Day of Atonement

We have a PowerPoint sermon today to help illustrate this message of the Day of Atonement. I'd like to know how many are attending the Day of Atonement for the first time in their lives. Anybody? Couple? Okay. We've got a few. It's always interesting when you are voluntarily fasting in this way. God is not one who wants to make us suffer. He doesn't enjoy having us be weak. But there is a purpose behind this, which for the Day of Atonement to really be fulfilled, it's important for us to be fasting today.

And I've had the privilege of basically some 46 years of days of Atonement. A very young boy of 17 when I started. Sometimes you might think these weathered veterans in the church, they say, well, here it is again. Day of Atonement. And we're going to talk about the two goats and the ceremony of Leviticus, and about fasting. But actually, there's so much to learn in the Bible.

I've been going over the Bible for 46 years, and I'm still learning just like a new child going to elementary school. There's just so much there. It is inexhaustible. The creativity that God produced in the Bible. And so we have something new to add for a deeper understanding of this day. We're going to talk, yes, about the Scriptures that we have covered in the past, but there are not only the two he goats and the symbolism that are important.

We actually have three more roles that are key to understanding this day. So the Day of Atonement is actually one where there are five key roles that are being fulfilled. And one of them has to do with us, as we will see. To begin the study on the meaning of this Day of Atonement, we need to go back to the command in Leviticus 16. It's also found in Leviticus 23, but I want to focus on Leviticus 16.

It basically says the same thing as in Leviticus 23. Starting in verse 29, Leviticus 16, verse 29, and during the Old Testament time when Israel left Egypt, started keeping the Day of Atonement for the first time, they had a tabernacle. This was given during that wilderness period, and it's a vital ceremony done on the Day of Atonement. It is a feast day. It is a day of fasting and a holy convocation for God's people.

Notice in Leviticus 16, in verse 29, it says, So first of all, this is a law that God establishes for human beings on this earth until there's a new heavens and a new earth, because this day will be kept throughout the millennium. The feasts of God will be kept by everyone then unless they, at the initial period, as they're going to rebel, some of the nations are not going to want to do it, Christ is going to have to correct them and discipline them until they learn that it's going to be done God's way now.

But it doesn't only extend through the thousand-year period. It extends to that period, what we call the Great White Throne Judgment, which is when probably 98% of those who have died are going to be resurrected. Only 2% basically have been called now and have a chance for salvation of all of mankind. That's just a rough estimate. But 98% are going to be in the second resurrection. That has to do with your grandparents and your great-grandparents, those who have died.

They didn't come to the knowledge of the truth, and so they will understand the Day of Atonement as well. They will be physical beings during that time. They will learn the meaning just as we are learning about this meaning. And continuing on, it says, in verse 30, it says, Interesting here, verse 31, a Sabbath of solemn rest. Actually, the term is a Sabbath of Sabbaths, which makes it much greater. That's where you get this term in the New Testament for the Feast Days, as this is the great day of the feast.

The word means the Sabbath of Sabbaths, and it is a holy day. Continuing on, it says, Verse 34, it says, So God knows that we fill up of sins during the year. This is a time of meditation. That's why we are fasting. We don't deserve all that God is offering to us, but we are very grateful. And now, a little earlier in this chapter, it tells us about the ceremony, that we're going to be covering the symbolism of it.

In Leviticus 16, in verse 2, it says, Because Aaron was a human being. He was the high priest at that time, but he sinned, and so he needed a sacrifice because he could not come in polluted by those sins before God. So at least in symbolism, he had to offer a sacrifice. It says, So he had to wash before that, symbolic again, of coming pure and clean before God. The linen was white, a symbol of purity. Of course, he wasn't up to the task, so he was a sinner.

He had to sacrifice animals, but he was representing something better than himself, as we shall see. So Aaron, as a high priest, was to wash, to dress, and to offer a sacrifice before entering the Holy of Holies. Keep your finger here in Leviticus 16, and let's go to Hebrews 9.7 to see the New Testament fulfillment. In Hebrews 9, verse 7, it talks about Jesus Christ being our perfect high priest. You're talking about that day of atonement, verse 7. I'm going to go to the next slide because Christ symbolically became the Lamb and high priest, fulfilling two key roles, which are symbolized in the Day of Atonement.

Hebrews 9, verse 7, it says, Yes, physically you were able to congregate with others, you were ritually clean, but spiritually you were still dirty before God. An animal wasn't going to remove the breaking of sins before God. So he says, it cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings. We saw that one with Aaron and fleshly ordinances. We had to do with the animal sacrifices imposed until the time of Reformation.

So yes, Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement and all its symbolism, which Aaron was just a type. Notice it says, verse 11, Yes, in a physical way, How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, cleanse you and cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? That's where you get the spiritual forgiveness for your sins, for all the dead works, which means all the sins of breaking God's laws. And for this reason, he is the mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, not a physical plot of land.

