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Messiah in Yom Kippur
Christians know that Jesus has provided our atonement:
“...for all have sinned and come short of
the glory of God; being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus” (Rom. 2:23-24). God presented Him
as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in
His blood. Jesus’ death surpasses and replaces
the atonement ritual of the Jewish Temple. The
book of Hebrews explains the ceremonies of the
Day of Atonement as a pattern of the atoning work
of Christ. Jesus is our high priest, and His blood
shed on Calvary is seen as symbolized in the blood
of bulls and goats. As the high priest of the
Old Testament entered the Holy of Holies with
the blood of his sacrificial victim, so Jesus
entered heaven itself to appear before the Father
on behalf of His people (Heb. 9:11-12) (Killian
n.d.).
The Old Testament tabernacle was designed, in
part, to teach Israel that sin hindered access
to the presence of God. Only the high priest,
and he only once a year, could enter the Holy
of Holies, and then not without taking blood offered
to atone for sins (Heb. 9:7). Hebrews notes that
the levitical offerings could effect only the
purification of the flesh. They ceremonially cleansed
the sinner, but they could not bring about inward
cleansing, the prerequisite for fellowship with
God. Just as the high priest had to be sinless
to enter the Holy of Holies and live, so Yeshua
had to be sinless to live after He entered the
grave.
But Christ being come an high priest of good
things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say,
not of this building; Neither by the blood of
goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling
the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the
flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God (Heb. 9:11-14).
The high priest had to offer sin offerings each
year for his own sins and the sins of the people.
This annual repetition of the sacrifices served
as a reminder that perfect atonement had not yet
been provided. Jesus, however, through His own
blood effected eternal redemption for His people
(Heb. 9:12).
The Old Testament offerings served as a pattern
and a prophecy of Jesus, who, through His better
sacrifice, cleanses the conscience from dead works
(Heb. 9:13-14). God always determined what was
an acceptable offering and what was not. He finally
provided His Son, the Lamb of God, as the sacrifice
for the sins of the world (John 1:19; 3:16).
The moment Jesus died, the veil of the temple
was torn in two, from top to bottom (Matt. 27:50-51).
The earth quaked beneath men’s feet. This
event is important because it established Jesus
as being the new High Priest and Lamb of God.
No longer must there be an annual sacrifice for
sin on our behalf; instead, He has made payment
for us once and for all. Jesus, through a new
and living way has entered heaven itself, the
true Holy of Holies, where He ever lives to make
intercession for His people. The believer need
not stand afar off, as did the Israelite of old,
but may now through Christ approach the very Throne
of Grace! Yes, it is now possible for each of
us to have direct access to God through the blood
of Yeshua HaMashiah (Jesus Christ)!
The Two Goats
After purifying the holy place and the altar of
burnt offering with the mingled blood of the bullock,
the High Priest went to the eastern side of the
court in front of the Temple. Facing him were
two identical goats. Nearby was a lottery box
especially designed for this ceremony. In the
box were two tablets (lots). One bore the name
“For God,” the other “For azazel”
(the scapegoat). The high priest shook the box
and withdrew the tablets, putting one tablet in
front of each goat. The goat labeled “for
God” was sacrificed. The priest laid his
hands upon the goat’s head labeled “for
azazel” and confessed over it the sins of
Israel. The scapegoat symbolically bore the sins
of the nation of Israel away from the people.
This goat, commonly called the scapegoat (i.e.
escape goat), was then driven into the desert.
In the same way Jesus was brought before Pilate
and stood before the people just as He was about
to be led forth, bearing the iniquities of the
people. These two goats were required for one
sacrifice (Lev 16:17, 21-22). Both sacrifices
were fulfilled in the death and resurrection of
Messiah Yeshua. How can resurrection be portrayed
in a sacrifice? By using two animals, one killed,
the other set free, representing Jesus’ death
and resurrection.
And he shall take the two goats, and present them
before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots
upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and
the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall
bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot
fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the
goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat,
shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make
an atonement with him, and to let him go for a
scapegoat into the wilderness (Lev. 16:7-10).
And 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. And the goat shall bear upon
him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited:
and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness
(Lev. 16:18, 22).
Tradition states that a cord of red wool was tied
on the horn of the scapegoat, before it was let
go in the wilderness. When the red wool turned
white, it was a sign that God forgave the people’s
sin. Come now, and let us reason together, saith
the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow; though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isa. 1:18).
The Priests used to bind a shining crimson strip
of cloth on the outside door of the Temple. If
the strip of cloth turned into the white color,
they would rejoice; if it did not turn white they
were full of sorrow and shame (Tractate Yoma 67a).
Jewish literature explains the Shekhina glory
of God left the Temple forty years prior to its
destruction. Three signs occurred to show evidence
of this: 1.) The western candle of the menorah
refused to burn continually. 2.) The doors of
the Temple would open of themselves. 3.) The red
wool no longer turned white supernaturally. This
is especially significant because it indicated
that God was no longer forgiving the sins of His
people. The people were sorrowful because they
began to realize more and more that the sacrifice
of Yom Kippur did not have the power to cleanse
their sinful hearts. That very year Jesus started
His ministry, the very year that the blood of
bulls and goats was no longer accepted as a sacrifice
for the atonement of sin!
Prophetic Significance
The Second Coming or Judgment?
The entire ten days from the first day of the
Feast of Trumpets through the Day of Atonement
are known as Days of Repentance or Days of Awe.
These days are possibly a picture of the Rapture
(Feast of Trumpets), the Tribulation (days in
between), and the second coming (Day of Atonement).
Another theory claims these are a picture of the
Second Coming (Feast of Trumpets), the Judgment
(Day of Atonement).
Second Coming?
Our Messiah made two promises before He returned
to our Father. He would send the Comforter (Pentecost)
and He would come again. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again, and receive
you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may
be also (John 14:3). The Day of Atonement just
may be the day of the Second Coming when Jesus
will physically return to earth! The Bible clearly
states Jesus will return immediately after the
great tribulation. But in those days, after that
tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the
moon shall not give its light, and the stars will
be falling from heaven, and the powers that are
in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will
see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great
power and glory (Mark 13:24-26).
Day of Judgment?
The apostle Peter wrote about this awesome day
of judgment. He declared, “But the day of
the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will
disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed
by fire, and the earth and everything in it will
be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed
in this way, what kind of people ought you to
be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as
you look forward to the day of God and speed its
coming.”
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief
in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing
then that all these things shall be dissolved,
what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy
conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting
unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless
we, according to his promise, look for new heavens
and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness
(2 Peter 3:10-13).
When the Son of man shall come in his glory,
and all the holy angels with him, then shall he
sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him
shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divideth
his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the
sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the
left. Then shall the King say unto them on his
right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world (Matt. 25:31-34).
For we must all appear before the judgment seat
of Christ; that every one may receive the things
done in his body, according to that he hath done,
whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10).
In the coming judgment, there is forgiveness
and mercy and grace to those who have already
received Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, Who
gave His life as a ransom for us! Therefore being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access
by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Rom. 5:1-2).
Read More About Yom Kippur
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