The Jewish people have two calendars. After the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity, they followed the newer calendar, with the civic year starting in the fall. Their sacred year, according to the old calendar, began in the spring at the time of the first Passover. It was then that the Lord told Moses and Aaron, “This month” (Abib, later called Nisan) “shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.” Exodus 12:2. When Jewish people today read the Bible, they might be confused because now they celebrate their New Year in the Old Testament seventh month, Tishri, not in the first month, Nisan, according to the sacred year.
Some of the final instructions which the Lord gave to Moses concerning the Day of Atonement in the seventh month, Tishri, are found in Leviticus 16:29–34. “And this shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls, and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you shall be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute.
“So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on the linen garments, the holy garments, and make atonement for the holy sanctuary; and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting” (the Tabernacle) “and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did.
The Day of Atonement in Old Testament times was to bring absolute cleansing and purification to the entire nation of Israel. The ritual of atonement was not just for sin; it also included the altar and the ark of the covenant. The high priest atoned for everything in the Tabernacle. This was to bring a purity to everything the Israelites did, so that they would not slowly deteriorate and become a people who believed something they did not walk in. They were to make every effort to move into God’s provision with all of their hearts. This was to be the purpose behind the Day of Atonement.
How was atonement to be made? Leviticus 16 gives the instructions. And the Lord said to Moses, “Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at 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 over the mercy seat. Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
“Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. And he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat.” Scapegoat has a different meaning today. In this Scripture, however, it signified the goat of removal—Azazel. “Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat” (the goat of removal) “fell, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.” Leviticus 16:2–3, 6–10.
The removal of sin on the Day of Atonement was different than that which took place during the Passover. At the very first Passover, the lamb was slain and the blood was placed over the door so that judgment would pass over. Then the people ate the roasted lamb to receive inner strength, and they were ready with staff in hand to leave the land of bondage. This was the beginning of the cycle of feasts that speak of spiritual experiences, as recorded in the Bible.
Christ was crucified during the Feast of Passover. Fifty days after His resurrection, on the Feast of Pentecost (Feast of Weeks), when the harvest of firstfruits was offered up, the Holy Spirit fell. That day initiated the beginning of bringing forth in the earth what Christ had died for. On the Feast of Passover, Christ died to bring the salvation experience. Then on the Feast of Pentecost came the Holy Spirit experience. Later in the fall of the year came the Feast of Trumpets, calling everyone together. It is not enough only to be filled with the Holy Spirit; we must experience the revelation of God bringing us into oneness with God and with one another. A few days later came the Day of Atonement. Following that, the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated. Tabernacles represented the time when the Israelites were in the wilderness and the glory of God hovered over the central Tabernacle while they camped around it. This represented God’s presence among them.
On the Day of Atonement, atonement had to be made for the high priest first, then for the other priests, the holy place, the tent of meeting, the altar, and the people. Everyone and everything was included. This has symbolical meaning for us today. Until God has searched us out completely, we will not be ready for the glory of the Tabernacles experience. We will not know the wonder of His presence, the Parousia, among us unless we first experience the purifying work of atonement. We read in I John 3:3 that every man who has this hope of the Lord purifies himself.
Purification is different from initial salvation. They are two experiences. The angel said to Joseph, Thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21. That refers to salvation, but there was to be more than forgiveness of sins. When John the Baptist was preaching, he saw Jesus coming down to the river Jordan, and he cried out, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29b. This refers to the ministry of removal. The Lord separates us from our sins as far as the east is from the west. We not only need to be forgiven for sins, but we must go on until the nature of sin is completely removed. Paul said, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Romans 7:24. He sensed that the flesh had something in it that had to be purged away.
A time must come in which Christ saves us to the uttermost. Just as we experienced original salvation, we ought to kneel again before the Lord and cry, “Save me, Lord!” Some people might think that a believer who did that would be acting like a heathen, since he has already been saved. But the term “saved” can be misunderstood. We all know people who say they have been saved, and yet we see things in their lives from which they have not been saved. Acts 2:47, in the original accurate Greek, tells us that the Lord added to the Church daily those who “were being saved.” From the minute you accepted Christ as your Savior, you died and you were saved, in one sense; but you were not saved to the uttermost. You were saved, you are being saved, and there is much more to be saved farther on down the line. You have been delivered, you are being delivered, and you are yet to be delivered. Anything God starts in your life should expand until it is total and perfect. When God looks at His finished product, He must be able to say, “Lo, it is very good.” When you look in the mirror, are you able to say that you are very good? Or do you feel that you need to go back for another dip in the fountain of cleansing, because something is still missing?
After Aaron prayed and sacrificed a bull in atonement for his own sins and those of his household, he sacrificed the first goat to sanctify the people. This sacrifice was given to the Lord, in order that there would be access into the holy place and an assurance of the mercy-seat presence of the Lord for that year. The people would know that God was dwelling in their midst. Then Aaron confessed everyone’s sins over the second goat, the scapegoat. All kinds of sin were confessed over this goat of removal. Sins that were committed unintentionally were included, as well as the things for which they made excuses. There was no leeway for any wrong; everything was searched out and laid on the head of that goat, which was then sent into the wilderness. The offering of the two goats symbolizes the dual ministry of Christ who suffered for our sins. He not only forgives sins, but He removes them when we confess them.
The man who would be perfect searches for perfection. God called Job a perfect man. He was perfect before the Lord in all of his ways. What was he doing? He was making sacrifices for his sons in case they had cursed God in their hearts. Even when he had nothing to atone for himself, he was praying for his sons. You cannot be perfect unless you are given to intercession with a deep desire for things to be right—not only in yourself, but also in everyone else. You are not to see the needs in people to judge them, but to cry out to God for them to come into everything God has for them. Whenever a pharisaical person poses as a perfect man, he is actually a liar. Everything Jesus said about the Pharisees was true. They were whited sepulchres full of dead men’s bones (Matthew 23:27). There was nothing real in them. A man who is righteous just for his own sake has never known perfection. God is perfect, but He loves us and does everything He can to redeem us. If your way is perfect, you too are reaching out, interceding and praying to help bring others into that perfection. That concern must be a part of your perfection.
The Israelites’ iniquities were confessed over the scapegoat and borne away to a desolate place in the wilderness. Thus all of their sins were removed. In this day, we must see also the removal of sin from the house of God. This is the time for it. God bargained for something more than half an experience for us. When He set about to redeem us, He did not intend that there would always be a war between the two natures. He purposed that we could be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through the lust that is part of the sinful nature (II Peter 1:4). We want to be delivered from anything that is wrong, from anything that would react in a wrong way. None of that must be left within us. We want to walk with God with everything clean and right. It will not he done by willpower, but by an atonement as we confess and lay our transgressions upon Christ. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Come to grips with the thing that needs to be done in your life. In relating to the story of the Day of Atonement, believe that atonement can become an experience in your life, just as the feasts of Passover and Pentecost have been experiences for many people for centuries. Now is the time for an unfolding atonement experience of purification for all.