The Day of Atonement was Israel’s annual cleansing from sin. A full account of all the services of this eventful day will be found in Leviticus 16, given by Jehovah through Moses to Aaron. In Leviticus 23, it is viewed especially from the Divine side, as a feast of Jehovah, expressive of the joy derived by Him from the atoning death of Christ.
It is worth noting that the day on which the blood was carried within the veil was the tenth day of the seventh month. The seventh month had been changed to the first month, at the time of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. The paschal lamb was henceforth to be chosen from the flock, and set apart for sacrifice on the tenth day of this month. Its death on the fourteenth day was the foundation of all that followed, as we gather from the fact that the Feasts of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Weeks are all dated from the Passover.
The seventh month begins the second half of Israel’s year, and the second series of Jehovah’s set feasts. And here again on the tenth day of that month, the blood of a victim is the prominent feature, but not to be used as in the Passover. There, the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the lintel and side-posts of the door, to avert the stroke of judgment on Israel’s firstborn sons. Here the blood is carried within the veil and put on the mercy-seat. In the former case it is the sacrifice of Christ, appropriated by faith, that which alone can deliver the sinner from righteous wrath. But in this ordinance, it is the blood of atonement presented Godward as that by which His throne is established in righteousness, His claims fully met, the believer permitted to draw near in spirit to commune with God, and the ground on which he will enter the presence of God in person some day.
The sacrifices of the Day of Atonement were:
1. A sin-offering and a burnt-offering for Aaron and his house.
2. Two goats for a sin-offering and a ram for a burnt-offering for the congregation.
The blood of the sin-offering for Aaron and his house was sprinkled on the mercy-seat once, and before it seven times, and over the sprinkled blood a cloud of sweet incense covered the mercy-seat. The word “atonement”–which occurs forty-eight times in the Book of Leviticus alone–means “a covering.” The blood covered the mercy-seat; so also did the cloud of incense, and in this we have an expressive type of the work and worth of the Lord Jesus in whose blood the believer is made near to God, and in whose Person he stands accepted. The atoning blood covers all his sin. The perfectness of Christ encircles his person.
The house of Aaron stood in the same acceptance as Aaron himself, and thus “the household of faith,” the priestly house of New Testament times, including all true believers (1 Pet. 2:5), has access now into the holiest of all (Heb. 10:19).
The blood of the goat for the congregation on which the Lord’s lot fell was likewise sprinkled within the veil, and then the sins of the people were confessed by Aaron over the head of the scapegoat. It was then sent away into the wilderness. Thus the claims of Jehovah were all met, the priesthood was established, and the congregation cleansed from all their sins before the Lord, and set at rest. The answer to all this, in so far as it applies to the saints of this time, is fully given in the New Testament, where the cleansing (Heb. 10:17-18), acceptance (Eph. 1:6), and access (Heb. 10:19; 4:16) of believers is made fully known.
However, the truth here set forth has special reference to the future. The Day of Atonement–in its order–comes after the Feast of Trumpets, and before the Feast of Tabernacles. We have already seen that the answer to the Feast of Trumpets will be the coming of the Lord Jesus as Son of Man to earth. The Feast of Tabernacles looks forward to the millennial reign of Christ. The Day of Atonement comes in between. To what event then does it point? Where are we to find its antitype? Clearly, it must be something after the Advent of the Lord, and before His Kingly reign.
Its application to His heavenly people is their reception to the immediate presence of God as priests, their establishment around His throne to sing redemption’s song (Rev. 4-5), and as the servants of Jesus Christ, in their manifestation before His judgment seat, to have their service reviewed, and their work rewarded (2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 22:12). In that full blaze of heavenly light to which the redeemed shall be introduced in the highest heaven, the immediate dwelling place of God, the value of the blood of Christ will be known by them as it never was before. So also will the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the marvelous grace of God, and the fullness of Christ’s redemption. There, amid holy and heavenly hosts, surrounding God’s throne, the slain Lamb in the midst will still be the object of their worship and the theme of their song. The eye of God will rest with ineffable delight on that glorified throng, each member of which stands on the merit of the blood of the Lamb, and encircled with His excellence. This will be a rich feast of Jehovah, and the saints themselves will share it, each and all.
The manifestation of the risen saints before the judgment seat of Christ, will be a further answer to this type. At this tribunal, not their salvation or the acceptance of their persons, but the character of their service will be under review. Then the Master’s estimate of all will be known. What a change from present estimates of service that hour will bring! How small will that appear which often bulks in men’s opinions and obtains their praise! How great those little acts and hidden deeds known only now to Christ and to God.
But while there will be much to humble the saints at Christ’s judgment seat, there will be nothing to condemn them, for the blood of atonement, the memorial of the ever precious death of the Lamb of God, will speak forth its value, and cover all the sins and failures of the Lord’s redeemed. Then after all has been manifested–the good rewarded, the bad burnt up–the servants of God will pass into their places in the kingdom of their Lord, in the perfect enjoyment of rest. And thus the three features of the Day of Atonement–acceptance, humbling, and rest–will be fulfilled in the risen saints. How all this will enhance the value of the blood of the Lamb!
The fulfillment of the type in regard to the earthly people is touchingly described in the prophetic Scriptures. Delivered from the allied forces of Antichrist and his confederate kings–who at that moment will surround the earthly Jerusalem–by the sudden appearance of the Lord on Mount Olivet, they will look up to find that the One who is their great Deliverer is Jesus of Nazareth, whom they crucified. The wounded hands and feet will bring back to mind and conscience that hour when in their hatred of Him, they cried out, “Crucify Him.” Now they look on Him whom they pierced, and mourn. And what a mourning that will be, when “the Spirit of grace, and of supplication” is poured out upon them, and their melted hearts are turned to the Lord.
Their bitterness and grief passes all description as they look on Him whom they had crucified and slain. The deep searchings of heart of Joseph’s brethren as they remembered their cruelty to him are but a faint illustration of the anguish of awakened Israel in the latter day when every individual, alone before God, will mourn their rejection of the Messiah as one mourneth for an only son.
But just as when the anguish of Joseph’s brethren was at its depth, the veil that hid him as their brother was removed, and he in grace revealed himself to them as their kinsman and deliverer, so will the glorified Christ reveal Himself and His atoning work to the melted hearts of awakened Israel. They will turn to find the repose of their souls in the atoning death of the Lamb slain. Then the language of Isaiah 53 will burst from their lips, “Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities.” And in that bruising their healing will be found, for “in that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin, and for separation and uncleanness” (Zech. 13:1, mar.). This is not a new sacrifice, but the abiding efficacy of the one great sacrifice of Calvary extended to them. Thus humbled, cleansed from sin, and brought to God, they will pass into the millennium under the benign rule of the Prince of Peace with His heavenly bride.
Reprinted from Feasts of Jehovah, published by Kregel, available from GFP.