LESSON 6
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
| The Day of Atonement and the Last Day | . |
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves and present an offering made to the Lord by fire. Do no work on that day because the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. Anyone who does not deny himself on that day must be cut off from his people. I will destroy from among the people anyone who does any work of that day. You shall do no work at all.
“‘This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a Sabbath of rest for you and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following day you are to observe your Sabbath.’” Leviticus 23:26-32.
“The feasts of Israel are way-points on the pathway of the saints as they make their pilgrimage through holy history. They mark out God’s agenda for the redemption, sanctification, and ultimate witness and glorification of all his Covenant people. The chosen will be drawn out from both houses of Israel and the wider Gentile church extending out to the ends of the earth. They will be the ultimate single united remnant elect.
“As we discussed in the previous article, there are Seven Feasts of Israel. In these sacred convocations the outline of God’s sovereign plan of the ages is laid out for the Covenant people of God. The feasts, as they come into their New Covenant fulfilment, are key way points on a road map showing us where we have come thus far and also shining a light on the pathway as it leads us onwards into holy history.
“The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) was instituted by YHVH-God and proclaimed through Moses at Mount Sinai. He set forth this “appointed time” as a statute forever. The Day of Atonement is the 6th feast and the most solemn day on the Hebrew calendar.
“The Day of Atonement has always marked the end of one time period in preparation for the beginning of the next. On the 10th day of Tishrei the High Priest went into the holy of holies. He sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat for himself and for all of God’s people. Since we are told in Hebrews that Jesus Christ/Yeshua Hamashiach is now our High Priest then He Himself has taken over that role. He will be officiating on that epic future Day of Atonement when it opens up. It is His blood, the blood of the promised Sacrifice Lamb that is placed on the mercy seat in the heavenly tabernacle.
“The word ‘atonement’ means reconciliation. This Day of Atonement is a settling of accounts. The Day of Reckoning is a day in which all the accounts must be settled between God and His people for that year. Every 50 years the day takes on a wider meaning as well. In the Jubilee year the Day of Atonement wraps things up for that entire 50 year economic cycle.”
What is the significance of the Day of Atonement for the Church?
There are two prophetic streams in the Old Testament that foretell the nature and work of the Messiah.
The first stream, which is most clearly seen in the Ebed Yahweh prophecies of Isaiah – the Servant of Yahweh, presented Messiah in His priestly role as both priest and sacrifice. It was this aspect of Messiah’s work that the Jews neither understood nor accepted because it did not meet their expectation of a political Messiah who would rid them of Roman oppression and re-establish the glorious Davidic kingdom of Israel. Jesus fulfilled His priestly role in His first coming, on the exact day and at the exact time the spring feasts represented Him.
The summer feast of Pentecost, when Messiah poured out the Holy Spirit on the believers, and the church, the New Testament bride of Christ was born, took place on the same calendar day as the day when God came down on Mount Sinai to propose to His people, when the nation of Israel, God’s Old Testament bride, was born.
The second prophetic stream presents Messiah in His kingly role. The autumn feasts of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and Tabernacles have yet to be fulfilled when Jesus comes again to judge the earth, restore His kingdom and set up His reign on earth with His people. His coming with be announced by the blowing of the last trumpet which will signal the end of the period of grace.
“Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52.
We are living in the period of grace between the summer Feast of Pentecost when the church was born following the Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread and First-fruits (which were fulfilled by the Suffering Servant) and the three autumn feasts when the king will return to judge the earth and set up His eternal kingdom.
SUMMARY AND PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Yom Kippur is a picture of the final Day of Judgment, when the books are opened and the people of the earth are judged according to what they have done.
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” Revelation 20:11, 12.
God has atoned for and removed our sin through His Messiah, as pictured by the two goats offered on Yom Kippur, one sacrificed and the blood sprinkled on the Mercy Seat, and the other driven into the wilderness with the sin of the people on it.
The people will be judged, according to the above passage and the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:31-40, not by mere verbal profession of faith in Jesus but by lives transformed by His Spirit so that they reflect His nature in the way that they live in obedience and submission to Him, loving God and caring for needy people.