The Reconciliation of the World

Here we are on the Day of Atonement. Why did God ordain the Holy Days? After all, why do we have to be able to come together? Couldn't we just have a sermon occasionally to remind us that we need to fast? And what's going to happen to Satan? I believe these days must be important because God does not do anything without a purpose. There's a reason behind everything that he does that he ordains. And when he commands us to do it, and the fact that our potential entrance into his kingdom could hinge on that, then it's not a suggestion from God.

It's a command. God commands us to be here. But, if you ever ask yourself the question, why is the Day of Atonement right before the Feast of Tabernacles? Why come it this time? I've noticed that over a period of time, for some people, the Day of Atonement is just an inconvenience. I believe Jim referred to it in his sermonette. You know, hurry up and get out of the way, sunset, so I can eat.

Head on down the road and be able to head off to the Feast. Why is a Holy Day, especially a Holy Day on which we fast right before the Feast of Tabernacles? Why is it placed there? I believe that we can all understand and know that the Holy Days were given by God. He's the one who makes a day holy. You and I don't. He's the one who is holy. Let's go over to Leviticus 23 and verse 26 to begin with.

Let's take a look at this day and what God says about it. Leviticus 23 and verse 26. It says, The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of the seventh month shall be the day of atonement, and shall be a holy convocation for you. You shall afflict your souls, which is a term that is used for fasting, to afflict or to humble yourself, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. You shall need no work on that same day, for it is the day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God.

So this is a day, at least with the symbolism in the Old Testament, that symbolizes making an atonement for them, before God, for any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. So it was an extremely important facet of this day to make sure you were fasting.

And any person who does any work on the same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no matter of work, it shall be a statue forever, throughout your generations, in all of your dwellings.

You shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest. So it's a special day of rest, and you shall afflict your soul on the ninth day of the month, that evening, that was last night, sunset. From evening to evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath, or your Sabbath, that 24-hour period. So that 24-hour period, beginning last night to sunset tonight, is a holy time, and it is a time that we fast before God.

So again, I ask, why did God place a day of fasting right before one of the most joyous seasons of the year? We're about ready to head off to the feast, 8, 10, 12, 14 days. The festival itself lasts the feast for seven days, and the last great day, eight days. And then there's the travels, some side trips, whatever you have planned. And it's a time that we always look forward to, with great anticipation. Nothing wrong with that. You know, God made it that way.

So what does this day mean for you and me? What does it mean for us right now? What does it mean for the future? And how does the present and the future tie in with the past? Well, we want to take a look at that. I'm going to cover this topic a little differently than what we normally think of when we cover the Day of Atonement, but we will come around to the true meaning of this day, as we will see.

Let's start out by noticing the prophetic sequence of events that take place at the end time. And I think that we will then be able to answer the question, why is this day placed where it is placed?

Go back to Revelation chapter 8. We covered some of this on the Feast of Trumpets, but in Revelation chapter 8, beginning in verse 1, chapter 8 verse 1, we find that the six seals have been opened. In chapter 6, we have an inset chapter in chapter 7. We come to chapter 8, and the seventh seal is open.

And he opened the seventh seal, and there was silence in heaven about half an hour. Now I saw seven angels who stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. And so these seven trumpets were to be blown. And you find here in chapter 8 and chapter 9 that six of the trumpets sound. So the seventh seal is composed of the seven trumpets.

And as we found on the Feast of Trumpets, those seven trumpets, beginning to sound and being open, are what the Feast of Trumpets pictures, where God begins to intervene in the affairs of mankind. God begins to punish the nations, bring them to their needs, and then he will return. Now over in chapter 11, verse 15, book of Revelation, chapter 11, verse 15, you find that the seventh trumpet sounds.

So the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. So it pictures Christ coming back at the seventh trumpet.

Verse 18, you find when He comes back, the nations are not going to be happy. There will not be ticker type parades. You know, they're going to fight against Him. The nations were angry. They were going to shake their fists at God, and it says in your wrath has come, the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should reward your servants, the prophets, and the saints. So this is the time of the resurrection. So the events described here describe the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets. The Feast of Trumpets heralded the intervention of God in the affairs of humanity on a global basis. And this holy day, the Feast of Trumpets represented a dramatic turning point in world history because it represented the time when God Himself began to intervene, to arrest control away from human beings of government and to set up His government on this earth. Then we come over to chapter 15, and you find that when that seventh trumpet sounded, something else occurred, seven last plagues are poured out upon humanity. In chapter 15 and 16, especially chapter 16, we find these seven last plagues being poured out on the beast and His armies, especially, and they are beginning to be punished.

