The Day of Atonement

Well, thank you again, Mark. My apologies, brother, and I was supposed to also mention that you need an offering envelope to raise your hand, and for some reason I'm not quite hitting all cylinders today, so I apologize that I left that part out.

Well, this is the Day of Atonement, one of the most intriguing and interesting holy days of God's entire plan. I would like to begin our holy day message today by going to the book of Acts, Acts 27, and we'll take a look at verse 9, and we want to see a statement made by Luke, the beloved physician and traveling companion of Paul, who most likely was a Gentile.

All the evidence points to the fact that Luke was a Gentile, and we want to read a statement that he makes in his commentary that occurs near the end of Paul's life. This occurs about 60 AD. This is 30 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, where everything that was going to be nailed to the cross has been long nailed to the cross. Everything that is obsolete, done away, no longer valid, I don't know how many adjectives I can come up with, but everything that supposedly fills that category has happened. And here's what Luke writes, Acts 27, verses 9-10. This, in this situation, to give you a little background, Paul was under house arrest and he was heading towards Rome. He says, Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was already over, Paul advised them, saying, Man, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives. And this was kind of a little bit of a prophecy, actually, because indeed, the ship and the cargo were totally lost. They didn't listen to Paul. Thankfully, no one lost their life. But the point I want to bring out in the scripture is why would Luke use this Holy Day as a time marker if it had become obsolete or was done away? If you look through the book of Acts, you'll see that quite often, Luke documented something here Paul would do. Paul was at one time interrupted his ministry and said, I must by all means keep this feast that comes in Jerusalem, and he traveled to Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Here, 30 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Luke refers to the fast, and virtually every commentary I've ever read says very plainly that this fast is referring to the day of atonement. There's very little question about that. So again, why would he use this Holy Day as a time marker if it's something he wasn't observing? You will rarely, if ever, find Mr. Thomas used the word Christmas. You know why?

Because I don't observe it. I might say December 25th, right? I'll use some colloquialism. That got me in trouble once. Years ago, I worked at a transformer factory, and we were supposed to fill out what our travel schedule was, and on December 25th, I put Xmas. And a secretary came up a little later, and she said, she said, you don't keep Christmas, do you? I said, well, as a matter of fact, no, I don't. She said, I could tell because you used this code word Xmas. She says, the reason I know that, she says, I don't keep Christmas either. I recognize the code.

But people don't tend to acknowledge holidays they don't observe. They just don't. And Luke obviously refers to the fast because it was something that he and Paul knowledge were important and something that they kept. Let's now go to Leviticus chapter 23 and see what was it about this fast 30 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that made Paul and Luke continue to believe there was some very valuable meaning behind this day that we call the Day of Atonement. Leviticus chapter 23 verse 26, this is the original instruction to the nation of Israel on the Day of Atonement.

The fifth of the seven annual holy days are outlined here. It says, and the Lord spoke to Moses saying, also the tenth day of the seventh month shall be the day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation to you, it's a holy convention, and you shall afflict your souls. And afflict comes from a Hebrew word meaning to do without, to be under a little bit of stress. It can mean more than fasting, but it's a word that translated into the best in English is affliction, is afflicting yourself, and to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the day of Atonement, to make Atonement before you, before the Lord your God, for any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from among his people, and any person who does any work on that day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work. In other words, you won't do your normal job. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls. And as I mentioned in an email earlier this week, if you are elderly or if you are suffering from a disease, your soul is already afflicted. God is not trying to create a torture device here. If you are already afflicted due to age or due to an illness, then you are already afflicted and struggling. You get the point. You get the message behind being physical and the fact that we are weak and the fact that we need God for everything in our lives, that we are nothing without Him. You understand that. You get that.

It says, and on the ninth day of the month at evening, from even until evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath. So this command from God is the fifth of seven annual festivals that are outlined in Leviticus 23. And the nation was told that this was the day of atonement. It was the time for a holy convention and that everyone should afflict their souls on that day. And the word afflict actually is the Hebrew word ana, meaning to be humbled, to be bowed down, and meek.

