Six Key Scriptures for Atonement

I still remember my first day of atonement, the first time I fasted. And of course, you think doing without food for that breakfast, lunch, and then dinner later on. You always learn what being humbled is all about. Feel you're strong, but when you start lacking food, find out that energy starts to go away. And so here we are on this day of atonement, which is the fifth step in the plan of salvation. And to me, it's such a privilege to be able to understand these feast days. One of the greatest revelations in my life.

And be able on this day with the message to step into the biblical time machine. Because just like there have been all kinds of novels dealing with time machines, or you traveled into the future, well, there's a time machine that you can also travel. You can travel to the past, to the present, and to the future. Notice what it tells us in Isaiah 46, what God tells us about Himself. Isaiah 46 verses 9 and 10.

God is the master of time. He controls time. And he says in Isaiah 46 verse 9, He says, Remember the former things of all. Look in the past, in other words. For I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning. So He already knows what the end is going to be. And He just says He knew what the beginning was going to be. And from ancient times in the past, things that are not yet done, talking about in the future, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.

See, nobody can stop God from what He's carrying out in human history. And thanks to God's feast days, we are able to look at the main events in history, not from man's point of view, but from God's point of view. And there wasn't anything as important as the arrival of Jesus Christ to this earth close to 2,000 years ago, which marks the Passover where He comes and He is the sacrificial lamb for mankind.

That is the first great event in all of world history. Since Adam and Eve were created, they made a mess of things in the Garden of Eden. And man continued to make a mess of things all the way to where Christ came and He said, I'm not going to let them be destroyed forever. I'm going to rescue them, and I'm going to pay the ultimate price to give them forgiveness.

And so in this time machine, we go back and we understand this is the first of the great events in world history. And then the second one, as a result of the Passover, God is able to purify a people with the days of Unleavened Bread to symbolize people that are forgiven, that begin a new life through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And then comes, as it happened, Christ died in the day of Passover. And then we get to days of Unleavened Bread, and the 50 days that you count from the Sabbath of the days of Unleavened Bread, and you come to Pentecost.

And so can you imagine during that time there in 31 A.D., as far as we can determine the time, that those first three feasts were fulfilled literally in one year? The death of Christ during Passover. The people now that are His have access to that sacrifice and begin a way of life that they have access. And then just 50 days later, you have Pentecost, where God's Holy Spirit came down. On those 120 people that had been deleavened, those have been prepared by God. Nobody else on earth received the Holy Spirit at that time. But those 120, which it tells us there in Acts chapter 1. And so for that magical year, you had three feast days, three of the events that God considered the most important.

And then afterwards, we come to the fall feasts. We just celebrated the Feast of Trumpets. And now here we are on the fifth feast, the Day of Atonement. And we're about ready, just in a few days, to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and then finally the last great day. Now, some believe that, well, Christ has to come on the day of the Feast of Trumpets.

Although that is not mentioned in Scripture. It tells us Christ Himself didn't say, well, yes, I'm coming at that time. He said, nobody knows the day, the hour. Only my Father knows when it is. And so we have to caution those that want to set a certain amount of dates in this regard. And also, yes, we had those first three feasts that were fulfilled in that year.

But look at what is going to happen in the future. The Feast of Trumpets does announce Christ coming. But 10 days later, we're here at the Day of Atonement. Now, does that mean that if Christ comes, Satan is going to be around for 10 more days during Christ's return?

I don't think so. It's going to happen right after Christ. Satan is no longer in charge.

And so there's not going to be another 10 days that we understand. And then five days later, which is what we're right now, five days later from today, we're going to be celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. Does that mean then that that thousand-year rule is going to take five more days after Satan is put away? Again, I don't think so. And the last great day is just eight days later, which represents the period after the thousand years. So we know that's not going to be fulfilled during that period of time when Christ returns. So again, we have to be careful about that. He could come at a Feast of Trumpets, or he could come at another time. The Bible simply does not get specific about it. And so here we are in this biblical time machine.

