Now if any person sins in error, from among the people of the land, by doing one (thing) regarding the commandments of YHWH that should not be done, and incurs guilt, or it is made known to him the sin that he sinned; he is to bring as his near-offering a hairy-one of goats, wholly-sound, female, for the sin whereby he sinned.  He is to lean his hand on the head of the (sin)-offering and is to slay the (sin)-offering, at the place of the offering-up.  The priest is to take some of the blood of the (sin)-offering with his finger and is to put (it) on the horns of the slaughter-site of offering-up; all (the rest of) its blood he is to pour out at the foundation of the slaughter-site of offering-up.  All of its fat, he is to remove, as was removed the fat from upon the slaughter-offering of shalom, and the priest is to turn it into smoke on the slaughter-site, as a soothing savor for YHWH; thus the priest is to effect-purgation for him, and he shall be granted-pardon.  Leviticus 4:27-31 Schocken Bible

There is not to be for the Levitical priests–the entire tribe of Levi–any portion or inheritance with Israel; the fire-offerings of YHWH, and his inheritance, they may eat.  But a (normal) inheritance he may not have, in the midst of his brothers, YHWH is his inheritance, as He promised him.  Now this shall be the regulated-share of the priests from the people, from the slaughterers of slaughter-offerings, whether of ox or sheep:  the priest is to be given the shankbone, the jawbone and the rough-stomach.  Deuteronomy 18:1-3 Schocken Bible

          In these verses we have a fairly complete foreshadow and type of the intercessory work of Christ Jesus, and all in His body who desire the work of the unending priesthood.  On the cross, He paid the price, once for all, for the hamartia–legal offenses/sin of all of mankind of all ages and times.  His substitionary work of atonement fully satisfied and satisfactorily fulfilled all of God’s laws and commandments.  Having become obedient to the point of death, Father raised Him from the dead and seated Him as our high priest at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty, just as He said. Hebrews 8:1  In this regard, Jesus has received a more excellent ministry than of the Levitical priesthood, being of the Melchizadek priesthood.  He is able also to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25  It is this intercession which we now consider, not only by Christ, the high priest, but also by others of the Melchizadek priesthood.

          The intercession in the heavenly places is, of course, much better than sacrifices of bulls and goats, which have never been more than a type or shadow of better promises to come.  That there would be wrongdoing that required intercession did not catch God by surprise; in fact, He planned it!  For the duration of the time of resistance to God’s will, men would continue to miss the mark–hamartano–because they are made of dying flesh.  Sin (hamartia) and death entered the world through Adam and on this basis all men have missed the mark (hamartano) and continue to do so.  Romans 5:12  Dear reader, you may feel this is quite a controversial statement, but if you believe sin causes death and not vice versa, ask yourself this:  Is the baby in the womb immortal, and does it have no dying cells?  Without meaning any offense to anyone’s religion, common observation leads to the inescapable conclusion that all who are of flesh (and that is pretty much everyone we know) are afflicted with missing the mark.

          To understand the intercession and its effects, we must look at the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain, and the regulations given to him for the Levitical priesthood as a fore-shadowing of the greater priesthood to come.  In a nutshell, here is how it worked:  the individual brought the animal to the priest, and laid his hand upon the animal’s head.  The sin was thus transferred to the animal.  The sin/animal was then killed, and its blood applied to the altar, foreshadowing Christ.  The fat was turned into smoke by burning on the altar that was a soothing savor to YHWH/Jesus–this is the focus of our post.  Parts of the sin/animal were then cooked by the priest and eaten.  Now the priest has ingested and digested the sin/animal–do you see, dear reader, that the priest has in a sense become the sin brought to him by the individual?  The priest has tasted, in a sense, the sin of the individual, and now may make intercession for the individual by the fat, the surplus, the extravagant extra that it represents, that is offered up in smoke.  

          In Leviticus 10:12 Moses had just instructed Aaron and his sons to eat part of the sin/animal offering, but they failed to do so for reasons that are not important here.  The rebuke of Moses in verse 17 is very instructive for our purposes:

Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place?  For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord.

          “Tasting” of the sin/animal facilitated the means of intercession by which the guilt of the individual was borne away!  By this the priest made atonement (“effect-purgation” in our passage) (Strong’s Concordance H3722–kaphar).  Literally, this means “to cover” or “to cover over.”  Please notice the all-important outcome:  he shall be granted-pardon.  Do you see now the wonderful outcome of the intercession our ever-living Savior makes for us as our great High Priest?  Praise you, Lord!  

          If your heart is moved by these words to intercede for others, you must be willing to “taste” of the sickness, the disease, or the missing of the mark, or its effects, somehow to identify with the wrongdoing, at least in part, just as Christ took our sins upon Himself (and perhaps, in some cases, to the same extent–this is between you and your Lord).  The world and most of the Church see this as a “waste”, and unnecessary extravagance; some would say it nullifies the effect of the cross.  We will not argue the point–however, in reality it is the fat of the offering, that belongs exclusively to God.  Revelation 5:8 and 8:3-4 prove to us that its smoke is symbolic of the prayers of the saints/holy ones.  It is by these prayers that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him but who dwells in you (John 14:17), is released to effect pardon.  He will glorify the Lord Jesus, but are you aware that He does not speak on his own initiative?  John 16:13  Jesus emphasized that it was for our advantage that the Helper would be sent to us and what His work would be, especially in helping us to pray as we ought.  Romans 8:26-27

          Dear reader, how often are you the recipient of someone else’s wrongdoing, how often are you the offended one?  Have you considered that God especially arranged for you to “taste” of the sin, so that you could by intercession release the Spirit and effectuate the granting of pardon?  Moreover, it is not simply God’s plan to keep granting pardon over and over; instead, it is to release the Spirit of truth so that the offending party can learn it is wrong and come into obedience to the Savior, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.  It is a matter of law that only the offended party can release the wrongdoing, and much more could be said about this aspect.  For now, we leave it at this:  the friends of Jesus know the mind of their King, and may be trusted to join in His work and effectuate the release of the Spirit. 

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who allows men to be in the body of Christ and have a part in this Melchizadek ministry of intercession by which Your mercy triumphs over Your judgment.  You do all things well, Father!  Men will praise You joyfully forever.  All blessing, and honor, and glory and power belong to You, our wonderful God.

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