Holy Days: Day of Atonement

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the LORD. Leviticus 23:26-27

The Holy Days of Our Lord “Day of Atonement”  From the Mount of Olives, Zola tells us about Yom Kippur. Once a year, the priest entered into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies. Here, a sacrifice was made for the corporate sin of the nation. We show you a recreation of the Tabernacle located in Timna Park, on the Red Sea.  Guests: Michael Lavie, Herbby Geer.  On location in Israel, we created this presentation of the holidays our Lord celebrated. Given to Moses on Mt. Sinai, these celebrations comprise one of the most fascinating studies of Biblical types and shadows. Few churches or seminaries teach what we take up in this series. Closed Captioned.

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, [Concerning] the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim [to be] holy convocations, [even] these [are] my feasts.

Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day [is] the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work [therein]: it [is] the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. These [are] the feasts of the LORD, [even] holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.  Leviticus 23

The Holy Days of Our Lord: “Day of Atonement”

Jewish names and themes for the day

There are a few key themes and names associated with this day in Jewish tradition. Together they give a fuller understanding of the ultimate fulfillment of this day. And that fulfillment is at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

The Great day

The day of Atonement was known as ‘the great day’ or simply ‘the day’. As mentioned earlier, it was the holiest day in the Jewish year and was the culmination of the ‘days of awe’. According to Jewish thought, those whose names were not written in the book of life by the Feast of Trumpets have until the day of Atonement to seek forgiveness and salvation from God. Prophetically, it speaks of the day Jesus returns at His second coming. Those who are not saved by this day are not given another opportunity. That day is their last chance.

Face to Face

The day of Atonement was also known as the day of ‘face to face’. This was because it was the one day a year where the high priest could come into the presence of God. This has a dual prophetic fulfillment concerning the two comings of Jesus Christ. At the first coming it speaks of the Lord Jesus going back into Heaven before God as our high priest through His own blood (Heb 9:11-12). The phrase ‘face to face’ is also used by Paul to speak of the day when all believers will see Him:

1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

The phrase also speaks of the day when the nation of Israel shall look on the one they pierced and find atonement for their sins:

Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

Affliction: The Tribulation, Jacob’s Trouble

Jeremiah 30:7 says, “That day is great, so that none is like it.”

The only time period that fits this description is the period of the Tribulation. This time is unparalleled in history.

Jesus described the Tribulation using some of the same imagery as Jeremiah. In Matthew 24:6-8, He stated that the appearance of false christs, wars and rumors of wars, famines, and earthquakes are “the beginning of birth pains.”

Paul, too, described the Tribulation as birth pains. First Thessalonians 5:3 says, “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” This event follows the Rapture and the removal of the Church, in 4:13-18. In 5:9, Paul reemphasizes the Church’s absence during this period by saying, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The wrath spoken of here is God’s judgment on the unbelieving world and His discipline of Israel during the Tribulation.

These “birth pains” are described in detail in Revelation 6-12. Part of the purpose of the Tribulation is to bring Israel back to the Lord.

For those who have received Christ as Savior from sin, the time of Jacob’s trouble is something for which we should praise the Lord, for it demonstrates that God keeps His promises. He has promised us eternal life through Christ our Lord, and He has promised land, seed, and blessing to Abraham and his physical descendants. However, before He fulfills those promises, He will lovingly but firmly discipline the nation of Israel so that they return to Him.

The day was also known for ‘the affliction of the soul’. Thus, the Israelites would fast on this day and abstain from anointing their body, wearing leather shoes, and cohabitation. The true affliction of the soul will come when Israel sees their Messiah and realizes that they had rejected and killed their Messiah Jesus.3 This is portrayed in the following prophecy (following on from Zec 12:10 above):

Zechariah 12:11-14 On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. (12) The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, (13) the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, (14) and all the rest of the clans and their wives.

It is also portrayed as a type in the recognition and reconciliation of Joseph with his brothers (which, you may remember, comes during a seven year period of famine and difficulty!) amongst many tears.

Genesis 45:1-15 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. (2) And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. (3) Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. (4) Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! (5) And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you… (14) Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. (15) And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.

Scriptures on The Day of Atonement Listed

Leviticus 16:3
“Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

Leviticus 16:29
“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;

Leviticus 16:2
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, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.

Hebrews 9:7
but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

Leviticus 16:15-16
“Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. “He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities.

Leviticus 16:17
“When he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel.

Leviticus 16:24
“He shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes, and come forth and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people.

Leviticus 16:11
“Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself.

About Zola Levitt Ministries

We hold to a strictly literal and inerrant Bible interpretation, salvation through Christ alone, a soon pre-tribulation Rapture of all believers and the establishment of a thousand-year kingdom on Earth.

The evangelism of the unbelievers and the exhortation of the believers take precedence over all other activities of this ministry.

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