Day of Atonement

I'll always remember my first day of atonement. It was 1958. I'd just come out to Ambassador College. And to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, we had to travel to Big Sandy, Texas, more than halfway across the country. And so I was on my way to the Feast of Tabernacles in Phoenix, Arizona, when I and other students and ones en route to Big Sandy, Texas for the feast. We had two services back in those days, morning and afternoon. We'd have about a two-hour break in between. Maybe some of you will remember two services. How many here can remember those days? Later on, we did switch to one service. We felt that that was better to do it that way. I'll always remember that first day of atonement. You'll probably always remember yours, too. My wife's first day of atonement was in 1962. And she and her parents had no church to attend, so they just kept the day of atonement in their local area near the Orlando, Florida area, where my wife is from. And she fasted that day, but didn't realize the full import of the day. She went to school. And during the day, that water fountain looked awfully nice to that thirst. She forgot that she was fasting, so she drank some water and then realized she was fasting. So, you know, we all grow, don't we? We all have stories to tell. You probably have some very interesting ones as well. But this day of atonement is a day of fasting. Out of 19 festival days, when we add seven for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, seven for the Feast of Tabernacles, altogether there are 19 festival days during the year. Only one is a fast day. Now, what if it were the other way around? We wouldn't look forward to the Holy Days quite as much, I don't think. But, you know, our God, that shows the goodness of God, doesn't it? He gives us one day of fasting out of the 19 festival days. And He wants us to eat and to drink and to rejoice on the other festival days.

So this day of fasting is so good, and when we think about what it means, atonement with God, that means to be in perfect harmony with God. That means walking with God. That means being in complete harmony with Him. It's amazing when we think about it.

Let's read some verses about this command in Leviticus 23. God does command us to observe this day with fasting, not eating or drinking on this day. And, of course, we do get to feeling rather puny. We get to feeling weak. It just really drives home just how physical and how weak and how puny we really are. This is the chapter that has all of the Holy Days. Leviticus 23. And I won't go into any of the ones preceding atonement.

Let's skip right on over to verse 26. Leviticus 23 and verse 26. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Also, on the tenth day of the seventh month shall be the day of atonement. This is the tenth day of the seventh month. It shall be a holy convocation for you.

This service is a holy meeting. You shall afflict your souls. Psalm 35 has a verse that, I think it's about verse 13, that says that we afflict our soul with fasting. You shall afflict your souls and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. You shall do no work on that same day. It is the day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. Any person who is not afflicted of soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people.

And any person that does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work. It shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations and all your dwellings. 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. So that would have been last night at sunset. From evening to evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath. So here we are in simple obedience to God fasting on this day of atonement. The day of atonement actually comes from the Hebrew word, yom kippur. And this day, this Hebrew word, yom kippur, that you might even see on calendars, simply means day of atonement.

Kippur, I'll get to that in just a moment. Let me read from the Wikipedia Encyclopedia. Yom kippur is also known as the day of atonement. It's the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. We're going to add one other to that, which is not commonly understood.

Jewish people traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the high holy days or the days of awe.

So this day of atonement, then, is one that is very, very holy to the Jewish people. I'd like to read from Vine's complete expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words on the word to atone. To atone is from kippur, K-A-P-A-R. And this word in Hebrew means to cover over. It means to atone, to perpetuate, to pacify. Perhaps the best known—it is best known from the term yom kippur, day of atonement.

Most uses of the word involve the theological meaning of covering over. See, atoning. God has covered over something. He has made provision for us in a special way, dealing with the blood of a sacrifice in order to atone for some sin. The term atonement is found at least 16 times in Leviticus 16. We'll turn to that chapter briefly in just a few minutes. The great chapter concerning the day of atonement. The day of atonement was celebrated only once a year. Only on this day could the high priest enter the holy of holies of the tabernacle or temple on behalf of the people of Israel and make atonement for them.

So in so many ways, this is a very, very special day. What does it mean? And why are we fasting? How can we benefit from what we're doing on this day? Well, we notice as far as the meaning of this day, that the day of atonement is the fifth of the holy days, and that it follows then 10 days after the Feast of Trumpets.

That gives us a clue as to the meaning of this day. We turn over to the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets in Revelation 19, and we read this from this chapter on the day of the Feast of Trumpets, that Jesus Christ is going to come back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We read that in verse 16. He comes back with great power to put down and defeat the nations that have gathered around Jerusalem.

