Day of Atonement Overview
John Plunkett
September 26, 2012
Today we are keeping the Day of Atonement – the Day of At-one-ment.
This concept of being at one with God and with our brethren is intriguing to me.
We were in London in May, visiting our daughter Katie. We were in the West End one evening and we were surprised to see a store called “Be At One.” I took a photo of it.
Here it is:
But just what is the Day of Atonement? Why and how should we keep it?
Today, I would like to give you a brief overview of the Day of Atonement by asking and answering these six
questions: What? Why? Where? Who? When? How?
Let us begin by reading God’s scriptural overview of the Day of Atonement.
Leviticus 23:
26: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
27: 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.
28: 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.
29: For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
30: And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
31: Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32: 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.
Now, let us break it down and go through it in more detail asking
our six questions.
1: What is the Day of Atonement?
The Day of Atonement is the fifth of God’s annual Holy Days; and it is the second of God’s
Fall Holy Days:
Leviticus 23:
1: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2: Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts...
27: 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.
The first thing that we notice is that the Day of Atonement is a
feast of the LORD. Yes, even though it is a fast day, and God counts it among His
feast days. However, on the Day of Atonement, the accent is on the spiritual food and feasting, and not on the
physical.
The Day of Atonement is one of God's Holy Days. It takes place in twenty four hours of
holy time – special, sacred time – made so by God. Please remember
that only God can make something holy – including time.
2. Why should we keep the Day of Atonement?
The simple answer to this question is: Because God commands us to. This should be
enough; but He gives us more reasons.
One major Day of Atonement symbol, showing us one of God’s reasons for commanding the keeping of the Day of Atonement, is the ritual of the two
goats:
Leviticus 16:
5: And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
6: And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.
7: And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
8: And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat {Hebrew: azazel}.
9: And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
10: But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness...
Verse 15: 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:
Verse 18: And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about...
Verse 20: 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:
21: 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:
22 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.
We don’t have enough time today to cover this in detail; but in short, the first goat pictures Jesus Christ and the second goat – the azazel goat – pictures Satan. This ritual pictures all of mankind’s sins being transferred to Satan, and God putting him away – temporarily for the duration of the Millennium; then permanently forever:
Revelation 20:
1: And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2: And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3: And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season...
Verse 7: And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison...
Verse 10: And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Let us return to Leviticus 23 and ask again why we should keep the Day of Atonement:
Leviticus 23:28a:
And ye shall do no work in that same day:
This is because the Day of Atonement is extra-holy time – time set apart for other things. No time at all is allotted on this day for any work – none at all, including food preparation. This "no-work" instruction is really part of one of our other questions – "How should we keep the Day of Atonement?" which we will come back to later. However, it leads right into the second half of the verse, which gives another reason why we should keep the Day of Atonement:
Verse 28b: ... for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.
To make an atonement before God for the Israelites – both physical and spiritual Israelites. What is atonement? It is not a word that we use every day. What does the word mean?
It is translated from the Hebrew noun "Kippur" – as in “Yom Kippur,” as the Jews call this day.
It means expiation, propitiation and placation. "Kippur" is from the root verb
"Kaphar" which means to forgive, to pacify, to cleanse, to appease, to
pardon, to cover, and to reconcile.
The English word “Atonement” means the same thing: to set at-one,
to unify, to reconcile, to repair a damaged relationship.
There is a great element of forgiveness in the Day of Atonement, which strongly
links it back to the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Wave Sheaf
Offering (Leviticus 23:5-14).
If we obey God and keep the Day of Atonement as commanded (and the other Holy Days too, of
course); if we repent, keep on repenting, and never cease repenting, God promises
to forgive our sins, to cleanse us spiritually, to wash our sins away with Jesus’
blood, to cover them and blot them out with Jesus’ blood, and ultimately even
to forget our sins!
God promises that He will be at-one with us and that He will allow us to
be at-one with Him; to be perfectly united with Jesus and eventually even with
God the Father. We will enjoy the unity that Jesus talked to the Father about in His
John 17 prayer.
But what about those who don’t know that they should be keeping the Day of Atonement?
And what about those who do know that they should be keeping it; but refuse to keep it, as God commands?
Leviticus 23:
29: For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
30: And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
Those who do not keep the Day of Atonement – either by design, accident or ignorance – will be cut off and destroyed from among God’s people:
i) Now, in this life:
There is an automatic penalty which is the exact opposite of
at-one-ment. It is the antonym of “atonement” which is separation. Those who do not keep this day will be separated and cut off from God and His people. They will not be blessed with the unity that Jesus promised to His brothers and sisters.
ii) Permanently:
Once they do know about this day and that they should be keeping it, if they continually refuse to keep it and if they remain unrepentant they will be permanently separated by the second death (Revelation 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8).
3. Where should we keep the Day of Atonement?
Due to the relatively slow transportation systems of "Bible times," it was likely that many of the out-of-town Jews
stayed in Jerusalem for all of the Fall Holy days. It is probable that
they would arrive before the Feast of Trumpets and stay until after the Last Great Day.
However, for the Day of Atonement, it was not (and is not) mandatory to keep it "where God places His name" as was
(and is) the case for the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day
(Deuteronomy 14:22-26). Still, it is best not to keep the day all
alone. We should keep at least part of the Day of Atonement with other
brethren:
Leviticus 23:
2: Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts...
27: 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.