And let's go back to the time of the Garden of Eden, because there is someone there that has to do with this day and who's going to be put out. He's going to be expelled. And it tells us here in Genesis chapter 3 verse 1, it says, Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, now we know snakes don't talk, but Satan had come as and with the appearance of a serpent. This was Satan the devil. He said, Has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Satan's always questioning God's commandments. And this is the way people get deceived. They start listening. Oh, are you sure the Sabbath is important? Are you sure you have to keep it? Wouldn't it be fun to just enjoy yourselves, do whatever you want, and keep your job on the Sabbath if necessary? See, those are the thoughts Satan's always instilling in us. Has God told you that you have to keep the Sabbath? See, he puts it in the same way here. Did God say you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

He put it completely negatively when God had spoken to them in a positive way. He said, Of all the trees you have access, except one. And Satan focuses on the prohibition and starts tempting humans to defy God about that. Well, we know Eve went ahead and was deceived. And then she gave the fruit to Adam. We don't know where he was at the time, but we know he went ahead and did what she had done. And then God, of course, appears and he explains the consequences. And Satan, the serpent, disguised with the appearance of a serpent, was right there, too. He is a being, an angelic being. And he says in verse 15, and this is the first key verse about the Day of Atonement that we have in the Bible, because it deals with Satan and his fate. And it talks about, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. Your seed is in capital because it has to do with Christ, the coming of Christ. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. So again, looking in the future, we knew there would be a time when Christ would come and Satan would be able to kill him, to bruise his heel in that sense, but he couldn't prevent God from resurrecting him. So he wasn't permanently lost. But then it says, Christ will bruise your head, not your heel, your head. He's going to end your government, end your activities. He's going to carry this out. And God has predetermined this already. The second key scripture on Atonement is in Leviticus 16. Let's go to Leviticus 16, starting in verse 3, which is titled, The Day of Atonement. And so we're going to go through here eight points dealing with Leviticus 16.

The symbolism is so important here. It says in verse 3, Thus Aaron shall come into the holy place with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering and of a ram as a burnt offering. So Aaron had to come in, and he was a sinner. So he had to come into the holy place, and he had to sacrifice for his sins, an animal.

Verse 4, He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body. He shall be girded with a linen sash and with a linen turban. He shall be tired. These are the holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water and put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering. Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his house. So we know that this priesthood had to do this year after year, and they continue to do so until the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. But with the coming of Christ, he was the one that was going to be the new high priest, and he was going to offer himself, not with animal sacrifices, he being spotless and sinless. So keep a finger here in Leviticus 16, and let's go to Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9 in verses 7 through 10.

This is describing the ceremony of the day of atonement. It says in Hebrews 9-7, But into the second part of this tabernacle, the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins, committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit, you know, God guiding what was happening, 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, an animal sacrifice is not going to forgive you as far as the spiritual consequences of your sins. That's what it's talking about here. Concerning only with foods and drinks, they had what they call oblations, which were drinks and the foods, various washings, and fleshly ordinances. Fleshly means physical ordinances imposed until the time of Reformation. Verse 11, But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come, with the 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. 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 your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason, he is the mediator of the new covenant by means of death for the redemption of the transgression under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. And so he's a the high priest now in heaven. His church looks to the high priest in heaven, doesn't look to a priestly lineage here on earth to expiate the sins. Now the Jewish people, they're still praying to God. They still have ceremonies. And in this day, picturing the forgiveness, but again, if they could, they would do animal sacrifices. But as long as they don't have an altar and a temple in Jerusalem, they cannot do so. So they do it through their rituals, but they don't realize there's a better priesthood already existing. Let's go back to Leviticus 16. So now we get to the two goats. In verse 7, talking about Aaron, he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord or the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. Remember, the word here should be escape goat, or the goat that escapes because it's going to go into the desert.

In Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell. In other words, it's representing for God, it's a sacrifice on God's side, and offer it as a sin offering. And of course, this first goat represents Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. And then we have verse 10, 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. So this one is not sacrificed. This one is not killed. This one does not represent God. It represents Satan. Notice in 2 Corinthians 11, again, leave a finger here because we're going to go back to Leviticus 23, 2 Corinthians 11. The lots are cast upon these two he-goats because they're very similar. They look quite similar. God is the one that distinguishes one from another. This is describing Satan's clever action of mimicking and acting like Christ and this angel of light. Notice what it says. 2 Corinthians 11 verse 14.

It says, And no wonder for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness. They say they're ministers of righteousness, but they're not, whose end will be according to their works. And so Satan disguises himself as this very good and angelic being, and people are deceived. We know it talks about Satan deceiving the entire world and being under his spell. So you have here the term scapegoat from the word aceso, which means the expelled one, the one that is cast out, or you know, the one that is led out as an escape goat. And so the first part in God's plan is the sacrifice for sin, which Christ fulfilled. We read that already. So in God's plan, the first goat would suffer the consequences, the one for God. He would be sacrificed. But the second goat, this is a later occurrence. This is not going to happen during Christ's time.

Notice in verse 10 again that it says here that he's to be let go as the scapegoat.

And in verse 20, it says, And when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place, the tabernacle of meeting, talking about Aaron and the altar, he shall bring the live goat.

Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all iniquities of the children of Israel, in all their transgressions concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat. Now we already had the other goat, which was for Israel, for the sin offering. But here he is placing hands and signaling, here's the cause. Here's how mankind has gone astray, because we have this powerful being that has deceived the world and has caused so much of the sin.

And shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man, the goat shall bear on itself all the iniquities to an uninhabited land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. So here we see that this goat is banished and taken into the wilderness by a strong man, and he's bound. First, this helps us understand, Satan would be restricted, would be limited, and later he would be expelled.

Matthew chapter 12, keep a finger in Leviticus, coming back here. This is the fifth point that we're covering. Matthew 12 verse 28. We can understand this scripture better now, because this happened in Christ's first coming. He didn't expel Satan at that time, but he did in that sense restrict him, bind him. Matthew 12 verse 28.

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and he said, But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad.

So here, Christ shows he was stronger than Satan, and that he was able to expel demons through his authority and power. And so how was he able to do that? It was because he was God in the flesh, and that Satan was inferior and couldn't stop Jesus Christ from casting out demons and going into Satan's kingdom and doing what he wanted to, because he was stronger than Satan.

And he was representing the kingdom of God.

So Satan was first restricted when Christ came back. So we go to the sixth point, verses 27 and 28. It says, The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into make atonement, in the holy place, shall be carried outside the camp. And they shall burn in the fire their skin, their flesh, and their offal, which are the inner parts.

Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. So here, as the end of this ceremony, is what did they do? Not with the live goat. He's still alive, symbolizing his future that he was going to be expelled one day. But how about the goat that was sacrificed for the people of Israel? That was the blood that was taken and sprinkled as a covering of forgiveness for the people. Where were these animals taken? Well, they were a sin offering. They represented the carrying of the sins. And so they could not be inside that holy area. They had to be taken outside. And this is explained in Hebrews chapter 13. Keep your finger still here in Leviticus 13, 16, and go to Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13.

Starting in verse 11.

What about Christ's sacrifice? It says in verse 11, For the bodies of those animals, mentioned there in Leviticus 16, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priests for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. So he suffered outside the gates of Jerusalem. So he was a perfect symbol of that sacrifice.