So it certainly means more than just going without food and water. It means to humble yourself.

It was also declared to be a Sabbath of solemn rest, meaning that we do no labor on this day. We don't do our normal jobs. We don't dig ditches. We don't do things that are hard physical labor. And after all, if you're fasting, who would want to anyway? But continuing here, to understand the meaning of this day, I would like to begin with the future fulfillment of prophecy regarding this day. And that was already mentioned by Mr. Howson. So if you, I will just read Revelation chapter 20, verse 3. If you want to turn there, fine. If you don't, that's okay. I'll just read it out loud, since it was already read once today. And I think for us to really appreciate what the Day of Atonement is all about. We need to go back to the future, and we need to take a look at the culmination of what this day is about. And again, I'll read Revelation 20, verses 1 through 3.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit. The bottomless pit is a black abyss that the dragon will be put into. Bottomless meaning it has no, it is not contained.

He is contained, meaning he is totally and completely isolated, like a pit that goes down and down and down. He is isolated and cannot have any influence on anyone, totally alone and isolated.

And he had a great chain in his hand. Of course, chain being symbolic of tying someone up, of chaining someone, putting them in a prison. And he laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, that very same serpent who slithered through the garden of Eden, and said, you shall not surely die. Go ahead, eat a little bit of that avocado or apple or whatever it may have been. It's okay. Well, your eyes will be opened when you do that. The very same being, that serpent of old who is Satan the devil and bound him for a thousand years and cast him into a bottomless pit and shut him up. Meaning that he can't escape. He can't get out. He is contained.

He is isolated. And shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things, he must be released for a little while. Well, prophetically, this is a time after the return of Jesus Christ. But it's before the Feast of Tabernacles. It's before the millennium begins. Think of the Holy Day Plan. We had the Feast of Trumpets. Blowing of the trumpets represented the second coming of Christ.

We know the Feast of Tabernacles pictures the millennium, but something happens in between. And what happens in between is necessary for there to be a kingdom of God. It is necessary because the originator of all sin, the very first being in the universe who ever sinned when he rebelled against God, the originator of all sin must be contained, must be dealt with, must be judged, because if he were allowed to remain, even during the kingdom of God, his seditious, his evil influence and spirit would totally pervert the millennium and the kingdom of God. So God knows exactly what he's doing as part of his plan. This represents a spiritual cleansing that occurs for the rest of the world, and it pictures the removal of Satan to a spiritual wilderness so that he can influence mankind no more. Brethren, leadership is influence. That's the most basic definition of what leadership is. It's influence. It's not a title. It's influence. And the influence of Satan has to be removed from all humanity, or things won't get any better.

The human race will continue to regenerate over and over again like a cycle and descend into the kind of world we live in today if this powerful spiritual being, the originator of all sin, is not dealt with, is not judged, and is not isolated from having any influence on mankind. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1.

I think most of us understand a theology that before God called us we were spiritually dead.

We were in our sins, living in our sins. We were condemned in need of a Savior. And Paul talks about that here in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1. He says, And you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the Spirit, who now works in the sons of disobedience. That's referring directly to Satan himself. He is the prince of the power of the air. It is his influence that dominates the attitudes, the thoughts, and the actions of humanity here in the 21st century.

It's a culture, a diseased, a dysfunctional culture. Verse 3, Among whom also we also once conducted ourselves, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. So we were angry like everyone else is, feeling a sense of hopelessness, feeling a sense of irritation and agitation about our lives, just like everyone else does in this world. Verse 1 from the translation God's Word, it says, You were once dead because of your failures and sins. I like how bluntly that translation puts it. You were once dead because of your failures and sins. You followed the ways of this present world and its spiritual ruler. This ruler continues to work in people who refuse to obey God. That's very blunt, but it's very true. And as this translation reminds us, Satan is the spiritual ruler of this world. Lock, stock, and barrel. Every government, virtually every religion in this world, every political system, from the arts to the humanities, it has all been distorted and perverted by the prince of the power of the air. He permeates into the human mind anger and frustration and agitation and restlessness and selfishness, and that's why we find the kind of world that we live in today. That's why we live in a city in which a girl was murdered by someone who was not put behind bars long enough or dealt severely enough for a previous rape that he had committed. That's the end result of the kind of world that we live in today. A very sad world, a very sick world. Let's take a look at Ephesians 6, verse 11. Ephesians 6, verse 11.

