Atonement is the method God chose to symbolize his forgiveness of past offenses; he no longer sees them once they are covered over.
The Day of Atonement encompassed humility of fasting, burnt offerings, and sabbath rest. From these examples we can see how significantly God focused on the heart of the believer in approaching this day. They were to be sincerely humble, thanking God for his provision, delivering their whole selves to him, and understanding they were recognizing this day as an intermission, a hold or pause button in their busy schedules.
Because the ancient Day of Atonement was a national event, the disobedience of the nation was completely resolved through dual atonements of the goat of sacrifice and the goat of departure. In Yeshua’s day, this same result was effected through his simple and profound faithfulness in submitting to the will of the Father. As Israel’s representative king, he willingly took on the sins of the entire nation at once, allowing the covenant of Sinai to be fulfilled before Yahweh, and releasing those who placed their faith in him from the effects of sin and death. All that has been required for his people is faith in the substitutionary gift of himself, just as faith in the substitutionary goats was required in the original institution.
As mentioned in the previous discussion surrounding Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets), this period of the fall cycle of biblical holidays is the corroborating balance of the spring cycle. In the spring pattern, God raised up Moses as a deliverer for Israel from slavery and the worldliness of Egypt. In the fall pattern, God raised up Messiah to deliver his people from slavery to sin and the worldliness of corrupted religion. Just as the lamb at Passover provided physical deliverance from death for the firstborn of each family, the Yom Kippur ritual provided spiritual deliverance from sin for the firstborn nation of God: Israel. As Yom Kippur is six months removed from Passover, it is the counter-balance of the annual cycle, harking back to the same redemptive themes of that event. They are both about God redeeming and delivering his people from both sin and death; two witnesses to the faithful work of God.
As Israel was to be a light for the rest of the nations, the patterns established in their history still teach us in the nations about God’s faithfulness today. Since the spiritual Kingdom was established at the time of Yeshua, and it is eternally growing until it fills the earth, we can apply principles learned by their example. The principles set down in their narrative allow us to draw conclusions about how God desires to interact with all of humanity for all time.
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Well, I hope these studies on the fall festivals of the biblical calendar are bringing you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.
Once again, thanks for joining me today!
All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Core of the Bible podcast #118: The Biblical Calendar and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement
Welcome once again to the Core of the Bible podcast. My name is Steve, and I am your host in reviewing the key focal points in the Biblical narrative.
Over the past several months we have been reviewing some of the bigger key doctrines in the Bible. However, as I mentioned last time, for the next several weeks we will be returning to the biblical calendar as we are, at the recording of these podcasts, entering the fall season of the biblical year.
Having looked at Yom Teruah or the Day of Trumpets in our last episode, we come to the second of the fall holidays in the biblical calendar: Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. We read about this day in the narrative of Leviticus, and it is also touched on in Numbers, as well. The Leviticus passage explains the basic outline of the expectations God had for the people on this day:
Leviticus 23:26-32 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement [ha’kippurim]; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to Yahweh. You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before Yahweh your God. If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath.”
Now, recently on this podcast we have looked at the concept of atonement from a theological perspective over two episodes, so if you haven’t listened to both of those yet, they may also be helpful in understanding the meaning of this day. In the discussion today, I would like to cover the different aspects of the actual biblical Day of Atonement activities and the significance of meaning as object lessons for believers today.
So let’s begin with understanding the emphasis of the passage as Yahweh relates the information to Moses and the Israelites. First of all, he says because it is the Day of Atonement, they should:
In the description of this appointed time, Yahweh emphasizes how seriously he wants the Israelites to view this day by saying, “If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no work at all.” Clearly God wants them to ensure that they approach the day with humility and complete rest, or they would potentially forfeit their place in the community. With this kind of fierce emphasis on these specific things, I think we should review these concepts of humility, rest, and an offering of fire before we even discuss the ritual of atonement.
Humble Yourselves
Leviticus 23:29, 32 – “If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people…you shall humble your souls…”
The word here rendered as humbling of souls is actually a Hebrew word with several meanings. Teh’uneh comes from a root word anaw, which carries the idea of bowing down or stooping low; it is a representation of humility and affliction, here listed as humbling of soul, sometimes rendered as self-denial. Most of the time it is used in the context of describing the brutality of forced humiliation and mistreatment of others; however, in one famously referenced passage, we find it is used in the context of fasting.
Isaiah 58:5 – “Will the fast I choose be like this: A day for a person to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to Yahweh?
