Atonement

Brethren, did you know that this day, the tenth day of the seventh month, according to the biblical calendar, has also its counterpart on the first month on the tenth day? That's when really the plan unfolded during the year because that was when you were to select a Passover land and you were to keep it until the beginning of the fourteenth and it would be slain at that time. So we have twice in the year these preparations for the feast that have to do with hope, the reconciling of our sins, the forgiveness of our sins, and how we are cleansed by it. We're cleansed by the Passover and we're also being cleansed here on the day of atonement. Six months from the first month, the tenth day, to the seventh month, the tenth day. God does everything on time. And so it focuses the first of these, the first month of the tenth day, on the lamb, which in the day of atonement has to do with that first goat. It has to do with a goat that is also prayed over and he pays our sins. And that goat is slain and then his blood is sprinkled to the people, to the priests, to the tabernacle. And so it's interesting that this theme of hope is focused on twice. What we have about forgiveness of sin, and every six months we're reminded the importance of making peace with God. Don't drift spiritually. Don't set yourself apart from God because that's when we get into trouble. Now, the first month, the tenth day, I mentioned about the first goat, but as we'll see, on the seventh month, the tenth day, we focus on the second goat that is chosen on the day of atonement. And of course, Jesus Christ is the one that's the first goat, but we have the second goat symbolizing Satan as the origin of evil. He is God's adversary and our adversary, and although he has been defeated by Christ, he has not been put away yet. He's still here. He's still damaging human beings until the time when Jesus Christ comes back. Notice in John chapter 12 verse 30. John chapter 12 verse 30. And as you keep these feasts, you're constantly learning more and more, just like that parallel between the first month, tenth day, and the seventh month, tenth day. In John chapter 12 in verse 30 and 31, Jesus Christ says, this voice did not come. Let me see here. Did I get it? No. Chapter 10 verse 30.

Yeah, I have it right. I had it right the first time. Chapter 12 verse 30. Sorry about that. It says, then Jesus answered and said, this voice did not come because of me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself. This, he said, signifying what death he would die. And so we see in that symbol of the Lamb or in the atonement, that first goat, that he came and he defeated. Satan has been disqualified, but he has not been removed yet. And so it's important to realize that he has already been defeated by Christ. And in Romans 16 verse 20, we see when he will be removed. When Christ comes back, Romans 16 verse 20, it says, then the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. So this is the crushing of that serpent, of that angelic being that has caused so many problems, not only to mankind in general, but to each one of us. And so today we are fasting because we are responsible for our sins. We have let Satan get the best of us, and we are repentant of it. We come not full of pride and food in us, but now realizing, Father, forgive me. We need that reconciliation. And so by understanding this day of atonement, it will help us learn much better why this present evil age is the way it is. It gives the most satisfying answer you can imagine, and answers one of life's greatest questions, and also in philosophy. Why does evil exist? And why, if God is good, does he permit it? All kinds of people say, I don't believe in God because if he was truly a good God, he wouldn't allow evil.

The saints, all of you, need to know the answer. We're all learning to be teachers. How would you answer this question about why evil exists? Why in Ukraine, people are dying in a war, or little children are dying in Africa? There is a branch of theology which studies the issue of why evil exists, and a good God permits it. It is called, fancy word, theodicy. It was invented back in 1710 by the philosopher and mathematics mathematician, Godfried Leibniz. You might have heard of Leibniz. He was a contemporary with Isaac Newton, probably the second greatest physicist and scientist of his day. And he came up with this because he tried to answer why evil exists, if you have a God that is all-powerful and good. Now, I took some classes years ago in Biola University. Most of them are apologetics, which help you study how to defend God and his word. But I remember one class was on theodicy. And so we had this professor come up and give his explanation, basically the Protestant, Catholic, evangelical answer, which focuses on that God is all-powerful. So he is sovereign. He controls everything. Don't ask such a question. Just on faith believe that God can do anything he wants. And so I looked around and said, does that sound satisfying? That because God can do it, so he didn't think anything better than to have permitted evil. And that's very sad. That wasn't satisfying at all. Now, why would this professor say such a thing? Number one, he doesn't understand the feast days and God's master plan. They have this problem of explaining, well, if this is the case, that God is all-powerful, and those that aren't saved in this life are going to be sent to this ever-burning fire of suffering. And when the professor said, well, don't question God, he's all-powerful, he is over everything. And again, how can you explain the myriads of unsaved people, ignorant people, people that are living in India right now, or in the deepest part of Africa, who never even heard the name Jesus Christ? They lived and died. Is that the end of their lives? Are they going to, because they are, quote, unsaved, have to suffer this horrible torment in eternal fire? And number two is they don't know that now is not the only day of salvation. Religions have corrupted that truth, and they preach about eternal suffering. They don't understand these people in Africa and in India and other parts, and those who lived before even Christ was born. See, they're not lost. They will have an opportunity. But you have to understand God's feast days and the day of atonement as well. So you can take theology classes and philosophy classes, spend thousands of dollars in years, and learn these flimsy arguments about the Odyssey, trying to explain. Or you can understand the day of atonement, its meaning in the Bible and other feasts.

