The Day of Atonement
(Yom Kippur)

After the festival of Trumpets we read about the next festival of YHVH (the LORD) in Lev 23:26-32

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; you shall afflict 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. "For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. "And any person who 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 in 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, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath." (Leviticus 23:26-32 NKJV throughout unless noted)

"For 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. (Leviticus 16:30-31)

The Day of Atonement (Hebrew, Yom Kippur), comes on the tenth day of the Jewish month of Tishrei (September/October). It is the last day of the Ten Days of Repentance (or Days of Awe, see Trumpets), and it is the most solemn day of the Jewish calendar. It is believed that those who have not been good enough to be written in the Book of Life immediately on the Feast of Trumpets are given ten days to repent, pray for forgiveness, and do good deeds until the Day of Atonement, when their fate will be decided. The entire Day is spent fasting and praying. Because this day is the most solemn day in the year, it is known as "The Day".

 Fasting is one of the most important of the commandments leading to atonement. The Torah says three times, "And this shall be to you a law for all times: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month you shall practice self-denial" [Leviticus 16:29]; [Leviticus 23:27]; and [Numbers 29:7]. The Jewish understanding interprets self-denial as fasting. For this reason, the Day of Atonement is known as "The Fast Day."

 

HISTORICAL

Priest entered the Holy of Holies making Atonement for the people's sins.

On the Day of Atonement, the priest shall conduct a special ceremony to purge defilement from the shrine and from the people. The heart of the ritual is that the high priest shall bring a bull and two goats as a special offering. First, the bull is sacrificed to purge the shrine from any defilement caused by misdeeds of the priest himself and of his household [Leviticus 16:6]. Secondly, one of the goats is chosen by lot to be sacrificed to purge the shrine of any similar defilement stimulated by misdeeds of the whole Israelite people [Leviticus 16:7-8]. Finally, the second goat is sent away, not sacrificed, to cleanse the people themselves. The goat is marked for Azazel and is sent away to wander in the wilderness [Leviticus 16:10]. Before the goat is sent out, the high priest lays both his hands upon its head and confesses over it all the iniquities and transgressions of the Israelites, whatever their misdeeds, and so putting them on the head of the goat. Thus, the Torah adds,

"The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:22)

Azazel: The Scapegoat

The Hebrew word for scapegoat is azazel. The sins of the people and thus the punishment of the people were laid upon azazel the scapegoat. He would bear the sins of the people and the punishment of the people would be upon him. Azazel being sent into the wilderness is understood to be a picture of satan being cast into the lake of fire [Revelation 19:20].

Let's take a closer look at this ceremony found in (Leviticus 16:7-10). In [Leviticus 16:8], the first lot said, "La Adonai" (To the Lord). The second lot said, "La Azazel" (To the scapegoat). The high priest took the two golden lots, one marked La Adonai and the other marked La Azazel, and placed one upon the head of each animal, sealing their fate. It was considered a good omen if the lot marked La Adonai was drawn by the priest in the right hand, but for 40 years prior to the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D, the lot La Adonai was drawn by the priest on the left hand (Talmud, Yoma 39a). In any event, the sins of the people were laid upon the scapegoat [Leviticus 16:21-22]. Except for the 40 years prior to the destruction of the second temple, the lot La Adonai came out on the right hand of the priest and the lot La Azazel came out on the left hand of the priest.

MESSIANIC FULFILLMENT

The Day of judgment.

God gave this ceremony of the casting of lots during the Day of Atonement to teach us how He will judge the nations of the world prior to the Messianic age known as the Millennium. The nations of the world will be judged according to how they treated the Jewish people. Those nations who mistreated the Jews will be goat nations and they will go into the left hand. Those nations that stood beside the Jewish people will be sheep nations and will enter into the Messianic kingdom or the Millennium. Yeshua (Jesus) taught us about this in (Matthew 25:31-46). Yeshua during His first coming was a type of the goat marked La Adonai. Yeshua was a sin offering to us as God laid upon Him the sins of the whole world [1 Corinthians 15:3]; [1 John 2:2].

In connection with this ceremony, an interesting tradition arose that is mentioned in the Mishnah. A portion of the crimson sash was attached to the door of the temple before the goat was sent into the wilderness. The sash would turn from red to white as the goat met its end, signaling to the people that God had accepted their sacrifices and their sins were forgiven. This was based upon [Isaiah 1:18]. As stated earlier, the Mishnah tells us that 40 years before the destruction of the temple, the sash stopped turning white. This, of course, was when Yeshua was slain on the tree.

SPIRITUAL APPLICATION

Yielding ourselves to God so we may live (face to face) in His Presence.

The Day of Atonement was the most solemn of all the feast days. It was the day of cleansing for the nation and for the sanctuary. On this day alone, once a year, the high priest entered into the holiest of all, the Holy of Holies in the temple, within the veil of the temple, with the blood of the Lord's goat, the sin offering. Here he sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat. The blood of the sin offering on the great Day of Atonement brought about the cleansing of all sin for the priesthood, the sanctuary, and Israel as a nation [Leviticus 16:29-34].

God told the Israelites to sacrifice an animal as a substitute for their own sentence to die. This life for a life principle is the foundation of the sacrificial system. The Torah allows a monetary ransom be paid for an individual deserving death [Exodus 21:28-32]. The guilty person here was the owner of an ox that had killed a person, and the owner of the ox was responsible for the death caused by his ox (Exodus 21:30 says that money paid in place of the death of the owner was a ransom price).

Yeshua died on the tree as a substitute for us, who deserved death because we sinned against God. Yeshua paid the ransom price for us to God [Mark 10:45]. The ransom price was 30 pieces of silver [Exodus 21:32]; [Matthew 26:14-16].

Thirty pieces of silver was the ransom price of blood in dying in the place of the truly guilty and making atonement for the guilty. In the case of a thief or murderer, there is no atonement for them [Exodus 22:1-2]; [Numbers 35:31]. This is why there is no atonement for satan (John 8:44). Thirty pieces of silver was the ransom price of blood and the shedding of blood made an atonement for sin [Leviticus 17:11]; [Romans 5:8-11]. The Greek word hilasmos, translated as "propitiation," has the same meaning as the Hebrew word kaphar, which is translated as "atonement" [Romans 3:23-25]. The purpose of the Day of Atonement was to teach us about Yeshua, who is our atonement.

For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come——In the volume of the book it is written of Me——To do Your will, O God.’" Previously saying, "Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the law), then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:1-10)

Atonement is a solemn time of evaluating our relationship with our Savior today. It also is a picture of future atonement for all of repentant mankind.

Reference for this article, from the book.

The Seven Festivals of the Messiah
by Eddie Chumney


[Festivals_Intro] - [Weekly_Sabbath] - [Passover] - [Unleavened_Bread] - [Feast_of_First_Fruits] - [Feast_of_Weeks] - [Feast_of_trumpets] - [Day_of_Atonement] - [Feast_of_Tabernacles]

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