While God in this passage is mocking the Israelites’ hypocritical attitude on their special fast days, when fasting is done for a sincere reason, it represents a denial of self, a self-humiliation of sorts, and is the primary method of demonstrating a true, inner repentance. This humility before God, when sincerely offered, demonstrates one who has recognized the errors of their ways against God’s revealed instruction.
By fasting on this day, God’s people were to symbolically demonstrate their true repentance from disobedience to God’s instruction, and recognition of the sacrifice that was to be provided for their forgiveness. It is also a rejection of worldly sustenance to demonstrate a complete yielding to the provision of God.
Yeshua also encouraged having the right heart attitude when fasting which also emphasizes the point of doing so:
Matthew 6:16-18 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
Offering by fire
Each of the biblical holidays has its own set of specific sacrifices. In the episode on the biblical holiday of Shavuot or Weeks, we looked at what each of these different types of sacrifices means from a symbolic perspective, so I will review that briefly here.
While we may no longer be required to present physical sacrifices to Yahweh since Messiah fulfilled all of the Temple imagery, I believe we still honor Yahweh when we memorialize these sacrificial aspects in the spirit of these attributes.
Leviticus 23:27 – “…offer an offering made by fire unto Yahweh.”
Where the Day of Atonement is mentioned in the book of Numbers, it also mentions offerings of grain and oil:
Numbers 29:9 – “Their grain offering is to be of fine flour mixed with oil…”
Based on these aspects, we can see that the Day of Atonement encompasses an offering made by fire (or a burnt offering), an offering of grain and oil, and sin offerings within the atonement ritual itself. We learned that grain offerings represent gratitude for God’s provision. We will look at the sin offerings of this day when we review the ritual in a little bit, but for now let’s focus on the offering of fire.
The burnt offering represents a total consummation in God’s service. While other sacrifices provided food for the priests and sometimes participatory meals for the offerer (such as the peace offerings), by contrast the animal that was presented for the burnt offering was completely consumed until nothing was left. This imagery becomes self-evident as to its application for the believer: every part of those who come before Yahweh should be completely committed to him.
A Sabbath Rest
Leviticus 23:28, 30-32 – You shall not do any work on this same day… As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no work at all…. It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you… on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath.”
The command to rest on the Day of Atonement represents the ideal of cessation from worldly toil, an intermission, to focus on the importance of this day, much like the weekly Sabbath. Rest from work to observe the appointment days demonstrates placing God as a priority over worldly concerns.
Leviticus 19:1-3, 30 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I Yahweh your God am holy. ‘Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am Yahweh your God. … ‘You shall keep My sabbaths and revere My sanctuary; I am Yahweh.
When God speaks of keeping his Sabbaths, plural, I believe he is speaking not only about the weekly Sabbath but the annual ones, as well. Besides honoring Yahweh, I believe the annual Sabbaths contained within the biblical calendar all carry the same idea of being intermissions within the annual routine, especially the agricultural cycles, so that God’s people would remain focused on the object lessons within each season.
Here, especially on the Day of Atonement as a day of rest, a Sabbath rest additionally signifies that there is nothing for the individual to do on their own behalf; all of the work for atonement will be completed by the intermediary priest.
Yeshua also famously related that those who would come to him would find rest:
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
From these examples we can see how significantly God focuses on the heart of the believer in approaching this day. We should be sincerely humble, thanking God for his provision, delivering our whole selves to him, and understanding we are recognizing this day as an intermission, a hold or pause button in our busy schedules. If we lived in ancient Israel and we were to approach this day in this mindset and with these actions, we would be better prepared to understand the significance of what was about to take place in the courts of the Mishkan, or Tabernacle.
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Now that we have looked at the heart attitude that was expected on this day, we can now turn to the atonement ritual itself. As we have seen in our study on the Atonement, the root of the word atonement is the Hebrew word kaphar which means to cover over. Depending on the context, it could describe covering over an object with some type of coating, such as Noah’s ark:
Genesis 6:14 – “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover [kaphar] it inside and out with pitch.”
It can also have the meaning of looking past an offense, as something that is covered, similar to Jacob trying to amend for past behavior with his brother Esau:
Genesis 32:20 – and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.'” For he said, “I will appease [kaphar] him [Esau] with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.”
Kaphar is used most regularly in the narrative surrounding the Mishkan or the Tabernacle, and has to do with offerings and sacrifices which provide a covering over of transgression and guilt in the people’s relationship to God:
Illustrated in this way, atonement is the method God chose to symbolize his forgiveness of past offenses. In a manner of speaking, he no longer sees them once they are covered over.
This concept of overlooking transgression is also a characteristic of God that he encourages us to practice with one another as we seek to conform to his image.
