Yom Kippur

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today’s program is called Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement. Let’s turn to Lev 16:1-17, Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the Lord, and died; 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. Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water, and put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering. Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it in inside the veil. And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he die. He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. Verses 20-34, And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. 

Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. And they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their dung. Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.     This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. And the priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father's place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments; then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses. Verses 21&22, Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.  All the sins of the whole human race were laid upon Jesus when He was on the Cross. God made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Isa 53:6, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Lev 16:30, For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. Let’s read Lev 17:11, For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

Ok, now let’s turn to Heb 9:1-14,  Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. 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. 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. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  Verse 22, And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. Lev 17:11,...For it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

Every year the Jewish people, God bless them, observe Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, with fasting and repentance and prayers. They believe that their fasting and repentance and prayers atone for all their sins before God. They believe also that their sins against others must be dealt with person to person, and they seek to do this during this time of the year, and especially on this Day of Atonement. However, they no longer are able to have the high priest make atonement for them, by offering the two goats: one a burnt offering for sin, and the other as a scapegoat to carry away all the sins of the people. They do not have the blood of the sin offering to make atonement for their souls. They also do not believe that Jesus Christ is their Messiah; that He Himself is their great High Priest who offered Himself without spot to God on the Cross, and shed His Blood to atone for all their sins. The Jews who do not believe in Jesus, or in His sacrifice for their sins, and who do not offer the blood of the goat for an atonement on the Day of Atonement do not have an atonement, no matter how much they fast, confess their sins, and pray. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins, for it is the blood that makes the atonement. Also, the Old Covenant has been done away in Jesus. He is the final sacrifice for sins. Anyone who rejects His sacrifice has no atonement, Jew or Gentile. He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore He is the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sins, not only of the Jews, but also the sins of the whole world. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him; in His sacrifice for their sins, should not perish, but have everlasting life.  Jesus performed the final sacrifice for sins. He, the sinless Christ, died on the Cross for our sins. The Law, with all of it’s practices as a means of attaining righteousness, was done away in Him. Heb 10:1-10, For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure. Then I said, Behold I have come. In the volume of the Book it is written of Me- to do your will Oh God. Previously saying, Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin you did not desire, nor had pleasure in them, which are offered according to the Law. Then He said, Behold I come to do your will Oh God. He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 

The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, is a shadow of what was to come through Christ.

Christ is a far better sacrifice than the yearly sacrifice of bulls and goats in which there was no power to purge the conscience of sins. But every year they had remembrance of their sins. How much more shall the Blood of Christ purge our consciences from dead works to serve the Living God. Jesus loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own Blood. He laid down His life for us on that Cross. Therefore, having been cleansed of our sins through faith in His sacrifice; faith in His shed Blood, we love Him and lay down our lives to serve Him every day, denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Him, being led by the Holy Spirit to do His will. Heb 4:14-16, Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.