As such, he is talking about eternal life, God's eternal kingdom that is coming. And so let's go back to Leviticus 16. The next phase of this is found in verse 5. Talking about Aaron as a high priest, he says, 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.

Aaron shall offer the bowl as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. And then there are two goats, two male goats, that are important in this ceremony. So he takes on the day of atonement, two male goats were to be selected.

Notice verse 7. He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So all the congregation is watching as he presents these two goats in the front part of the tabernacle.

And then, once ready, lots were cast. So God would choose which goat represented which role, one for God and one for Ezezel. Notice what it says here, verse 8. Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat, which is the term Ezezel. And a scapegoat actually originates from the term the escape goat. That's the one that is banished and escapes into the desert. That's where the term scapegoat originally comes from. And so we have these two he-goats symbolizing two different identities. One represents God, it's for God, and the other one for Ezezel, which means the expelled one in Hebrew.

And some teach that the two goats represent Christ. But how can one be for God and the other one for Ezezel if both are for God? Doesn't make sense. It's well expressed in the Carl and Delish commentary, which is a very studious commentary on Hebrew. And it says here, the Hebrew words, quote, one lot for the eternal and, quote, one for Ezezel, require unconditionally. It means without any exception that Ezezel should be regarded as a personal being in opposition to the eternal.

Just like God is a personal being, Ezezel is a personal being as well. It says, we should not 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 evil spirit could have been placed in antithesis or in opposition in equal parts to God as Ezezel is here. But only the ruler or head of the kingdom of demons would fulfill that role, that you would have these two goats, one representing God's ways and God what he is doing, and the other one is Satan and what he is currently doing. Notice what it says now, the instructions to sacrifice the first goat of the offering to the Lord, starting in verse 15.

So he shall make atonement, which as it is brought out, atonement means a covering or a forgiveness 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 meeting, which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. Because by that time, the sins of Israel had multiplied throughout the year. Now there had to be this symbolic cleaning. People had to be aware of their shortcomings and how they needed God's mercy and forgiveness.

And so this is what this day was designed to picture. This in the Jewish nation is the holiest of days in that sense. Many Jews don't keep anything else, but the Day of Atonement is the one that they are sure to remember. Why? Because they want to be forgiven. They realize, oh, I really need... It's like a confession that they go through. Unfortunately, of course, they don't get the New Testament fulfillment of it, which is so important. Continuing on, verse 17, it says, There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement. So one goat would represent Christ and the other Satan the devil. It's a reminder of what we read in 2 Corinthians 11, 2-4. Satan disguises himself as an angel of light, as he once truly was. And so he is the God of this world. People worship him not knowing who they really are following because he is the arch deceiver.

And here he is pictured as being in antagonism with God, but at the same time, he is a personal being. He is a quite powerful being, especially now in this society.

The goat chosen as a zaizo, which means the expelled one, represented Satan, who will eventually be bound, punished, and cast out.

And as we are reading now, the high priest then took the goat, that represented God's sacrifice for sin, and put it to death along with the bull. Remember, the penalty for sin is death, and so blood had to be shed. God the Father has a role as the one who permits his son to die for us. Let's read 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21.

2 Corinthians 5, verse 21.

Because God has a role in this day of atonement. It's not just Jesus Christ.

It says here, For he, talking about God the Father, made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Through him we receive forgiveness, and we become righteous before God, not because of our own merits.

And so Christ symbolically became the Lamb and the High Priest, fulfilling these two key roles.

So in this day of atonement, Christ is not only the sacrifice, he represents the High Priest that we have now.

We have fulfilled this day of atonement with Christ sitting at the right hand of God the Father and acting as our High Priest with His sacrifice to forgive our sins.

So those are the first two roles that we're talking about.

But the third role has to do, and before I get there, remember, when Christ died, the curtain separating the Holy of Holies was rent into, Luke 23, 45, showing a new and better way to go directly before God, Hebrews 10, 19-25.

And we also have a key role to play as those who receive these benefits from God, and we humbly accept this unmerited gift with fasting and gratitude being reconciled to God through it.

So, okay, now we covered the five key roles.

The first one, Jesus Christ as our High Priest, Jesus Christ as our sacrifice for sin.

Satan as the Azazel goat, whose destiny will be to be punished and expelled forever.

We have God the Father who makes it all possible because He's the one that allowed His Son to be sacrificed for us.

Without His go-ahead, this would have been a non-starter.

So God the Father fulfills a key role.

And finally, God's people, because we're not just passive observers.

We are involved in this. That's why we are fasting.

