Week 8: He Washed Me White As Snow

The Bible records in Leviticus 16 the guidelines God set forth for the Levitical priest to follow when he went into the Temple on the Day of Atonement to offer the yearly sacrifice for the sins of the people. Two goats were to be chosen for the sacrifice; one would become the sacrifice and the other would become the scapegoat. Once the sacrifice was offered, the priest would lay his hands on the head of the scapegoat and confess the sins of the people and then he would sprinkle the blood of the other goat on this goat’s head. After this, a designated individual would take the scapegoat out into the wilderness and leave it there to die.

The Jewish Talmud is an “extensive collection of teachings of the ancient Jewish Rabbis” and it contains “important eyewitness accounts of things that occurred during the first century A.D. and surrounding centuries.” In this book, it references the afore mentioned sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, also known today as Yom Kipper. It gives further documentation to the events that occurred each year on that important day. One bit of historical information about the sacrifice I find very intriguing was that the priest would tie a scarlet cord around the neck of the scapegoat. As the scapegoat was led out to the wilderness, it is recorded that the cord would miraculously turn white; thus affirming to the people that God had accepted the priest’s sacrifice for their sins. This occurrence is also reminiscent of the scripture in Isaiah 1:18 that states, “…though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” This historically recorded event is documented to have occurred every year on the Day of Atonement all the way up until 30 A.D. which was the approximate time period when Christ's earthly ministry began, with His baptism, when the Holy Spirit left the temple and descended upon Him and then ultimately culminating in His death on the cross. From that time until 70 A.D. ( a 40 year period), when the second Jewish Temple was destroyed and all sacrificing ceased, the Talmud records that the scarlet cord never again turned miraculously white. Why? The answer is simple. Christ had become the final sacrifice for the sins of the people once and for all. No more would the animal sacrifice be necessary nor accepted. No more would the priest have to intercede on behalf of the people. “[Christ] needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for His own sins, and then for the people's: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself. (Hebrews 7:27 KJV) Christ had given His life so that all who would believe in Him would be forgiven and have their sins turned “white as snow” forever. Thus, in order for the Jews to be forgiven, they had to accept Christ as their Savior and ultimate sacrifice. Unfortunately, many of the Jewish people of that day refused this final payment, continued with the animal sacrifice, but never again witnessed the scarlet cord turning white and signifying that their sacrifice had been accepted.

I am so thankful I don’t have to worry about whether my sins are forgiven or not. I have believed in Christ as God’s Son sent to die for my sins. I have confessed and repented of my sins, and I rest assured in the words of I John 1:9 that, “If [I] confess [my] sins, He is faithful and just to forgive [my] sins, and to cleanse [me] from all unrighteousness.” No, I don’t deserve His grace and mercy, but He has offered it freely to me as a gift. All praise be to Him. My forgiveness is not dependent on any sacrifices or works that I have done but is all dependent on the finished work He did on the cross. He is the Savior; the One and Only Sacrifice for the sins of the world.

As I write this, I am reminded of the words to the old song, “Jesus Paid It All.” It sums up our thoughts today perfectly when it says, “Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.”
If you have received Him, take time to thank Him again for your salvation. If you have not accepted His gift of love and forgiveness, won’t you choose Him today? The Bible promises that if you do, you can rest assured all your sins are white as snow.

If you would like to accept this free gift from Jesus, sincerely call on Him today. Proclaim Him as God’s Son and believe that He paid the final debt for your sin by His death on the cross. Accept that He defeated death by rising again and that He is alive today. Confess your sins and ask His forgiveness. That is all there is to it my friend. If you have done this, the Bible declares that you are saved for all eternity.

John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 6:37 - “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”

Romans 10:9-13 – “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

References:
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=1872848&D=P, Talmud Gives Unintended Proof of Jesus Being the Messiah by William Nugent, 8-15-2009

Holy Bible, King James Version