The Day of Atonement

But I do have an important message to share with you. It seems like we'll never quit learning about these feasts, no matter how many times there's just so much in the scriptures about that, just like in the feasts or trumpets that we had. Well, this one too. I've learned new things. And I want to thank David Teague, who painted that beautiful painting that we were able to see in the video of the Day of Atonement, and all the peoples that are going to, at that time, have their eyes open to the truth. And I focused on a bit of that message that he was talking about, and watching the eyes of some of the people as they were all blind in the back, but in the front, their eyes started opening up. And in wonderment. And so, the eyes of the people of the world were being opened. The world's blinders were being removed. I think a good title for that painting would be, The Moment of Breaking Satan's Spell Over Humanity. And this is, of course, described in the Bible. How it happens, when it happens. So, it's part of the message of the Day of Atonement, because truly, the main message of the Day of Atonement for us, who have God's Word, and we have the New Testament, we not only have the Word of God, but we have the Word of God. And not only are focusing on the Old Testament, they both blend in, is the expulsion, confining, and sealing of Satan and his demons. The expulsion, confining, and sealing of Satan and his demons. So, let's look in Isaiah 25. Just remember the painting by David Teague, when we read this in Isaiah chapter 25.

Starting in verse 6. This is talking about when Christ comes in his kingdom. And it says, and in this mountain, talking about Mount Zion, the Lord of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces. This is talking about choice, stakes, and all kinds of the best meat that you can imagine. A feast of wines on the leaves, which means aged wines that are delicious. A fat thing full of marrow, which is talking about the beef being not made of fat, but just very soft. Of well-refined wines on the leaves. So, Christ is going to have this big banquet. And then he says, and he will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people. Just like this blinding spell that Satan has put upon this world. And the veil that is spread over all nations. To blind them, to not be able to see the truth of God. He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. The rebuke of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day, as their eyes open to the truth, Behold, this is our God, and we have waited for him, and he will save us. This is the Lord. We have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. And so that's the attitude, a very different attitude than today. You know, basically you would have to, you know, twist a person's arm behind our back to say, please obey God, because they just won't do it on their own. That's the world we live in. Notice in Isaiah 30, it's just a little bit further out. By the way, Isaiah is called the Millennial Prophet. The Millennial Prophet, because he has so much about God's kingdom. In Isaiah 30, verse 30, it says, and the Lord will cause his glorious voice.

Let's see, it's a little bit before then. Let's see if I got it right.

Oh yes, it's at 20. Isaiah 30, 20, it says, and though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, all the trials, tribulations, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers. These are the people that will materialize. God's, you know, hopefully all the saints. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, this is the way. Walk in it. Whenever you turn to the right or the hand, or whenever you turn to the left, you will also defile the covering of your images of silver. No more idolatry. And the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing. You will say to them, get away. Nobody will have false religion anymore. And so this day of atonement, when we are fasting, because we also are responsible for our own sins. It's not just Satan and the world, but we have a responsibility, and as God's people, especially now as we go to the feast, we want to purify our attitudes, our minds, to be able to go properly to celebrate this wonderful feast ahead. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 3. Again, about how Satan has blinded the world. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 3. It says, but even if our gospel is veiled, in other words, people don't understand it. He says, it is veiled to those who are perishing, those people that are not being called now, whose mind the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. So again, Satan has blinded the world with a spell, and it can only be broken by God. Finally, in Acts chapter 26 verse 17, it describes the apostle Paul's commission. Acts chapter 26 verse 17. It says, I'm talking here Christ when he appeared to Paul, he says, I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Well, we are those people. How privileged are we to be able to celebrate not some Jewish feast with all kinds of different paraphernalia that they add to it, but God's feasts with the true meaning behind them. I have an article here that appeared in a picture. I'm going to hand it out in a moment, but this is from the Orange County Register. And just to show that the Jews are still blinded from the truth to this day. It says, an ultra-orthodox Jewish man whips a member of his acidic dynasty with a leather strap as a symbolic punishment for his sins last year, doing the traditional malchot, which means whipping in Hebrew, ceremony ahead of Yom Kippur that begins at sunset, in Beit Shemesh, Israel. So this is what they did yesterday. I'm gonna go ahead and give it to Ray.

