What is the significance of the day of atonement?

The Hebrew annual fast day was the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). It came on the 10th of Tisri, roughly around our September - October. On this most solemn day the people confessed their sins. After prescribed ceremonies with offerings, the high priest - only on this day of the year - entered the Holy of Holies to sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant. It was a day of humiliation and awful reminder of the holiness of God and sinfulness of man. The veil in the Holy of Holies separated the two. The people fasted from the evening on the 9th to the evening on the 10th. This helped to insure a proper heart attitude of penitence and faith.

The Day of Atonement is so important because that is the day a human got to go into God’s presence in the Holy of Holies (Leviticus 16:2-3). This is the center of the tabernacle, behind the innermost veil, where God’s actual presence was.

There are two main sacrifices made on this day. The first is a bull for the priest’s sins and the cleansing of the tabernacle (Leviticus 16:6). Its blood is brought into the Holy of Holies behind the veil and put on the mercy seat which is like God’s kingly footstool (Leviticus 16:14).

The second sacrifice involves two goats (Leviticus 16:7). One goat is a sin offering for all the people. Its blood is also brought into the Holy of Holies to cleanse it on behalf of all the people's sins (Leviticus 16:15).

The second goat, was brought in front of the tent where the high priest would lay his hands on it, and confess all the sins of the people (Leviticus 16:21). The goat was then taken outside the city and released into the wilderness, never to return (Leviticus 16:22). The picture is a powerful one for the people of Israel. Their sin has literally been taken away from them.

Leviticus 16 explains that Yahweh set up this observance as a kind of annual house-cleaning. Throughout the year the tabernacle would become ceremonially unclean because it “absorbed” the people’s sin that had been symbolically transferred to the animals sacrificed there. Plus the Israelites themselves had plenty of ceremonial uncleanness still attached to them. So the tabernacle and the people regularly needed to be cleansed so that the holy God could continue dwelling among the Israelites and they could continue having access to him.

As Christians, we have an even better Day of Atonement because Jesus is our new high priest. What the High Priest had to do every year; Jesus was able to do once for all (Romans 6:10). Now, only one Day of Atonement is needed - the day Jesus died on the cross and rose again.

Hebrews 9–10 develops at length the typological significance of the Day of Atonement. This passage teaches that the ritual’s ceremonial nature and repetitiveness demonstrate its insufficiency for removing actual sin. By way of contrast, Jesus the Messiah, the sinless High Priest, entered the heavenly Most Holy Place and presented his own blood, effecting eternal redemption. Consequently, those who trust in Jesus can be confident that their sins have indeed been forgiven and that they enjoy a restored relationship with the holy God. They also have every reason to persevere in faith, against vain confidence in their own works.

Application Questions:

1. List as many details about the Day of Atonement ritual as you can. Which detail is the most surprising to you? Why? Which detail is most significant to you? Why?

2. How does knowing that you are forgiven affect your feelings about God? About yourself? About your past sins and failures?

Quote:

Morality may keep you out of jail, but it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to keep you out of hell." - Charles Spurgeon

Prayer:

Lord, I thank you for the blood that you shed that washes me clean. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for the life that I have today because You paid the price for my sin. Amen.