atonement

Day Of Atonement

         The Day Of Atonement was a day of judgement and it took place on the 10th day of the seventh month of the Jewish religious year known as [Yom Kippur]. God required the removal of all sins recorded in His Temple. These were sins for priests, individuals and all Israelites as a people.
         Those who refused to confess their sins through out the year before the day of Atonement, were "Cut Off" from God's people. To confess your sins meant,your sins went before judgement: you were cleansed and vindicated.
         If one had not confessed, this meant one was not forgiven and CUT OFF form God's people. These sentences were pronounced by the high priest. The high priest was both, the mediator and the judge on the day of atonement.
The first day of the seventh month was called the Feast of trumpets. The people were alerted of the coming 10th day and prepared themselves for the day by fasting as well as praying.
         Numbers 10:1-10 reads,"1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. 3And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 4And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee. 5When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward. 6When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. 7But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. 8And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations. 9And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. 10Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God." People knew that if they do not confess their sins they would be CUT OFF from God's people.
         From the first day to the nineth day, there were blowing trumpets. The high priest removed his ordinary attire, bathed and put on his nine Golden garments. He started by offering the morning sacrifice of the Daily. This also included flour, wine,wicks,oil for the lamps and presenting inscense on the golden altar. Should the Day of Atonement fall on the weekly seventh day sabbath, he would offer the special weekly sabbath offerings presented in addition to the daily.
The Bible reads in Numbers 28:9-11 "9And on the sabbath day two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof: 10This is the burnt offering of every sabbath, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering. 11And in the beginnings of your months ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year without spot;"
         The high priest ensured the new baked shewbread was properly arranged on the Golden table.
After completing the morning service, the priest removed his garments and put on the white linen garments of more value and had no colored embroidery. This dresssing symbolized the Divine purity and righteousness. When robbed in all white he had to perform two ceremonies for his credentials as representative for God's people on the Day OF Atonement.
The High priest's offering as we read in Leviticus 16:11-14, was as follows,"11And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself: 12And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: 13And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: 14And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.
         The priest presented a bull as a sin offering for Himself and his house. When laying his hands on the head of the bull, he was identifying with his sacrifice while confessing and dedicating himself. He then slaughter the beast and placedsome of the blood in a golden bowl. He filled the golden censer with embers from the altar of burnt offering. He carried a golden ladle with two hands full of incense. The high priest then passed through the Holy place with a fire pan in his right hand and incense in the left hand. Reaching the northen edge of the innermost veil, he moved it aside with his left elbow and stepped into the presence of the Lord in the Most Holy place. The drap then dropped into place behind him.
         Keeping his eyes on the ARK with utmost respect, he sidled southward till his left foot touched the golden rod used for carrying the ARK. Stepping over it, he is now between the two rods as he moves towards the mercy seat.
         He then stooped and placed the censer on the floor before it, and poured the incense over the glowing coals. He stands up and wait for the Most Holy place if flooded with fragrance. He then moves back till he touches the veil. With his eyes on the shekinah, he sidled southward,stepping over the other carrying rod. He then continues and reaches the wall then lifts the curtain with the right elbow.He then backed out of the Most holy place and the tapestry falling back into position.
         When this service ended he walked through the Holy place to the court yard. He then carries out the second self-validation. He takes the golden container of the bull's blood and trace back his foot steps to the Most holy place which is now enveloped with a cloud of fragrance. Dipping his finger in the bowl he sprinkles the blood seven times on the MERCY SEAT. He then leaves the MOST Holy place as before. He puts the container with the blood on the golden stand near the ALTAR OF INCENSE and then he goes out to the courtyard.
         Having gone in the presence of God twice assurers the worshippers that he was accepted as their mediator and was now able to conduct the unique ceremony of sanctuary cleansing.
        Leviticus 16:15-19,reads "15Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: 16And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. 18And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. 19And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel."
         Here the priest slew the Lod's goat as a sin-offering for God's covenant people and the blood was placed in the golden bowl. This time the priest did not confess his sins upon the head of the goat. The sins were already confessed and forgiven during the daily sin offerings both for the priest and the congregation. The sins were already registered as it were on the veil and horns of the two altars of the sanctuary. Now the records had to be removed. The priest had to move into the tent of meeting for the third time. He did with the goat's blood what he did with the bull's blood.
         The daily sin-offerings took away sins from the sinner onto the sanctuary's veil and two altars. No sin offering blood ever entered the Most Holy place. Why did the Lord's goat blood enter the Most Holy place? In the most Holy place were the Ten Commandments that were kept inside the ark, under the Mercy seat. This moral code condamned all sinners and on the Day of Atonement the demands of the law were met in full by the sprinkling of the blood from the Lord's goat seven times on the Mercy seat. When the law's demands were met satisfactorily, the atonement for the House of Israel was completed. The priest was then empowered by the same law to remove the record of sins from the veil and the two pillars. After the work of atonement in the Most Holy place,the priest then entered the Holy place. He then put the container with goat's blood on another stand in the room. He takes the bull's blood from its stand. Dipppig his finger, he sprinkles blood once upward and then seven times on the veil. Returning the blood to the stand, he takes the goat's blood and does the same. He then empties the bull's blood into the goat's container mixing them. This meant, the two animals represented the same sacrifice because Christ is not divisible.
        We read Leviticus 16:20-34, "20And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: 21And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. 23And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there: 24And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people. 25And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar. 26And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp. 27And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung. 28And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. 29And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: 30For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. 31It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. 32And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments: 33And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation. 34And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.

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