You see how everything is explained later in the New Testament. That's why, yes, the Jews can have a lot of understanding, but as long as they stick with the Old Testament, they will never understand the true spiritual meaning we find in the New Testament. You need to combine the two, because the New Testament explains the Old Testament. And then we get into the seventh point. The people are restored to a good standing before God. They are reconciled. This is at the end of Leviticus 16. It says here, 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 it says here, verse 30, For on that day the priest shall make atonement, covering over for you to cleanse you that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. So people are restored, not by their own goodness and their own efforts in that sense, but by that sacrifice that was made on their behalf. That takes us to the eighth and final point, where it talks about that we shall, in verse 29, this shall be a statute forever in the seventh month. We are on this seventh month. If you look out, you can see I looked at the moon yesterday, and it is about three quarters now. By five more days, it's going to be a full moon, the 15th, the half of the month that we are on this stage. It says, the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, which is now, 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. Can you imagine a whole nation humbling themselves? What would happen if this country would do that? God would be a lot more with them. Instead of now, people are focusing and trying to solve things on their own devices. It's not working very well, is it?

It is a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. So here, the term afflict your souls is mentioned twice.

And this word afflict, anah, in the Hebrew and in the complete word study dictionary, it means to bow down, to humble oneself, to be humbled. It goes on to say it is possible to humble oneself, to afflict oneself by fasting. So this is the way we are humbling ourselves. And here's a classic definition in the Bible of afflicting your souls in Ezra, the book of Ezra.

Chapter 8 verse 21. I want to have the biblical definition of afflicting your souls and humbling yourselves. Ezra 8 verse 21, talking about Ezra described. He says, then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones, in other words, children and all our possessions, guidance, to seek from Him the right way for us to go. Many times in our lives, we need that. We need to afflict our souls, to ask God to show us the right way, not our way, but the right way. He knows what is best for us.

Another scripture about humbling ourselves, Isaiah 66 verse 2. Another classic definition, Isaiah 66 verse 2. This is the attitude that God wants to see us when we fast.

Verse 2, it says, For all those things my hand has made, and all those things exist, says the Lord. But on this one will I look, on Him who is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word. In the good news Bible version, it says, I am pleased with those who are humble and repentant.

Another translation, God's word for repentant, it uses those who are sorry for their sins. And then he goes on to say, who fear me and obey me.

Again, going back to this grace booklet that just came out, we wanted this to come out before the Feast of Tabernacles as a gift and also a preparation. And believe me, it's just been so inspiring. I read through the whole thing, marked it up. It's a booklet to mark it up. It's got so many important points I'd like to read talking about being sorry for their sins. God is looking for people that are that way. They're not happy when they sin. They repent. They ask forgiveness. They really mean it sincerely before God. And here in the grace booklet in page 47, it's talking about a parable of showing the magnitude of God's grace, the parable of the prodigal son. And of course, the Day of Atonement, we should feel sorry for our sins and ask forgiveness. At the same time, who are we asking to accept our repentance? This is from this booklet. It says, the primary lesson of this parable of the prodigal son is that our God is a loving Father who doesn't give up on His children. Even when we foolishly reject Him and turn our backs on Him, He still loves us and desperately wants us to return to Him. However, He will not force us to turn back to Him since He has given us freedom of choice, and all of us must at times experience consequences from our mistakes to grow in wisdom and judgment, learning love in all God's ways above the ways that seem right to us. And when we do turn to God, regardless of the seriousness of our sins and mistakes, He is there to figuratively throw His arms around us like the Father with a particle son, smother us with love and affection, and welcome us to His family. It's a strikingly beautiful picture of His love toward us. So let's not get discouraged, get down on ourselves. We know God is that loving Father.

And so this takes us to the third key scripture, the formal instructions dealing with this day, Leviticus 23 verse 26.

We can just go over it quickly. It says, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you. This is what we're doing today. This is a holy convocation. We're not here to play around and just be entertained. No, this is a very serious occasion.

And you shall afflict the same word as we mentioned before, anah, your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the day of atonement to make atonement for you before the Lord your God.

