Day of Atonement

Very well. This is a particular sad day of atonement with the passing away of Joel Thomas and Lamont McKeemus a little over a week ago. It does show our mortality, and as we fast today and feel hunger and weakness, we acknowledge how fragile we are. If we don't eat or drink for a number of days, we would die. We are just flesh and blood. We know God the Father and Jesus Christ in heaven are also saddened by their deaths. Death is a terrible enemy, not only for humans, but for God as well. God had to see His Son, the Word, die an excruciating death. And so, although God has a great plan where death is going to be one day abolished, He cares for each one very dearly, and He is in charge. As Jesus said in Matthew 10, verses 29 through 30, He says, Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. Even a little bird, God knows, when it dies. But the very hairs on your head are all numbered. That's how much God cares for each one. The Bible also says, one day, God the Father will explain everything. In Revelation 21.4, it says, He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever. So death is temporary. It's going to be destroyed. It's going to disappear. The message of the Day of Atonement is very comforting and of enormous understanding for us. For it deals with the end of death and its promoter, the devil. It is an essential part of God's plan of salvation for mankind. We know death is temporary, and it is the end of the first stage of a person. But a much more glorious stage will come for those who are faithful when Christ returns. We will see the vital meaning of the Day of Atonement in the Old Testament, and how it sets the groundwork for its meaning in the New Testament. We are so privileged, brethren, to understand all these meanings and how they fit together. The key scripture to understand this concept is in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 9 through 18. This is what Paul is explaining because the Jewish people, having only the Old Testament, could not understand the spiritual meaning behind God's feasts, behind much of what God had put in His Word. It says in 2 Corinthians 3 verses 9, it says, For if the ministry of condemnation, which was in the Old Testament time, that administration which administered death to those who broke the law, and not out of ignorance, because if it was out of ignorance, they could offer sacrifices. But if it was intentional, for instance, adultery was to be stoned to death. Many other things. A child blaspheming his parents, or even blaspheming God, they would take them out after ascertaining that that was what had happened. They would have a judgment, but the sentence was death. They didn't have many juvenile delinquents in Israel when it was properly applied.

So if the ministry of condemnation had glory because it came from God, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. It is something superior to that administration.

For if what is passing away, that previous administration, was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech. Unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded, for until this day, talking about the Jewish people as a whole, the same veil remains un-lifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.

When you become converted, when you receive God's Spirit, when you accept Christ, then the veil is taken off. You can understand the spiritual meaning, and in particular, behind these feasts, that the world doesn't understand. Even many don't understand it fully, having come to a certain knowledge of the truth. It says, but even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.

Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. There is freedom from errors, because God reveals to us what we need to understand. But we all, those that are converted, receive God's Spirit with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, can't see everything perfectly, but at least we do have the outline of this truth, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. So it's a transformation.

We grow in understanding. And so, let's look at the two key features, first, of the Day of Atonement in the Old Testament. What was it that the Israelites understood about the Day of Atonement as it was revealed in the Old Testament? Homer Moore already mentioned the Scripture, so I'll just go over it very quickly. In Leviticus 23 verse 26, it says, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement.

So, the title of this day today, of this feast, and the term is Yom Kippur, a day of reconciliation, of making reparations for sin. The other Hebrew word that Homer mentioned, kaphar, means to cover, such as it was used for the mercy seat inside the Holy of Holies. There, on top of the Ark, there was a cover. There was a mercy cover. So, the first meaning, if we go to verse 32, talking about this Day of Atonement, It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls on the ninth day of the month, at evening, from evening to evening, as we're doing today, you shall celebrate your Sabbath.

All of this meaning has to do with the forgiveness of sins. People had to be in fasting mode, and going before the tabernacle sacrifices, the cleansing of the tabernacle of the people, of the priests, and God makes the first meaning having to do with every year, coming up at this time because of the accumulation of sins that it had to be dealt with, because God was in the midst of them. And so, that's what they understood. Notice in Leviticus 16 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 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, which means that this ceremony of forgiveness for your sins, for you to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It is a Sabbath, or a holy day, of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever, and saying, This shall be an everlasting statute for you to make atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.