And in verse 20, the beast is captured, and the false prophet that worked signs, both are captured, and they are thrown or cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. So Jesus Christ then comes back fighting against the nations, and He will set up the kingdom of God on the earth. But before the kingdom of God is set up on the earth, there is one other thing that must be accomplished before the Feast of Tabernacles and what pictures can be a reality.

And we read about that next, look in chapter 20 now in 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. He laid hold on 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, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished.

And after these things, he must be released for a little while. But what a wonderful thing this is, that Satan will no longer be able to deceive the nations. The Day of Atonement pictures the binding of Satan then, the first major thing that Jesus will accomplish after he has come back to this earth. And he will bind, have Satan the devil bound. Satan will be imprisoned, and he will not be able to deceive the nations. Look at all the evils in the world today. Some of them are humanly inexplicable. But there's an evil spirit being that is behind what is happening, the atrocities of human beings toward each other.

Satan the devil has deceived the nations. Well, even here we read it, that he should deceive the nations no more. So that's what he's been busy doing all during this time. And so he must be taken out of the way. You know, there's some amazing Old Testament symbolism about Satan being removed. Let's turn back to Leviticus 16. In many ways, the sermonette kind of led the way toward this chapter.

Let's turn to this chapter that focuses on what happened, events that happened in ancient Israel on the Day of Atonement. You can read near the end of this chapter that these events were done on the Day of Atonement. Verse 29, There 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. And in verse 30, On that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you that you may be clean from all your 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 it's talking in this chapter about the Day of Atonement. There was only one time a year in the first few verses we read that Aaron would come inside the veil, and it was on the Day of Atonement. He put on his holy garments in verse 4.

In verse 5, he would take two kids of the goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, and offer a bull as a sin offering for himself, and make atonement for himself and his house. And then verse 7, Present, or take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord, and the other for the scapegoat. Bad word, bad translation, not really a translation at all.

A-Z-A-Z-E-L, as a zel or a zazel, is the Hebrew word. Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell, and offer it for a sin offering. So the first goat, the one for the Lord, was killed or slain, and offered as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the zazel, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

So this goat was not put to death. This goat was let go in the wilderness. We read more about these two goats, and certainly the meaning of the Day of Atonement does, certainly summarizes very well in what these two goats represent. In verse 15, Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, so that goes back and recaps what we read earlier, He will kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, and bring his blood inside the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and 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. So this goat then was for the sins of the people, so that they would be cleansed of their sins. They would be covered by the blood of this goat. And that is in verse 20, 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.

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.

The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. So this goat was not killed. It was simply, after having had the sins of the people or the nation put upon its head, it was led away then into an uninhabited wilderness area and was let go. Well, as our booklet very well explains, that Satan, the binding of Satan, then right after Christ returns is represented by this second goat.

In the chapter on the Day of Atonement, Removal of Sin's Cause and Reconciliation to God, under the section, Satan is the author of sin. The Day of Atonement involves not only the forgiveness of sin, it pictures the removal of the primary cause of sin, Satan and his demons. Until God removes the original instigator of sin, mankind will simply continue to fall back into disobedience and suffering. Can you imagine trying to have the world tomorrow with Satan around? It'd be awfully, you know, it'd be like impossible. So we're not going to have Satan around during that wonderful period.

Although our human nature has a part to play in our sins, Satan the devil bears great responsibility for influencing mankind to disobey God. And it goes on to explain just a bit more about this scapegoat, as it's called the Azazel goat, as it appears in the original Hebrew. Many scholars identify Azazel with the name of a demon inhabiting the wilderness. That is from the Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. The Azazel goat represents Satan, who bears the responsibility for the sins of humanity.

Because of the deception, he is foisted upon mankind. He's been much more active than we realize. And you know, it might be in our own lives, if we only knew, much more active than we even recognize in our own lives. Just how Satan at times has been able to get through to us. More about that later. The high priest laid hands on this goat and confessed over it the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people. Why did he do that? As present ruler of the world, the devil bears responsibility for his perversity in beguiling and coercing humanity to sin.

The sending of the sin... and here's a quote from the one-volume Bible commentary. The sending of the sin-laden goat signified the complete removal of the sins of the people, and handing them over, as it were, to the evil spirit to whom they belonged. So, God is a just and fair God. Satan the devil has deceived humanity, has been involved in the sins of mankind.