Like all of God’s Holy Days, the Day of Atonement includes a "holy convocation." What is a convocation? The Hebrew word is "miqra," which means a calling-together or an assembly.
In our New Testament era, we are to keep the Day of Atonement service where fellow members of the Church of God are assembled.
Even though it can be uncomfortable for some to travel on a fast day, if at all
avoidable, it is still best not to keep the Day of Atonement at "home
alone" or just with our own family members.
What about this phrase in Verse 31?...
... it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings...
Does this mean that we must stay home on the Day of Atonement? Is it okay to keep the whole day just sleeping the hours away? Some have twisted this verse to claim such things.
But no! The single Hebrew word for "in all your
dwellings" is "mowshab." The King James translation of this
word is poorly translated and a little confusing. Here are a few clearer and more modern translations:
- Wherever you may be living
- Wherever you live
- Wherever you happen to be living.
Please remember that God is omniscient – all knowing – so He knew that His people would become scattered
– both in the Old Testament and the New
Testament eras and both geographically and organizationally. He knew that many would become isolated from other brethren.
This phrase provides for these circumstances. It means, wherever in the world our dwelling places
might be, there we must keep the Day of Atonement.
But again, even though we know that most of the Day of Atonement will normally
be spent in our own homes, still, whenever possible, a short portion should be spent at a local place of
holy convocation with other "fellow sufferers."
4. Who should keep the Day of Atonement?
Leviticus 23:2:
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
The physical children of Israel were to keep all of the Holy Days, including the Day of Atonement.
But was the Day of Atonement commanded just for the Old Testament Israelites?
Was it nailed to the cross?
No! Is it commanded for the New Testament Israelites – Christians – today?
Yes!
Leviticus 23:31:
Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The words "for ever" come from the single Hebrew word "owlam,"
which can mean everlasting, perpetual, for evermore and always.
There's nothing ambiguous about those words!
This "for ever" command descends right down to today's modern
Israelites – yes, even though the vast majority of them don’t even know that
they are Israelites; and even fewer know anything about the Day of Atonement.
Most modern-day physical Israelites who do know something about the day
either consider it to be an obsolete Old Testament commandment, or that it is
just applicable to the modern-day Jews. As mentioned earlier, this is exactly why modern-day Israel is cut off and separated from God
and why they are not at-one with God.
But what about the physical Gentiles? Are they excluded from the Day of Atonement commands and benefits?
No. Physical Gentile proselytes living in Israel were required to keep the Holy
Days too. And later, in the early New Testament church, the physical Gentile Christians were legally grafted into
Israel, as we read in Romans 11.
Did the early New Testament Church of God members (both Israelite and Gentile) keep the Day of Atonement?
Yes, they did:
Acts 27:9:
Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them...
Most Bible commentators and scholars agree that "the fast"
mentioned here was the Day of Atonement. Why even mention the fast of the Day of Atonement if it was obsolete for Christians?
Other scriptures also mention that the early Church of God continued to keep the Holy
Days; so we too must keep them all, including the Day of Atonement.
5. When should we keep the Day of Atonement?
Leviticus 23:
27: 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...
Verse 32: 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.
Here, God commands us to keep the Day of Atonement, beginning at the sunset that closes the 9th day and starts the 10th day of God’s 7th month (Tishri) and ending at the sunset that closes the 10th day of Tishri.
6. How should we keep the Day of Atonement?
We have already seen, in verses 27-32 of Leviticus 23, lots of instruction for exactly how
we are to keep the Day of Atonement:
i) We are to attend a holy convocation (verse 27).
ii) We are to afflict our souls (verses 27 and 29). Most commentaries agree that it
refers to a total fast.
iii) No manner of work is to be done (verses 28, 30 and 31). It is a Sabbath of rest (verse 32).
The Hebrew term is "Shabath-Shabbathown" which is a strongly-worded, repeated
command to stop, to cease and to rest on the Day of Atonement. We are to do
no work at all on this day. It is doubly holy day – a super-sacred day.
Why? Because this day is dedicated to us becoming at-one with God.
iv) We are to celebrate on this day (verse 32). Celebrate on a fast
day? Yes, there is a lot to celebrate. We are to rejoice at the concept of Satan being put away, and we are to rejoice at being made at-one
with Jesus Christ and God the Father.
v) Finally, we are to give a Holy Day offering. In verse 27 of Leviticus
23, God commanded Old Testament Israel to "offer an offering made by fire unto the
LORD." There were also other symbolic offerings on the Day of Atonement.
Especially on the Day of Atonement, when many of our stomachs might already feel
a little queazy, we probably should be thankful that we don’t have to make the physical offerings!
To fulfil the spirit of the Holy Day offerings, we give monetary offerings.
So that’s it! – The What, the Why, the Where, the Who, the When and the How of God’s Day of Atonement.
I hope that you can all stay relatively comfortable for the remaining hours of this super-special day and
that you might even enjoy it as much as possible. Yes, it can be hard to fast for twenty-four
hours. As the years have flown by, we have all had some good fasts and some bad
ones. However, this twenty-four hours is a very short time of relative discomfort,
especially when we compare it with the wonderful 192 hours of the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great day
which are coming right up.
Please try to think of the Day of Atonement as a welcome rest in preparation for a busy
Feast; or like the pulling back of a bow-string which will soon catapult us through the eight joyous and inspiring days of the Feast.
JHP/pp/sl/jhp