THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

Lesson 6 for November 9, 2013

KEY TEXT

“Who is a God like Thee, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. Yes, Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” Micah 7:18, 19

The Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, as revealed in Leviticus 16, is the most solemn Old Testament ritual. It is deliberately placed in the heart of the book of Leviticus, which is itself at the center of the Five Books of Moses, in order to help to illustrate the “most holy” character of this ritual. Also referred to as the Sabbath of Sabbaths (Lev. 16:31), the day calls for the cessation of all work, which is unique for an Israelite yearly festival. This fact places the day squarely within the concept of the Sabbath—it is a time to rest in what God, as Creator and Redeemer, has done (and will do) for us.

This lesson we will study what happened on the Day of Atonement in the earthly sanctuary, specifically the rituals with the two goats, which helps us to better understand deeper truths regarding salvation and the final disposition of sin.

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT: THE CORE OF PENTATEUCH

Genesis

Exodus Leviticus Numbers

Deuteronomy

Lv. 1-7

Lv. 8-10

Lv. 10-15

Lv. 16

Lv. 17-20

Lv. 21-22

Lv. 23-27Sanctuary laws

Priestly laws

Personal laws

The Day of

Atonement

A

B

C

D

E

F

E’

D’

C’

B’

A’

Why was that chapter placed in the center of Leviticus?

The process of cleansing the sin from the people ends in the Day of Atonement.

ANNUAL PURIFICATION1. Daily sacrifices: The sins were TRANSFERRED

to the Sanctuary.2. The Day of Atonement: The sins were

REMOVED from the Sanctuary. The priest’s purification offering: The High

Priest must be clean when carrying out the rites of purification.

Purification offering; the goat “for the Lord”: It cleansed the Sanctuary with its blood.

Removing the sin; the goat “for Azazel”: It was sent to the desert with the sins of Israel on it.

Let’s study this rite by studying its main characters:

The High Priest. The goat “for the Lord”. The goat “for Azazel”. The people.

THE HIGH PRIEST“And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments: And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation” (Leviticus 16:32-33)The High Priest was the mediator

between God and His people.His first task in the Day of Atonement was to offer sacrifice for himself and the whole clergy. The MEDIATOR must be without sin.

“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” (Hebrews 4:15)

Jesus Christ is our High Priest in the Heavenly Sanctuary.

THE GOAT “FOR THE LORD”“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” (Leviticus 16:15)

There was no laying hands or confessing sins or sprinkling the blood on the horns of the brazen altar.The blood of that animal was without sin.That blood was brought before the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place. It was sprinkled on the mercy seat.So that blood was not used to forgive sins but to purify the Sanctuary only.

“Important truths concerning the atonement are taught by the typical service. A substitute was accepted in the sinner’s stead; but the sin was not canceled by the blood of the victim. A means was thus provided by which it was transferred to the sanctuary. By the offering of blood the sinner acknowledged the authority of the law, confessed his guilt in transgression, and expressed his desire for pardon through faith in a Redeemer to come; but he was not yet entirely released from the condemnation of the law. On the Day of Atonement the high priest, having taken an offering from the congregation, went into the most holy place with the blood of this offering, and sprinkled it upon the mercy seat, directly over the law, to make satisfaction for its claims”

E.G.W. (The Great Controversy, cp. 24, pg. 420)

THE GOAT “FOR AZAZEL”“And when he hath made an end of reconciling 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” (Leviticus 16:20-22)

“Azazel” was a name used to call Satan. He is responsible for the birth of sin in the Universe.THE SANCTUARY AND THE PEOPLE HAD ALREADY BEEN PURIFIED when the sins of the people were confessed on the head of that goat.There is no expiatory death there. Satan is the ultimate responsible for the sins he provoked.Just like Amman was hung in the gallows he set up for Mordecai, the great accuser will suffer the punishment he wanted the innocent ones to suffer (i.e. those who washed their sins away with the blood of the Lamb)

THE PEOPLE“And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you” (Leviticus 16:29)

What should the Israelites do in that day? What can we learn?

If someone in ancient Israel did not follow these instructions, he was to be cut off and destroyed (Lev. 23:29, 30). The Day of Atonement was truly about nothing less than life and death. It demanded the believer’s complete loyalty to God.

They should afflict their souls (to humble)

They should not to work at all. They should come before the

Sanctuary and to pay attention to the rites the High Priest carried out.

REFLEXION

As we struggle with all our God-given strength to

put away all sin, how can we learn to lean totally on Christ’s merits

as our only hope of salvation?

Isaiah’s Personal Yom Kippur

In Isaiah 6:1, Isaiah sees the heavenly King sitting on a throne in the temple, “high and exalted.” The vision is a judgment scene that presents God as coming for judgment (Isa. 5:16). Isaiah beholds the true King, identified in the Gospel of John as Jesus Christ (John 12:41).

Even though Isaiah was God’s prophet and he called others to repentance, he understood that in God’s presence he was doomed. Confronted with God’s

holiness and glory, Isaiah perceived his own sinfulness and also the uncleanness of his people. Holiness and sin are incompatible. Like Isaiah, we

all need to come to the conclusion that we cannot pass through the divine judgment on our own. Our only hope is to have a Substitute.

What parallels to the Day of Atonement appear in Isaiah 6:1–6?

The combination of a temple filled with smoke, an altar, judgment, and atonement for sin and uncleanness recalls strongly the Day of

Atonement. Isaiah experienced his own “personal Day of Atonement,” as it were.

Functioning like a priest, a seraph (literally “burning one”) took a burning coal from the altar, presupposing some kind of offering, to purge the prophet’s sin.

This is an apt image for the cleansing from sin that is possible through the sacrifice of Jesus and His priestly ministry of mediation. Isaiah recognized this as a cleansing ritual, and he kept still as the coal touched his lips. Thereby his “iniquity is taken away” and his “sin is forgiven” (Isa. 6:7, NASB). The passive voice in verse 7 shows that forgiveness is granted by the One sitting on the throne. The Judge is also the Savior.

God’s work of cleansing brings us from “Woe is me” to “Here am I, send me.”

In other words, understanding the heavenly work on the Day of Atonement leads to a readiness for proclamation because a true understanding leads to assurance and surety. This is because we know that in judgment we have a Substitute, Jesus Christ, whose righteousness alone (symbolized by the blood) will enable us to stand without fear of condemnation (Rom. 8:1). Gratitude motivates mission. Acquitted sinners are God’s best ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:18–20) because they know what God has delivered them from.

“We are now living in the great day of atonement. In the typical service, while the high priest was making the atonement for Israel, all were required to afflict their souls by repentance of sin and humiliation before the Lord, lest they be cut off from among the people. In like manner, all who would have their names retained in the book of life should now, in the few remaining days of their probation, afflict their souls before God by sorrow for sin and true repentance…

E.G.W. (Christ in His Sanctuary, cp. 9, pg. 126)

… There must be deep, faithful searching of heart. The light, frivolous spirit indulged by so many professed Christians must be put away. There is earnest warfare before all who would subdue the evil tendencies that strive for the mastery. The work of preparation is an individual work. We are not saved in groups. The purity and devotion of one will not offset the want of these qualities in another. Though all nations are to pass in judgment before God, yet He will examine the case of each individual with as close and searching scrutiny as if there were not another being upon the earth. Everyone must be tested and found without spot or wrinkle or any such thing”

E.G.W. (Christ in His Sanctuary, cp. 9, pg. 126)

THE SANCTUARY

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