Now we consider the Jews as our brothers. We respect them, but we're not going to follow their traditions. Notice what Romans chapter 10, 1 through 4, Romans chapter 10, 1 through 4, to see how the Jews are still blinded from the truth to this day. They'll come up with different traditions because they don't have a clue about the spiritual meanings of these feasts. Here I'm going to read it from the common English Bible, Romans 10, 1 through 4. It says, brothers and sisters, Paul talking, my heart's desire is for Israel's salvation. That's my prayer to God for them. I can vouch for them. They are enthusiastic about God, very zealous, very dedicated. However, it isn't informed by knowledge. The knowledge comes through conversion. They don't submit to God's righteousness because they don't understand His righteousness, and they try to establish their own righteousness. Christ is the goal of the law. Deuteronomy and Greek tell us that's where God was taking everybody to Christ. The law was to take people to Christ, to do it Christ's way, true righteousness, which leads to righteousness for all who have faith in God. And that's why, unfortunately, the Jews still don't have God's Holy Spirit guiding them. But one day they will. Notice in Romans 11 verse 7.

Romans 7.

I mean Romans 11, 7. It says, what then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks. In other words, to please God. But the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. And there are Jews that God called, and it became part of the elect. But the rest were blinded.

God has allowed Satan to blind them. It goes on to say in verse 25. It says, for I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, talking about the Gentiles who were called, who received God's Holy Spirit and had the truths of God revealed, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved as it is written. The deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. So the Jews today keep the physical aspects of these feasts, but not what they foreshadowed with Christ as a central figure in each one of these feasts. For instance, tabernacles. It's a symbol of temporary dwellings in the wilderness. That's what tells us in Leviticus 23 about the feast that you're supposed to build little huts during that time.

Temporary dwellings. And it was to recognize God sustained them through those 40 years. Can you imagine providing food for them in that wilderness area? They didn't have forests and fruit trees and everything else. They had manna. Manna was an all-purpose nutritional food that kept them healthy. And so when they keep the feasts of tabernacles, they remember back those 40 years that they were in the wilderness, and God sustained them. And then when they got to Israel, God said, you're going to have branches of fruit trees, and you're going to make these huts, which had to do with the promised land, receiving this land with plenty. But we keep it as a symbol of temporary dwellings in anticipation of and picturing living in the millennium. Not the promised land here on the earth, but the coming millennium. How's that going to be? How wonderful it's going to be with the abundance and everything else. So God tells us save 10 percent of your income to be able to go to this feast and for eight days enjoy a little slice of that coming kingdom. That's why Gary brought up about how this is feast fever. Well, it's this time when we're all together for eight days in beautiful settings, in temporary dwellings. But it's not like we're thinking about 40 years in the wilderness when God sustained them with manna. Now we're thinking about God's kingdom, where we are going to be eternally sustained through a spirit body. How much greater is that? Worshiping God like we do continuously during these days and having fine fellowship. And the same can be said about the day of atonement. The Jews have no idea what it really means.

They think it's about just their sins that be forgiven because, again, as Ron brought up, they don't look at the Passover as a time of Christ's application of sin, of application of that forgiveness. And so they come up with all of these points which remove a central element of the day of atonement. Yes, yes, there's a day of fasting. We're also responsible because we let Satan guide our minds and attitudes to sin and things like this. And also that we need that purification that takes place. But the main point is the binding and shutting up of Satan and his demons in that bottomless pit. And that's right before the millennium. That is when the spell of deceit will be broken.

Now without Revelation 19 and 20, we can understand the meaning and the chronology of these fall feasts. Trumpets, if you have just the Old Testament to guide yourself with trumpets, doesn't give you any spiritual significance to this. Then you have also atonement. And again, the spiritual significance is lost if you just focus on the Old Testament. And the same with tabernacles or the eighth day. So although the spring feasts and the summer feasts, we can understand a little bit of the spiritual meaning pass over because in Paul's epistles it tells us Christ is the Passover. So we can relate it pretty well. Days of Unleavened Bread, the purification of God's people from sin. Then you have Pentecost with the receiving of God's Holy Spirit. Those events have happened already in the past. But the fall feasts, the trumpets, atonement, tabernacles, and the eighth day, those are in the future. And we could really not understand them unless we have these last chapters of the book of Revelation.

So we're going to focus on the day of atonement. It's called Yom Kippur.

And it means the day of the covering over or sealing. Kippur means to cover over or to seal something. And kippur is the noun and the verb is kafar.

Let's look in the ceremony in Leviticus 16. Leviticus 16. And thanks to having the entire Bible, we can look back and understand what the day of atonement is all about. Notice in Leviticus 16 in verse 5, it says, talking about the high priest, and he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering. And then it says, verse 7, 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 means representing the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat, which the term is a zaizel in the Hebrew, which means the expelled one. The IVP, which is the background Old Testament commentary, says since Leviticus 16.8 identifies one goat as for Yahweh and the other goat as for a zaizel, it is most consistent to consider a zaizel as a proper name, probably a demon. And that's correct. That's what it means for a zaizel. Let's continue in Leviticus 16.

