At the previous feast, the feast of the first day of the seventh lunar month, we found ourselves at the end of the greatest darkness of the month, since it was the new moon.
This darkness before the feast of the first day of the seventh month is like a symbol for the deep state of confusion that mankind have created by having thrown away all the commandments of their Creator and by following the teachings of the Prince of this world known as Satan, the Devil.
The feast itself is announcing the end of the reign of Satan and its rejection to be followed by the millennium reign of Yeshuah Christ, our Messiah. As we will read later, these events are described in the book of Revelation (chapter 19: 1-21).
But before this millennium, there is a time for affliction!
Yes before the reign of Yeshuah will start as King of Kings, by what is symbolized by the festival of Succoth, it will be necessary for the people who have survived to make atonement for their sins. This is the ceremony we commemorate during this feast of the tenth day of the seventh month.
You are invited to read in the Bible how Yehoah Elohim has organized this ceremony and you will see that this was made with a great precision.
First of all, our Lord created this feast like He created the Sabbath. He called them His Feast.
Let us first read what Yehoah tells us briefly in Leviticus 23: 26-32 about the day of atonement:
“26 And Yehoah spoke to Moses, saying: 27 “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to Yehoah. 28 And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before Yehoah your Elohim. 29 For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.”
Here are the highlights of this day of feast:
• The Assembly of the Lord RECEIVE THE SOLEMN AND ABSOLUTE ORDER NOT TO DO ANY WORK!
In fact, the Family of the Lord (Elohim) will be working for us, in our favor. Our High Priest Yeshuah will act for us and make atonement for all our sins. For this reason, it is imperative for us to remain quiet and humble while Yeshauh will repair for us the damage we have done to ourselves!
• Anyone who does not afflict himself should be cut off from the Assembly of the Lord and expelled.
• If someone does any work, Yehoah himself will put an end to his life.
• This law is perpetual and must be celebrated.
The ceremony is described in much more details in Leviticus 16. But first let us confirm that this chapter is dealing with the day of atonement by reading its end, verses 29 to 34:
“29 “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. 30 For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before Yehoah. 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. 32 And the priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments; 33 then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement "for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.” And he did as Yehoah commanded Moses.”
Here again, what we have read should help us to understand how important this feast is for us and why we must do nothing in order to avoid any gesture or action that would spoil the atonement that is made for us by our High Priest, today, Yeshuah Christ.
This celebration was made in the beginning in the Tabernacle of Yehoah located in the center of the camp of the Children of Israel. Yehoah was indeed sitting, so to speak, in the middle of the Children born outside of Egypt, in the desert. Later, the same feast took place in the Holy City of Jerusalem, in the Temple built in the Land of Israel.
Let's read verses 1 to 4 of chapter sixteen but have in mind that everything that is described is happening nowadays in the heavens thanks to our Yeshuah, our High Priest:
“1 Now Yehoah spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before Yehoah, and died; 2 and Yehoah said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
3 “Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water, and put them on.”
Be physically and spiritually clean.
Aaron purifies himself so as to be clean before his Lord whom he will meet only once a year! This cleanliness has two aspects:
• Physical cleanliness after washing with water
• Spiritual cleanliness to neutralize his own sins thanks to the sacrifice of the bull which will be made next.
He wears the holy tunic which is the most prestigious and luxurious garment worn by a man in the world! Let us read about its beauty in Exodus 28: 1-43:
“1 Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron’s sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3 So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest. 4 And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest.
5 “They shall take the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and the fine linen, 6 and they shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, artistically worked. 7 It shall have two shoulder straps joined at its two edges, and so it shall be joined together. 8 And the intricately woven band of the ephod, which is on it, shall be of the same workmanship, made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen.
9 “Then you shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel: 10 six of their names on one stone and six names on the other stone, in order of their birth. 11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall set them in settings of gold. 12 And you shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. So Aaron shall bear their names before Yehoah on his two shoulders as a memorial. 13 You shall also make settings of gold, 14 and you shall make two chains of pure gold like braided cords, and fasten the braided chains to the settings.
15 “You shall make the breastplate of judgment. Artistically woven according to the workmanship of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, you shall make it. 16 It shall be doubled into a square: a span shall be its length, and a span shall be its width. 17 And you shall put settings of stones in it, four rows of stones: The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; this shall be the first row; 18 the second row shall be a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19 the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold settings. 21 And the stones shall have the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, each one with its own name; they shall be according to the twelve tribes.
