The Feast of Atonement
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Paul said that these days were a shadow of things to come and the One Who cast the shadow is now here in reality and the Light of the World that cast that shadow was Jesus Christ
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.
Certainly the light is more important than the shadow because this Light was the source or cause for the shadow to be cast. That Light of course was Jesus Himself Who is called the light of the world.
The Day of Atonement
This was the one day whereby all the nation of Israel was commanded to fast and was the only feast day of the Jews where there was no food to be eaten from the beginning of this High Day at sunset to sunset the following day. It was a solemn feast day for them and one that symbolized the taking away of sin and placing the guilt on a goat and sending him off into the Wilderness.
So lets read together from Lev. 23:26
26 And the Lord 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 the Lord.
28 And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God.
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.”
On that day, The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:27-28), the high priest was to perform elaborate rituals to atone for the sins of the people. The instruction on what was to be done is described in Leviticus 16:1-34.
Leviticus 16 describes the rituals for the Day of Atonement, known in Jewish tradition as Yom Kippur. This day—the 10th day of the 7th month—was the one time per year when the high priest was permitted to enter the holy of holies (or most holy place) and stand before the ark of the covenant to atone for the sins of the nation (v. 34).
Now God does instruct Moses to warn Aaron not to come into the Most Holy Place whenever he felt like it; he could only come on this special day once a year, lest he die (v.2).
2 and the Lord 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.
v.7 Two goats are used in the ceremony; one is sacrificed, the other is sent away, bearing the nation’s sins. The ritual has two basic components: purifying the sanctuary and eliminating the sins that caused the impurity and offended Yahweh. God seeks to be present among His people, but impurity must be removed for that to happen. God’s forgiveness and restoration of the presence can only occur after the sanctuary is purged.
The Day of Atonement or the Feast of Atonement was not a ceremony to be taken lightly, and the people were to understand that atonement for sin was to be done God’s way not man’s way.
So how does Christ fulfill the Feast of Atonement?
In many ways Christ has already fulfilled it through His atoning sacrifice on the Cross, He was both the atonement for our sins as well as the scapegoat for our sins, where our sins are cast away as far as the east is from the west.
In the book of Hebrew Christ is shown as our High Priest who mediates on our behalf.
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.
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.
But what there is more to the symbolic nature of this feast for future Israel.
You see, this feast is not a fulfilment within the church, this feast is a direct message of redemption of Israel. This feast is symbolic of the time when God will again turn His attention back to the nation of Israel after “the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and . . . all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:25–26).
The Day of Atonement will be fulfilled for the Jews when the Lord returns at His second coming (Zechariah 12:10)
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.
7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
The Jewish remnant who survive the Great Tribulation will recognize Jesus as their Messiah as God releases them from their spiritual blindness and they come to faith in Christ.
To sum up, the day of Atonement was the most holy and solemn day in all of Israel's calendar. It was a day when the sins of the entire nation, for the entire year, came before both the people and the Lord. It was a day of great repentance. Through the provision of God, it was the day when the sins could be atoned for. It was a day that casts the shadow of the Light of the World showing that every part of the feast is symbolic of our Lord Jesus, from the High Priest to the all the blood offerings to even the scapegoat.
The fulfillment of this day will be seen when Jesus returns.
The 'days of Awe' will reach their crescendo on that day. It marks the last chance for any to be saved.
For the nation of Israel it is the day of release from their enemies but also the day of mourning as they realize how they 'pierced' and killed their Messiah 2000 years ago.
It will be a day of great repentance and lamenting over the greatest sacrifice the world would ever know.
It is the day when the entire world will come 'face to face' with the living God and see Him with their own eyes.
It is a day of liberty for the people of God.
It is a day of judgement for the enemies of God. For the Lord Himself it is the day when this planet is returned to its rightful owner (Him!) and His reign begins.
It is the day of Atonement - the most solemn and holy day of all.