It is only just and right that the sins of humanity, his share or part in those sins, should be placed back on his own head. The symbolism of the live goat parallels the faith of Satan and his demons, who will be removed at the onset of Jesus' reign over the nations. And it quotes Revelation 20, the verses we just read. Thus the devil and his demons, who for thousands of years have led mankind into every evil deed imaginable, will be removed to a place of restraint. Complete global reconciliation to God cannot occur until the source of so much sin and suffering is out of the picture.

So rather than this is a very important day when we see that Satan the devil, who has deceived the world, and this symbolism here in Leviticus 16 that he will be put behind bars, and he will no longer be able to deceive the nations. The symbolism of Leviticus 16 then shows exactly how God is going to proceed after Christ returns to reconcile the world to himself, to bring the world into atonement. In other words, God is going to bring a day of atonement to the world.

And with Satan now out of the way, nations will begin to repent. Now, they may not always want to at first, and God may have to pressure them. And there are verses that show that Christ may have to correct. He may have to rebuke, because they'll be used to going a certain way and doing things a certain way, and Christ will not allow that. But little by little, nations will shed all of their disobedience. They will shed all of the habits and the customs that are contrary to God's law.

The first nation that will be atoned will be the tribes of Israel. Let's turn to Ezekiel 11. Now, can we imagine America and Britain and Australia and Canada and all the Israelite tribes and nations will be brought into atonement with God, and will begin to walk with God, and begin to obey the laws of God? Well, it's going to happen right after Christ returns and right after Satan the devil is bound.

Ezekiel 11 and verse 17. Ezekiel 11 and verse 17. Here we read, Therefore say, Thus says the Lord God, I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered. It's talking about Israel. And I will give you the land of Israel. They shall go there, and they shall take away all its detestable things. This is a process of atonement going on. They will take away all of its detestable things and its abominations from there.

Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh. They shall walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them.

And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. As for those whose hearts walk after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds upon their own heads. In other words, God is simply not going to allow just anything to go on as today.

Let's also read from Ezekiel 20, Ezekiel 20. And verse 42, a part of this process of atonement is the Israelites coming to see how evil their sins have been, all the abominable things that somehow we begin to accept as being legitimate and okay. In Ezekiel 20, verse 42, Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, and to the country for which I lifted my hand in an oath to give to your fathers.

And there, notice this process of atonement going on, this process of repentance, of reconciliation, and getting in harmony with God. And there you shall remember your ways, and all your doings with which you were defiled. And you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, because of all the evils you have committed. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have dealt with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel.

And so Israel will repent and be brought into atonement with God. Can we imagine that? Everyone keeping the Sabbath, not Sunday. Everyone keeping the holy days of the Bible, not holidays of the world. Everyone accepting that marriage is between a man and a woman after all, and that the other way is forbidden of God and even called an abomination in the Bible. All of the many things that we have gotten into today, you shall remember your ways and loathe yourself.

God says we will look back in this day of atonement and loathe what we got into. All nations are going to be brought into atonement with God. Let's turn to Isaiah 2, verses we have read quite often, but they're wonderful verses that show a process of atonement underway. They fit into the meaning of this day. Isaiah 2, verse 2, It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains.

So God's kingdom will be set up. All nations will flow to it. Notice all nations will come, not just Israel, all the Gentiles as well. Many people shall come and say, Let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He'll teach us of His ways.

So without Satan being around to deceive mankind, people are willing to be taught and to walk in God's ways. Out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And they'll beat their swords and the plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. And there will be no more warfare. So mankind all over the earth is going to come in atonement with God.

It's hard for us to imagine. Yes, in Syria, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in every nation on the earth. All nations are going to come into atonement with God, reconciliation with God. All nations are going to worship the great God.

And it's going to be a time where there won't be the pride and the vanity and the arrogance that we so often today see. We see it in just ordinary human beings. We see it in leaders of the world, such pride and ego and arrogance. There's going to be humility in simply walking with God. This day has that aspect to it. Atonement, real atonement, does mean humility. It's the opposite of vanity and pride. This day helps us to learn humility, a very important aspect of atonement.