In chapter 17 and verse 14, we're just getting the time sequence leading up here.

Chapter 17 and verse 14 shows that these nations, the beast, the beast power, ten nations united with Him, will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them. For He is Lord of Lords, King of Kings, and those that are with Him are called chosen and faithful.

Now we come to chapter 18. In chapter 18, you find, verse 2, Babylon falls.

This world's Babylonian system of government, of economics, political power, military, all of this falls, crumbles. It's crushed. In chapter 19, it pictures how this happens. Jesus Christ is pictured in verse 11, coming back on a white horse, and in righteousness, we find He judges and makes war. Chapter 19, verse 11, and He has many crowns on His head. He's the Word of God. Verse 14, the army's in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Follow Him on white horses. And verse 15, now, out of His mouth goes a sharp sword.

With it He should strike the nations, and He Himself shall rule them with a rod of iron.

And He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.

We find finally the beast, the political leader, and the false prophet, the religious leader, who are there at the end time, they are taken, cast alive in the fire burning with brimstone, the lake of fire. And then they're burnt up at that time. Now, that brings us to a particular event that takes place. We find that once this happens, Jesus Christ can begin to set up His government on the earth, and we will have the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ, what we call the Millennium will begin at that time. But before the Millennium can be set up, something has to happen. Something has to take place. We read of that in chapter 20, beginning in verse 1. We read, then, in other words, after the beast and false prophet are taken, says, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil, and Satan, bound him for a thousand years. So Satan the devil is bound during this thousand-year period. Cast him into the bottomless pit, shut him up, set a seal over him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after that, he will be released for a little while. And then you find the first resurrection is described here. And those who partake in that first resurrection at Christ's return will live and reign with him during that thousand-year period. Brethren, Satan and the demons are locked up for a thousand years. And part of the symbolism of the days of Unleavened Bread or the day of Unleavened Bread is symbolized by this. We find that Satan the devil is taken and locked up. Satan is the one who has led mankind into sin. And so, the day of Unleavened Bread pictures the removal of sin's cause. Sin does not just happen without a cause. There's an influence. And Satan the devil is an influenced man right from the very beginning, right from the time of Adam and Eve to go against God. So the symbolism of the days of Unleavened Bread makes clear who has been the unseen influence behind this world, whose influence humanity to go against God. In the days of Unleavened Bread, also, picture how each one of us individually can be reconciled to God and how the whole world will eventually be reconciled to God.

This explains why the day of Unleavened Bread appears where it does. Because in sequence, it appears after the Feast of Trumpets, Christ comes back. First of all, Christ punishes the nations, brings them low, destroys their armies, returns, a resurrection takes place, Satan is bound, and then the millennium can begin. That thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ.

But it does not explain why we fast on this day. It explains why the day is where it's found in sequence, but why do we fast on this particular day? Could it have something to do with the first sin that took place? Everybody remember what the first sin was? Let's go back to the book of Genesis, Genesis 3, and we'll read verse 6. Genesis 3, 6.

It says, So when the woman, or Eve, saw that the tree was good for food, this is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the tree that God told her not to touch, not to eat of. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and how did she know it was good for food? Well, she looked her eye, it looked appealing, and it was pleasant to the eye. So it looked real nice. And a tree desired to make one wise. Now, how did she know that? Well, the serpent told her so. She took its fruit and ate, and she also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of them both were open, and they knew that they were naked. Open to what? Open to good and evil. Now they were going to experience the wrong.

The first sin was connected with food. The lust of the eyes, the lusts, or the desires of the flesh.

It involved a wrong desire for something God said not to do. We can lust. What is lust?

Lust is a wrong desire. Now, how do we know if something's a wrong desire? Well, God tells us right from wrong, doesn't He? He says what's good and what's evil. So if God said something is wrong, such as adultery, such as stealing, such as not keeping the Sabbath day, we go against it. We're sinning. And in the case of somebody else's possession, we can lust after it. We can have a wrong desire. It appealed to their vanity and to their pride. And that was one of the major problems, if you'll remember, that Satan the devil had. That's what led him to his downfall.

