High Priest's body, we are united with Him, the Head, by His Spirit.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Psalm 133 (1998)
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