On that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse
you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. Lev. 16:30
So Christ also having been once offered to
bear the sins of many shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that
wait for him unto salvation. Heb. 9:28
I love the Jewish feasts, Jesus celebrated
the feasts, and each one is a beautiful illustration of the person of Jesus
Christ. The feasts are not just Jewish holidays; Leviticus refers to them as
God’s appointed days. For Christians, Jesus fulfilled the feasts for us. Now our
eyes are fixed on the atonement of Christ. But it does not end there. Every
event in Jesus’ life, beginning with His birth, through His ministry, and with
His death and resurrection—all occurred on a festival of Israel—God’s appointed
time—a kairos interrupting the chronos of a fallen and broken world. Many
scholars argue that events yet to be fulfilled will occur on a kairos—God’s
appointed feasts of Israel.
On the Day of Atonement, the high priest enters
the Holy of Holies to offer a sacrifice on behalf of the sins of Israel. Jesus
Christ is our High Priest and was the perfect sacrifice for our sin, the epithet
of the type and shadow woven in the liturgy of the Day of Atonement.
The first offering was a sin-offering and a burnt-offering for
Aaron and his house. Then two goats for a sin offering and a ram for the
burnt-offering for the congregation.
On this Day of Atonement, the high priest was required to first
offer an offering for himself and his family, then he could bring an offering
on behalf of the people. First, it was a day of humiliation for the priest. He
was required to put off all his priestly garments of glory. A shadow of Jesus,
the King of Glory, laying aside His glory—from the foundation of the world; to
redeem the world. Jesus’ humiliation on that day cries to us still through His
Passion in the Scriptures.
On the Day of Atonement, two goats were brought; their fate
decided by the priest’s lots. The Lord’s lot would determine which goat would
die for the sin of the nation. The other— the scapegoat. Aaron the high priest
would lay his hand upon the scapegoat and send it into exile in the wilderness
or Azazel; the people’s sin is lost in the wilderness—to be remembered
no longer. The act of slaughtering
the goat, laid the judgment of death upon it—it represented the people’s sin.
The casting of the lots to determine the scapegoat is displayed on
the world’s stage between two men; Jesus and Barabbas. Their fate lies in the
judgment of the people—who will die and who will escape…the scapegoat. The
people’s voice was heard that day in Pilate’s court—choosing a brutal murderer
to escape forever—laying the sin of the people on Jesus. Jesus would be the
sacrifice the Lord’s lot fell upon that day—fulfilling the atonement offering.
Nor do you understand that it is better
for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation
should perish (John 11:50
ESV).
The word atonement is used in the book of
Leviticus forty-eight times, and it means covering. The blood offering was
sprinkled on the mercy seat once and before it seven times. The high priest would
then place incense
on the altar before the mercy seat and a sweet cloud covered the mercy seat—a
fragrant offering. The blood and the cloud of incense covered the mercy seat
and this illustrated the work and worth of our precious Lord Jesus Christ—His
blood causes the believer to be drawn near to Him.
This beautiful prose is part of the liturgy for Yom Kippur; a
precious prayer of repentance:
We have become guilty, we have betrayed,
we have robbed, we have spoken slander. We have caused perversion, we have
caused wickedness, we have sinned willfully, we have extorted, we have accused
falsely. We have given evil counsel, we have been deceitful, we have scorned,
we have rebelled, we have provoked, we have turned away, we have been perverse,
we have acted wantonly, we have persecuted, we have been obstinate. We have
been wicked, we have corrupted, we have been abominable, we have strayed, you have
let us go astray (Artscroll, 777).
The story of Jonah is recited on this night of atonement,
revealing the God of second chances. Jesus fulfilled the sin offering for us,
and absorbed God’s wrath.
I pray this inspires Christians to
meditate on this Day of Atonement—of Christ and His sacrifice for us and
instead of each one of us.
May God bless you on this, the Day of
Atonement—He is the God of second chances…
May you be inscribed in the book of
life...
Shalom.