Paul reminds us that this is a struggle that we have against this prince of the power of the air.

This is a struggle to resist this culture so that we aren't just sucked into doing what everyone else does. So we just aren't conned into believing what everyone else believes and what does everyone else believe? He who dies with the most toys wins. And of course, that isn't true. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 11.

Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Dramatically powerful forces that mankind doesn't even understand. This is who we're wrestling with. This is who the church has to wrestle with. And it is a wrestling match. And you know what happens when you get tired of wrestling? You get pinned to the mat. That's what happens when you get tired of wrestling. You give in. You get pinned. And we don't want that to happen to us, brethren. Our minds are like a spiritual antenna. And Satan's Wi-Fi network is able to broadcast negative and selfish impulses into our minds. He's the originator and author of sin. And ultimately, God holds him responsible for all sin. Now granted, we're accountable for our own sins, and I don't want you to misunderstand what I'm saying. But God has a special grievance against that spiritual being whom he created and loved, and gave everything that he had who rebelled against him, and committed not only the first sin, but has gone out of his way for the rest of God's creation to pollute it, and defile it, and to create evil within God's creation.

Jesus said to the Jews in John chapter 8 verse 44 that the devil was, quote, a murderer from the beginning. Jesus said to them, quote, that Satan is a liar and the father of it.

He's the father of lies, the first liar that ever was, was Satan the devil. He is responsible.

Even after Jesus returns to earth, peace would still not come to this world until Satan is removed from this earth. The kingdom of God would fail, even with Jesus Christ, in this world, if it were not for the fact that this devious spiritual being who can affect carnal human mind so easily is isolated and removed from the scene, so that the law of God can be written on people's hearts and minds, so that their hearts and minds aren't disoriented and sickened and diseased by evil spiritual influences. Let's take a look now at Joel chapter 2 and verse 12. Joel chapter 2 and verse 12, a prophecy that we can all look forward to that ties in, I think, very well with the Day of Atonement and what it pictures in the future.

Joel chapter 2 and verse 12.

Joel chapter 2 and verse 12, now therefore says the Lord, turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning, and rend your heart, not your garments. You may have seen movies or you there are some human cultures in which people to show that they're mourning will tear their garments, right? And God says, well that's very impressive, but I would rather have you tear your heart up. I would rather have you change your attitude and not just react in a way like that, but I'd like to see a change of heart is what's really important.

So rend your heart, not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and he relents from doing harm. Who knows if he will turn and relent and leave a blessing behind him? A grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes, let the bridegroom go out from his chamber and the bride from her dressing room. In other words, everyone, stop what you're doing. It's time to repent. Stop it and get right with God. Verse 17, let the priest who ministered to you, O Lord, weep between the porch and the altar. Let them say, Spare your people, O Lord, and do not give your heritage to reproach, that the nation should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples who is their God? Then the Lord will be zealous for his land and pity his people. So the time that we're talking about in God's kingdom is a time of universal reconciliation, beginning with Israel and spreading to all the earth.

This is a massive sorrow and repentance among the survivors of the great tribulation as they humbly turn and seek God and seek his mercy and seek his forgiveness. And with the enemy banished, Christ can begin to purge the hardness of the human heart caused by human nature and ignorance.