So, generally speaking, atonement has to do with a process of covering over offenses so that a vital relationship can be restored. An exchange takes place in which something of value (typically the life of an animal) has been provided as a substitute for the life of the one who offers it sincerely and with repentance. This demonstration of sincere repentance allows the opportunity for a change in the foregone outcome of disobedience to God’s torah or instruction. This act symbolically “covers over” the offense, and the relationship with Yahweh can be restored. The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, was that process for the whole nation of Israel at once.
In Leviticus 16, an elaborate ritual is outlined in which the High Priest is to offer sacrificial animals for various types of atonement for the temple, the priests, and the people. These offerings are all about entering into God’s presence in the Holy of Holies, the center-most compartment of the Mishkan or Tabernacle, where God chose to dwell among the camp of Israel in the wilderness. This is to illustrate to the Israelites that they could not just enter his presence carelessly, as Aaron’s sons had done and were killed for it. Through these offerings, God is allowing for substitutionary sacrifices for the sins of Aaron and for the people, their sins would be covered, and the national relationship with Yahweh would be restored.
At the center of this ritual is the double-goat offering: one of the goats was to be slaughtered and one was to be released into the wilderness. The goat that was killed was to have some of its blood poured out on the lid of the ark of the covenant which was in the holiest place of the Mishkan. By contrast, the live goat was not sacrificed; it was to have the High Priest lay his hands on its head, confessing the sins of the people. This goat was then led into the wilderness, never to return.
This day was considered the most sacred of all of the appointment days throughout the year, and, as we have seen, was to be marked as a day of rest from regular work, fasting in repentance and humility.
The Symbolism
This appointment day is rich with symbols, as it is central to the overall outworking of God’s will with his people. Let’s take some time to review these different aspects in detail.
The High Priest was the representative of the people to God. Since the people’s disobedience was keeping them separate from God, only he, as their sole representative, could bear their offering of the goat’s life-blood into God’s presence within the Mishkan. But he himself also had to be sinless, which is why he had to offer a bull for himself before representing the people.
The High Priest was also the representation of God to the people. It was his faithful actions which enacted the atonement and forgiveness which God was to provide for the nation.
The two goats represent a dichotomy illustrating the enduring nature of God’s forgiveness. One goat was killed; it had given itself in totality by giving up its life as a symbolic substitute for the people and its blood was poured out on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant. The ark contained the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. So what this represented was that the pouring out of the life-blood of the sacrifice on the ark was symbolic of a renewal of life-commitment to follow the covenant made at Sinai. This life-blood of the goat was the substitution for all of the people of Israel.
The second live goat (the ez azal, or goat of departure) symbolically carried the sins of the nation that were confessed over it into the wilderness, away from the people, never to return.
This dual aspect of the ceremony is actually revealed in the Hebrew name for this annual ritual: ha’kippuRim, or “the atonements”, plural. This duality is critical for understanding the work of Messiah in relation to this day, as we shall see in just a little bit.
Since the live goat left the congregation alive, it was considered to remain a sin-bearer for the rest of its existence (or at least until the following year’s Day of Atonement), far from the assembly of the people. This live goat was to be led out to the eretz gezerah; the land of separation, never to return. This brings to mind the famous Psalm that is used of God’s grace in providing forgiveness for those repentant souls who have sinned against him.
Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
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Fulfillment in Messiah
Now let’s pull all of this rich symbolism into a representation of how Yeshua fulfilled these many symbolic aspects of this day simultaneously.
As the sinless High Priest representing the people, he was the only one authorized to provide the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of his people, Israel. He alone could enter the true holiest place in heaven based on the ultimate offering; his own life.
Hebrews 8:1-2 – Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, Messiah, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a servant in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle [Mishkan], which Yahweh pitched, not man.
As the High Priest also representing the interests of God toward men, he became the sole authorized intermediary between God and man.
1 Timothy 2:5 – For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Messiah Yeshua…
The goat that gave its life and the goat that bore the sin of Israel are both combined in the person of Yeshua. Messiah was crucified and died, just like the one goat that was killed. However, Messiah also rose to life and continues to live, just like the living goat that was sent into the wilderness to keep sin away from the congregation.
As the sacrificial goat that was killed, his blood, representing his life, can be likened in a symbolic way to the blood that was carried into the heavenly holiest place as the offering for the people.
Hebrews 9:11-12, 24 But when Messiah appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, he entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle [Mishkan], not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, he entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. … For Messiah did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us…
As the living ez azal, the departing goat sent off into the wilderness, through his resurrection he continues to live.