So the true answer is that God is going to take care of evil. It's not going to be around forever. He's got a plan where evil one day will cease to exist as well as death. And for this, we need to focus on those two goats during the ceremony of the day of atonement. That's part of the understanding that God set up this explanation in the day of atonement, that we were to study and understand in God's Word. Remember, we're here, first of all, to understand God's Word. So let's go to Leviticus 16, verses 7 through 10. Leviticus 16, verses 7 through 10. This is the chapter where God talks about the day of atonement.

It says in verse 7, talking about the high priest, he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord, in other words, representing the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. Now again, the first message Ray mentioned about the term here, Azazel, in Hebrew.

It's talking about the expelled one. That is a good definition of Azazel, the expelled one. And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell and offer it as a sing offering. So we talked about that, Jesus Christ representing coming and dying. It says, verse 10, but the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, the Azazel goat, shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement upon it and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. I have here the Darby translation, which says the following. It says, and the goat upon which the lot fell for Azazel shall be set alive before the eternal to make atonement with it, to send it away as Azazel into the wilderness, as that expelled one. So it's not talking about a place, but the very being who is represented and laying the hands upon him with a guilt.

In the Kyle and Delish commentary, it says, the words one lot for God and one for Azazel require unconditionally that Azazel should be regarded as a personal being. It is an existing being. It says you're unconditionally. There's no way around it. It should be regarded as a personal being in opposition to God, who is opposed to God. He says, we have not to think, however, of any demon, whatever, but of the devil himself, the head of the fallen angels, who was afterwards called Satan. For no subordinate or inferior evil spirit could have been placed in antithesis, which means contraposition. In other words, equal here, contraposition to God as Azazel is here, but only the ruler or head of the kingdoms of demons. In other words, God is representing here Christ as one of the goats, and Satan is the one who is representing the other goat. Notice how this explains the existence of evil and how it will be solved. So let's go here with these seven points. Number one, God admits there is an Azazel. So here we have in God's word that, yes, the devil exists, and he's in opposition to God, and God permits this to happen. The evil one exists. The hands are laid on its representative, Satan, and that goat is not killed. Yes, he's greatly responsible for the sins of mankind. He set up the system where sin could abound on this earth. He manipulates people. He controls many of the leaders and guides them into wars and exploitation and taking advantage of others. Some call it the streams of confusion on this earth. He is the tempter. Number two, when we are born, there already exists a spirit being in the world to try to make us sin. So nobody is exempt. Even from a little kid, I still see my grandkids. Boy, they got that selfish. Mine! This is my toy! Doesn't matter. That's why the only peace you have is when you have one child. Because you got two, there's going to be a fight. And the older ones can say, I have this, and no, you can't have this. And the older ones can say, I have this, and no, you can't have this. I remember my little granddaughter, she's running around and her big brother is there, and he's got all the Legos and everything. And she'll go and creep up and try. Hey, no, don't touch that! That's mine! Why? Because Satan is already involved in that selfishness. Notice in Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians chapter 2, in verse 1, it says, And you, he made alive, we were dead spiritually, our sins were over us, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, going according to the current of society. Just float along, follow your friends, do what they do the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air. So he is the hidden agent. He is guiding all of these streams where people go in, streams of confusion. They don't even know why they think the way they do.

He says, The Spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we also once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. We were selfish, we think about ourselves first, and leave the others behind, or use them, exploit them, to get ahead in life. The God who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, he starts choosing people he's going to work with. Even when we were dead in trespasses, in other words, we're guilty, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved, not by anything that we deserved, and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So we're part of that coming kingdom. We're there spiritually with God the Father and Jesus Christ, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. So we see here again the importance of what this world is about, and why this day of atonement is important to remember where we're at. We need that forgiveness, we need to draw closer to God, and it isn't a coincidence that in five more days we'll be keeping the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, because God wants us to spiritually prepare for those days. We have a spiritual gas tank, just like we have a gas tank in our cars. And as you know, as you use the car more and more and the gate starts going down, down, down, gets almost too empty, starts panicking, and then it goes into the reserves. And I've had people call me, please come get me. My car is in the freeway. I ran out of gas. Well, you can't use your car unless you got gas. And it's the same way spiritually. We have to renew ourselves, and the closer we are to God, the farther we are from the world. The closer we're to the world, the farther we are from God. Notice in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, 2 Corinthians chapter 4 gives us this principle of recharging our spiritual batteries. It says in verse 16 of 2 Corinthians 4, Therefore we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, it's deteriorating, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. So if we pray, if we get closer to God, we renew our spiritual batteries. We got more power, we got more energy, we can overcome more things. If we're weak, well then the attractions of the world start becoming stronger and pulling at us.

