A TWO PART FASTING CEREMONY TO ATONE FOR SINS: ATONEMENT
Atone, in English, means literally “at one.” The Day of Atonement represents the time in history when all humanity will at last be at one with God. Only a small number of defiant sinners will ULTIMATELY be turned into ashes. Mankind in the future will no longer be separated from God. We will be part of His family.
1 John 3:1-2, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God… 2 now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (NKJV)
Two forces now separate us from God; Our sins and Satan's influence have separated us from God and all His blessings. Christ paid the price for our sins and by His victory, foreshadowed by the Feast of Trumpets, will soon remove Satan.
Hebrews 9:11-12, “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. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all…”
The Day Atonement is one of the most solemn holy days in God's calendar. On that day the high priest would make offerings to atone for his own sins. Then he would atone for the sins of the entire nation. The high priest could enter the Holy of Holies of the Temple just once a year.
Leviticus 16:3-5, “Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place… 4 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. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering…”
Why did God require Aaron to remove his ornate high priestly garments? Because He represented Jesus’ purity on this very Holy Day !
Hebrews 8:4-5, “…there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’” These priests, it is true, are engaged in a service which is only a copy and shadow of the heavenly realities, as is shown by the directions given to Moses when he was about to construct the Tabernacle. "Look to it,” are the words, “that thou make every part in accordance with the pattern shown thee…”
The high priest was to sacrifice two goats. One was sacrificed to cover the sins of the entire nation of Israel. The other goat was to be sent into exile deep into the hot wilderness.
Lev. 16:9, “And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the LORD'S lot fell, and offer it for a sin offering.”
The ceremony was directed at atoning for the first of what separates man from God. All these looked forward to our true, permanent covering for sin which is Jesus’ sacrifice. Christ paid for the sins of all Israel and ultimately all mankind.
SATAN IS MANKIND'S PARTNER IN SIN AND CRIME
Satan is our partner in crime. The Day of Atonement celebrates the covering, or atoning, for sins and also the removing of the sin maker. Satan is the trouble maker that must be removed. Atonement is the removal of the troublemaker – wow! The enticing of Adam to disobey God was Satan's doing and resulted in man’s removal from paradise. When a trouble maker is removed, one has peace. We've seen playgrounds where a trouble maker stirs up fights and squabbles.
Lev.16:10, “But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, to let him go … into the wilderness.”
The Holy Days are a shadow of things to come. See Col. 2:17. What does the scapegoat exiled into the hot wilderness represent in God's future plan?
Rev 20:1-3, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit… 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up…”
Satan is the goat that will be locked away from mankind. Without his seditious influence the millennium will be a wonderful, Godly paradise.
Lev. 16:21, “And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the sins of the sons of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send away by the hand of a chosen man into the wilderness…”
The parallel between the spiritual wilderness of the bottomless pit and the goat released by a strong man into the desert wilderness is undeniable. Every holy day is portraying parts of God's Plan of Salvation. Atonement also includes the wonderful work of Jesus Christ to save us as our High Priest, and the putting away of evil for everybody.
HOW SHOULD WE PREPARE FOR ATONEMENT
FIRST, WE MUST APPRECIATE WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE FOR US. Jesus is working now for real and lasting changes within our hearts. We must do our part to resist sin.
Heb. 8:10, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
SECONDLY, we should spend the ten days from Trumpets to Atonement getting closer to Jesus. Help chisel the law into our hearts. Remember, Christ will cover all our sins and remove the trouble maker! Christ does not want any of us to perish in the lake of fire.
John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.”
Note that the often quoted verse does not say you will live in a torture cave (Hell) forever. It said Jesus came to keep us from “perishing.” The Day of Atonement is all about Christ saving nearly all of us from perishing.
John 15:26, “And when the Comforter has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He shall testify of Me.”
Christ died and was resurrected and is now in control of the Holy Spirit. He is sending it to true believers. It leads us to see the truth that the devil has blinded the world to. The Spirit, in Christ's control, will help us to grow and learn how to live a more Godly life. He is atoning and helping us. Jesus wants to help us grasp the true concept of Godly love.
John 15:10, “If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love…”
Abide in Jesus’ love by keeping this Holy Day seriously, to become more at-one with God deep in our hearts.
ISSUES
HOW CAN WE AVOID THE DEVIL'S MANY INFLUENCES IN OUR HIGH TECH WORLD ?
HAS SATAN HARDENED THE HEARTS OF MOST PEOPLE, YES OR NO ?