So who influenced them to sin? Who was there to influence them to go the wrong way? Back up to verse 1. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

And the woman said to the serpent, Well, we may eat of the fruit of the tree of the garden.

But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, you shall not touch it, lest you die. And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die? Who told you that?

You're going to believe him? You won't die? God knows in the day that you eat of it, your eyes will be open. You'll be like God. You will know good and evil.

And you'll be able to experience good and evil.

So he lied to Adam and Eve. He lied and he perverted the truth.

Because guess what? Adam is dead and Eve is dead.

Now, God didn't say the very moment you touch up, you'll drop over dead.

Once they did that, they would die. And so they did die.

Let's notice back in John 8, verse 44, I think John summarizes what we're talking about here.

John chapter 8, verse 44, Christ talking to the Jews of his day, and especially some of the religious leaders of his day. He said, you are of your father, the devil, and the desires or the lust of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth. He doesn't abide in the truth or stand in the truth. Why? Because there is no truth in him. Satan the devil does not tell the truth. He's a liar. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources or he speaks from his own character. For he has a liar and he's a father of it. And he lied, he deceived, he influenced the woman and he lied and perverted the truth. Now, is there any possible connection with the meaning of the Days of Unleavened Bread?

And when we fast, what occurred back here in Genesis chapter 3, where we started, the tolment pictures a time when Satan and his demons will be removed from positions of influence and power and be hamstrung, restrained for a thousand years, not able to deceive mankind, not able to influence mankind for that thousand years.

Now, why does fasting tie in with the Day of Unleavened Bread? Well, the first sin was connected with the attitude of rejecting God's influence, God's command, God's direction, deciding for the self what is right and what is wrong. That's basically what Adam and Eve did.

God says, don't do it. The devil comes along and says, well, it's not going to hurt you. You'll be wise. God's not telling you everything. You won't die. And so, you know, they decided for themselves, who am I going to believe? And you find that humanity has followed that approach ever since.

Adam and Eve decided what was right and what was wrong. They believed the serpent rejected God's instruction in Revelation. And mankind today basically rejects Revelation, rejects the Bible, rejects what God says, and decides for himself what is right and what is wrong. In a sense, you find what they did was to exalt their own thoughts and their own ideas. And again, mankind has followed that way since then. Now, when a person fasts, guess what? He does the exact opposite. Fasting humbles you. Fasting deflates your ego and fasting deflates your vanity.

Because when you're fasting and you're weak, you don't feel all vain and cocky. You don't feel all proud. You think, man, I don't know if I'm going to make it. And there are people when they fast, they just collapse, they go to bed. That's about as far as they can go. And when it comes to fasting, fasting shows us something also. Fasting shows us that we can begin to control our desires, we can begin to control our wants and our passions. Because we deny ourselves food, we deny ourselves drink, and we go without. And we show that we're not subject to those things. We're not controlled by them. We can go for a period of time without them. It helps us to understand our limitations and who we are. Now, somebody had to originate fasting.

Do you think it was God or man? Who was the one who originated fasting? Knowing man, I think that's one of the last activities most of us would do. Yeah, let's have a fast day.

I don't think that's something that most of us would have come up with. I believe this is something that God had to reveal to mankind that would be good for you to fast occasionally.

This is the only fast day commanded in the law in the Old Testament.

There's none other that I know of. To me, it shows a relationship between the first sin and man ultimately being united with God. Because when we fast, it humbles us.

That's what this day is all about, helping us to draw close to God, to be at one with God, to get rid of the South, and to be able to exalt God. In Leviticus 16 in verse 29, chapter 16 of the book of Leviticus deals with the day of atonement.

It explains the symbolism of this day. But in verse 29, we read, This shall be a statue 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 for you.

Now, why? Well, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from your sin before the Lord.