We don't come and watch what God has done in the past and what He's carrying out today and what He's going to carry in the future and that we are these passive observers. No, we are intimately involved in this plan that God is carrying out.

This is one of the reasons we are here fasting, because we know what sin causes, what sin has produced in this world and in us.

And we are heartbroken and we are repentant about that. And so we come humbly grateful for all that God and Jesus Christ have done for us.

But how about Satan? Since he is described in this ceremony as well, he has a key role, which he is also carrying out.

Notice that the first goat is sacrificed and some blood is collected, sprinkling on the people and on the tabernacle.

And then the next part of the ceremony focuses on the second goat called the xeizo.

And the sins are confessed upon it, too, since Satan also has a role in our sins.

So let's read this, Leviticus 16, verse 20.

It 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 head of the live goat, confess over it all 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. So here's the symbolic way of saying, man has not sinned on his own.

Satan has had great responsibility in provoking the human beings to go against God, to go against God's laws. He's still deceiving people. And so he has led them unwittingly to break God's laws and to fall under sin. And so he is greatly responsible.

We have to go along with what Satan wants us to follow. He can't do it without our consent, but he's like the amplifier. This microphone, if it wasn't working, my voice would not be heard throughout. Now, the microphone does not produce the voice, but it amplifies it.

Satan amplifies sin, amplifies hate to the point where people can kill each other, and wars happen, and crimes happen, and thieves start out stealing some little things and end up stealing houses, everything inside houses, and killing people over robbing banks and everything else. Satan is the great magnifier of sin. That's why we have to resist his wavelength. So the goat is taken to the desert in verse 22. So after hands are laid on the goat, then a strong person takes them bound, banished to be left in the wilderness, far from any living presence. As it says here, the goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. It's interesting that he's not killed. Why is he not killed for all of the crimes that have been put on his head? This is a strange situation if it were not a spirit being that is being represented. A spirit being is not made out of flesh and blood, can't be killed with a knife, and angels are immortal. They don't have an expiration date on them.

God is the one that sets up the rules, and he has set up that angels continue to live. And so here you see this ceremony where the insider of sin, Satan, is not killed symbolically but expelled. It makes sense if it's talking about a spirit being. There are two stages for Satan and his demons that are described in the Bible. What's going to happen in the future? Let's go to Revelation 20, verses 1-3. I have it here so you can read it. It says, Then I saw an angel, 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 him into the bottomless pit. See, the angel is symbolic of the strong man binding the goat.

And after this, it says there in Revelation 20, verse 4. Well, let's read the rest of verse 3. It says, And he cast him into the bottomless pit, 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. So it shows that Satan has been busy deceiving people. He is a spirit being, very powerful. He has his angels that follow his heed and heed his call, follow his orders. And thanks to them, this world has become more and more corrupt, more degenerate, because Satan is a degenerate being. He wants chaos. He wants violence. That is the way he lives. And then in Revelation 20, verse 7, it tells us he's going to be released after the thousand years. Verse 7, it says, Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison, and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. So he's going to go back and deceive that final generation who basically receives all the blessings. They were born during the millennium. They never knew what war was. They never knew what violence and what greed and all of these things. But as soon as Satan comes back, he starts stirring up that human nature, because not everybody's going to be converted. They have to go through a process of conversion. And so he's going to rustle up that rebellion in people again.

And what will they do? They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, talked about Jerusalem, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. So what we see here is that Satan goes after the weakest link about human beings. And in this Gog and Magog, they're always symbolic of the nations that have been hostile to God. And of course, Jerusalem is where Jesus Christ is reigning. And so he goes to the farthest ends and tries to tell people, why aren't you in charge? Why can't you be part of Israel during the millennium? Why do you have to go along with what God says? Wouldn't it be better for you to even get richer and more powerful? And so he's going to pray off of people's weaknesses, and he's going to have a huge group that are willing to rebel. This is the last lesson that human beings need to learn, that even in these millennial settings, just like in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve didn't have any worries. They lived in a beautiful place, but you allow Satan to be there, and all of a sudden they start lusting after the wrong things. And so the final lesson learned by mankind is God can't trust human beings. That's why he has to transform them into spirit beings with a perfect character and nature, because human beings, even in ideal conditions, given the Satan's wiles, given their own human nature, they will eventually rebel.

So it says here, then in verse 10, I'm going to read it here from the majority, King James Version, and 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've already been burned up a long time ago, and he will be tormented day and night forever and ever, talking about Satan. And also, of course, the demons that are with him, because it's not only Satan that is going to be cast there. Jesus Christ mentioned this in Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25 verse 41.