So then in verse 8, verse 9, it says, and Aaron shall bring the goat of which the Lord's lot fell. And we've always said that part of this is because Satan disguises himself as this angel of light. And so God is the one that says this is mine, not the counterfeit goat, which is from Satan, and offer it as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, and it should say a zaizel goat, which is the one that is expelled, shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement, covering over upon it, and let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

And then it goes on to say in verse 15, it says, then they shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat. It's interesting that that word also is kippur, which means his lid, covering sins, 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 so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting, which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. In verse 20, it says, and when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar. And again, this was a way of physically making a sacrifice to be able to clean the people from their sins, not just unintended sins, but also intended sins. This was when they were just kind of wiping away of all of these sins, because it was again, unconverted people. Not talking about God's Spirit guiding them, and being able, through Christ as the mediator, they didn't have that. So they had a high priest to do that. He says, and when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. Aaron shall lay both his hands on the hand head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel. Now this is, again, Christ takes up our sins for forgiveness, but Satan is here signaled and shown to be author of these sins. He says, and all their transgressions concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat. So it's actually kind of like a transferring of the guilt. That's why we're fasting. We don't want to have any of that guilt on our heads. And shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. Continuing, it says, the goat shall bear on itself all the iniquities to an uninhabited land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. So that goat is not killed. Unfortunately, the Jews today, they teach that that goat is killed. But see, they don't know the symbolism, because Satan is an immortal being. He can't die. And so here he is expelled to a place where he can no longer influence anybody else. And then in verse 29, it says, this shall be a statute forever for you in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month. You shall afflict your souls, which means fasting, and from the term anah, to humble yourself by fasting. 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 shall make atonement for you to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before your sins, for all the sins before the Lord. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. So God has established it. And of course, the Jewish people keep doing it, because they have not been illuminated by God's Spirit. And here we are. We don't have this heritage of generation after generation of keeping in synagogues these days. Here we are. And we've been gifted with the spiritual truth. We should never take it for granted. And so now, as you see, we're going to talk about that second goat, which there's not much said by other Christians or Jews at all. Let's go to Revelation 19 and 20, because here we see the sequence of events that portray these fall feasts. It's the final section of God's plan of salvation.

So Revelation 19, verse 11, is the first feast in the fall that is here, given the details of it. Revelation 19, verse 11. It says, Now I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he who sat on him, who was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. Well, he's the Word that was there with God the Father. And so we have the armies in heaven, verse 14, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And so that's what the Feast of Trumpets is about, the coming of Jesus Christ.

In verse 19, it says, and I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and the armies gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with a sword which proceeded from the mouth of him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. So this has to do with the Feast of Trumpets.

And then the next verse is where it answers the question, yes, the beast and the false prophet, the armies have been taken care of, but what about Satan and his demons? See, he's not taken care of in the Feast of Trumpets. Now, with this second event, symbolized by the Day of Atonement, he is. So we go to Revelation 20 verses 1 through 3. This is what the Day of Atonement points to. Its main purpose is there. It says, then I saw an angel coming down from heaven. Having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. Now, this is reminiscent of what that man that was prepared had to be a powerful man. And he came with a rope to tie the neck of that goat that's represented as Azul. And he had to drag him out to a place many, many miles away to a place where he could that goat could never come back. That was part of the prerequisites. And it says, and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon. Yes, that is representing Azazel, the goat, that serpent of old who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And so he tied him up. It's like the Azazel goat had to be bound. And he cast him into the bottomless pit. This simply means a pit so deep that you can't see the bottom of it. Because this is going to be in the earth. That's going to happen. But it's so deep that you can't see the bottom of it. And shut him up. So here's the indication, a kafar, closing of the lid, sealing this place. And shut him up and set a seal upon him. And notice he had a key, too. So that lid is there, and it is locked. It is sealed. Nothing can come out. 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. So that term kafar and yom kippur, the sealing is not only about Israel and their sins or our participation in the world's sins and Satan. No, it's also the shutting. Here is the event and moment in history when Satan is sealed. No more. And that's what we saw with all the people. Their eyes begin to open up. The spell has been broken. Now they can begin to see God's truths.

And then, continuing in Revelation 4, talks about the beginning of God's kingdom, the millennium, verse 4, and I saw thrones and they sat on them and judgment was committed to them. So Christ begins to populate his government on the earth. And it says at the end, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years, but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ shall reign with him a thousand years. So basically, we replace that government that had been there in place of Satan. And that's why this day is so much more important than just the physical ceremony, but the spiritual meaning behind it. And that we're going to be able to, God willing, see Satan bound and this day of atonement be fulfilled.