When you fast, it gives you extra time to pray and to study, to reflect on God's law, to meditate, and to come to understand what your sins are so you can repent of them. It is a Sabbath, a solemn rest for you. You shall afflict your souls. It is a statue forever. The word afflict here in the Hebrew means to humble or to bow down or to beat down, to be lowly. And it refers to fasting. Actually, it's a word that is used quite often in the Old Testament for fasting. Chapter 35 of the book of Psalm, verse 11, talking about David here, Psalm 35, verse 11. David said, Fierce witnesses rise up. They ask me things that I do not know. They reward me evil for good to the sorrow of my soul. As for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth, and I humbled myself. Same Hebrew word. You could say, I afflicted myself or I humbled myself with fasting. And my prayer would return to my own heart, and I paced about as though he were my friend or my brother. But when David was sick, he said his adversaries rejoice over him. So David humbled himself. He afflicted himself, and he did it by fasting. So on this day, we afflict ourselves. We humble ourselves. We do fast. Now, there are several reasons why we fast before the Feast of Tabernacles, I think. I believe it's symbolic of several things. Let me just enumerate them for you very quickly. It helps us to really have the right attitude to rejoice before God at the Feast, to be in the right attitude. Our rejoicing should always be within God's law. In order to rejoice before God at the Feast, we must have the proper fear and the proper respect for God.

And so when we fast and we take a day to do so, it helps us to have that attitude so that we can go and rejoice in the right way. Secondarily, it pictures the time and conditions when we will no longer need to eat. Stop and think about it. Whenever you fast, it's picturing a time in the future when we will eventually be totally at one with God through the resurrection.

God wants us to learn that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And there's going to come a time when we're a spirit being we no longer need to rely upon food or water, but we will have self-sustaining life contained within us. Thirdly, humbling ourselves, we do that so that we will be better able to resist Satan the devil and to overcome him. Because symbolically, we are going to replace Satan and his demons. Right now, first six thousand years, Satan is the unseen influence and ruler of this world.

And he is the ruler of this world. And what you find, he is going to be locked up, and you and I, then, are going to, under Christ, Christ is going to come back, and he will be the ruler of the world. And you and I will assist him. We will be the bride. We will help him. We'll be rulers over cities and nations. So it shows that you and I, and helps us to overcome the devil.

When Jesus Christ overcame Satan, he fasted for 40 days, did he not? And he was close to God.

It also pictures the humiliation and beating down, I think, that the world will go through before Jesus Christ returns. There's another aspect of this back in Leviticus, chapter 25.

And we could actually give a whole sermon here off of Leviticus, 25. In Leviticus, chapter 25, beginning in verse 9, at the end of 49 years, there was the Jubilee year proclaimed. Let's read about it in verse 9.

Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month. That's the day. On the day of atonement, you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land, through all of the inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his possessions, and each of you shall return to his family. The day of atonement was chosen as the beginning of the Jubilee, as the time of release.

At this time, all debts were released, all property went back to the original families.

People could return to their original property, start all over again. It was a year of release. I believe the Jubilee is a type of man's release from the dead of sin and slavery to Satan the devil.

You'll find that in the future, that Christ will come back. He will proclaim the year of liberty, the Jubilee, and the nations will be restored to their homelands. And just like individuals would come back to their own home or property and have a start all over again, you find the nations are going to come back at the beginning of the millennium and be resettled.

The Jews will come to Palestine. Eventually, Manasseh will come back over here. Ephraim will go to where they are. And then all nations, not just the Israelite nations, but all nations will be settled where God wants them to be in the millennium. And they will have that opportunity. It will be a time of freedom. The jails will be open. Prisons, people will be released. They'll be released from sickness and blindness, deathness. And God's government will be set up. It will be a time of blessing. And so, in order for that to happen, the devil must be bound. He must be locked up. And so you find all of that takes place. You see, fasting puts us in a frame of mind of salvation.

