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The Day of Atonement
One of the Lord's High Holy Appointed Days
The Day of Atonement
Christ Our High Priest — Hebrews 9:12
Beloved,
The Day of Atonement is one of the Lord's High Holy Appointed Days. It is the day when the high priest alone entered into the holy of holies with blood, to make atonement for the sins of the people. And it is the day that points directly to our Lord Jesus Christ, who entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us (Hebrews 9:12). Let us search the Scriptures to understand what this day means and how we observe it.
📖 What the Day of Atonement Is
📖 Leviticus 23:27-28 (KJV)
"Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God."
📖 Leviticus 23:32 (KJV)
"It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath."
The Lord commanded His people to afflict their souls — to fast, to pray, and to humble themselves before Him. It is a sabbath of rest, a day when no work is done, but all attention is turned to the Lord and to the cleansing of sin.
📖 The High Priest and the Holy of Holies
📖 Leviticus 16:2, 15 (KJV)
"And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. ... 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:"
Under the law, the high priest could not come at all times into the holy place within the veil. He entered once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people (Hebrews 9:7). The blood of bulls and goats was brought within the veil and sprinkled upon the mercy seat, to make atonement for the congregation.
📖 Hebrews 9:7-8 (KJV)
"But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:"
The Holy Ghost was signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest. The yearly entrance of the high priest was a shadow of something greater that was coming.
📖 The Scapegoat Bearing the Iniquities
📖 Leviticus 16:21-22 (KJV)
"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."
The high priest laid both hands upon the head of the live goat, and confessed over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel. The goat bore them away into the wilderness — a figure of sins being carried away, never to return. This pointed to Christ, who would bear our sins in his own body and remove them from us forever.
📖 Christ Entered Once With His Own Blood
📖 Hebrews 9:11-12 (KJV)
"But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
📖 Hebrews 9:24-26 (KJV)
"For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."
📖 Hebrews 9:22 (KJV)
"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."
Christ did not enter with the blood of goats and calves. He entered by his own blood, once, into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Without shedding of blood is no remission — and His blood was shed once for all.
📖 The Veil of the Temple Was Rent
📖 Matthew 27:50-51 (KJV)
"Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;"
When Christ died, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. God Himself tore it — from the top, not from the bottom. The way into the holiest of all was now made manifest. No more yearly high priest entering with animal blood; the true High Priest had entered once for all with His own blood.
📖 By Whom We Have Now Received the Atonement
📖 Romans 5:11 (KJV)
"And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement."
📖 1 John 2:2 (KJV)
"And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
The Day of Atonement pointed forward to this: that through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have now received the atonement. He is the propitiation for our sins — not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. The atonement is not a yearly sacrifice; it is finished.
📖 How We Observe the Day of Atonement
📖 Leviticus 23:29, 32 (KJV)
"For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. ... It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath."
The Lord said, "whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people." Therefore we observe this day with reverence: we afflict our souls — fasting, praying, and humbling ourselves before the Lord. We keep it as a sabbath of rest, from even unto even. And we remember that the atonement was made once for all by the blood of Christ.
📖 Acts 27:9 (KJV)
"Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them,"
Even in the New Testament, "the fast" — the Day of Atonement — was still known and observed. Paul and the brethren reckoned time by it. We also observe it, not in the blood of bulls and goats, but in remembrance of the blood of Christ shed once for the remission of our sins.
📖 Hebrews 9:12 (KJV) — Remember It
"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
Beloved, the Day of Atonement is fulfilled in Christ. He is our High Priest. He is our atonement. He is the propitiation for our sins. Let us afflict our souls, keep the sabbath of rest, and rejoice — for by whom we have now received the atonement (Romans 5:11).
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." — 1 Peter 3:18 (KJV)
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