And they brought near the he-goats of the sin-offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them.
Hezekiah had just reopened and cleaned out the temple. The first thing to happen in the restored house was a death, and two details carry the weight — why goats, and why the people laid hands on them in public.
The sacrifice comes after the clean-up, not before it.
And what was the effect when the doors were open, the rubbish taken out, and the lamps burning brightly? "They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah." They killed all these and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They laid hands on the sin offering, and reconciliation was made for all Israel.
They bring four kinds of animal, seven of each. Each kind says something different about the one sacrifice.
They brought seven (a complete number) of each of four different animals to be offered. The bulls speak of the strength of the offering of the Lord Jesus. The rams symbolize the devotion of that one offering. The lambs picture the submission of His offering. The male goats show the substitutionary character of His offering. Indeed, all of these together cannot fully picture the wonder of the one sacrifice of Christ.
The goats come last, after the bulls, rams and lambs of the previous verse. That order matters, and neither offering can be dropped.
These three were evidently burnt offerings, though the goats are designated as sin offerings. The burnt offerings came first, and they mean much more than the sin offerings. They speak of the glory that God receives from the offering of Christ. That is a much more important matter than the blessing we receive. Still, the sin offering side of that sacrifice is vital too. Without it our sins could never be forgiven, and we could never be delivered from the power of sin.
The same gesture appears with both kinds of offering, but it does opposite work in each.
Now consider the symbolic act of "laying on of hands." This act belonged to both the burnt offering and the sin offering. With the burnt offering, it identified the offerer with a spotless offering. With the sin offering, it transferred the sin of the offerer to the head of the offering.
Pressing a hand on the animal's head is itself a confession.
He is to lay — "lean" — his hand on its head, so expressing his identity with his victim; it is an act which says, I and the goat are one. I am a sinner, and I have forfeited my life. I bring a living thing to die instead of me. This goat is my substitute.
The goats come before the king and the whole assembly. Verse 21 says who the offering is for.
Notice what it says here — "for all Israel." We have it in verse 21 too — "for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah." Not for Judah only, but for the whole nation, Israel and Judah. This is a fine action of Hezekiah's faith. Personally pure and devoted in his own sphere, his heart went out toward all that belonged to God. They might be idolaters, but he makes an atonement.
Kelly turns the reach of that sacrifice into a test for us.
We ought not to care merely for the Christians that we know. Surely we ought to love them; but our hearts ought always, in private and in public, to take in the whole Church of God. We are never right if we do not. There is sectarian leaven in our hearts if we do not go out toward all that are of God. So with Hezekiah. It was for all Israel — for the king commanded. It was the king, you see. The priests, no doubt, did not think about it. They were so used to offering sacrifices for Judah only that no doubt they never thought about "all Israel." But the king did.
- Cleansed first. The doors opened, the rubbish carried out, the lamps lit — and then they brought the offerings. Order in the house comes first.
- Substitute brought. Of the four animals, the male goats stand for the substitutionary side of Christ's offering. Without it, there is no forgiveness.
- Hands laid on. On a burnt offering, the hand ties the offerer to a spotless victim. On a sin offering, it moves his sin onto the victim's head. The gesture says: this one dies instead of me.
- All Israel included. Hezekiah's atonement covered the whole nation, not Judah only. They might be idolaters, but he still made atonement for them.
- Hearts widened. The priests thought only of Judah; the king thought of everyone who belonged to God. Narrow affection for only the believers we know is the leaven this chapter exposes.
And the priests slaughtered them, and they made purification for sin with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel; because for all Israel, said the king, is the burnt-offering and the sin-offering.
Hezekiah has just reopened the temple, and the first thing the restored altar receives is blood. What stands out here is the scope. The king's order covers not only Judah but "all Israel" — including tribes that had broken away from him and turned to idols.
Verse 21 named a narrower circle; this verse widens it. One commentator reads the two together and points to the heart behind the wider one:
Notice what is said here — "for all Israel" — as we also have it in verse 21: "for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah." Not for Judah only, but for the whole nation, Israel and Judah. This is a fine action of Hezekiah's faith. He was pure and devoted in his own place, and his heart went out to everyone who belonged to God. They might be idolaters, but he makes an atonement. So the more they needed the atonement, the more they needed others to feel for them, if they would not feel for themselves and for God.
The verse turns on one word: atonement. In the Old Testament that word has a plain, concrete meaning:
The word atonement is the word found in the Old Testament, just as propitiation is found in the New, and it means to cover. Its first use is in Genesis 6:14, where Noah had to cover the ark inside and out with pitch. It comes again in Genesis 32:20, where Jacob said he would appease Esau with a present; his fault would be covered by the present... These verses make the meaning of the word in the Old Testament clear. The offering puts the offence out of sight. It gives the wronged party something of equal value, and that covers the cause of the offence.
Hezekiah's command names two offerings, not one. One commentator weighs what each of them speaks of:
The burnt offerings came first, and they mean much more than the sin offerings. They speak of the glory that God receives from the offering of Christ, and that matters far more than the blessing we receive. The sin offering side of that sacrifice is still deeply important too. Without it our sins could never be forgiven, and we could never be delivered from the power of sin. Notice that they laid their hands on the sin offerings before they offered them (v. 23). That showed they identified themselves with the value of Christ's sacrifice to atone for their guilt. But Hezekiah knew that both the burnt offering and the sin offering were needed (v. 24).
Israel was split, and the united nation Hezekiah made this offering for could not be seen. One commentator explains what faith does with facts like that:
All through the dark night of the nation's history the twelve tribes are before the eye of God in their perfect unity, untouched by all the upheavals and turmoil of the nations. The blasphemer may have to be stoned outside the camp. God may show His government in all its stern reality. But faith sees the twelve loaves on the golden table... In a word, faith knows God, and can trust Him for everything — the same faith that enabled Hezekiah to command that the burnt offering and the sin offering be offered for "all Israel." That is, the sacrifice which was to be the foundation of all the nation's hopes, the sacrifice whose scope was to take in the whole Israel of God.
Hezekiah did not shrink the offering to fit what was left of the nation. One commentator shows where its value really lay:
These offerings had no power in themselves (Hebrews 10:4), but the sacrifice they were pictures of has power that lasts for ever... So we can understand Hezekiah offering a sin offering for all Israel (2 Chronicles 29:23-24). Part of the nation had already gone into captivity, and the rest of the ten tribes were only waiting for the word of the prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam's wife to come true (1 Kings 14:15-16). Great as their sin had been, the true sin offering can atone for it.
- Command. The king ordered the offerings, and the verse repeats the phrase that decides everything: not for Judah alone, but for all Israel.
- Offerings. Two offerings, not one. The burnt offering speaks of the glory God receives from Christ; on the sin offering they laid their hands, identifying themselves with a sacrifice that answers for their guilt.
- Covering. "Atonement" means to cover. The offering puts the offence out of sight and gives the wronged party something of equal value.
- Reach. The sacrifice outreached the ruin. Tribes already captive, already worshipping idols, still fell inside what that blood could cover.
- Response. Hezekiah's heart went out to everyone who belonged to God. Faith still acts on what God says about His people, not on what the eye can see.