(72) The Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, the day when our sins are forgiven.  On this day the high priest of the nation of Israel would go behind the veil in the Holy Place and perform a ceremony in the Holy of Holies.  Leviticus 23:26-32.

 

• 26  The Lord said to Moses,
• 27  “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Yom Kippur.  Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to ADONAI.
• 28  Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God.
• 29  Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people.
• 30  I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. 
• 31  You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
• 32  It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”

It was performed on the 10th day of the 7th month each year. This day was the most holiest day and the most important feast during the Feast of Weeks.   There were four main elements to this feast.

1. The holy ones (God's people) were called together.  God's people were called to the altar to focus upon Him.  God's presence was with them.
2. Denying yourselves means that the people were suppose to humble themselves.  It is supposed to be a day of fasting and repentance.
3. It was a day of offering.
4. It was absolutely a day of rest.  No one was to work, punishment up to the penalty of death.

The high priest would first bathe and wash his whole body and not just the regular ceremonial washing of hands and feet.  This was to show a desire to be completely purified before ADONAI.  He was to wear a special garment of linen instead of his usual robe of color.  He would take a male bull and sacrifice it for himself.  He would place the blood on the Mercy Seat (lid of the Ark) and on the ground beside the Ark.  He then would take a male goat and sacrifice it for the people.  Some of the blood would be sprinkled onto the Ark.  Then the high priest would take another goat and lay his hands on the head.  He would confess the sins of Israel, symbolizing the transference of sin onto the goat, and then let it go.  Our sin would escape with the goat, hence the term escape goat, or scapegoat.  The remains of the bull and goat were taken outside the city to be burned/sacrificed.

 

What does it mean for us?  Hebrews 9-10 is the answer.  This day points to Christ in all ways.  Jesus is our high priest, our sacrifice, our escape goat, our atonement.  Jesus was pure.  He went to the cross not wearing any special garment.  He was stripped of his clothes until all that remained was his undergarments.  The soldiers mocked him and placed a purple robe on Him.  Nothing spectacular, one color, yet one of a King!  Jesus took His own blood, for no one could do this without His will, and it was spilled on the new Ark (Cross) and on the ground, since He was lifted high into the air His blood fell to the ground.  The scapegoat was to show that the sins of Israel were not remembered.  Jesus' death is all about how our sins are forgiven.  Our sin was transferred from us to Him.  But there is a difference here.  The goat was done once each year; it was temporary.  Jesus did this once and for all (Hebrews 7:27).  His sacrifice is permanent.  We are bound by law, but free in grace.  And like the remains of the bull and goat that was led outside the city to finish the sacrifice, so was Jesus (Hebrews 13:11-12), where He said, "It is finished".

 

It is not a day we need to sacrifice anymore since we are now in grace and not held to the law.  But nevertheless it is a day when we need to draw closer to God and remember what His son Jesus did for us, once and for all.  The law brings death and grace brings life.

But, we need to take time to understand this day. The day where all of our sins would be forgiven for the year. The priests would sacrifice a perfect lamb for each one of us.   The lamb my friends is temporary, natural, finite, a vapor in this life. Today we have a high priest who is also the perfect lamb.   But this lamb my brothers and sisters (more than my friends this time) is PERMANENT! SUPERNATURAL! INFINITE! IS LIFE!  He has redeemed us.  He has reconciled us to Him.  Our sins under grace are never remembered for the scapegoat has gone into Heaven and has taken our sins with Him.

 

Remember to thank God the Father today for His sacrifice of His perfect Son and for sending His Spirit to us.

(34) Abraham's Lie

Have you ever wondered why Abraham was considered righteous?

• 1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
• 2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
• 3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.
• 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
• 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

Abraham was called by God to sacrifice his only true son, Isaac. Abraham went through the whole ordeal but it seems as though he lied to his servants. He told his servants to stay while they go worship and then they will come back! Now if he was to sacrifice Isaac, he knew only he himself would come back. Did Abraham lie? And he was still considered righteous. Well, he didn't lie.

Abraham knew Isaac would live. Before all of this happened Abraham was promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the grains of sand. When Abraham took Isaac up the mountain he knew that somehow Isaac would be coming back down with him. So when he said "we" will return, he meant it. However, he probably also expected that Isaac would have to be actually sacrificed, in the literal sense. So why would he think both would be coming back? Isaac would be resurrected! To Abraham, Isaac was already dead. He knew that he would have to truly give a sacrifice, not just an offering. Sometimes true worship means just more than your offering (money, feelings, times or any aspect of life). Abraham knew that true worship meant giving all you have. Isaac meant the world to him. It was all Abraham had. True Ishma'el was there but Ishma'el was not born out of faith. He was born of the flesh. He was born out of desire. He was not the promise God had for Abraham. The true son of Abraham was Isaac. The true sacrificed had to come by or through him.

And because he acted out of faith God provided a way out. Such as in our lives. Sometimes we see an easy way out. We see the things born out of the flesh as what can satisfy us and so we take that route. But God calls us to a place. He calls us to His route. If we stay faithful and follow His route and not our own, God will provide all we need. Since Abraham stayed faithful and was willing to sacrifice Isaac, God gave him the lamb caught in the brush. God called Abraham to a place. He didn't tell Abraham to sacrifice there at home. That would not have been a sacrifice. Staying home is our comfort zone and we would tend to remain to comfortable and not put our full focus on what God calls us to do. Therefore we may not even follow through with our sacrifice or worship. Abraham had to follow the directions of God to prove his faithfulness. The mountain that God told Abraham to go to was Mount Moriah, the highest peak in the area. This just happened to be the same mountain Christ was crucified on.

In all ways Abraham trusted in God. This is what made Abraham righteous. His trust. His faith. Hebrews tell us, "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." This is why the promises he was given were granted. Faithfulness gets you the promises of God.