22 “You shall make chains for the breastplate at the end, like braided cords of pure gold. 23 And you shall make two rings of gold for the breastplate, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 24 Then you shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate; 25 and the other two ends of the two braided chains you shall fasten to the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in the front.
26 “You shall make two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it, which is on the inner side of the ephod. 27 And two other rings of gold you shall make, and put them on the two shoulder straps, underneath the ephod toward its front, right at the seam above the intricately woven band of the ephod. 28 They shall bind the breastplate by means of its rings to the rings of the ephod, using a blue cord, so that it is above the intricately woven band of the ephod, and so that the breastplate does not come loose from the ephod.
29 “So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before Yehoah continually. 30 And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before Yehoah. So Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before Yehoah continually.
31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 There shall be an opening for his head in the middle of it; it shall have a woven binding all around its opening, like the opening in a coat of mail, so that it does not tear. 33 And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around. 35 And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before Yehoah and when he comes out, that he may not die.
36 “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet:
37 And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. 38 So it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yehoah.
39 “You shall skillfully weave the tunic of fine linen thread, you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you shall make the sash of woven work.
40 “For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics, and you shall make sashes for them. And you shall make hats for them, for glory and beauty. 41 So you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him. You shall anoint them, consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests. 42 And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs. 43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him.”
Sacrifices of the High Priest for himself and then for the Children of Israel as a symbol for the times to come.
Now going back to Leviticus 16, from verse 5, we see that for the High Priest it is not enough to wash himself and to wear the holy clothes, he also had to offer a sacrifice for his sins and those of his family :
“5 And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering.
6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 He shall take the two goats and present them before Yehoah at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 8 Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for Yehoah and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat on which Yehoah’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before Yehoah, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.
11 “And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. 12 Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before Yehoah, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. 13 And he shall put the incense on the fire before Yehoah, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he die. 14 He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. 16 So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 And he shall go out to the altar that is before Yehoah, and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.”
Let us examine the symbolism of all these events to understand their full signification. Because this feast like all the other feasts of Yehoah is a shadow of what will occur as explained by Paul in Colossians 2: 16-17:
“16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”
By the way, did you notice that see the shade of something, it must be itself exposed to light! In fact, this feast of atonement alone offers us a panorama of the gospel and sums up the whole history of the mankind from his first sin until the coming of our Savior, passing through the Passover. Indeed, we have on the one hand the camp of the Children of Israel with all its sins repeated each year as Paul tells us when he explains why this ceremony of the feast of atonements is repeated without any interruption, in Hebrews 10: 1-18:
“1 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. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me.
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O Elohim.’ ”
8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O Elohim.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Yeshuah Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of Elohim, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.”
One goat for Yehoah and another for Azazel or Satan.
Then, in front of Israel, we have the two goats:
Yehoah Elohim will choose by lot his goat which will be sacrificed and which symbolizes Yeshuah the Christ who will be sacrificed at Passover.
The other goat symbolizes Satan, alias Barrabas the criminal designated by the people, and this goat will be removed in the desert as we will read later in this story. The sacrificed goat is therefore the symbol of Christ sacrificed and who truly remained three days and three nights in the womb of the earth. But the prophetic symbolism, the shadow of things to come has a continuation with the high priest who is going beyond the veil to present the blood of the goat in the Holy of Holies. In fact from this moment, the high priest symbolizes the Risen Christ who this time, on the first day of the week, will go to meet his Spiritual Father not without having crossed the veil of his body. He goes to his Father completely purified, on this first day of the week in the seven days of unleavened bread.
On this subject, we can read Hebrews 9: 1-26:
“1 Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; 3 and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, 4 which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5 and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. 7 But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; 8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— 10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
11 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. 12 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. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to Elohim, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living Elohim? 15 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.
16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” 21 Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
" Don’t touch me ! "
Christ being pure, on this dawn of the first day of the week, cannot be touched by any human being whatsoever, because any human being is a sinner and is therefore defiled and would defile everything he will touch. This explains the reason why Yeshuah is asking Mary to not touch him (John 20: 1 and 17-18):
“1 Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.,,,
17 Yeshuah said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My Elohim and your Elohim.’
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.”
Joseph, the preferred son of Jacob, a foreshadowing of Christ.
