The Day of Atonement

• Review:
  • The skin disease lepra dealt with any kind of “ .”
  • Losing hair was an issue; but rest easy, baldness was OK.
  • Even your house could suffer from lepra.
  • The house had to be destroyed stone by stone.
  • The disease must be completely removed from the presence of the assembly.
  • Uncleanness brought from God and people.
  • The priest would determine if the disease called for expulsion from the assembly.
  • Spiritual uncleanness brings isolation for human beings.
  • Sin drives us to isolation from God.
  • Sin drives us to isolation from each other.

  • Where did this principle first begin?

  • Spiritual uncleanness is overcome by the who calls us into fellowship.

  • How did God provide for restoring fellowship in the Garden of Eden?

  • How does God provide for restoring fellowship for us today?

2Examining the High and Holy Day

• The most important day for the OT Jew was Yom Kippur – The of .
• This was the day when the High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies.
• This day was declared a Sabbath even if it did not fall on a Saturday.
• Time Line:
  • Rosh Hashana: day of 7th month.
  • Yom Kippur: days later. (mid-September to mid-October)
  • Feast of Tabernacles: days later.
• The big difference on this day was that atonement was made behind the curtain. Leviticus 16:14
  • All matters of uncleanness have preceded the description of this day. (Leviticus 1-16)
  • There must be no questions as to whether the person can approach or not.
  • The Priests were already aware of the care they must take before approaching the Lord. They also knew the consequences of approaching God nonchalantly. (Leviticus 10:1-2, 9)
  • The people already knew how detailed they must be in examining themselves before approaching this special Day.
  • The purpose of the High Holy Day was .
  • “Atonement” = “Ransom” / “to remove by paying a price”
  • A sacrifice had to pay the price of the sin of the camp.
• On the High Holy Day, all people were before God. Leviticus 16:3-5
  • The High Priest must sacrifice on his own behalf. (Purification offering and ram for Burnt offering)
  • The High Priest takes his glorious garments and lays them aside for the garments of a slave.
  • The people had a sacrifice on their behalf in the form of 2 goats and one ram. (see Azazel)
  • Before returning to normal activities, all the people (including the High Priest) must wash for cleansing.

3The Goat for Azazel

• Perhaps the most interesting procedure done on this day was the choosing of the “goat to the Lord” and the “goat to Azazel.” Leviticus 16:6-10
• The procedure:
  • 2 goats stood before the priest.
  • 2 lots were put into an urn.
  • The High Priest put his hand into the urn and drew out the lots placing them upon each of the 2 goats.
  • 1 goat was sacrificed as a offering.
  • 1 goat was sent into the wilderness – the .
  • “Azazel” is found in v.8, 10, 26. The meaning of “Azazel” is uncertain.
  • Perhaps “Azazel” was a that lived in the wilderness?

  • This “Azazel” was in contrast to the Lord (v.8) – a personal use of God’s Name against a personal entity?

  • In later Jewish literature, “Azazel” is described this way in Enoch 8:1.
  • The Old Testament sometimes describes the wilderness as the place of these kinds of creatures. (Leviticus 17:7; Isaiah 13:21; 34:14; CF: Jesus in the wilderness with His enemy)
  • Perhaps “Azazel” meant “complete ?”
  • Perhaps “Azazel” meant a “rocky ?”
• The bottom line for the ceremony: One goat symbolically bore the sins of the people outside of the camp to be “cut off.” Leviticus 16:20-22

4The Power in the Blood

• Atonement is at the heart of the High and Holy Day.
• Sin had tainted everything – including the holy place!
• Atonement was essential for approaching God.
• “We strongly reject, therefore, every explanation of the death of Christ which does not have at its center the principle of ‘satisfaction through substitution,’ indeed divine self-satisfaction through divine self-substitution.”

5-John Stott

• Blood is essential for atonement to occur.
• For Hebrews, the Day of Atonement prefigures the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
• The book of Hebrews compares this Day of Atonement to the life of the Christian – especially Hebrews 9.
• This day teaches about the nature of sin.
• This day teaches about the necessity of atonement.
• This day teaches about the superiority of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
• Aaron was a sinner and needed a sacrifice. Jesus needed no one to offer a sacrifice for Him.
• Aaron had to repeat sacrifices yearly. Christ was sacrificed once for all time. Hebrews 9:6-14
• Aaron’s rituals secured him entry into the earthly sanctuary. Christ’s death led Him into the heavenly sanctuary. Heb.9:24
• Aaron’s repetitive sacrifices constantly reminded of sin. Christ’s sacrifice once for all secured permanent forgiveness. Heb.10:1-18
• On this day, the veil of the Temple was rent in two. (Matthew 27:51) - Now Believers have the right to enter into the presence of God. Hebrews 10:19
  • The Blood will never be as powerful as it is meant to be to us without a healthy understanding of our sin.
  • “We are trying to get young people to say, ‘Here am I’ before they have ever said, ‘Woe is me!’”
  • -V. Havner
  • Only 1 person was permitted to enter before the Lord.
• This is true in both Testaments in Scripture. 1 Timothy 2:5
  • Jesus Christ is the only Person acceptable to offer sacrifice for all humankind.
  • Jesus was led outside the camp to offer sacrifice for sin once for all. (Seen in the scapegoat)

  • Perhaps our response is meant to be seen in the following verses of Hebrews 10? (v.22-25)

• NEXT WEEK: Principles for Practical Holiness: Sexual Behavior. Leviticus 18:1-30