And again, I want to emphasize one more time this truth and this fact. At first, God created a mini-kingdom. He called it the Garden of Eden. And he created a man and a woman, and he put them in this beautiful paradise, and they were without sin. It failed. You know why it failed? Who was present in that kingdom? Who was present in that garden? That old serpent was present in that garden, wasn't he? And though they were created beautiful and innocent and without sin, it didn't take very long before they were defiled. And let's look forward now into the future, even after the return of Jesus Christ with repentance and with the law of God being taught throughout the world, that old serpent needs to be removed from paradise, needs to be isolated, needs to be taken from the scene where he can no longer influence a single human thought, where he can no longer permeate an attitude of negativity, of anger, of frustration, of discontent, of rebellion to not one person who lives in that kingdom. He must be isolated, he must be contained, he must be removed. And God understands that, and that is why, between the return of Christ and the Feast of Tabernacles, he instituted a very powerful holy day and message behind it, known as the Day of Atonement. Now, let's now go to Leviticus 16, verse 29, and begin to look at the theology behind the very beautiful and powerful rituals that the high priest was instructed to perform on the Day of Atonement, because, again, they have great meaning for us today. Why? Because they picture something that happened long ago, my no, by no means, because they point to events that will yet occur in the restraining of Satan, in the judging of Satan, in the isolating of Satan, so he no longer can influence the children of God when God restores his kingdom, once again, on this earth. Leviticus chapter 26, we'll begin in verse 29. We'll take a look at the end of the story here. This shall be a statute forever for you in the seventh month and the tenth day of the month. You shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. For on that day the priest, referring specifically to the high priest, shall make atonement for you to cleanse you, and you shall be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It is the Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. Remember that Hebrew word meaning you shall humble yourself. It is a statute forever. Well, this was a ceremony commanded of the high priest only once a year on the day of atonement. And we'll take a look at this ceremony, but we're now going to go to the beginning of the chapter and find out what these rituals were. We're going to start in verse 1 of chapter 16. That was to sum up why all of these instructions were given, and now we'll look in more detail at these individual rituals and instructions and what they mean for us in God's plan of salvation. Leviticus chapter 16, beginning in verse 1, it says, Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire behind the Lord, and, or before the Lord, and died. So this is immediately after the death of Aaron's sons. And there's a message here for Aaron, and that is that he needs to meticulously listen to these instructions given to the high priest, because he sees what happened to his own sons when they didn't do it God's way. When they decided to do it their way, the end result wasn't very positive. So I can assure you that when Moses gives Aaron these instructions of what God once done on this day, that he is all ears, that he is totally and completely listening.

The entire service of these sacrifices and burning of incense and all the things done were done by the high priest alone. And we'll see that when we get down to verse 17.

The priest, the high priest in these rituals, prefigured Jesus Christ, who alone brings atonement and salvation to the world because of his shed blood. So Aaron had to prefigure Christ. For that reason, he's going to have to make offerings for himself, purify himself. He's going to have to bathe. There are certain things he's going to have to do to even prepare to symbolically represent the perfection of Jesus Christ. So let's take a look at verse 2. And the Lord said, the Moses tell Aaron your brother not to come just any time in the holy place inside the veil before the mercy seat which is on the ark lest he die, for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. And Aaron shall come into the holy place with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering and of a ram as a burnt offering. So only one time the entire year could the high priest go into an area of the tabernacle known as the Holy of Holies. Within the tabernacle was a very special room separated by curtains. Outside that room was an altar of incense. Inside that room, most importantly for us to understand, was a chest that was the Ark of the Covenant. Inside that Ark of the Covenant were the Ten Commandments. That room represented the literal presence of God. On top of that chest were two seraphim who looked towards each other and whose wings touched, guarding the top of that chest, which literally represented the presence of Jehovah, the presence of God to the nation.

So you had to be very careful when you were in the tabernacle not to inadvertently walk into the Holy of Holies because that would not be a very good thing. You had to be very careful in understanding and respecting the sanctity of this room. Only the high priest himself, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, could even enter it. And to prepare for it, as we just read here, he had to sacrifice a young bowl as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. In verse 4, he shall put on the holy linen tunic, the linen trousers on his body, and he shall be girded with linen sash. And with the linen turban, he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore, he shall wash his body in water and put them on. Now, normally, the high priest looked like the NBC peacock. The high priest of the nation wore very bright colors. He wore a chest plate that had 12 stones in it. You could pick out the high priest a mile away. But in this situation, to represent humility, he was to take off his normal outfit, and he was put on simple white linen garment, again representing the humility of Jesus Christ. Washing his body represented the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ himself.

