Day of Atonement

The Greatest Day of the Year

Lev. 23:26-32    Lev. 16

On the tenth day of the seventh month, the activ­ity of the nation of Israel came to a standstill. Every one gathered around the tabernacle in awe and anticipation as one sole man could be heard walking as the silvers bells around the border of his coats jingled.   The high priest was permitted to enter into the Holy of Holies and offer the blood of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement.

There are three pictures to be seen in the Day of Atonement: the work of Jesus Christ, the future cleansing of Israel and the future cleansing of the Church.

Let me make it very clear that the basic interpretation of this passage (Lev. 16) relates to the nation of Israel, but there is a spiritual application for us as believers. All Scripture is profitable for us. We don't want to "spiritualize" this chapter and make. applications that are not there! But neither do we want to miss the lessons that God has for us.

I. The Work of Jesus Christ

The annual Day of Atonement illustrates the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. All of the work done on the Day of Atonement was accomplished by one person the high priest. Aaron, the high priest, was chosen to do this special work (Lev. 16:2). "There shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congrega­tion when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place" (v. 17). He had to do it alone.

The only Person who can do this work of salvation for us is Jesus Christ. Just as the high priest laid aside his garments and put on the simple linen garments of a servant, so our Lord Jesus laid aside His garments of glory, came to this earth, became a servant and died for us. The difference, of course, is this: The high priest had to offer sacrifices for himself, but Jesus needed no sacrifice. He was the holy and spotless Lamb of God.

Something else is true: The high priest offered the sacrifice of animals, but the Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice. He did not offer the blood of bulls and goats because the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin (Heb. 10:4).

The work of the high priest on the Day of Atonement was the work of atonement. One meaning of the word "atonement" is to cover. The blood covered the sins it could not take the sins away. When Jesus died, He took away the sins of the world. He finished the work once and for all.

When the priest was presented to do his work on the Day of Atonement, he was washed, a picture of sanctification. (Sanctification simply means being set apart.) Our Lord Jesus Christ sanctified Himself to die for us. He said, "For their sakes I sanctify myself" (John 17:19). Our Lord Jesus set Himself apart to do the one task that nobody else could do; namely, the task of completing salvation for a sinful world. He alone could do it. He alone would do it. He alone is our Saviour today.

The important part of this Day of Atonement ceremony involved the two goats, which, together, were a sin offering (Lev. 16:5): "And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin-offering." The first goat was slain and the blood applied. "Then shall he kill the goat of the sin-offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: and he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins" (vv. 15,16). Jesus died as a sin offering. In fact, when He died on the cross, He was made sin. He knew no sin, and He committed no sin; and yet, He died as a sin offering.

What about the second goat? "And when he hath made an end of reconciling [atoning for] the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness" (vv. 20-22).

The first goat was slain; the second goat (alive) was turned loose. It is a picture of John 1:29: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." It also illustrates Psalm 103:12: "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."

These two goats picture to us the two aspects of our Lord's work on the cross: He died for us and He arose again. His blood takes away sin. The work that He did never has to be done again. The Old Testament record tells us that the Day of Atonement had to be repeated annually. Every year the same sacrifices, every year the same ceremony. The priest in the Old Testament had an unfinished work. But the Lord Jesus Christ has finished His work. He has put on His robes of glory, and He has gone back to heaven. "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Heb. 10:12).

II. The Future Cleansing of Israel

Second, this ceremony is a beautiful picture of the future cleansing of Israel. We learned in our study of the Feast of Trumpets that one day God will call His elect people Israel back to the land of Palestine. In Matthew 24:29-31, we read about the trumpet's being blown and the angels of God gathering God's people Israel back to the land. The same truth is stated in Isaiah 27:12,13.

"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness" (Zech. 13:1). In what day? In that future day when Jesus Christ shall return. "And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn" (12:9,10).

When the Lord Jesus Christ shall return, Israel shall look upon Him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn because of their sin. As a result of this, there shall be a time of cleansing and purifica­tion, and the fountain shall be opened for sin and for uncleanness (13:1).

We who are New Testament Christians know what that fountain is:

There is a fountain filled with blood

Drawn from Immanuel's veins,

And sinners plunged beneath that flood

Lose all their guilty stains.

"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is hap­pened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins" (Rom. 11:25-27). There shall be a future gathering and a future cleansing of the nation of Israel. That is the basic interpretation of the Day of Atonement.

III. The Future Cleansing of the Church

However, there is an application to the Church. You see, the Church is not all that she ought to be. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:25-27).

We must be honest and admit that we, as indivi­dual Christians and as the Church collectively, are far from glorious and far from being free of spots, wrinkles and blemishes. But one of these days, the Church will be a glorious Church without spot and wrinkle and without blemish when we stand before the Lord.

Spots come from defilement on the outside. Wrinkles come from decay on the inside. Blemishes come from disease on the inside. Today the Bride of Jesus Christ, the Church, is not as glorious as she ought to be, but one day she shall be glorious. When will this take place? It will take place after the Judgment Seat of Christ.

The Feast of Trumpets, on the first day of the seventh month, pictures the gathering together of God's people. The basic interpretation is for Israel, but there is an application to the Church. The trumpet is going to sound, and we shall be called up to be with the Lord. Then we shall have our heavenly "Day of Atonement." We shall stand before the Lord and give an accounting of our lives and ministries. The Church will have all the wrinkles taken out and all the spots removed and all the blemishes taken care of. Then it will be a glorious Church to the glory of God.

However, we should start that cleansing today. We need "the washing of water by the word" (Eph. 5:26). "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you," said the Lord Jesus (John 15:3). Let's keep our lives clean. Let's keep the Church as clean as we possibly can to the glory of God.

Be God's guest and share in "the beauty of holiness" (II Chron. 20:21).