Look at Zephaniah chapter 3. It describes the Israelites, how they will... their heart, their mind, what kind of heart they will have. Will there be pride? Will there be ego? No. It's going to be wonderful when there is instead humility. There is obedience. There is the desire to obey God and to walk humbly with our God. In Zephaniah chapter 3, in verse 11, In that day you shall not be ashamed for any of your deeds in which you transgress against me, because God is going to provide forgiveness and also teach obedience to His law. For then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride, and you shall no longer be haughty.

We have a lot of pride and haughtiness in our own country, and we see it. Instead of humility, there is often pride and haughtiness and arrogance. You shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. I will leave in your midst. And this is what atonement produces in the end. You know, it produces the same thing in our lives today.

This is our day of atonement. More about that later as well. But the day of atonement produces humility, not pride. It produces obedience, not going our own way. I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people. That's what atonement is going to do. And they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth. For they shall feed their flocks and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.

And so it's going to be a wonderful time when Israel and all nations come into atonement with God. And it's going to happen to every nation. In Revelation 15 and verse 4, yes, atonement is going to be global. It's going to reach every island, every continent, every nation. All over the earth, all of the world is going to come into atonement with Almighty God and worship the true God.

In Revelation 15 and in verse 3, Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the Saints. Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name? The answer to that is no one. Every nation, every person is going to fear God and glorify His name.

For you alone are holy, for all nations shall come and worship before you, for your judgments have been manifested. God's going to make His way clear to all of humanity.

So there's going to be atonement, and there's going to be reconciliation for all of mankind. You know, we preach that message already. Only a few people are being called to it today. But our message we preach is one of atonement. Atonement with God. It's walking with God. It's repenting of our sins. It's being cleansed of our sins and being reconciled to Almighty God. Let's go to 2 Corinthians 5. That's our message. And it's going to be a message that everyone is going to understand in the millennium. And everyone will begin to change His ways all over the earth. Every nation and every citizen in every nation will then learn the way of atonement. In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 18, Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That's the message we preach. We urge people to repent. If you'll notice our magazine articles at the end of each article, there's an appeal that people would act on the article. We do appeal that people would be reconciled to God. Our ministry is a ministry of atonement, of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them and is committed to us, the Word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. That's what He's doing through His ministry. We implore you on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God. You might say, we implore you, then, go ahead and have a day of atonement in your life. Repent, get in harmony with God, be cleaned up, be covered by the blood of Christ. Yes, have a day of atonement in your life at this time. And those that God is calling will heed that message. The word for reconciliation here in the Greek is kadolaje. It means to restore to divine favor. It means to compound the difference. Our sins put a difference between us and God. Isaiah 59 brings out that our sins separate us from God. So God reconciles us. He compounds that difference by the sacrifice of Christ. That first goat of Leviticus 16. Then we are reconciled. We are brought into atonement with God. Let's go to 1 John 2. So all this fits into the meaning of this day of atonement. That we can be reconciled with God. We can be restored to divine favor. We can have that which was between us and God removed out of the way. In 1 John 2 and verse 1, My little children, these things are right to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, in the previous chapter he brings up that we indeed do still sin. If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous.

And he himself is the propitiation for our sins. And not ours only, but for the whole world. Of course, the whole world when Christ comes back. So Jesus Christ is the propitiation. The word propitiation in the Greek is hilosmos. H-I-L-A-S-M-O-S. It means expiation or atonement. I believe that the King James translation translates it as atonement. I want to read about the meaning of this word propitiation. It's rather interesting from Vine's complete expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words on propitiation. This word was used amongst the Greeks with the significance to make the gods propitious.

The Greeks used this, then buying off the gods, you might say, to make the gods propitious, to appease, propitiate inasmuch as their good will was not conceived as their natural attitude, but something to be earned first. So this word has that type of background. But this use of the word is foreign to the Bible with respect to God.

It is never used in any act whereby man brings God into a favorable attitude or gracious disposition. In other words, we can't buy off God. It is God who is propitiated by the vindication of His holy and righteous character, whereby through the provision He has made in the vicarious and expiatory sacrifice of Christ, He has so dealt with sin that He can show mercy to the believing sinner in the removal of His guilt and the remission of His sins. Quite opposite to us making any payment, God has made the payment. We are the guilty ones, and God the righteous one has made the payment for us.

Through the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, He who believes on Him is by God's own act delivered from justly deserved wrath and comes under the covenant of grace. The expiratory work of the cross is therefore the means whereby the barrier which sin interposes between God and man is broken down. By the giving up of His sinless life sacrificially, Christ annuls the power of sin to separate between God and the believer. But the righteous God paid the price for us, the unrighteous ones. So this word here that goes back to buying off the gods has quite a different application when it comes to the righteous God who has made provision for the payment of our sins.