We come to realize that we are totally dependent people. That's what true humility is all about. Realizing our limitations, realizing the greatness of God. Without food and water, we die. Without relying upon God completely, we die spiritually. If we rely simply upon ourselves, on our own human talents, on our smarts, our abilities, that's what the Bible refers to as humanism. It is the way of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and we'll end up in death. Relying upon God, trusting Him. Relying on His Spirit is what we have to do. So God has given each one of us our mental capacities, our mental talents. He gives us talents. He gives us gifts. And these should lead us to God in understanding our total dependency upon Him. We cannot cause the sun to come up, the moon to go down, the tides to rise, control the weather, prevent an earthquake, stop a tornado, stop a hurricane. Those are things that God does. And neither can we give ourselves eternal life. Neither can we do anything spiritual without the help of God. And so fasting teaches us that it comes from God, not from us. In Isaiah chapter 40, Isaiah 40 and verse 15, God teaches a lesson here. Isaiah 40 verse 15, Behold, the nations, ours are dropping a bucket, he's talking about compared to God, and are counted as the small dust on the scales. Verse 17, All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted by him less than nothing. Verse 18, To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness? Well, there is no likeness that you can compare to God. Nations, all nations on the face of the earth. All of their wealth, all of their inventions, all of their military power, all of their wealth. God says, just like a drop in a bucket, absolutely nothing. You and I worship the great God, and that great God wants to give us eternal life. So, brethren, these are some of the possible reasons why the days of unleavened bread, or excuse me, the day of atonement, not the days of unleavened bread, the day of atonement, comes before the Feast of Tabernacles and why we have the fast. You and I can go to the feast with the proper frame of mind needed to become a servant, needed to be a helper, and prepared to rule the world tomorrow. Now, we find in Leviticus, chapter 16, in the symbolism that God gave to ancient Israel, that he gave them instructions on how to observe the day of atonement, the day of atonement. In verse 5, we find here that God told the priests here that he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering. In verse 7, he shall take the two goats, present them before the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord, the other lot for the scapegoat. And then we find that Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell and offer it as a sin offering. So that goat represented Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who died for our sins, who shed his blood for our sins, so that our sins could be forgiven. Now, the second goat was not killed. You find here the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement upon it or it should be over it and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. Actually, it should not be scapegoat. It could be translated escape. Yes, C-A-P-E. It would escape or be let go into the wilderness. Now, the high priest, after killing the one goat which represented Jesus Christ, laid both hands on the head of the live goat, confessed over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites, and sent that goat away into the wilderness.

What does this goat represent? Well, it represents Satan the devil. And he was sent away into the wilderness because eventually God is going to place right back on Satan's head his responsibility. He has to bear his responsibility for his perversity in beguiling and coercing human beings to sin, leading man to stray. You see, scapegoat in modern language, as it's translated here, is someone who is unfairly held responsible for the mistakes of others.

Well, in this case, he is responsible. He is the one who has deceived mankind.

Actually, the Hebrew word here means departure or entire removal in the Hebrew word. So he's going to be sent away. He's going to be completely sent off from the people. He's going to depart and be entirely removed. Satan the devil will be held justly accountable for his own actions. Jesus Christ bears our sins and our guilt. All have sinned. We've all sinned. We've fallen short of the glory of God.

Christ died so that our sins could be forgiven. That's He shed His blood. When we're baptized, we repent and accept His sacrifice. Baptized, our sins are forgiven.

But Satan also has a part, and he's going to be held accountable. So he's going to be locked up and restrained. Eventually, he will be cast into outer darkness and no longer have any influence whatsoever. Any contact with the God family. Now, how has the devil led man into sin?

Well, it started back here in the book of Genesis. The serpent in the garden of Eden, he misled and he lied. Let's go over to Ephesians chapter 2. Very quickly, two or three scriptures here. Ephesians 2 and verse 1. Paul talking to the church here in Ephesus knew he made a lie who were dead in trespasses and sins in which he once walked according to the course of this world. So we've all lived according to the world's course or standard or way, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit, who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and whereby nature, children of wrath, and just as others. Satan the devil is the prince of the power of the air, and he has led mankind and disobedience to God. What does Revelation 12.9 say? That he has deceived the whole world. Revelation chapter 20 verse 3, the same thing.

He has influenced and infiltrated all of man's institutions, political, religious, economic, military, cultural, philosophy, or philosophical, educational, ways of thinking. He has totally dominated the thinking and the approaches of this world. And so therefore he has encouraged mankind with wrong thoughts, with hatreds, malice, murders, violence, revenge, ego, vanity, and pride. That's the way this world is. We read John 8.44 that Satan the devil is the father of the unconverted in this world. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he is a liar. There's no truth in him. The English Standard Version translates this, I thought, very well. The last part of John 8.44, when he lies, he speaks out of his own character. That's his character. That's the way he is. 1 John 3.8 tells us, 1 John 3.8, He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifest that he might destroy the works of the devil. 2 Corinthians 4.4, we find that he is the God of this age, and it says that he has blinded the minds of people. Why? So that they would not believe. Satan has deceived all mankind. He has blinded all mankind. He has set up false standards for man and led them astray. Now, the important question is, why has Satan done this? Why is he so vicious? Why is he so deceptive? Why didn't he just go off somewhere in the universe and he and his demons and do something else? Why come to this earth and why be here to torment, influence mankind?