Verse 5, and he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel. So he took those two animals in that would be used to purify himself. Here's something else he would do. He shall take from the congregation, that is to represent the congregation of Israel, two kids of the goats as a sin offering, one ram as a burnt offering, and Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall take the two goats, remember these were from the congregation of the children, he'll 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 goats, one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. Now, according to Jewish tradition, these goats were to look almost like twins. They were expected to be the same size, about the same color, and they were to look very as closely as they could get. These two goats were intended to look like one another. And I want you to notice the wording in verse 8. He shall cast lots, one for the Lord and one for something else.

It calls it a scapegoat, and I will explain that in a minute. In the translation God's word, it says for verse 8, one lot will be for the Lord and the other for Azazel, which is the original Hebrew word Azazel. And here's how it's defined according to the Jewish Encyclopedia. It says, quote, the name of a supernatural being mentioned in connection with the ritual of the day of atonement.

After Satan, for whom he was in some degree of preparation, Azazel enjoys the distinction of being the most mysterious, extra-human character in sacred literature. Unlike other Hebrew proper names, the name itself is obscure, end of quote. So they recognized, even the Jewish people, that this Azazel was a nefarious, evil individual. At least, that's who it represented. Some teach, some mainstream Christian theology teaches, that both of these goats represent Christ and his sacrifice.

They believe that the two goats simply portray two different aspects of Christ, one sacrifice. One, his death for the forgiveness of sin, that's one goat, and two, his role as a sin-bearer. But as we will see as we get into this chapter, it's easy to see that this theology does not fit properly. Let's first ask the most obvious question. Let's begin with Aaron casting lots. If both of these goats represent Jesus, could represent Jesus Christ, there's no need to cast lots. Either one of those goats could represent death for the forgiveness of sin when it's sacrificed.

Either one of those goats could represent being a sin-bearer and sent out into the wilderness. Why in the world would you have to cast lots for two goats that almost look like identical twins and who both fulfill the role of something that Jesus Christ does? That just doesn't make sense. Well, why cast lots? I think it's a fair question. It represented the fact that only God could reveal to mankind.

Only God could reveal to a deceived humankind who was his beloved son, who offers eternal life, in contrast to who was a counterfeit God, who has been the God of this world all along, who has been the prince of the power of the air for thousands and thousands of years. Remember, as the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 14, he said, and no wonder for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

So Satan has the ability to masquerade as a counterfeit God. And frankly, many of the religions of this world are various ways to worship and idolize Satan. It's mankind's attempt to find meaning in life, and most religions have been inspired by the prince of the power of the air. It takes intervention from God. It takes his calling and his spirit to understand good from evil. I think we see that more and more in our world today. People call evil good. People's value systems are so warped and distorted, they don't even know right from wrong anymore.

Since perversion has become normal, or shall we say the new normal, they don't even have the ability to judge clearly. Evil from good, right from wrong. Positive from negative, healthy from diseased. The ability to make that discernment is rapidly leaving our world today. Also, the phrasing of the Hebrew doesn't support the view that both goats represent Jesus Christ. I want you to look back at verse 8. I want you to notice what it said. It said that one goat is for the Lord, and the second goat is for the Zazzil. It doesn't say both goats are for the Lord, does it?

Or did I miss something? No, it doesn't say that. The Hebrew is clear. One goat is for the Lord, and the other is for something else. Well, if it's not for the Lord, who's it for?

Many translators use the word scapegoat like the New King James translation does, and this is a poor choice of words because of who this goat represents. In our culture today, the word scapegoat has developed to mean a person who is blamed and punished for the sins of someone else.

Right? We say, ah, that guy's a scapegoat. Meaning, he took the hit. He took the fall for someone else's crime. That's what it means in our culture today. But brethren, the Zazzil is not a scapegoat because he is the originator of the sins of the nation. He is the first and the originator of all human sin. The word Zazzil itself, even though it is rather obscure, means to depart or go away. The Arabs have a similar word, a zalla, which means lonesomeness. It means being isolated. It means, according to the Arab word, being in a desert. The Zazzil is a goat of departure that will take something upon itself and be cast away. Let's take a look at verse 9.