By the way, sin more deeply, aren't we, the meaning of atonement? It's a beautiful doctrine, the meaning of atonement. The whole world is going to be brought into atonement with God. Satan, the instigator of sin, will be taken out of the way. All of mankind and all nations will then be reconciled to Almighty God. The atonement comes through Jesus Christ for the whole world to be at one with God. And it is necessary then that Satan must be removed. Let's just go back and review a little bit about Satan and his influence.

And the reason I do this especially is because Satan will be bound during the thousand years, but he is not bound today. That is rather interesting. This is our day of atonement with Satan present. The world in the millennium will have their day of atonement with Satan not present. So we need to understand more about the adversary that God allows to be loose until the second coming of Christ. He is called the God of this world. Let's notice that in 2 Corinthians 4.

Yet there's a God of this world and it's not the God up in heaven. It is Satan the devil. God's allowed it to be. He's allowed it to be this way. In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4, Whose minds 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 there's a God of this world, a God of this age. It is Satan the devil. And Revelation 12, verse 9 says that he has deceived the whole world.

We marvel sometimes at that. Jesus said he saw Satan fall his lightning from the sky. What do you mean by that? Let's turn to Isaiah 14. Jesus and God, you might say God the Father and the Word, existed together always. It's revealed in John chapter 1, verses 1 to 3. So Jesus was there when Lucifer led a rebellion, a super archangel rebelled against God. In many ways, this is the beginning of the Day of Atonement story. It's when Lucifer and the angels rebelled against God, millions and millions of years ago, no doubt.

The Bible does mention it here in Isaiah 14, verse 12. How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? Here was an archangel by the name of Lucifer. How are you cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations? For you have said in your heart, I, notice the big I, notice the ego here. An ego is opposite to the Day of Atonement. Humility is in line with this day, but not ego. Ego is the opposite. I will ascend to heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the Mount of the Congregation on the farthest sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. This angel was going to push God off of his throne. But he greatly underestimated the boss, who also happened to be his creator. And so God thrust him back down, and Jesus would say later, I saw Satan fall his lightning from the sky. Jesus saw that. And he mentioned that during his ministry. So here's this archangel that rebelled against God. It's the beginning of this aspect of the Day of Atonement story. That there is a devil around that must be taken out of the way. Let's go to Ezekiel 28. Ezekiel 28, we get more insight into the rebellion of Satan and the demons. In Ezekiel 28 and in verse 12, breaking into the middle of this verse, it begins to talk about the devil, a spirit being, obviously.

You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. This is not talking about a human being. Ezekiel 28, now verse 13, you were in Eden, the Garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering. It names quite a number of them. Verse 14, you were the anointed carob. A carob is a high rank of angels who covers.

I established you. You were on the holy mountain of God. You walked back and forth in the midst of the fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading, you became filled with violence within, and you sinned. Therefore, I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God. Satan can have no part of God's holy and righteous kingdom. And I destroyed you. The word can also be removed. I removed you, O covering carob, from the midst of the fiery stones. What was the problem? We read in Isaiah 14, didn't we? I, I, I, ego. Look at verse 17. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, pride, ego. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. This was a brilliant angelic being that began to get the big head about himself. And he rebelled against God, and he was able to influence one-third of the angels. Revelation 12 brings out that the dragon's tail drew a third of the stars of heaven, and that's where the demons come in. And somehow God has allowed Satan to remain on the earth during this age, and he's the unseen hand behind the evils in the world today. He uses and exploits human nature to do his evil. And like I mentioned earlier, in our own lives, if we look carefully, Satan is trying to get to us. We need to remember that second goat in Leviticus 16, the Osehsel goat, representing Satan.

He will be bound during the millennium, and the day of atonement when he is bound, representing his being bound, signals the end of his influence for a thousand years. It will be a day of retribution on him. He will be put in prison all during that thousand years. After the thousand years, he will be loosed for a short time, and then he will be put away for good. With Satan bound during the millennium, guess what? What happens? The millennium happens. Good things happen. All those wonderful prophecies in Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, human beings that are cooperating with each other, who are obedient to God and his laws, who have hearts that are obedient to God, walking with God. Many, many Bible prophecies describe that time. So the Feast of Tabernacles is the next holy day. It begins this coming Wednesday night. It pictures that wonderful happy time when Satan will no longer be around. God's feed that day. Now, those that God is calling today, this is our day of atonement. God wants us at this time to be reconciled. He wants us to be in harmony with him.

