The Day of Atonement

A Study on Leviticus 16

The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the LORD and died, and the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. But in this way (in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month) Aaron shall come into the Holy Place:

Aaron, as the High Priest, was given very specific instructions for this day, otherwise, contact with the holiness of YHVH would kill him as it killed his sons. YHVH provided a way for contact to be made safely, but the way involved the High Priest’s full and humble attention. It also involved all Israel’s observance of the ritual.
 

Aaron first had to remove his usual high priest’s clothing and set these aside, then wash his body with water and put on the simple linen clothing as required on this Day. It appears he was to accomplish this alone, as only the High Priest was to be in the tabernacle at this time of cleansing and sealing it through the rituals of the Day.

Prepared this way, he then had to offer a sacrifice for himself, and a sacrifice for his ‘house’.

The bull that was sacrificed for this atonement had specific commands:

 

• the bull was to be killed and its blood collected (this was normal procedure)
• the coals from the altar were taken in a censer along with two handfuls of incense
• the incense was put on the coals when the priest was in front of the ark of the covenant seemingly SO THAT the cloud of smoke would obscure the priest’s view of the holy place, specifically the mercy seat that is over the testimony, SO THAT he may not die.
• the blood from the bull was sprinkled seven times in front of the mercy seat on the east side
• the fat from the sin offering of the bull was burnt up on the altar
• the carcass, the flesh and the dung (more specifically the offal, or intestines) of both the bull and the goat (see below) were brought outside the camp and burned up there
• the person who carried these out and burned them now had to wash his clothes and bathe his body in water before he could return to the camp

The goat that was offered as a sin offering for the people (remember, there was a ram to be offered as well, so this goat must have been the one of the two goats that the lot fell on) also had specific commands:

• the lots had to be cast over the goats at the entrance to the tent of meeting
• the one that fell to the Lord was sacrificed and the blood collected (a normal procedure)
• the blood of the goat that was for the sins of the people also was sprinkled in front of the mercy seat. It doesn’t say specifically, but implies that it would also be seven times, and to the east of the front of the seat.
• the skin, flesh and dung (insides) of the goat were removed outside the camp to be burned there. The person who did this had to wash his clothes and body before returning to the camp.

Only NOW was the Holy Place consecrated, sealed as clean ‘in the midst of their uncleanness’.

 

Next, the altar that is before the Lord had to be consecrated.

• some of the blood of the bull AND the blood of the goat were now placed on the four corners of the altar
• the blood was sprinkled on the altar seven times

Finally, the people were cleansed.

• the live goat, the one set apart for ‘Azazel’ was presented before the people.
• the High Priest laid both his hands on the head of the goat.
• with his hands on the head of the goat, he confessed the ‘iniquities’ the ‘transgressions’ and the ‘sins’ of the people of Israel over the goat.
• he ‘put them’ on the head of the goat.
• the goat was taken by someone (else) into the wilderness, and left there.

Now Aaron returned to the tent of meeting. He removed his linen garments in a holy place, washed his body a second time, and put on his high priest’s clothing again.

The sin offerings have been completed; next the burnt offerings are to be presented. It appears that the ram for Aaron and his ‘house’ and the ram for the people were now offered in the prescribed way.

 

"And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. And this shall be a statute forever for you that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins."

And Moses did as the LORD commanded him.

This is the key passage as to what ‘atonement’ is and also what it means to ‘afflict yourselves’.

The word translated ‘forever’ is olam H5769, generally time out of mind (past or future), that is, (practically) eternity. From H5956 alam, meaning to veil from sight, that is, conceal (literally or figuratively).

The word translated ‘afflict’ is anah H6031: to be busied with, to be occupied, with the idea of looking down, to be humbled, weakened, to stoop. In the context it’s used in here, it appears to mean not only to not do any work, any of the Israelites and any of the strangers who dwelt with them, but to be fully occupied (in sincere humility) with the rituals of the Day. It’s a different thing from commands of the other High Sabbaths, in that there was no requirement then to be fully occupied, as those days had no particular rituals that of necessity involved ALL the people.