I believe that goes back to the understanding for the purpose of why God created the angels in the first place. Turn to Hebrews 1, verse 13. Hebrews 1, verse 13. We have a section of the Bible that clearly explains why God created the angels, what their purpose was. Hebrews 1, verse 13. Talking about why the Son is greater than the angels, why Jesus Christ has an office that is above them. But to which of the angels has he ever said? Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

The word ministering here means serving. Many modern translations translate this. Are they not all serving spirits sent forth to serve those who will inherit salvation? The angels were created to help the human race reach its full potential and obtain the resurrection of the dead and to be in the kingdom of God. But something happened to Lucifer and a third of the angels. Lucifer became vain, filled with pride, filled with vanity, and he was not willing to help God in this project. He did not want to help bring others. He became our arch enemy and wants to keep mankind from entering into the kingdom of God. He wants to so pervert every human being who has ever lived, twist his mind, pervert his thinking so that when he does have a chance that he won't obey God or he won't respond. Apparently, there was a bit of pride on his part because he wanted to rise up and be like God or be above God. He saw that God had a plan where he was going to take dirt and clay, make man, and that he was supposed to help that dirt and clay become a member of God's family. That's what he wanted. God never said he was going to share that with the angels. Therefore, he hates human beings, especially those in the church.

He hates you and me. He will do anything to destroy God's church.

Want you to notice a quote on the Day of Atonement from Erdmann's Dictionary of the Bible.

It says, reconciliation between estranged parties brings them into agreement. I'm talking here about Atonement and reconciliation.

Thus, the focus is the universal problem of sin, which humankind is unable to solve, and which disrupts the perfect harmony between God and his creation. So sin has disrupted the harmony between God and his creation.

Isaiah 59, verse 2, we're all familiar with this particular scripture.

Isaiah chapter 59 says, your iniquities are separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear.

That God will not hear. So sin separates us from God.

Romans 5, 12 tells us that sin entered the world through one man, but sin passed upon all men because all have sinned.

Romans 6, 23 says the wages of sin is dead. So Atonement, going on in this article from Erdmann's, therefore is God's way of bridging the gap and giving life to man. In other words, talking about spiritual life.

And it mentions that in the Hebrew, the word kippur, you know, this day is called by the Jews Yom Kippur, has the meaning of to cover, to cancel, purge, or purify.

It can also imply to bridge.

This word in the Hebrew when it comes to Atonement shows that our sins are covered. When Noah built the ark, it says that he kippored the outside with pitch. He covered it with pitch. You and I have our sins covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. The New Testament word is reconciliation, and it means just that. Atonement is described in the Hebrew as a sacrifice substitution.

Mediation and judgment on the day of Atonement, a goat was slain. Hence, Atonement necessitated the death of a victim. Somebody had to die. That person had to be a substitute for the person who should have died. Now, who should die?

I should die. You should die. Why? Because we have sinned. But when we repent of our sins, we can be forgiven. Why? Because Christ died in our stead. He is the substitute. Leviticus 17. Notice Leviticus 17. This idea is a substitute.

Explain here to a greater degree. Leviticus 17, verse 11.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood.

So your life is in the blood, and I've given it to you upon the altar to make Atonement for your souls.

For it is the blood that makes Atonement for the soul.

So Christ shedding his blood makes Atonement.

His sacrifice was a substitute for us, so that we do not have to die forever.

It's appointed that all men want to die, human beings. We will die, but we do not have to die the second death.

So going on in Erdmann's, the technical term kippur means to atone by offering a substitute. There are 49 usages of this word in the book of Leviticus alone, a test that this verb is associated with the removal of sins, talking about all of the sacrifices being offered up for sin. It denotes a vicarious sacrifice, the innocent life given for the guilty life. Christ never sinned. You and I have sinned. So Christ's sacrifice makes Atonement for us. In the New Testament, the word is reconciliation. In Romans 5 and verse 10, there's only one place in the New Testament where the word is translated Atonement, and that's only in the King James Version.