And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's Lot fell, and offered is a sin offering, but the goat on which the scapegoat, with Lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement on it, to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

I'm going to read verse 9 from the new international version. But the goat chosen by Lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement.

By sending it into the desert as a scapegoat. Very beautifully transcribed verse there in the new international version. So both goats are making atonement. The goat for the Lord makes complete and total atonement for the forgiveness of sin by its shed blood. This is Christ, the Lamb of God, dealing with the effect of sin. The Zazzil goat makes atonement by his removal, by the removal of the influence of his actions, of his thoughts, of his wickedness from among the people. And again, the Zazzil represented none other than Satan himself. Now let's take a look into verse 11.

Verses 11 through 14, this is actually a backtrack into what was just described, only it offers it in a little more detail. So it's going to go back and it's going to recover the same things we just talked about in a little more detail. Verse 11, and Aaron shall bring the bowl of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bowl as the sin offering, which is for himself. Then he shall take a sensor full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of sweet incense, beaten fine, and bring it inside of the veil. I don't want you to be confused. This altar before the Lord is not the main altar that was at the lip of the tabernacle in which people brought their animals to be sacrificed. This altar before the Lord was called the altar of incense. It was located in an inner room of the sanctuary just outside of the Holy of Holies. It was one square cubic foot in diameter, and it had horns on all four corners. And it's from these coals that incense was burned. Verse 13, and he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the testimony lest he die. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side. And before the mercy seat, he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. So before he was even to go into the Holy of Holies and go to the mercy seat and touch the horns, or touch, I should say, the corners of that mercy seat with blood, he had to go in there with very thick, smoky incense. It obscured his ability to see the Holy Seat. This was because if he saw the total glory and presence of God, he would have instructed it. So it had to be obscured by the incense in there for him to even perform this ceremony. And this was all about cleansing this mere human priest of his sins before God, so he could be sinless and represent Jesus Christ. Again, if he would have looked at the power of God's presence directly, it would have killed him. Sprinkling the blood seven times represented the complete forgiveness of sin, which is only possible by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Let's take a look at verse 15. Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, this was one of those two goats that were brought in, bring its blood inside the veil and do that with the blood as he did with the blood of the bull. Remember, the bull was for his own sins. Now this blood of the goat is for the sins of the people. And he'll sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat, so he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions for all their sins. And he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting, which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. So now the high priest performed the same ceremony with the goat, sprinkling of the blood as he had with the bull. Remember, the bull was for his own sins.

The goat was for the congregation. This would cleanse the rest of the nation, the holy place, and the rest of the tabernacle building. And again, sprinkling the blood seven times, represented complete forgiveness of sin, and that's only possible through Jesus Christ himself.

Verse 17, there shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the holy place until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. Remember, he is prefiguring what Jesus Christ would do. And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and make atonement for it, and take some of the blood of the bull, and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. Then he shall bring, sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And when he is made an end to atoning for the holy place, the tabernacle of meeting in the altar, he shall bring the live goat. So in essence, he purified the whole nation by what he did. So we see here that one of the two coats was for the Lord. It was sacrificed, and its blood was shed and sprinkled in the holy place. And this represents Jesus Christ, who takes away the sins of the world. And this event looked forward to the perfect life of Jesus Christ and his ultimate sacrifice at the Passover. Jesus Christ came into the world. He lived a perfect life. He shed his blood, to cleanse the world from sin. And this is, of course, good news, good news for all humankind. But God still has some unfinished business, because there's still an evil force, an influential evil force, that remains. Verse 21, And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man, meaning someone who was responsible, someone whom you knew would get the task done.

Verse 22, The goat shall bear on itself all the iniquities to an uninhabited land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. Now, it says here that the priest would lay both hands on the goat. The Hebrew word for lay is samach, and it means to seize upon or take hold of.