It should be noted a similarity between what happened to Joseph who was sent into the world of sin then symbolized by Egypt to save his family in advance. He is also sent there as a slave when he is initially a free man. He did not rebel and everywhere acted as a zealous servant.
Rejection of Satan.
The rest of the ceremony continues with the rejection of the goat dedicated to Azazel in the desert. This event symbolizes the future rejection of Satan into the bottomless pit (Revelation 20: 1-3):
“1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 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.”
Attrition by fasting.
On this day of the Feast of Atonement, a particularly exceptional day because Yehoah lets himself be approached by a man, we are asked to humiliate our souls from the evening of the 9th day to the following evening. To humiliate his soul, namely his life, means to fast as David tells us in Psalm 35: 11-14:
11 Fierce witnesses rise up; They ask me things that I do not know.
12 They reward me evil for good, To the sorrow of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, My clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart.
14 I paced about as though he were my friend or brother; I bowed down heavily, as one who mourns for his mother.”
This humiliated attitude is one that pleases our Lord and is the attribute of those who love Him at the risk of their lives, as Daniel shows us in Daniel 9: 1-19:
“1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of Yehoah through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord Elohim to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to Yehoah my Elohim, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome Elohim, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
8 “O Yehoah, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our Elohim belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of Yehoah our Elohim, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of Elohim have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12 And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.
13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before Yehoah our Elohim, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14 Therefore Yehoah has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for Yehoah our Elohim is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. 15 And now, O Lord our Elohim, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!
16 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. 17 Now therefore, our Elohim, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my Elohim, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my Elohim, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
So after reading this, without losing the joy in our hearts, a joy that is that of the hopefully children of our Father, we come here to Jerusalem with this attitude of attrition for the sins we have committed, not only ours but also those of our body which is the Church.
Ask for forgiveness !
We must be ready to ask forgiveness from our Lord: IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!
Our Lord will only act in our favor if we ask him to do so:
“7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7: 7-11).
Spectators, not actors!
But beware also that when Yehoah is acting, often our role must be limited to that of spectators, it is the case during the feast of atonement.
Indeed, on this tenth day of the seventh month,
THE ATONEMENT IS MADE FOR US!
It is exceptional that during all this day, it is forbidden to do any work at all.
And as we have read in Leviticus 16, everything will be done for us by the High Priest.
Remember In the first two verses, Yehoah warns us of the mortal danger incurred if one is in his presence in the Holy of Holies. Indeed, depending on the circumstances, Yehoah might appear there. But such an appearance of Yehoah in all his glory means an extraordinary power as we can understand by reading Exodus 33: 18-23:
“18 And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”
19 Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of Yehoah before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” 20 But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” 21 And Yehoah said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. 23 Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
But let us not ignore that in certain other circumstances, Moses and Yehoah spoke face to face, it must be deduced that this took place when Yehoah was not in all his glory. And on the contrary Yehoah was in all His glory as indicated in verses 18 and 22. Moreover, by reading the entire chapter 34 of the Exodus, one realizes better the spectacular effects of the glory of Yehoah on Moses; these effects took place although Moses did not see him face to face:
“1 And Yehoah said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. 2 So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me there on the top of the mountain. 3 And no man shall come up with you, and let no man be seen throughout all the mountain; let neither flocks nor herds feed before that mountain.”
4 So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone.
5 Now Yehoah descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Yehoah. 6 And Yehoah passed before him and proclaimed, “Yehoah, Yehoah El, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
8 So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. 9 Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
10 And He said: “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. 11 Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12 Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. 13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for Yehoah, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous El), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods.
17 “You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.
18 “The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.
19 “All that open the womb are Mine, and every male firstborn among your livestock, whether ox or sheep. 20 But the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you will not redeem him, then you shall break his neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem.
“And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.
21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
22 “And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.
23 “Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord Yehoah, l’Elohim of Israel. 24 For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before Yehoah your Elohim three times in the year.
25 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, nor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until morning.
26 “The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of Yehoah your Elohim. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
27 Then Yehoah said to Moses, “Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with Yehoah forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before Yehoah to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him."
You understand now better the power that accompanies the glory of our Lord and the effects it has on those He approaches; thus the face of Moses shines and frightens those around him after his exceptional meeting with his Lord. This is why Yehoah is taking all His precaution to make sure that one does not see Him face to face when He is in his glory!
Let us now return to the the feast of atonement, called by the Jewish people “Yom Kippur”, and read verses 3 and 4 of Leviticus 16:
“3 “Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water, and put them on.”
