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Yom Kippur in Bible Times
The high priest is entirely responsible for the
Day of Atonement. He began preparing for this
day a week early. He stayed in the high priest
chamber in the temple court and studied the laws
of the Day of Atonement. It was very important
the priest not make a mistake. An error could
cost him his life and the nation of Israel’s
atonement. The high priest spoke a word this day
that was unspeakable all other times. During the
services he voiced the Holy name of God, YHWH
or Yahweh ten times during the ceremony. When
the people heard the Holy Name they fell on the
ground in reverence.
The interior of Solomon’s Temple was rectangular,
about 35 feet wide and 140 feet long. It was divided
into three parts. The priest would have entered
the porch, which was about 17 feet deep. He would
then pass through gilded Cyprus doors decorated
with flowers, palm trees, and cherubim, and enter
the main room of the Temple—often called
the Holy Place. Beyond a set of olive wood doors
lay the room no ordinary priest would ever see.
This was the Holy of Holies. It was a perfect
cube, with each side measuring nearly 35 feet.
In it was the Ark, containing the two tablets
of stone of the Ten Commandments (Guinness 1988).
The Holy of Holies was entered only once a year,
on the Day of Atonement, when the high priest
made atonement for the people. This was the great
solemn day that the high priest put aside his
official robes and dressed in a simple white garment.
To fulfill the law of the Bible, he wore eight
garments on this day (Lev. 8:7; Ex. 28:33-35).
- The golden crown on his forehead.
- The breastplate on his heart.
- The outer robe decorated with pomegranates
and bells (the people listened for the bells
while the priest was in the Holy of Holies to
be sure the priest was still alive).
- The apron or vest.
- Four white garments made from white flax.
- The belt.
- The turban.
- Pants.
He then offered a bullock as a sin-offering for
himself and the priesthood. He would fill the
censer with live coals from the altar, then enter
into the Holy of Holies, where he placed incense
on the coals. The incense sent forth a cloud of
smoke over the mercy seat, which served as a covering
for the ark of the covenant. The high priest took
some of the blood of the bullock and sprinkled
it on the mercy seat and on the ground in front
of the ark cleansing them from defilement.
The burnt offerings were: seven male lambs, each
a year old, one young bull, and one ram. The sin
offering was one male goat. Every step the priest
took was precisely scripted. According to the
Talmud he made forty-three trips between the court
and sanctuary on this respected day.
Order of Events
A Bible study by Greg Killian explains the high
priest would:
- Remove the ashes from the outer altar (1:8).
- Immerse (baptize) himself for the first time.
Put on the golden vestments (3:4).
- Slaughter the daily morning elevation (burnt)
offering (3:4).
- Receive and throw the blood of the elevation
(burnt) offering (3:4).
- Prepare the five lamps of the menorah (3:4).
- Offer the daily incense (3:5).
- Prepare the remaining two lamps of the menorah.
- Burn the limbs of the daily morning elevation
(burnt) offering on the outer altar (3:4).
- Offer the daily meal offering (3:4).
- Offer the Chavitin offering (3:4).
- Offer the wine libation (drink offering) (3:4).
- Offer the Mussafim: The ox and the seven lambs
- all elevation (burnt) offerings, along with
their meal and drink offerings (7:3).
- Immerse (baptize) himself for the second time
and then don the linen vestments (3:6).
- Do the first confession on the High Priest
ox offering (3:8).
- Draw the lots to select the he-goats for God
and for Azazel (3:9, 4:1) [see the section titled
“Two Goats” in the “Messianic
Significance of the Day of Atonement” further
in this chapter].
- Do the second confession on the High Priest
ox sin offering (4:2).
- Slaughter his ox sin offering (4:3).
- Perform the service of the special Yom HaKippurim
incense: (a) scoop up some coal; (b) scoop up
the incense into the ladle; (c) burn the incense
in the Holy of Holies. This was his first entry
into the Holy of Holies (4:3, 5:1-2).
- Sprinkle the blood of his ox in the Holy of
Holies. This was his second entry into the Holy
of Holies (5:3).
- Slaughter the he-goat for God (5:4).
- Sprinkle the he-goat’s blood in the Holy
of Holies. This was his third entry into the
Holy of Holies (5:4).
- Sprinkle the blood of his ox on the curtain
in the Holy place (5:4).
- Sprinkle the he-goat’s blood on the curtain
in the Holy place (5:4).
- Mix the blood of his ox and the he-goat (5:4).
- Sprinkle the mixture on the inner altar (5:5-6).
- Do the confession on the he-goat to Azazel
and present the he-goat, to the designated person,
for dispatch to azazel (6:2). This was not a
sacrifice.
- Remove the entrails of his ox and the he-goat
and place them in a utensil (6:7).
- Prepare the limbs of his ox and the he-goat
for removal to the burning place (6:7).
- Read from the Torah (7:1).
- Immerse (baptize) himself for the third time,
then don the golden vestments.
- Perform the service of the he-goat sin offering
of the Mussafim (7:3).
- Offer his ram (7:3).
- Offer the people’s ram (7:3).
- Burn the entrails of the ox and he-goat on
the outer altar (6:7).
- Immerse (baptize) himself for the fourth time,
then don the linen vestments (7:5).
- Remove the incense ladle and the shovel with
burnt coals from the Holy of Holies. This was
his fourth and final entry into the Holy of
Holies (7:4).
- Immerse (baptize) himself for the fifth time,
then don the golden vestments (7:5).
- Offer the daily afternoon elevation (burnt)
offering (7:3).
- Burn the daily afternoon incense (7:4).
- Light the Menorah (7:5).
Ten times would the High Priest pronounce the
Name of God on Yom Kippur: six times in connection
with the bullock, three times in connection with
the he-goat, and once in connection with the lots.
Those who were near him would fall on their faces,
and those who were far from him would say: “Blessed
be His Name whose glorious kingdom is for ever
and ever.” Neither those who were near nor
those who were far would move from their places
until he had disappeared.
The Fast
The fast, the penitential prayers, the Bible
readings, the formulas of confession (viddu’i),
and every part of the Atonement Day ritual emphasize
this single theme–that would relieve one
from the burden of sin–acknowledging the
transgressions, declaring repentance through a
process of confession, and then making atonement
before God in order to obtain His forgiveness.
Yom Kippur is a time to atone for sin. While
fasting is not explicitly mentioned, the Bible
ordains for this day, “You shall afflict
your souls” (Lev. 16:31; 23:27-32; Num. 29:7),
and from early times the rabbis interpreted this
to mean fasting. Part of the “affliction
of the soul” included five statutory rules
of mortification. These were abstention from:
food and drink, marital relations, wearing leather
shoes, using cosmetics and lotions, and washing
any part of the body other than the fingers and
eyes. The pleasure of such bodily comforts is
seen as a prime source of opposing the “affliction
of one’s soul.” In Biblical times, rending
one’s garments and putting on sackcloth and
ashes were further signs of distress, accompanying
abstention from food (Jonah 3:6; Ezek. 9:5). In
other cases the fasting is clearly implied (Josh.
7:5-13; Jer. 6:26; Lam. 2:10).
Excerpts from the book A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays
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