Yom Kippur. For a Jew, simply hearing the words ushers in a solemnity, a seriousness unlike any other. Non-Jews may know that Yom Kippur is a Jewish holy day, even that it is observed by fasting from food and all activities except worship.
But what exactly is it?
Literally, Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. In a nutshell, it is the annual ritual through which spiritual atonement is purchased for the nation of Israel. Its provision is found in Leviticus 16.
The God-ordained purpose of Yom Kippur was to purchase atonement and reconciliation for God's people so that He might continue to dwell with them.
At the heart of the ritual, according to God's command, was the offering of a perfect lamb's blood in His own Presence, inside the veil, within the very Holy of Holies.
This is the day the writer of Hebrews was talking about when he said, "But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people committed in ignorance." (Hebrews 9:7 NIV)
In ignorance. What's that about?
It's about the fact that even the most outwardly pious person is still sinful. Even the high priest.
It's about the fact that, even though the Lord said, "Be holy, because I am holy," over and over again, He knew we just couldn't do it. Unholiness is such a part of us, our thoughts, our priorities, that we don't even realize it.
So He gave instructions for Yom Kippur, the annual Day of Atonement.
"For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls." Leviticus 17:11a NAS
God promised that if the Israelites offered up perfect blood inside the Holy of Holies, His earthly dwelling place, they would - if repentant - be cleansed of all the sin they had accumulated since the previous Day of Atonement.
And so, once a year, for 1500 years, the high priest bowed his head and crept into the Holy of Holies, protected from the overwhelming Shekinah glory by a cloud of incense.
And each year, as he sprinkled the blood of a perfect lamb upon the Mercy Seat, he was also painting a vivid picture. A picture of the Great High Priest to come, who would offer up Himself, the spotless Lamb of God, in the greatest act of mercy and atonement ever known.
But there's more. This future offering would do what no other offering could. This Offering defeated death. This Lamb rose after paying the price of atonement.
What does that mean?
It means that no more sacrifices are needed or required. The Messiah's sacrifice on the Cross was the end-all, be-all of sacrifices, because it never ends.
The sacrifice is eternal because the Sacrifice is alive. The Cross is continual - every sin committed before the Messiah's death, every sin we commit this very day, and every sin committed by our descendants centuries from now, drives the nails into Jesus' wrists.
Jesus' death is alive.
And that means that the triumph of His death also lives. God's forgiveness is a perpetual gift. He cleanses us continually as we present ourselves to Him, purifying us from the sins we swore yesterday we wouldn't commit yet again today.
The Day of Atonement is a beautiful gift. It is rich with significance. Rich with prophecy. Rich with salvation. And it met its perfect fulfillment through the Blood of the Christ, on the ultimate Day of Atonement.
"I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the Prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose." Matthew 5:17 NLTWhat Jesus did on the Cross didn't abolish the Jewish faith at all. Instead, He confirmed it and fulfilled it and glorified it as no other than Adonai's Anointed Son could.