And that is here in Romans 5, and we read in verse 10, I believe it is.

Well, let's read this.

Verse 10. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, so we're brought back or reconciled, made close to God, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. So Christ's sacrifice brings us into a right relationship with God. That's called justification. You and I are made righteous. We're made right. We are now in a right relationship, whereas before we were in a wrong relationship.

Now we've been made right with God.

And then it goes on to say, and not only that, but also we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we now receive the reconciliation.

So we have been reconciled to God. Notice, West, word study, what it has to say about reconciliation.

The word reconcile, Greek, means to change or exchange, hence to reconcile those at variance.

That means two people are not getting along. Husband and wife can have an argument. They're at variance. When they remove that barrier, when they make up and kiss, say, I love you, they've reconciled.

Whatever stood between them has been removed. Now they're at one.

So, hence to reconcile those at variance.

West goes on to say, Vincent's note is most illuminating. The verb means primarily to exchange, and hence to change the relationship of hostile parties to a relationship of peace to reconcile.

It is used of both mutual and one-sided enmity. In the farmer case, the context must show on which side is the active enmity.

Now, with us and God, who is at enmity?

Is God at enmity with us?

Does God hate us?

Now, the Bible says God so loved the world he gave. He's the only begotten Son.

He loved us so much. In fact, he loved us before we were even thought of in one sense. God created the plan of salvation. He brought it about. He knew that Christ, the second member of the God family, was going to have to die for the sins of mankind. And they planned all of this out. The enmity is on our part, Romans 8-7. The carnal mind is enmity against God. Jeremiah 17-9, a heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

We are enmity with God. So the problem is with us.

Reconciliation, then, is where we come in harmony with God. He doesn't have to change. We have to change. We have to repent. That's what repentance is all about.

Unger's Bible Dictionary says it this way, about reconciliation to change thoroughly from one position to another. Reconciliation, therefore, means that someone or something is completely altered and adjusted to a required standard. You and I have to repent of sin. We have to get in line with God's law, that standard. Man is reconciled to God, but God is not said to be reconciled to man. We're the one being reconciled to God.

So the Day of Atonement symbolizes the reconciliation of all humanity to God.

See, the Passover is personal for the individual Christian, but Atonement carries universal implication.

Now, let's go back to the book of Revelation again. Revelation 18, to finish here.

Revelation 18.

You find that when Jesus Christ comes back, Babylon falls. I want you to notice verse 2.

He cried mightily with a very loud voice, saying, Babylon the Great has fallen, it has fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison for every foul spirit and a cage for every unclean and hateful bird.

So you find that Satan and his demons are going to be locked up in the area that is called Babylon in the world tomorrow.

Chapter 20 talks about that. They're the key to the bottomless pit. That area is going to be there in Babylon.

So Satan and his demons are locked up for that thousand years. And once Satan is removed and Jesus Christ is on the earth, what will happen at that time? Well, the Bible says God will pour out his spirit on all mankind.

All mankind, the majority, will be converted.

Isaiah 11 and verse 9, with Satan removed, tells us that the earth will be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the seas. Isaiah 2 mentions that all nations will come up to Jerusalem and say, let's go up. We'll learn of his way. His law will go out.

Then you begin to read what happens. Once that unseen influence is removed, that deception, then God's way of life will permeate this whole earth.

And God will set up a thousand years of peace on the earth. War will cease. Prosperity will flourish. And the vast majority of humanity will be converted and saved.

And at that time, the whole world will be at one with God and will have experienced the Atonement.

So when you put it all together, the picture looks like this. God provided for the reconciliation of man to himself even before the world began. We know that Jesus Christ was sacrificed from the foundation of the world.

The Old Testament emphasizes that our sins are covered. The blood of Jesus Christ covers our sins. They are removed. And Psalm 103 says, as far as the east, it's from the west.

We are reconciled to God. We're made one with God.

Eventually, Satan the devil is removed from mankind. In the millennium, the White Throne Judgment period, he will not be free to deceive man. He will not be there to influence mankind against God. The whole world will become one with God.

We, as the firstfruits, are the ones who are being prepared now to be his helpers, to assist him in this job.

We look forward to the time when we will be in the kingdom of God to help bring the whole world into a right relationship with God.