Now thirdly, the other goat, God was going to pay a very dear price for allowing Satan and sin to exist. So let's get this first of all straight. God is the one that suffered most, not human beings. Human beings are temporary. We go through different things. God has had to put up with this, even before the existence of mankind. But there's a greater purpose because God wants us to have eternal happiness with Him in His kingdom. And this is the way He and Christ designed that it was necessary. Evil is a temporary necessity to develop spiritual character so that one day we can be children in God's kingdom. And we won't know death anymore. We won't know pain and suffering anymore. These are temporary things. So God paid the price. He said, I'm going to pay the price for sin for you to rescue you. Number four, God is in charge. Determine this is the best way to redeem His people. Give them eternal life through His representative, Jesus Christ. So this is the way they figured out. And they've suffered the most. God the Father and Jesus Christ. Who suffered the most? It's hard to say because sometimes a father who's having a dying child would say, I would gladly die in my child's place if he could be saved or he should, she should be. So God the Father went through so much. Watching His Son suffer that way. And His Son went through so much. But they did it for us because they don't want us to be part of the world and be condemned with the world. He has better things for us. So in the day of atonement, everything was sprinkled with the blood of that first goat. It's symbolic of being cleansed of sin by the death of that goat representing Jesus Christ. So again, it's important to focus on the reasons for the devil existing and also evil. Notice what it says in James chapter 1.

James chapter 1.

Starting in verse 3.

It says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the test of your faith produces patience or endurance. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. And then in verse 12, said, Blessed is a man who endures temptation. For when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. So we have to run a race. If somebody goes and buys a trophy and puts your name on it, say, Congratulations! You're a winner! You didn't do anything for it. How are you going to feel? Pretty empty. That doesn't mean anything, but after a person has been tested and disciplines themselves and does so much and then he gets a reward, actually that's just a recognition of the efforts they put into something. And so it's the same way. The devil is necessary because we have to go through temptations. We have to be tested. What kind of metal do we have? What kind of character do we have? Can we say no to sin? Sometimes we're going to have to learn eventually. The grievous results and repent of them. Hopefully we start repenting and avoiding sin when we're very young and not when we're old and all of these things have affected us. But God says we can always go to Him, receive forgiveness, cleansing, and we can become a new person before God. We can be cleaned up. And that's God's mercy on us. In 1 Peter chapter 1, this is also mentioned. 1 Peter chapter 1, in verse 6, it says, In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. You wonder, the trials that they went through sometimes would be getting captured because you are keeping the Sabbath day or keeping some of these feasts captured by the Roman authorities, and you were sent to the Colosseum where you were burnt to death or thrown to animals. And guess what? Those people went ahead and allowed it. How many people would be willing to give up their lives that way? But they did that then. And when Peter's saying here, this was around the time of Nero's persecution, where Christians were persecuted mercilessly. He says, In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Notice it's got to wait until that resurrection. And so God knows the devil does have a purpose in his plan. Now, when is God going to get rid of evil? When is he going to remove Satan and the evil that he has generated? It is going to be when Jesus Christ returns. That's why we long and yearn so much for Christ to come, because that's when Satan is going to be put away for a thousand years. Notice in Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20 verse 1 through 3. It says, Then I saw an angel. This is right after Christ comes in chapter 19. The next thing that happens. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, which is the pit that you can't see the bottom of. It's so deep.

And a great chain in his hand. Now, some people say, well, how can a chain hold Satan? How could a powerful spirit being, the serpent and this angelic being, how can he be held by a chain? Any answers?

What? Well, not really, because he's going to be tied up for a thousand years, and then he's going to get loose, because it's a spiritual chain. See, we're looking at it from human views or physical views. No, this angel, he's a spirit being. And guess what? There are spiritual objects that God creates in heaven. And so he comes with the spiritual chain that Satan cannot break.