So that was the first meaning. That's still understood by the Jewish people. There's no problem there. The second meaning, they puzzle over that. They don't understand it very well. It had to do with a ceremony of the two goats. It mentions here, further on, Leviticus 16, verses 7-10, talking about, The high priest 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, meaning that's what is representing here, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

The term in Hebrew, asaizo, which means the expelled one, the one who is cast out, that's what it means. So it's got a different meaning than the first. Or else you just need one, wouldn't you? But here, it clearly says, and of course another term for a sayzo is Satan. He is the one that the term scapegoat means the escape goat, the one that is taken into the wilderness and loosened. And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell and offer it as a sin offering.

That represents Jesus Christ's sacrifice. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement upon it and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. Again, the term scapegoat is what they try to understand it as such, but it's actually the term is in the capital letter of asaizo. But the Jewish people do not have understanding about it so much. They think, well, it just means that you're taking your sins out of the congregation and somehow you're throwing it out there in the wilderness.

But it's interesting. It was not to be sacrificed. It was to be loosened and banished in that way. Now, let's see with the veil off how the Day of Atonement in the New Testament takes greater meaning. In the New Testament, the importance of the meaning of the Day of Atonement shifts from the first meaning of Atonement of Sins to the second meaning of the symbol of the two goats. I'll explain why it happens. You don't focus so much on the first goat being sacrificed at that time and being representative of dying for the sins of Israel.

Why? Because with the fulfillment of Jesus Christ relating to these feasts, He's the one that fulfills that sacrifice of sins. We don't have different feasts in the New Testament. Just now, a spiritual meaning that is added to it that was not in the Old Testament. That's why the veil is still on the Israelites. It says here that these feasts took on a greater meaning. Then, Cyclopedia Britannica had it right when it said, The first Christians continued to observe the Jewish festivals, though in a new spirit, as commemorations of events which those festivals had foreshadowed, that Jesus Christ was going to fulfill.

Now, the roles did change with Christ fulfilling and adding the spiritual dimension to these feasts. The forgiveness of sins, which was so prominent in the Day of Atonement, the only day that the high priest could go inside the Holy of Holies, the only day that this ceremony was carried out, and it was the only day where Israel was told that their sins were forgiven. Again, the ones that involved sacrifices, because committing adultery, you didn't pay with an animal.

That was still, remember, the administration of death. But it talked about the uncleanness of the people and a lot of the sins of ignorance involved there, as Homer brought out in his first message, and I will do so too, that it said that even though these sacrifices covered the sins, they did not eliminate them. See, the conscience was still condemned, and they were still condemned to death as far as not receiving eternal life. That's why they're going to have to be resurrected in the Second Resurrection to be given the opportunity to repent once the veil has been lifted off their eyes.

The forgiveness of sins, which was so prominent in the Day of Atonement, shifts primarily to the meaning of the Passover Lamb and the Feast of the Passover. Yes, they still, as Christians, we should do so too. We should still remember, on this day, we're fasting. We remember what sin means, how atrocious, and we have to remember the sins committed and how we do have forgiveness. But we can now be reconciled every day of the year by going before God's throne. You couldn't do that as an Israelite. Only on the Day of Atonement could you go and receive that forgiveness as a people.

So, in 1 Corinthians 5, verse 7, it brings out the new meaning of the sacrifice of Christ. It says, therefore, purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover was sacrificed focus for us. And so, now, the focus of our sins is primarily on the Passover. We prepare for that. We examine ourselves to come before God and to take that Passover in a right way, as it mentions, time and time again. The preparation is at that time.

Let's look in Hebrews 9, verses 7-15. This is explained here about what Christ did, how He changed the meaning of the Day of Atonement. It says, but into the second part, the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood. He had to sacrifice for his sins, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. It was symbolic for the present time, in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience. In other words, spiritually, you are still guilty before God. That is not wiped away by doing sacrifices of animals.

Concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings and fleshly ordinances, that's the animal sacrifices imposed until the time of Reformation. There would be a shift and a focus on a different meaning for the Day of Atonement. But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come, with a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands. That is not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood he entered the most holy place. Once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. He is there every day. We can go, we can confess, we can repent, we can be forgiven. We don't have to wait for a certain day to be forgiven. And so it goes on to say, For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 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? Now that is the permanent, that's the lasting forgiveness that we seek. Not like the Jews that every year at this time, Yom Kippur, they talk about, Well, we're all thinking about what we've done wrong, but we have a resolution to do something better the next year. You know, it's a very shallow concept because they don't understand the real spiritual meaning behind it. Their faces are veiled. They don't have the understanding that God has given to us. And we certainly are not boasting. We're nobody, but we're so thankful. We can't understand this Bible in the proper way. It goes on to say, And for this reason he is the mediator of the new covenant, a new administration. By means of death he had to die for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Not physical, not just what the Israelites received physical promises, but we have an eternal inheritance.

So the Day of Atonement takes on far more importance as the fate of the second goat reveals. Actually, the understanding goes all the way back to the first prophecy in the Bible in Genesis 3.15. It is called, technically, the Proto-Evangelium, which means the first gospel, the first good news that God announced. He wasn't going to just banish humans and forget about them. No, He would save them. There's a process. And so in Genesis 3.15, God said, And I will put enmity between you and the woman, talking to Satan, and between your seed and her seed. So it would be a fight between the sons of God, the people of God, and the people of this world. It would be a constant conflict. He goes on to say, He shall bruise your head. Notice the seed here is highlighted. He shall bruise your head, talking about that Messiah that would come. And you shall bruise His heel. In a way, all of God's feasts are encapsulated. They're all fitted in this prophecy. The process of God saving people, and that Satan would go after people, and you would have to come in and become part of God's people. And how, in the end, Satan would have the Messiah killed, but then he would be resurrected. And so then he would come back, and he would deal with Satan. Talking about Satan, and again, making the analogy of this serpent that it would bite his heel. It's not something like hitting the head, but it would be a temporary victory for Satan. But then the seed will come, and he will crush, bruise your head. That's a vital organ there, talking about. So, going to another scripture, which shows us what actually began with what Christ did at his first coming, and with his death. This is the beginning of the bruising of the head of Satan. Hebrews 12, 14 through 15. It says, Inasmuch then, as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same. He shared being flesh and blood, a human being. That through death, through his death, he might destroy him who had the power of death. That is the devil. And release those who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. So, you see, with Satan, with his first coming, Jesus Christ dying, that was the first disqualification of Satan. That took place at that time.

The Bible knowledge commentary does have a good take on this. I want to read it. It says, Since they were human, then Jesus, their captain of salvation, had to become human and die for them, in order to rescue them. But, by doing so, he was able to destroy the devil. The author did not mean that Satan ceased to exist or be active. Rather, the word he used to destroy Kathargisi indicates the annulment of his power over whom Christ redeems. In speaking of the devil as wielding the power of death, the writer meant that Satan uses people's fear of death to enslave them to his will. Often, people make wrong moral choices out of their intense desire for self-preservation. That's a key word to understand this scripture. When he's talking about people, because they don't want to die, they want to preserve themselves, they're thinking, What's in my best interests? Many times, leading to sin. But they say, it doesn't matter. At least, I'll be able to preserve myself and enjoy life better, because I'm going to die one day, but I don't want to die right now. I want to have self-preservation. So, Satan exploits that. The fear that you're not going to do well in this life, and you can go along with me, and I'll make sure you'll have a better life. People, because of that, because they know they're one day going to die, they compromise their principles.

