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Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)

I. Introduction:

“Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the Lord. And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God.”
(Leviticus 23:27-28, ESV)

The Lord called Moses up the mountain to retrieve the tablets of the covenant, but the people worshiped the golden calf at the foot of the mountain. The Lord said to Moses, "Your people have become corrupt!" When he came down the mountain and saw the golden calf, he was furious and smashed the tablets of the covenant. Moses went to atone for the people's sins, asking the Lord for forgiveness, threatening to blot out his name from the Book of Life if the Lord refused. The Lord disagreed. But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. (Exodus 32:33, ESV)

Moses risked his life to plead with God, repeatedly interceding for the people's sins, and finally the Lord agreed! He again obeyed God's command to go up the mountain to retrieve the tablets of the covenant, fasting for forty days on Mount Sinai. The day Moses brought the tablets down from the mountain was July 10th, signifying that God had forgiven the people's sins. Moses told the entire Israelite community that this day, the 10th of July, would be commemorated as the Day of Atonement, which is the origin of this festival.

II. Atonement

1. The Spiritual Meaning of Atonement

The root word "atonement," *Atonemen*, means to cover or cover, and is generally translated as: cleansing, reconciliation, forgiveness, pardon, or pardon.

The spiritual meaning of the Day of Atonement is that during the Great Tribulation, God still has salvation; the High Priest, the Lord Jesus, will enter the Holy of Holies in heaven to atone for the sins of His people. If He is not raptured at that time, those who remain on earth will have to pay a much higher price to serve God.

2. During the Temple period, the High Priest entered alone once a year to offer sacrifices for his own sins and those of the people.

but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. (Hebrews 9:7, ESV)

When the Temple existed in Jerusalem, Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) involved an extremely complex and solemn sacrificial ceremony, performed by the High Priest alone. Its purpose was to atone for the sins of the High Priest himself, his family, and all the people of Israel, and to cleanse the sanctuary.

This was the only time of year that the High Priest, alone, could enter the holiest part of the Temple—the Most Holy Place (where the Ark of the Covenant was kept). He had to remove his elaborate holy garments and don a simple white linen robe to signify humility and purity.

3. Offering a Bull as a Sin Offering

“Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. (Leviticus 16:6, ESV)

(a) Offering the Bull: Aaron (the high priest) shall slaughter the bull for himself and for his household.

(b) Entering the Holy of Holies: He (the high priest) shall take the bull's blood and the censer into the veil (the Holy of Holies), sprinkling the blood on the mercy seat. This is the only time of year that anyone may enter this place.

4. The Core of the Ritual Involves Two Male Goats:
Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. (Leviticus 16:7-8, ESV)

(a) One Goat Given to the Lord (Sin Offering Goat):

By casting lots, one goat is chosen as the sin offering, to be slaughtered as a sin offering, its blood to cleanse the sanctuary and the people.

This ram, the sacrificial lamb, prefigures the slain lamb, Jesus Christ. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. (1 Timothy 1:15, ESV)


(2) A ram given to Azazel (the scapegoat):

The high priest would lay his hands on the head of this ram, confessing the sins of all Israel, and then send it to a desolate wilderness. This symbolizes the people's sins being carried far away into oblivion.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
(Psalm 103:11-12, ESV)

5. The high priest, on the Day of Atonement, entered the Holy of Holies with trembling fear.

(1) Entering the Holy of Holies

Moses built the Tabernacle, God's holy place, which consisted of the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was the most sacred place within the Tabernacle, the place where God and man commune and conversed. Therefore, not just anyone could enter the Holy of Holies within the Tabernacle; only the high priest could enter alone once a year on the Day of Atonement.

In Old Testament times, before entering the Holy of Holies, the high priest would offer a sin offering and a burnt offering, and wear a linen robe, linen trousers, a linen belt, and a linen crown—all sacred garments. Before donning these, he would wash himself with water, purifying himself (Leviticus 16:3-5). Then, bells would be hung on his feet, and a rope would be tied around his neck, and he would enter the Holy of Holies with blood on his body.

The high priest would enter the Holy of Holies trembling with fear, seeking grace before the Grace Throne on the Ark of the Covenant, atoneing for his sins and those of his people. Those outside the Holy of Holies who did not hear the bells knew that the high priest had been struck down by God, and they would have to grab the rope at one end of the sanctuary and pull him out.

(2) Aaron's two sons, without permission, entered the Most Holy Place and offered unwholesome fire; they died before the Lord.

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14, ESV)

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. (Leviticus 10:1-2, ESV)

6. The High Priest was required to enter and exit the Most Holy Place three times on the Day of Atonement.

In the Old Testament era, the High Priest made atonement for himself and his people once a year on the Day of Atonement. On that day, he was required to enter and exit the Most Holy Place three times to fulfill his ministry before God.

(1) First Entry into the Most Holy Place

And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. (Leviticus 16:12-13, ESV)

The first time, he put the incense on the fire, and the cloud of the incense covered the mercy seat to prevent his own death.

(2) Second Entry into the Most Holy Place
And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. (Leviticus 16:14, ESV)

The second time he sprinkled the bull's blood, it was to atone for his sins and those of his household.

(3) The Third Entry into the Holy Place
“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. (Leviticus 16:15-16, ESV)

The third sprinkling of the male goat's blood signifies the high priest's atonement for the various defilements and transgressions of the people, and the cleansing of the tabernacle from all its defilement.

7. Christ's Once-for-All Entry into the Holy Place Accomplishes Eternal Atonement

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come,then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:11-12, ESV)
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