And then we already covered the rest of it, but I just wanted to bring this up as the formal instructions. And then we go to the fourth point. Okay, we've seen all the symbolism here in the Old Testament. We've also talked about the symbolism of the two goats. But now we go into the New Testament to see how this is further filled in with the details in Revelation 12 verse 7. Revelation 12 verse 7. These are end-time events where that he goat that has been bound, that has been limited, it's going to be loosed for a short time. Leviticus 12 verse 7, I mean Revelation 12 verse 7, it says, and war broke out in heaven. This hasn't happened yet, but it's going to happen in the future. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought. So many times when it talks about Satan, he doesn't mention all the angels that he has under his charge, but here we see a direct reference. But they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. After this moment, they don't have any access to God the Father in heaven. We know in Job, Satan was able to come before God.

So the great dragon was cast out. That serpent of old, talking about the one in the Garden of Eden, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been cast out. He's not going to be able to accuse anybody after this. No more room for him. No more accusations. His judgment has come. And they overcame him, all of the ones who are part of the church at that time and are faithful, not by their own goodness and perfection, but by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, that they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell on the earth, woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time. So he's loosened upon the world with no restrictions. And that takes us to the next scripture, Revelation 20, 1-4.

Satan is going to have that period of time called the end time, three and a half years. And then Christ comes back. Verse 1, it says, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he was cast 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, till the thousand years were finished, but after these things he must be released for a little while. So we see here, again, the symbolism of the ego, that the day of atonement represents when he finally will be bound, and he will be thrown into that bottomless pit, which is a pit where you can't see the bottom. It doesn't mean it doesn't have a floor to it, because he's cast here on the earth into this bottomless pit, but it is so far down you can't see the bottom. That's what it means. And of course, there was a powerful angel that came and laid hands on him and bound him. So he's not going to be loose around there. He's going to be bound with spiritual chains, so he'll be restricted. And then in verse 7, after he's released right after the thousand-year period, now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gogamagong, to gather them together to battle, whose number is at the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints in the beloved city, talking about Jerusalem, where Christ has his palace. And there's where the center of God's government is. That's where Satan attacks. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire. No longer is it the bottomless pit, but now the lake of fire and brimstone. And it should say here where the beast and the false prophet were, because they were cast there.

It says in the Good News Bible, then the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown, because they're dead. They're incinerated. And talk about Satan and his angels. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. And so that takes us to the sixth and final point in Matthew 6, 13, the last scripture we're going to be covering. Matthew 6 verse 13, because this has a practical application today. Yes, we've traveled in God's time machine to see about this day in the past, in the present, in the future, but now how to apply it personally in our lives. Matthew 6 verse 13. Christ is giving here his outline prayer, and he says in verse 13, and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. And that's the right way it should be. It's not deliver us from evil in general, but from the evil one.

In the Good News Bible version, it says, do not bring us to hard testing. Don't allow us to be tested harder than we can sustain, but keep us safe from the evil one.

And we need that every day to be delivered, to be protected. We have to guard ourselves from the wiles of the devil. The world is more corrupt now than ever. And we should remember, we have a powerful adversary. He doesn't want for us to make it into God's kingdom. He doesn't want to be replaced. And he doesn't want us to rule under Christ. And he's doing whatever he can to help people disqualify, get discouraged, quit church, go back into the world, because he doesn't want us to get that wonderful reward in the end. And so, brethren, now for many of us, now tomorrow, we start on our trip going to the feast, which is a foretaste of the coming kingdom of God under Christ. And remember, Satan is limited. He's restricted, but he's not been expelled yet.

He's like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. And the Day of Atonement represents that first prophecy in Genesis 3.15, where it says that he will bruise your head. And it's when Jesus Christ finally gets rid of this evil being that has caused so much damage that we have to put up every day with this evil way of life and this present evil age, as it's ascribed. And the Day of Atonement will be ultimately fulfilled through Jesus Christ. He is the one that's going to carry it out. And that's the good news, brethren, for today. Satan does lose in the end, and we will win in the end.

Happy Day of Atonement to all.