He wants us to repent. He wants us to have a day of atonement now. Now, this day of atonement, no doubt, is a process. It is the process of conversion that we are going through. Let's go back to Romans 5.

So we want to make good use of this day of atonement. We want to walk with God. We want this day of atonement this year to even be a turning point more than ever to walk with God. And being in harmony with him. Because this is our day of reconciliation. It is our day of salvation. It's our day of atonement. In Romans 5 and verse 8, God demonstrates his own love toward us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. And the King James Version has the atonement. So it goes side by side together. We cannot be at one with God if we still have our sins hanging over us.

That's why we have that first goat. That first goat shows a way of forgiveness of our sins. Because we have our part in our sins, too. You know, sometimes people want to put all the blame on the devil. And certainly a lot of blame does belong on Satan's hands, and will be placed upon his head. But we have our part in our sins as well. But the truth is that Satan is not bound today. Somewhere right now, the devil is somewhere on the earth right now. His demons are around right now.

We often don't realize or think about that. But they are. And we must resist, then, Satan, and remove his influence from our lives. God doesn't bind Satan, but he does help us to remove Satan's influence from our lives. How does Satan try to get to us? Ephesians 2. Satan is constantly trying to get through to us. He's trying to work on any weakness we have, any lust of the flesh, any lust of the eyes, any pride of life and ego and vanity. Satan is always trying to get through to us in some way. Ephesians 2.1. You, he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world.

We were once a part of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. Notice he is the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience. So Satan is broadcasting through the air. Just like if we had a radio receiver, we could pick up radio signals that are transmitted at certain frequencies.

So Satan is constantly broadcasting then through the air. He's the prince of the power of the air. How does he broadcast? Evil thoughts, negative moods, wrong attitudes, accusations, discouragement, lust and greed, pride and vanity. Satan himself is full of pride. He's broadcasting it, trying to disseminate it to us. He's full of ego, full of self. He hates law and government. That's part of his signal he sends out. He's a very self-righteous being. He probably still thinks God is wrong and that he's right. Very self-righteous. We have to recognize Satan's spirit and attitude and resist. And how do we resist?

We know that Satan is certainly manipulating and exploiting human nature. He's a master manipulator of human nature. And he could manipulate some of our human nature if we let him. He'd like to do that. We have to be aware of that. But how can we resist Satan? Well, we have to constantly put up a fight. Look at Ephesians 6. We're in a spiritual battle 24-7 constantly. We're in spiritual warfare and we need to always be aware of it. Satan never gives up. He's 24-7. Our battle then is 24-7.

Ephesians 6 and verse 10, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Yes, he is wily. He is crafty. In verse 12, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against spiritual principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

And in verse 16, it says that we must take the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. So Satan is throwing at us, firing at us, fiery darts, and we have to have that shield of faith and always constantly up to prevent those fiery darts from reaching their mark.

Again, what's the best way to do battle against Satan? It is with humility. It is with obedience to God's laws and God's way of life. It's with a humble and broken heart and mind. Let's read just a few verses about that in 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5. And reading verses 8 and... Well, let's go even up earlier in verse 5.

Likewise, you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you, be submissive to one another. That takes humility, as he goes on to say, to be clothed with humility. That's how we may go on through our day of atonement and the way that we may be able to succeed. To get rid of that pride and ego, constantly fight against it. That's how... because if we have those qualities of character, Satan will be able to get through to us. He surely will. But if we're clothed with humility, it goes on to say that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober. Be vigilant. That's a good message for this day of atonement. This is our day of atonement. We need to be sober. We need to be vigilant. We need to be watchful. Our adversary... well, it goes on down to say, Be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him. Yes. Resist him steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

So we are at constant warfare. This is our day of atonement. We need to recognize we're in a warfare with the God of this world. He'd like to get through to us with His pride and ego, His lust, His hatred toward law and government. Let's also read in the book of James, chapter 4. Look at James, chapter 4, and beginning in verse 6.