And it says, and he laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil, and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he cast them into the bottomless pit. So Satan is very powerful now. He's not going to be very powerful then, because God has an angel that's even more powerful, that does all of this. Remember, in the Day of Atonement, it's a strong man that comes and grabs that second goat and ties the second goat and forces him to go to a place in the wilderness where no people live, where nothing is there. And then he's let loose, so he cannot have any activity where God's people are. And he set a seal on him. Again, this is a spiritual seal that you cannot get out of. That bottomless pit is sealed up so that he should deceive the nations no more. It shows what's he been doing now. He's been deceiving the nations. He's been deceiving human beings, you and me, if we let him. But he will do so no more till the thousand years are finished. But after these things, he must be released for a little while. God has still another purpose at the end of the millennium for letting him out. Of course, once Satan is gone and his angels with him, because they're all going to be there. You have to realize that the Bible doesn't explain many times. When it talks about Satan, it's also dealing with the angels, the third of the angels. Notice in Revelation 12, verse 9, it says, So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan. It was mentioned in Revelation 20 that I read, who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. So not all the time does the Bible say, well, of course, he's the head, but he's got an army with him. And so all of them are going to be thrown in there. And when they're released, they will try to deceive mankind one last time.

So the last point I want to cover here is that Satan is not killed, but banished to a place of wilderness. What we just talked about, he's restricted in this bottomless pit. What's he going to be doing? Well, he's bound. He's in what they call solitary confinement with his angels. And they say that that's the worst punishment, because they're just going to be there and they can't get out and watch their miserable lives just stagnate.

So he's got to be restricted. But then we have the second stage, which is in Revelation, chapter 20, verse 7. It says, now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison. See, it's a type of prison that this abyss, the solitary confinement. They say human beings, that's the worst punishment. Confine them to a place where they can't even have any social life. And we'll go out to deceive the nations. That's what his job is. That's what he does.

Which are in the four corners of the earth. In other words, from one end to the other. Corners has to do with the four polar distances, north, south, east, west. And then Gog and Magog, which represent all of the unconverted and rebellious people, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. So Satan is still going to deceive the last generation, who never had to resist temptation. And so God is going to say, you see why I had to have human beings be tempted? So that they know this is not God's way. This is Satan's way. And they follow Satan's way temporarily here.

He says, and they went up on the breath of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints. This is the beloved city Jerusalem. That's Christ's headquarters. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. This is how deceived they were. With Jesus Christ there, they still think, we can take them on. Look at all the people and all of this. That spirit of rebellion is still there. And then the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.

And it should say, where the beast and the false prophet had been. If you notice our here in my version is because the Greek doesn't say that. It in the good news Bible it says where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. So this identifies just that's the same lake of fire. God doesn't throw them in a different one. No, this is the same place where the beast and the false prophet were incinerated. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The term they doesn't appear. In the Greek it can be either he, talking about Satan, or it can also be him and his fallen angels. Notice in the majority King James Bible it says, and the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet, period. And he will be tormented day and night forever and ever. In Matthew 25 verse 41 it says that this fire is reserved for Satan and his angels.

So putting everything together you see the portrait that we have. So yes, let's go through these four points now. Evil exists. And as a Zayzil, Satan is the origin of it. Number two, evil is temporary. It will be successfully dealt with by Jesus Christ. So we just happen to be in that period of time when Satan is still there, his demons. They're affecting more and more people. I don't know how you see how crazy people are.

I mean, just this week, just going to certain places, somebody was robbing the store that I'd gone in. My wife had a guy in another store who was nuts, screamed at her and everything because she asked him for a bag. And how many things are happening? See, Satan and his demons know they have a short time before Satan, before he is put away and Jesus Christ comes back. So it is temporary.

Number three, evil is there to allow us to be tested from the Garden of Eden onward. This has been a testing place, a testing ground. People don't know that. They just live here. They eat, sleep, and do physical things. We know this is a testing ground for us.

How are we going to overcome? What are we going to be faithful? And the fourth point, evil is there to overcome while we're being tested. If you're not ever tested, how do you know? What kind of real character do you have? Are you one of these armchair generals that know, oh, this is what I would do, but then in a battle, you're the first one running the other way. It's only in the battle, the heat of the battle, that you see what a person is made of. In the spiritual battles, you see what the person is made of.

The fifth point is, overcoming evil will be greatly rewarded beyond our wildest dreams. With that godly character in us, our personality is going to be ours, but you will have godly character. You will not want to ever sin. You will always be having God's attributes. And there are three requirements for that godly character.

We need Christ's sacrifice to forgive us. We need God's Holy Spirit to empower us, and we need to keep God's commandments to guide us. That's why we're doing this today, because it is one of the commandments. It's not a suggestion from God. And so, this fast is to better prepare spiritually for the coming feast, to remove ourselves from our surroundings, go to a place where we can worship together, we can learn more about God's Word, fellowship, serve each other, and have wholesome fun. We've saved up our second tithe. We've been able to share with others, and now we have this wonderful feast that God prepared for us.

So, we have a glimpse of that coming kingdom, where we can look forward to Satan being crushed under Christ's feet. So, let's bring that coming kingdom of rejoicing with all the saints wherever we go.