Notice what he says here about this end-time prophecy. Matthew 25, 41. Says, 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 it mentions Satan was cast into that fire, and here it mentions that it wasn't only him, but he represents his army. He represents all these hosts of wickedness. And so the Day of Atonement, with its ceremony, explains the presence of evil. People say, well, why do these terrible things happen all the time in the world? Well, Satan is stirring things up. And as people lose more and more of their Christian values, which is a restraint, as people become more disobedient and rebellious, then Satan can get to their mind much stronger. And as you see nowadays, even common decency and law and order that used to be upheld, that's breaking down. Policemen are being shot. They just got shot over there just recently. Was it in Palm Springs? Was it in that area? Just cold-bloodedly? And we're seeing that more and more.

People are rebelling because Satan is stirring up the pot, and they don't realize who they are spiritually connected to. That is the great danger. So this ceremony explains the presence of evil, but also how it will be dealt with and ultimately removed. So there are these five key roles in the day of atonement. And one day, Satan is going to be removed, forever expelled with his demons, and we will never have his influence to deal with again. That new Jerusalem will come down, and the resurrected saints will be given authority to rule under Christ for a thousand years when Christ comes back, and we'll help transform the world into a second Eden. During those thousand years, Satan is not going to be around. People will still be born with human nature, but there won't be any magnifier. There won't be anything to amplify and multiply anything evil. So we're not going to have the catastrophic wars and the catastrophic crimes and massacres that we see today. These conditions will continue during the Second Resurrection. In Revelation 21, verse 27, Satan will not be around nor anyone who has followed his ways. Talking about the glory of this new Jerusalem, verse 27, it says, But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie. Can you imagine people will all be honest? You won't have any liars there. You won't have anybody causing damage.

But only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Satan's influence will be completely erased. That will be just a distant memory. And then we will be able to live purely, wonderfully, learning to serve and to love each other. That's what this Feast of Tabernacles is all about.

Learning to serve and to love each other and projecting it forward into that coming kingdom. We are not of this world. We are not of this world's system. That's why we do not follow in the same way the world's false values, the way it governs itself.

It removes God from the courthouses, from the government, from the schools.

And so, of course, they are facing all of this damage and violence that has never been seen in this country before. And it's the same and worse even around the world.

So we have five key roles in the Day of Atonement. The first two are carried out by Jesus Christ. He has become our High Priest, and He also has offered Himself as a sacrifice. Only God could pay the price of all of our sins.

And only through God the Father could He be resurrected again and be brought back with all the glory. And sitting at the right hand of God the Father, He ministers for us. He is our friend. He is our pastor, chief pastor.

But the Day of Atonement doesn't only have to do with one goat and one High Priest. It also has to do with the second goat.

The one that has to do with a saso, because God is very frank that there is an influence in this world.

Satan is alive and well. He is multiplying his miniums. He's multiplying his followers. And so the world is becoming far more violent and terrible.

Although God created us not to be miserable in this life, He wants us to enjoy this life. The problem is, under Satan's influence, it has become worse and worse.

Then we have the role of God the Father in the Day of Atonement. Because that goat representing God would never have been sacrificed if God did not love the world to the point where He gave up His only Son so that we would not perish.

So He has an active role. And finally, we, brethren, have an active role.

We have faith that God has promised that He's going to carry out this plan.

And we have the faith to follow His instructions, His commandments, His teachings to the very end. Because today the world is still deceived. They're at work. They're doing all kinds of things. What do they know of Satan's true influence? What do they know about how on this day God asks His people to present themselves by fasting, by being of broken heart and humble before Him? Just like it says in Isaiah 62. Let's see if I've got that right here. No, it's... Isaiah 66, too. That's what I wanted to say. Isaiah 66, too. It says, For all those things my hand has made, and all those things exist, says the Lord. But on this one will I look, on Him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word. It really takes it seriously. It doesn't just talk about it. They do it. Day of Atonement might be a pretty day for people to talk about, but how many do the fasting? That's where you put your actions before your words, and you carry things out as God has intended. So as the New Jerusalem will one day come, Satan will no longer be involved. God the Father and Jesus Christ have carried out their roles. God's people will be waiting for that New Jerusalem to come. And by the way, according to Revelation 21, it is 1400 cubic miles, which means that it is bigger than the country of India. Basically, if the New Jerusalem landed on the United States, it would cover everything from the Appalachian Mountains all the way to the California coast, and all the way from Mexico all the way to Canada. That's the size of the New Jerusalem. And not only that, but it is also 1400 miles high, which means if each one of those stories, if every one of them had 12 feet, you'd have 660,000 stories. God is going to have billions of people there with their offices, with their own beautiful place. Those are the mansions that God says He is preparing for us. That New Jerusalem. For all the billions of people, we're talking about a huge amount of space that we will be there with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Now, of course, the whole universe is waiting to be renewed and beautified, but we don't have to come to our Father's place. We will have a place with our Father. That's the good news. That's why we keep this day of Atonement.