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DAY OF ATONEMENT Background • Exod. 30: 9 -10 “Aaron shall make atonement on [the horns of the altar] once a year. With the blood of the sin offering of atonement he shall make atonement for it once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD. ”

DAY OF ATONEMENT Purpose • Need to understand “atonement”: • Re-alignment, reconciliation Amos 7: 7 -8 – Plumb line, crooked wall Isa. 40: 3 -5 - “Make straight the way of the Lord… and the glory of the Lord will appear. ” Mt. 3: 1 -3, Jn. 1: 23 - “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Repentance is the earnest expression of a desire for atonement and forgiveness.

DAY OF ATONEMENT Purpose • Atonement made for the priest and the entire community Not simply forgiveness of sins or payment for sins, but a sort of “realignment” with God through purification of sacred space. Two main ideas: • Acceptance by God • Removal of impurity (16: 16, 19 b) • Heb. 9: 1 -7; 10: 1 -4 “But the High Priest alone enters the second room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. ” “…in the sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year. ”

DAY OF ATONEMENT Instructions • 10 th day of the 7 th month (16: 29) • • A special Sabbath Solemn occasion of fasting rather than feasting

DAY OF ATONEMENT Instructions 1. High Priest bathes in water and puts on a plain (white) linen tunic, sash and turban 8. HP purifies the tent of meeting, presumably in similar manner 2. HP presents a bull as sin offering for himself and his household 10. Second goat has sins of the community symbolically placed on its head, is sent alive into the wilderness 3. Before entering the most holy place, HP creates a cloud of smoke with coals from the altar and the special incense 4. HP enters the most holy place, sprinkles bull’s blood on the mercy seat seven times 5. Takes two male goats from the community to entrance of the tent of meeting and casts lots between them 6. First goat is sacrificed as a sin offering for the people 7. Goat’s blood sprinkled on the altar for the people 9. Altar of burnt offering purified by putting blood on the horns 11. Aaron changes back into regular HP vestments, leaves linen clothes in the tent 12. Rams offered as a burnt offering by HP for himself and the people 13. Sacrifices of bull and goat are completed 14. Individuals made unclean by handling the animals on which sins were laid are to wash and return to camp

DAY OF ATONEMENT Items for consideration: • “Tell your brother Aaron that he may not come whenever he wants into the holy place behind the veil…” • “Zones” of holiness – Exod. 19: 12 -13, 23 -24; 24: 9 -11, 12 -14 • “…I appear in the cloud. . . ” • • Exod. 13: 21 -22; 19: 18; 33: 9 -10; 24: 15 -18; 40: 34 -38 A theophany (appearance of God), obscured by the cloud of incense? • “…above the mercy seat. ” • • kaphoreth, “place of atonement/purging” Mercy seat is essentially God’s throne among His people – 1 Sam. 4: 4; 2 Sam. 6: 2

DAY OF ATONEMENT Items for consideration: • Aaron’s plain linen garments • Representative of purity and identification with the rest of the community of Israel • “The goat for Azazel” • • “the goat which taketh away” Folklore – Fallen Nephilim, exiled to the wilderness (1 Enoch 8: 1; 9: 6; 10: 4 -5, 9) Goat demon? Satan? Representative of all evil/demons? (ref Lev. 17: 7; Mt. 12: 43) Not a sacrifice, but more of a “dump” for sin

OBSERVATIONS Covenant blessings and discipline (ch 26) • Covenant blessings mirror God’s original state with man in Eden: • The land will yield its fruit and they will live without fear of man or beast (26: 3 -8) • They would be fruitful and multiply and live in abundance (26: 9 -10) • He would live and walk among them (26: 11 -13) • Covenant discipline for disobedience would be “sevenfold”… (26: 14 -39) • …but would ultimately be for a purpose: turning their hearts back to Him (26: 40 -45)

OBSERVATIONS Takeaways from Leviticus: • Access to God is accomplished through holiness • Holiness is serious business! • Obedience and sacrifice are essential for holiness • Holiness affects every aspect of life • Sin is messy, and humanity needs to see that • God’s instruction is a gift, not a burden • God’s standards and instruction are very different from the world’s