It's not just a little gentle touching with the hands. You literally seize it with your fingertips hard. In other words, you're proclaiming the sins of the nation on this goat's head in a rough way.

That's exactly what the Hebrew word means. I want you to remember the curse and the prophecy that God gave to Satan in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. He told Satan, the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed, and he shall bruise your head.

And that was symbolized by the high priest, both hands representing Jesus Christ, seizing the head of this live goat and saying all the sins that this live goat had instigated by being the originator of human sin, of course, representing Satan himself. So all the sins of Israel are placed on this second live goat's head. This goat, who was not for the Lord but for the azazel, represents Satan, the originator of sin and the deceiver of all mankind. And again, it's stated that all the iniquities, all the transgressions, and all the sins of Israel, without exception, were confessed on this goat's head as the high priest held it with his two hands.

This special event is needed to achieve universal atonement, and the future fulfillment is symbolized by the day of atonement every year. One of the reasons why we celebrate the meaning of this day.

Brethren, Jesus Christ died for our sins, but something else remains to be dealt with. The victory of Jesus Christ removed sin, but the originator of sin is still active. He's still around. He's still in rebellion. And that's one of the things that make this day so somber. The realization of 6,000 years of human pain and suffering caused by the originator of human sin is very sober and is very humbling. The empty feelings inside our stomachs right now should remind us of how temporary we are without the continuing presence of God in our lives.

Christ was tempted by Satan, and he was physically famished after not eating for 40 days and 40 nights, but you know what? He was spiritually filled. And there's a message behind that. We are hungry today. I already hear my stomach groaning so loud that I hope the microphone is not picking it up. So even though we are physically famished, God wants us to be spiritually filled, especially on this day of atonement. Let's take a look at Leviticus 16, verse 22.

The goat shall bear in itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land, and he shall release the goat into the wilderness. Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take off the linen garments with which he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there.

So brethren, this goat bears all sin on himself. He's charged and judged guilty of sin, but he's not sacrificed. He's led into the wilderness by an able or a responsible man. The Hebrew word for wilderness is gazera, when it means a land that is cut off. That's what Hebrew means for wilderness, a land cut off, meaning there's nothing living there. It's lonely. It's isolated. It's like a desert. This goat was cursed and not to be seen again. So having said that, I want to get back to the theology that some say this goat represents Jesus as our sin bearer. Indeed, Jesus was our sin bearer. But that is not what is represented in this event. I was reading a commentary last night, and the gentleman said, well, this represents when Jesus went up to heaven.

Well, I don't fully appreciate or understand what this man thinks heaven is like, but my understanding of heaven is that it is not a wilderness, that it is not desolate, that it is not a lonely place. There are probably billions of heavenly hosts, and there are caraphim and seraphim and angels and all kinds of spiritual creatures that God has created to reside in heaven.

So I think it's quite a stretch to say that Christ fulfilled this when he left the earth and he went to heaven. But that's what a lot of mainstream theology says regarding the meaning of the Azazel goat. When was an able man or angel ever—when did an able man or an angel take Christ into the wilderness and Christ was never seen again? I don't remember reading about that. I don't remember picking that up in any scriptures that I've ever read. Romans chapter 16 and verse 19.

Let's turn there. Romans chapter 16 and verse 19. Paul wrote to the church at Rome—and you can imagine what a struggle that congregation had being in the capital city of the Roman Empire with all of the paganism and perversion that existed there. Romans chapter 12 and verse 6.

For your obedience has become known to all, and therefore I am glad in your behalf, but I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil. You shouldn't know too much about evil.

You should be rather a simpleton when it comes to knowing a lot about evil things. You should be naive.

You shouldn't know about a lot of evil. Verse 20, and the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet surely. And of course, this is the Greek word, suntibo, which means to break in pieces, to break to shivers, which by extension means no longer having any influence, just being totally removed, gone, swept up, and removed, and totally gone from influencing humankind from that time until he is let loose for a short period of time after the thousand years, which is a sermon for another day.

So here we are, and the collective sound of stomachs growling probably sounds like an orchestra in here today. So why are we fasting, and why is it so important for us to fast on the day of atonement?

