Day of
Atonement
The most important of the seven major festivals for
Old Testament Jews was the Day of Atonement. For on this day only, the High
Priest had the opportunity to enter the Inner Sanctuary, and come into close
contact with God to make atonement for all the people.
The tenth day of the seventh month each year was the
Day of Atonement. The people were not allowed to do any work on this day, but
must assemble with afflicted souls, and observe the day as holy. It was also deemed
a Sabbath Day. Whoever did work on
this day or was not afflicted in soul must be cut off from the people. We see
then how important a day it was (Leviticus 23:27-32).
On the Day of Atonement, the priest would prepare a
bull and two male goats for the purpose of atonement. He would draw lots for
the goats – one as sacrifice for God and the other for azazel, to be kept alive. Aaron’s descendant who was the High
Priest then would cleanse his body, put on the full set of the High Priest’s
holy garment, and come before the door of the tabernacle. He would slaughter
the bull as a sin offering, and make atonement for himself and his house. Then
he would take a censor, gather burning coals from the altar, bring along incense
and the blood of the bull, and warily enter the sanctuary. He would put the
incense onto the fire burning in the censor, so that the cloud of incense would
fill the sanctuary and cover the mercy seat on the ark. Then he would take some
of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his fingers on the east side of
the mercy seat, and also at the front of the mercy seat seven times. After that
he would come out of the Inner Sanctuary and approach the altar before the
tabernacle, slaughter the male goat that was chosen to be a sin offering, and
make atonement for the people. This time, he would bring the blood of the goat
back into the Inner Sanctuary, and sprinkle the blood before the mercy seat
just as before. All of the myriad sins and iniquities of the Israelites would
be cleansed by this ceremony of atonement. The High Priest had to be very
careful before God. Any mistakes could result in death. When he came out of the
Inner Sanctuary again, he would wipe some the blood of the bull and goat onto
the four corners of the altar, as well as sprinkle some blood onto the altar
with his fingers seven times to cleanse and consecrate it. Going in front of
the tabernacle, the High Priest would fetch the live goat and lay both his
hands on its head, confessing the myriad sins and transgressions of the people
and laying these sins on the goat itself. That goat would then bear all of the
iniquities of the people. A man would be instructed to deliver it into the
wilderness. This goat was called azazel,
meaning “removal”. The High Priest would then take off his holy garment and
leave it in the tabernacle. He would wash his body with water in a holy place,
put on his own clothes, come out and make burnt offerings for himself and the
people. The fat of the bull and goat would be burned on the altar as sin
offerings. The person who took the goat for azazel
must cleanse himself and wash his clothes before he could enter the camp. Other parts of the bull and goat that
were used for atonement must be brought outside the camp and burned with fire.
The person who did the burning must also cleanse himself and wash his clothes
before he could come back into the camp (Leviticus ch. 16).
All of these rules of the Day of Atonement were
merely a foretelling of the crucifixion of Christ on
“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our
consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”
(Hebrews 9:14)
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