Scroll to the bottom for thoughts/discussion questions!
One-sentence summary: The Lord gives instructions for how all Israel is to be cleansed from their sins once a year so God can dwell with them, tells them not to sacrifice to other gods or demons, and gives instructions for marriage and sex.
The Lord gives Moses detailed instructions on when and how Aaron should to enter the holy place inside the veil (once a year) before the mercy seat, because "the Lord will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat." He must make atonement for himself and for the people. Some of this includes casting lots between two goats, with one being used as a sin offering and the other being released into the wilderness as a "scape goat," carrying the sins of the people. The high priest (Aaron) must burn incense to cover the cloud of the mercy seat, and take the blood of a bull and sprinkle it in a specified way on the altar, for himself, and then kill one of the goats for the sin offering, then do the same for the people at the mercy seat behind the veil. No man should be in the tabernacle of meeting when he makes atonement until he comes out. Once he has made atonement for the holy place, the tabernacle, and the altar, he should take the live goat and lay his hand on it and confess all the sins and transgressions of Israel, thereby putting them on the head of the goat, and then send it away into the wilderness. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, the people should "afflict [their] souls and do no work at all," for on that day, the priest will make atonement for them, to make them clean of all their sins, and it will be "a Sabbath of solemn rest to be observed forever."
The Lord tells Moses to tell Aaron and his sons and Israel that whoever kills an ox or ram or goat in or outside the camp but doesn't bring it as an offering, "the guilt of bloodshed will be imputed to that man," and he will be cut off from his people. The Lord is making it clear that the people must offer sacrifices to Him and "not to demons." Anyone of Israel or strangers who dwell with them who offers a sacrifice but does not bring it to door of the tabernacle will be cut off. And if anyone eats any blood, the Lord's face will be against that man (or woman), and he will be cut off, for "the life of the flesh is in the blood." The Lord says He has given blood to make atonement, and that only blood can make atonement for the soul, so no one is to eat it. Whoever hunts and catches an animal or bird that can be eaten, he must pour out its blood and cover it with dust.
The Lord tells Moses to tell Israel that He is the Lord, and that they must not do as the Egyptians do or walk in their ways. They must keep God's judgements, ordinances, and statutes and walk in them. If a man does them, "he will live by them." He goes on to give instructions regarding marriage and sex. No one should "uncover the nakedness of" his kin or father's wife (because they are one), including step-sisters. They may not take both a woman and her daughter or son's daughter or daughter's daughter, because they are near of kin, and it is wicked. They are not to marry sisters while they one is still living, and they are not to sleep with women during "their time of impurity." Their descendants should not "pass through the fire to Moloch" (making sacrifices to other gods) or "profane the name of their God." They should not lie with men the way they do with women or mate with animals, because "the nations are defiled by these things, and the land is defiled by it, and therefore [God visits] the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants." The Lord says that the nations all did these things before them, and that is why the land is defiled. If they do these things, the land will vomit them out the way it has vomited out the nations that came before them. These are all "abominations," and anyone who does them will defile his soul, and they will be cut off.
Thoughts/Discussion Questions:
Have you ever felt like a "scapegoat?" Maybe in your family? Jesus has become our scapegoat, carrying our sins- and the sins of others against us- once and for all, so that we do not have to carry them any more. I once heard the analogy of the stain of sin put this way: If someone spills wine onto a tablecloth, the tablecloth will be stained; it does not matter who does the spilling. We get defiled, or "dirty," by our own sins and by other's sins against us- it gets "on us" somehow. So no matter how we have been defiled, Jesus is here to cleanse us! We just need to ask Him to and receive it by faith, and let the water of His word and His Spirit cleanse us from all "that defiles body and soul." (See 2 Corinthians 7:1.)