And then it says in verse 7, after the thousand years, now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison. So okay, the seal is going to be broken. The key is going to be used and the lid and Satan and his demons all come out again for a short amount of time. It says, and he will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth. So okay, he's going to weave his spell of deceit again with all the people that are not converted at that time. Because you still, during the millennium, have to repent. You have to commit to God. You have to obey God. So there are going to be people here. Gog and Magog is also a symbol of just the worst people that are just defiant. Because that's what in history, Gog and Magog, were just defiant. That's where you got the Mongols, you got the Chinese, you got the Russians, and many of these areas, and the steppes, and all these places just, they like war. And we have so many problems, even today.

He says, together to battle, whose number is the sand of this year, there's always going to be somebody who doesn't want to obey God. Because there's still flesh and blood. They lived in a wonderful millennium, but that doesn't mean that you can't become a juvenile delinquent. And was Satan tempting you? Oh, he says, oh, this is boring here. Let's have some excitement. Let's have some orgies. Let's have some good times, and get drunk, and use drugs, and all of that. And people will be tempted. He says, they went up and upon the breadth of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. So you see, that's where we're at. There's been peace reigning for a thousand years, but here comes this huge army against the saints. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire, and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet, and it should say, were. Because they already got incinerated at the beginning of the millennium. And talk about Satan and his demons, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Now, let's look at Scripture here in Revelation 12.9. Let's go back to Revelation 12.9. Understand something about the way the Bible is written.

That, you know, once it's been established that there's a head person, and then there's an army under them. You can just mention the head person, and it's with the army too. But it doesn't have to be mentioned. In Revelation 12, verse 9 through 12, it says, so the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of all, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

And they overcame him by what? By all kinds of rituals and all kinds of ideas that the world has? No! And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath, because he knows he has a short time.

And that can happen very soon. We see the world just losing more and more control. And so going back to Revelation 20, that I wanted to go to Matthew 25, 41, just to give you another reference scripture about when it mentions Satan, it includes his demons. They're all part of the same group. It's like saying Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo. Well, does that mean that he was the only guy there? No, it's because he's got an army. But you know that Napoleon is the head honcho. He's the one in charge. And so in Matthew 25, 41, and I just want to be very precise about everything that is said so we can prove it with Scripture.

Matthew 25 verse 41, Christ says here, then he will also say to those on the left hand, depart from me you cursed into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. So that's a given, but sometimes people say oh he's all by himself. No, because where would the demons be? Would they be running around on the earth? We wouldn't have gained anything. So now we're slowly finishing up here, but after this we have chapter 20 of Revelation verse 11. Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away.

That's Jesus Christ and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God and the books were open. These are the books of Scripture, which is and another book was open, which is the book of life. This is the book of God's Holy Spirit being listed the person as having God's Holy Spirit, and the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books.

So they're going to be judged just like we are by the things written in Scripture. Then following it, another resurrection, the third resurrection takes place. Now this great white throne judgment is represented by the eighth day, the last great day that we also are going to keep. And so we see the chronology of these fall feasts all falling in line together.

And finally, in Revelation 21 and Revelation 22, it describes once Christ has set up the kingdom, He's judged everybody, everything's been purified, the earth has been purified by fire, no more remembrance of all these battlefields with all the bloods spilled. It'll just be one beautiful kind of a blue ball type of metallic. And then the new Jerusalem comes down. It says in chapter 21, verse 1, Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea. So the ocean has been evaporated completely.

Then I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. So God the Father finishes this wonderful plan of salvation. He's establishing the kingdom of God now over the entire universe.

And then in verse 22, chapter 22 rather, it shows us the new Jerusalem, the inside part of it. It says, And He showed me a pure river of water, of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Notice there are two separate persons here. God the Father and the Lamb in the middle of the street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits. Each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for healing of the nations. It's actually more like a refreshing of the nations. The term is like the one we use thera putic in the Greek. It comes from that word. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him, or shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there, need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. They shall rain forever and ever. Basically, that's the end of the story of God's feasts. And this feast of day of atonement, in particular, how important it is to remember what it truly is all about. And we look forward to the time when Satan is finally bound, confined, and sealed. And then, just like in that video that we saw, people's eyes will be open for the first time to see God's truths. Have a wonderful feast wherever you go. And, uh, Cady and I are looking forward also to being at that feast. And we'll be praying for all of you in safety and pray for good weather as well.