OUR HIGH PRIEST AND HIS ATONING SACRIFICE
“Also the tenth day of this seventh shall be the Day
of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you… to make atonement
for you before the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 23: 27-28)
The Day of Atonement was a very important day to Israel. It was the only
day that God commanded them to fast. For once a year on this very day,
the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place to make atonement for the
children of Israel because of their sins and transgressions. Details of
this most important ceremony can be founding Leviticus 16. Now, the Day
of Atonement is about grace, mercy, and forgiveness. As the Israelites
watched the High Priest offer the required sacrifices of this day and
perform its unique ceremonies, they were reminded that there was nothing
that they could do to pay for their sins. They were forgiven because
God is loving, merciful, and compassionate. And yet, as shall see, these
sacrifices could not truly take away sin. Rather, they were a reminder
of sin!
The ceremonies and sacrifices of the Day of Atonement were unique and
meaningful. First, the high priest made atonement for himself and his
family. In doing this, a bull was sacrificed as a sin offering. Then,
the high priest made atonement for the people using two goats that were
specially selected as a sin offering. One of the two goats was
sacrificed, and one was used as a “scapegoat”. In performing the
atonement ceremonies, the high priest sprinkled blood upon the mercy
seat inside the Most Holy Place, the tabernacle, and the altar. But why
sprinkle blood on these things. Didn’t the tabernacle, Most Holy Place,
and altar belong to God? Weren’t they holy? The answer to both questions
is “yes”! The problem was, they were located in the middle of the
habitation of Israel and were defiled by “the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins”.
(Leviticus 16: 16) So, they had to be cleansed – ceremonially at least –
if God was to continue dwelling among them. These ceremonies teach us
an important lesson. Our sins affect our relationship with God. This was
true then, and it is still true today. “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)
To complete the Day of Atonement services, there was just one more
ceremony to perform. The scapegoat was brought before the high priest.
The High Priest placed his hands upon the head of the goat and confessed
over it all the sins, iniquities, and transgressions of the Israelites.
After completing this confession, the goat was taken into the
wilderness by a specially selected person and released. Now, as
meaningful as these sacrifices and ceremonies were, they were only a
shadow of the good things yet to come.
“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.’” (Hebrews 10: 1-7)
After His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus entered the Most Holy
Place in Heaven where God dwells. As our High Priest, He offered his own
blood as a sacrifice for our sins and made atonement for each of us.
Although the high priest entered the Most Holy Place once each year
under the Old Covenant to atone for the sins of the Israelites, Jesus
entered Heaven once for all time as the mediator of the New Covenant.
“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 transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called
may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” (Hebrews 9: 11-15)
The Day of Atonement teaches us about the ministry performed by Jesus
Christ as our High Priest. Sometimes, we tend to see our sins as one
time events, here one moment and gone the next. But when we sin, there
are always consequences! These consequences include separation from God,
guilt, shame, fear, depression, hopelessness, despair, anxiety, lack of
trust, broken lives, and emotional scares. So in forgiving us, God must
also heal and restore us so that our consciences can be cleansed from
the ravages of sin. Because Jesus is our High Priest, we can go before
Him and find grace in our times of need. “Seeing then that we have a
great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest
who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted
as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne
of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of
need.” (Hebrews 4: 14-16)
The Day of Atonement is also prophetic. Now, just as the Day of
Atonement is celebrated after the Feast of Trumpets, so this day points
to prophetic events that occur after the return of Jesus Christ.
However, because the Day of Atonement precedes the Feast of Tabernacles
which points to the millennial reign of Jesus, the Day of Atonement must
then must point to a period of time immediately after the return of
Jesus but before the start of his millennial reign. So what events could
they be?
• Satan is Locked Away
When Jesus returns, one of the first things that He will do is lock Satan away. Satan is the spiritual ruler of the earth who has lead mankind into sin and rebellion against God. The peace and tranquility of Jesus’ one thousand year reign can never happen as long as Satan is allowed to influence and sway mankind. During the millennium, Jesus will be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Satan will not be allowed to deceive the world again at least until the thousand years are over! “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 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.” (Revelation 20: 1-3)
• A Time for Atonement
With Satan gone, Jesus is now King of all the earth! But before (or perhaps as) Jesus begins his millennial reign, there must be a time of restoration and atonement. The Day of Atonement seems to look forward to this day of restoration when an unbelieving world will finally turn to God as it accepts Jesus as their Savior, High Priest, and King. At this time, the scripture in Micah 4: 2 will be fulfilled. “Many nations shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
There is one other point that should be considered. In the Old Covenant, every fiftieth year was called the Year of Jubilee. (Leviticus 25) In the Jubilee Year, all debts were cancelled, property was returned to the poor, and slaves were set free. Interestingly, God commanded that the Year of Jubilee be announced on the Day of Atonement by blowing trumpets throughout the land. Because restoration, healing, forgiveness, and mercy are important themes of the Day of Atonement, announcing the Jubilee Year on this day makes a lot of sense.
As Christians, we can learn so much from the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement teaches us about sin and its affect upon our relationship with God. It teaches us that we have a High Priest who is the mediator of the New Covenant and who sits at the right hand of God. It also reminds that we can go before God when we are weak or sin and find strength and grace in our times of need. The Day of Atonement also foreshadows a day after the return of Jesus Christ when the world will finally turn to God as it accepts Jesus as their Savior, High Priest, and King.
“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.” (Hebrews 9: 11-12)
Joe Weicks