Well, being afflicted serves to remind us that we are just mortal flesh, and hopefully we long for something far more permanent, far more beautiful, far more wonderful than this earthly tent that we temporarily dwell in. Being hungry reminds us of how much our thoughts are taken up with self, because suddenly when you don't eat for a while, it's amazing how you realize just how selfish we are.

We love to eat. We look forward to eating. We love the pleasures of this physical life, don't we?

We enjoy those things. In a spiritual way, brethren, we are dependent not upon physical bread and liquid water that comes out of the water faucet, but in a spiritual way, we should be dependent on the bread of life. That are the words of Jesus Christ himself. We should be dependent on the water of the Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit that resides inside of us. This is what should sustain us, because this is what makes us today, right now, at one with God. Having Christ living his life through us and allowing the power of Jesus Christ through the gift of the Holy Spirit to come pour out of us and have a positive influence in the lives of others. That's how we can be at one with God today. We fast today because it pictures a time when we'll no longer need to eat.

For sustenance, the Spirit contains life inherent with itself. That's the way God designed Spirit.

It doesn't need to eat. Someday, we will no longer be dependent on a physical source for life. We'll no longer be earthbound. We'll be able to fly into the heavens and travel at the speed of thought.

And our lives will be at an entirely different dimension than we are right now, with all of our stomachs groaning and growling. Fasting reminds us that we need to be humble to be at one with God.

James said in chapter 4 and verse 6, God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.

We want God's favor. We want God's mercy. His kindness extended to us. And fasting is one of the ways that we can humble ourselves. We fast on a physical level to remind us of the ultimate way to be personally at one with God. And that is to get at a spiritual level, to transcend our physical feelings and emotions and our physical desires, because it truly is about Spirit.

And when we fast on a physical lesson, hopefully it drives us to seek God from a higher level, from a spiritual level. You know, it's the spiritual level, whenever it is, and whenever that occurs in our lives, those are the times when we can get closest to God. Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights before he confronted Satan's for dominance of the world. It was that fasting that made him at his spiritual high and prepared him for the most titanic struggle that ever existed throughout history, the struggle between who in the future would dominate this world for eternity.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, or Satan, the Devil? And how did Jesus Christ prepare for that titanic battle of the wills of the wit? Jesus Christ fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. By the way, that was a miracle. Don't you ever try to fast 40 days and 40 nights. That was a supernatural ability, Christ's supernatural ability to do that. There was also another time when the disciples came across a child who was foaming at the mouth. The child was having convulsions. He was throwing himself in the fire and throwing himself in the water. He was in fits of self-destruction, and they couldn't cast the demon out of the voice that they took. The child, the Jesus, and they said, we did everything we know, and it didn't work. And Jesus said in Mark 9 and verse 29, this kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting. In other words, you've got to get to that spiritual plane. You've got to transcend the physical, and you've got to get to that spiritual level. And that, and then, is when we are closest to God. That's when we oftentimes can have a breakthrough in our lives. If we're struggling or treading water, or we're not happy in the direction that our lives are going. And as Mr. Howson mentioned in our sermonette today, fasting reminds us that we live in a world of spiritual slavery. Humankind needs freedom from Satan. The only way for this to happen is for the devil to be restrained and sealed and prevented from destroying mankind.

So this is the Day of Atonement. I hope there are some lessons we can lean out of this day as we think about how physical we are, how weak we are. I hope we can all acknowledge how much we need God in every area of our life. So I wish all of you a wonderful Day of Atonement, what's left of it. I wish all of you a blessed and wonderful Feast of Tabernacles this year, and I wish you a great last great day or the eighth day. Please travel safely. Please have a wonderful Feast. Draw close to God. Remember what the Feast is all about. And we look forward to you all coming home again because we all have a lot of wonderful things to do as a congregation. We've got growth that's planned. We have a new church home that God has blessed us with. We have a great future ahead of us, as I like to say, the best is yet to come for God's Church and for the Cleveland congregation.

So have a wonderful Feast, and we'll see you back here in a few weeks.