He gives more grace, therefore he says, God resists the proud. You know, pride goes against this day. We're fasting. This tends to knock us down in a good way. We need to be knocked down. We need to be reminded of the need for humility. Because God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil, and He will flee from you. I bet some people say, well, I resist it, but it seems like this... They were going through a special temptation and still kept coming at them. You know what I tell them? Keep on resisting.

He may not leave in just an hour or a day, but you keep resisting, and one day you'll suddenly realize the pressure's off. But still be on guard because Satan will come back some other way. There's this promise here, resist the devil, and He will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. And it goes on with a Day of Atonement message. Cleanse your hands. And how do we do that? By turning to God, by being forgiven of our sins, and by striving to resist Satan and not let him get through to us.

Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. You know, during the Day of Atonement that we are going through in our lives then, this is some excellent advice here by Peter and James in these two chapters that we have just read.

So, brethren, the Day of Atonement is not easy, is it? That's why God has us to fast on this day. Our Day of Atonement is not easy, what we are going through. And when you think about it, the world's Day of Atonement, for those who are alive when Christ returns, will not be easy.

They have to change everything that they've ever believed in, thought, and done. Just turn opposite and begin to go God's way, the whole world, the nations of Israel, and the Gentile nations. Every nation goes through that time of making those major changes, and it will not just be an easy time. Some nations will simply not want to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

No rain. That's not easy. Some will not want to disarm, and Christ will rebuke them and correct them. So, it won't just be an easy time for the world. But as we come on into the Millennium, and people begin to see more God's holy and righteous way of life, then that Day of Atonement will be easier, I think, during the Millennium, when mankind is walking in harmony with God. Well, fasting does knock us down. It humbles us. And we learn that God is great, but we're pretty puny.

We learn dependence upon God and not ourselves. Yes, fasting goes against our grain, against our very nature. It involves sacrifice and self-denial, but it draws us close to God. I'd like to read just a little bit about fasting. First of all, from one of our old correspondence course lessons, true Christians must become humble to rule with Christ. No ruler in God's kingdom can be arrogant or selfish.

Fasting on the Day of Atonement is a vivid reminder of the state of mind necessary for salvation, of humility, godly sorrow, earnestly seeking God in His way. Today the world is filled with pomp and pride and does not realize it is cut off from God because of sin. Sin that has been inspired by Satan. After Satan's imprisonment, all humanity will be reconciled with God, made humble and at one with Him, as pictured by the Day of Atonement.

Yes, what a wonderful time! And whether there would be no pride and arrogance like we have today, won't that be wonderful? Everyone would be striving to walk humbly with God as we are striving ourselves to do now. I'd like to also read from our own booklet on God's Holy Day Plan, the chapter on the Day of Atonement about fasting. Why do you afflict your soul on this day? Afflict comes from the Hebrew, anah, a-n-a-h, which means to be afflicted or vowed down, be humbled, be meek. The same word is used in connection with fasting in Psalm 35.13. Fasting means abstaining from food and drink.

So why does God tell us to fast during this specific 24 hours? Fasting expresses our humble desire to draw closer to God. The Day of Atonement represents a coming time of reconciliation, during which, with Satan vanished and the world having been devastated by the horrific events leading up to this time, a humbled and repentant humanity will at last be reconciled to God. Few understand the proper reasons for fasting. Fasting is not to bend God to do our will. We don't fast or receive anything from God except His abundant mercy and forgiveness for our human weaknesses.

Fasting helps us remember how temporary our physical existence is. Without food and water, we would soon perish. Fasting helps us realize just how much we need God as the giver and sustainer of life. We should always fast on the Day of Atonement in a repentant frame of mind.

But we should also live each day that we don't fast with a repentant frame of mind as well. This Day, then, of Atonement is a wonderful holy day. God's goal is Atonement for all of mankind. This Day vividly portrays the removal of Satan and the reconciliation of all nations with God. All nations come to agree with God and walk with God.

Atonement, then, is a very beautiful doctrine. There's a lot in the Bible about Atonement. We've only scratched the surface today. It's a beautiful doctrine. What a good day this is. It is a day of rejoicing. It paves the way for the wonderful millennium. For us today, it paves the way, this attitude, and it paves the way for many wonderful blessings in our lives. Let's enjoy the rest of this day. Stay around for some fellowship afterward and have safe travels to your festival site.

Remember those who are not able to go. Many would just love to be able, physically or for other reasons, or simply not able. Pray for them. Wherever you may be, have a wonderful feast and last great day. See you back after the feast.