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The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons when they approached the presence of the Lord and died, and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the Holy Place inside the special curtain in front of the atonement lid that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the atonement lid.”
Leviticus 16:1 – 2
On precisely one day each year, the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) was permitted entrance into the “Holy of Holies”, the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. To do so at any other time meant death. Because this was the only time in which the High Priest was allowed to approach the Ark, this has long been regarded as the most Holy day of the year.
The prescriptions for this particular observance are highly specific:
“In this way Aaron is to enter into the sanctuary—with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He must put on a holy linen tunic, linen leggings are to cover his body, and he is to wrap himself with a linen sash and wrap his head with a linen turban. They are holy garments, so he must bathe his body in water and put them on. He must also take two male goats from the congregation of the Israelites for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. Then Aaron is to present the sin offering bull which is for himself and is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. Next he must take the two goats and stand them before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel. Aaron must then present the goat which has been designated by lot for the Lord, and he is to make it a sin offering, but the goat which has been designated by lot for Azazel is to be stood alive before the Lord to make atonement on it by sending it away into the desert to Azazel.”
Leviticus 16:3 – 10
The preceding citation is actually a summation. In fact, the entirety of Leviticus Chapter 16 deals exclusively with the prescriptions for the Day of Atonement.
Before being able to intercede on behalf of the assembly, Aaron, the High Priest, had to bathe himself and don special attire. Next he was required to present a sin offering for himself and his household – not to do so would have disqualified him from being able to present the corporate offering. Once Aaron’s offerings were accepted, he was able to commence with presenting the sin offering for the entire assembly.
In case you’re not following – the Cohen Gadol or High Priest, had to make atonement first. He had to be blameless in the sight of the Almighty before he could intercede for the assembly of Israel. Only then could he present the offering to make atonement for the sins of the entire community.
The Lord spoke to Moses: “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must humble yourselves and present a gift to the Lord. You must not do any work on this particular day, because it is a day of atonement to make atonement for yourselves before the Lord your God. Indeed, any person who does not behave with humility on this particular day will be cut off from his people. As for any person who does any work on this particular day, I will exterminate that person from the midst of his people— you must not do any work! This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all the places where you live. It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves on the ninth day of the month in the evening, from evening until evening you must observe your Sabbath.”
Leviticus 23:26 – 32
Scripture tells us, both implicitly and explicitly, that the wages of sin is death. Here in the prescriptions for the Day of Atonement, we see that principle illustrated plainly as atonement is made through blood sacrifice and offering before the Lord. The life is in the blood…
“… for the life of every living thing is in the blood. So I myself have assigned it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life.”
Leviticus 17:11
Clearly, God’s perspective on sin is much more dire that what most of use perceive and, as I’ve said many times; “there’s one opinion in the Universe that actually matters…”
You may have noticed throughout most of my articles that I tend towards citing passages from the “Old Testament”. The reason for this isn’t that I don’t lend any credence to the New Testament, it’s that much of what it states is a restatement or clarification of that which was written before.
It’s the principle I’ve cited on numerous occasions, that “until you come to grips with the front of the book, you cannot fully understand the back.” Throughout my years, I’ve heard numerous teachings regarding the “Atoning Sacrifice” of the Messiah – but it wasn’t until I began to study the Mo’edim (Appointed Times) that I really began to understand what this was really saying.
You see, God is a God of covenants and a covenant is an agreement – a contract if you will. Contracts contain provisions for both parties, they also contain consequences for any party that violates the agreement. Our God, loving and benevolent is He, even included provisions specific to our individual and corporate violations of the contract… and He didn’t even stop there.
The author of Hebrews does a excellent job, for those who will read and meditate upon the meaning, of explaining atonement in terms of the New Covenant. I would admonish you to have a good look at Hebrews Chapter 9, but I want to specifically highlight this portion:
But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, and he entered once for all into the Most Holy Place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption.
Hebrews 9:11 – 12
Here we see that the Messiah has once and for all, sprinkled His own blood upon the Mercy Seat of the Ark. As our High Priest, perfect and blameless before Almighty God, his intercession is once and for all.
It is for precisely this reason that I observe Yom Kippur. Not as an act of atonement – I do not offer sacrifices as was done under the Levitical system, it cannot be done in accordance with scripture. No, I do so out of reverence and thankfulness for the One who acted my behalf… on our behalf.
My local congregation follows a rather traditional Judaic approach to the observation of Yom Kippur. It consists of a number of liturgical prayers which are repentant in nature and fairly exhaustive in scope. Each time I participate, I leave with a sense of lightness, as though I’ve lain down burdens and it’s something I look forward to with reverence and awe each year. It’s a powerful reminder of the “once and for all” atonement, and I am enabled to walk in it for a while longer.
For those that have not, or won’t have the opportunity to attend a Yom Kippur service, the following video does a good job of conveying the spirit – the essence – of this Appointed Time:
In Judaism, it is traditional to fast on Yom Kippur. The idea is that it is an act of affliction and/ or humility before God. Though there is a debate regarding this practice (isn’t there always), this isn’t the focus this article… nor should such debate be the focus of the day.
Yom Kippur is seen as a Day of Sealing, and it has therefore become customary to greet one another with the phrase G’mar Chatima Tova (most commonly shortened to G’mar Tov), meaning “May you be inscribed for good [in the Book of Life].”
I find this to be a most appropriate phrase to commemorate this time. Yom Kippur begins this evening at sundown and so I conclude this article, with the same blessing towards you…
גמר חתימה טובה – G’mar Chatima Tova – May you be inscribed for good [in the Book of Life]
שלום עליכם – Shalom Aleichem – Peace Be Upon You