Now, as an interesting linguistic note here, when Tyndale first translated the Bible into English, since there was no English equivalent for the goat of departure, he coined the term “scapegoat” which is short for the “goat which escapes”. In modern usage, the meaning of this term has become synonymous with the purpose of that goat on the Day of Atonement: “one who is blamed or punished for the mistakes or sins of others”. Now a person who is identified as a scapegoat is typically forced into that role unwillingly, as blame is assigned to them, usually unjustly, by others. However, Messiah willingly accepted the duty of bearing the sin of others when he submitted to the will of his Father.
There is hardly a better description of the work of Messiah than this. While his sacrifice was once for all time, whenever someone places their faith in him, their sin is borne away. In this sense, he is eternally capable of being the sin-bearer, one who voluntarily chose to be identified with the sins of an entire nation, and any others who place their faith in him.
Because the ancient Day of Atonement was a national event, the disobedience of the nation was completely resolved through dual atonements of the goat of sacrifice and the goat of departure. In Yeshua’s day, this same result was effected through his simple and profound faithfulness in submitting to the will of the Father. As Israel’s representative king, he willingly took on the sins of the entire nation at once, allowing the covenant of Sinai to be fulfilled before Yahweh, and releasing those who placed their faith in him from the effects of sin and death. All that has been required for his people is faith in the substitutionary gift of himself, just as faith in the substitutionary goats was required in the original institution.
The Balance of the Spring and Fall Holiday Cycles
As mentioned in the previous discussion surrounding Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets), this period of the fall cycle of biblical holidays is the corroborating balance of the spring cycle. In the spring pattern, God raised up Moses as a deliverer for Israel from slavery and the worldliness of Egypt. In the fall pattern, God raised up Messiah to deliver his people from slavery to sin and the worldliness of corrupted religion. Just as the lamb at Passover provided physical deliverance from death for the firstborn of each family, the Yom Kippur ritual provided spiritual deliverance from sin for the firstborn nation of God: Israel. As Yom Kippur is six months removed from Passover, it is the counter-balance of the annual cycle, harking back to the same redemptive themes of that event. They are both about God redeeming and delivering his people from both sin and death; two witnesses to the faithful work of God.
As Israel was to be a light for the rest of the nations, the patterns established in their history still teach us in the nations about God’s faithfulness today. Since the spiritual Kingdom was established at the time of Yeshua, and it is eternally growing until it fills the earth, we can apply principles learned by their example. The principles set down in their narrative allow us to draw conclusions about how God desires to interact with all of humanity for all time.
Application for today
Yeshua’s death was primarily the culmination of Israel’s redemption under the first covenant in their narrative that was completed in the first century AD.
Hebrews 9:15 – For this reason He [Messiah] is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
However, the truth is that Yeshua’s example of giving himself for others paved the way not only for Israel, but for our deliverance from our own disobedient actions when we place our faith in him, as well.
1 Peter 2:24 – He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
The apostle Paul carries the imagery of sacrifice forward into the personal life of every believer:
Romans 6:3-7, 11 – Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Messiah Yeshua were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Messiah was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin. … So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Messiah Yeshua.
We no longer bring sacrifices of representative animals before Yahweh to demonstrate repentance before him. As believers in Messiah, we must now demonstrate our sincere and ongoing repentance through the sacrifice of our “old self” as Paul says, the self that has acted in disobedience to God’s torah, his instruction. Only then can we live the new life in Messiah that God expects of us.
The Day of Atonement captures all of this symbolism within its elaborate ritual. When we approach Yahweh on this day in a true spirit of humility, represented by fasting, and when we offer ourselves as burnt offerings (that is, wholly committed to him), and when we honor him by putting a pause on our busy lives and resting, we can then be in the right frame of mind to appreciate the forgiveness he has provided to his people. Because Yahweh forgave his people by covering over their offenses through the representative sacrifices offered on that day, we, too, can be forgiven of our sin when we place our faith in his representative Messiah, the King of his people. This High Priest is the eternal intermediary between God and man. Through faith in his symbolically sacrificial death, our sin is carried away “as far as the east is from the west.” And as we follow Yeshua’s selfless example, we can lay down the lives of our old selves before God as we are now freed to live for him in the new and everlasting covenant in Messiah Yeshua.
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Well, I hope these studies on the fall festivals of the biblical calendar are bringing you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
If you happen to be listening on YouTube, please leave your thoughts and comments below, and if you like what you're hearing and want to help spread the Core of the Bible message, then please "like" this video, as it will then be recommended to more and more people. And be sure to visit coreofthebible.org for all of the podcasts on our podcast page there.
Once again, thanks for joining me today! As always, I hope to be invited back into your headphones in another episode to come. Take care!
All music in today's episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rille