The readers were reminded that they were no longer subject to such slavery of Satan, and that they could face death with the same confidence in God that Jesus, their captain of salvation, had. So, yes, Satan is still around, but we've got somebody more powerful. That's God the Father, and also Jesus Christ on our side. Satan cannot do just what he wants with all of us.

So, I'd like to read of the actual event that now symbolizes the Day of Atonement. The emphasis of meaning now goes to the second goat, because the first goat, in his fulfillment, the meaning is in the Day of Passover. That's the time when we go before for the forgiveness of sins, for reconciling ourselves and everything else. And we've got the whole year we can do that before the throne of God.

So, going to Revelation 19.11, we see God reveals what Satan's fate, that second goat, is all about. And that's still in the future, because the first goat, what he's done, that's already in the past. But this is still looking forward to that time when the second goat will be banished.

In Revelation 19, verse 11, it says, Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on him was called faithful, and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. Verse 13, he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, because symbolizing his sacrifice. And his name is called the Word of God. That's the same one. That's who became Jesus Christ.

So, here we have the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets. And then, in a very rapid succession of events, after Christ comes, comes the meaning of the Day of Atonement, which follows the Feast of Trumpets. Notice, in Revelation 19, the latter part, when Christ comes to the earth, what he will do, verse 20, 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 the sword which proceeded from the mouth of him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. So, that's a fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets that announced the return of Jesus Christ. And then, immediately after, we have the following Feast with the significance. Chapter 20, verse 1, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. So, here God has a powerful angel that comes down from heaven, and he, says, verse 2, Laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up. In other words, he didn't kill him, but there he is, banished, banished to this very secluded place in this pit, 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, we have, in chapters 19 and 20, the sequence of events, the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets, the fulfillment of the Feast of Atonement, and then in verse 4, the next Feast, the succession of Feast after Feast, in these fall Feasts, verse 4, and I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. I'll go to the end of verse 4, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. That's what the Feast of Tabernacles means. So, here we have these Feasts full of meaning that, of course, in the Old Testament, you weren't going to be able to decipher and understand. But we do understand these Feasts. We have more understanding about the Day of Atonement, about sin, the devil, and his ultimate faith. I'd like to end with a good summary of this in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 51 through 58, which talks about the return of Jesus Christ, the transformation of people into spirit beings that will no longer die. Paul says, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. So, Paul was hoping that Christ would come while he was still alive. And, of course, he didn't want to die. He wanted to be transformed. And that was his hope. That's why he says here that we shall all be changed. The following verse, For the trumpet will sound, symbolic of the feast of trumpets, and the dead will be raised incorruptible. And we shall be changed, those who are still alive. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So, when this corruptible has put on incorruption, which means something that never dies, never deteriorates, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass a saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. Death is defeated. Death is abolished. O death, where is your sting? The pain that happens when a person dies. O Hades, which means the grave or the tomb, where is your victory?

It was only temporary. It could not hold those that were buried forever. The sting of death is sin. That's how a person gets condemned. And the strength of sin is the law. That's the understanding of God's law. But things be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And before I go to the last verse here, I want to pause and add a comment from G.E. Ladd in his book, The Gospel of the Kingdom. And I thought, again, very appropriate, right, hit the nail right on the head. It says, all of us, even though we have received the gift of life, are dying. With some, the descent to the grave will be a long, gradual, painful one. With others, it occurs with shocking suddenness. Some will enjoy a large measure of vigor until the very end. But we are all on our way to the grave. For we are dying, mortal creatures. God has something better for us. There will come a day when that which is mortal shall be swallowed up by an eternal life. The back aches, headaches, jangled nerves, arthritis, strained hearts, ulcers and cancers will all be healed. Our doctors, dentists and surgeons will have no more patients. Our hospitals will be empty. Eternal life will mean the salvation, the transformation of our bodies.

I finish with verse 58 of 1 Corinthians 15. Therefore, with the understanding that we can grasp, My beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not vain in the Lord. Brethren, that is as best we understand the meaning of the Day of Atonement in the Old Testament and also in the New.