Yehoah, as told before, insists on the cleanliness of the High Priest who comes into His presence: the High Priest will wash himself in water and he will put on the holy clothes. Only then can he appear before Yehoah.
Yehoah has also provided for the ablutions the laver of bronze described in
Exodus 30: 17-21:
“17 Then Yehoah spoke to Moses, saying: 18 “You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base also of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. And you shall put water in it, 19 for Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in water from it. 20 When they go into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to Yehoah, they shall wash with water, lest they die. 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, lest they die. And it shall be a statute forever to them—to him and his descendants throughout their generations.”
Once washed, the High Priest will put on the most prestigious clothing that a man is allowed to wear on earth. We read the detailed description above.
But with the coming of the Messiah, who has occupied the post of High Priest for almost two thousand years, a great change has been made possible: Since our High Priest is perfect, it would be useless for him to offer sacrifices for his sin!
Moreover the Messiah sits permanently on the right hand of his Father and therefore has continuous access to the throne of the Supreme Creator.
It is also the time to recall that the Sanctuary, of which we read the brief description made by Paul in Hebrews 9, this sanctuary in which our Lord lives is the one which was used as a model for the Tabernacle built by Moses.
Completely alone in the Holy of Holies!
Let us also observe a very important element of this commemorative celebration: The high priest is completely alone during most of this ceremony. There is something particularly impressive about this solitude if you imagine the grandeur of the Tabernacle. This loneliness in the presence of the Lord is terrifying and inspires utmost respect.
Yeshuah Christ, our Lord, was no exception to this rule: When he offered himself, he also found himself completely alone in the face of Him who in the meantime became his Father; read this in Matthew 26: 55-56:
“55 In that hour Yeshuah said to the multitudes, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me. 56 But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.”
Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.”
During the whole time of the ceremony, the people are outside the Tabernacle and they are waiting in ignorance of what is happening precisely in the Sanctuary of our Creator. This period of time is used by the people to meditate and confide their sins which will soon be returned to their initiator, Satan.
Very soon, the spectacular repentance of Jews before the one they pierced will occur!
This repentance of men will sometimes be spectacular, as will soon be the case for Judah, as Zechariah 12: 1-10 describes it:
“1 The burden of the word of Yehoah against Israel. Thus says Yehoah, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him: 2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. 3 And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. 4 In that day,” says Yehoah, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in Yehoah of hosts, their Elohim.’ 6 In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem.
7 “Yehoah will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. 8 In that day Yehoah will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like Elohim, like the Angel of Yehoah before them. 9 It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”
It is this attitude that our Lord and our Creator loves, an attitude of love and humility.
Finally we are reaching the solemn moment during which sins are cast out from the camp where the Lord dwells with those who are ready to become His people.
This is what Leviticus 16: 20-34 describes:
“20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. 21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. 22 The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. 24 And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. 26 And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 27 The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. And they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal. 28 Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
29 “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. 30 For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before Yehoah. 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. 32 And the priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments; 33 then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.” And he did as Yehoah commanded Moses.”
Let us repeat once again that Paul revealed to us that each holy day is the shadow of what will come, what will happen. Here for example, this day of atonement is the foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Christ with the sacrifice of the goat for the Lord but it is also the foreshadowing of his resurrection and his appearance as High Priest and Kings of kings with the appearance of the High Priest coming out of the Tabernacle near the end of the ceremony. The High Priest comes out as Christ cleansed from sin. The people waiting outside the Tabernacle are also the symbol of Yeshuah's people who are waiting while praying for his kingdom to come. I wish all of you and myself being part of these people.
Let us read this event as overviewed by Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 9: 27-28:
“27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”
This High Priest will put the sins of the people back on the goat for Azazel before making him wander in the desert just as Christ will do in the end with Satan, the Devil. This event is described in Revelation since chapter 19, verse 11:
“11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of Elohim. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty Elohim. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great Elohim, 18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.”
19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.
Chapter 20.
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 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.”
Now let's read the encouragement Paul gives us in Hebrews 10: 9-39:
“9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O Elohim.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Yehsuah Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of Elohim, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
19 Therefore, brethren, having boldnessto enter the Holiest by the blood of Yeshuah, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of Elohim, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of Elohim underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living Elohim.
32 But recall the former days in which, after you wereilluminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: 33 partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; 34 for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.
35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of Elohim, you may receive the promise:
37 “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”
39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”