Day #268 Atonement Day

The Presence - A Devotional for Living in Thanksgiving, Worship and Wonder

“And Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement; once a year he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.””

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭30:10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Photo by Moaz Tobok on Unsplash

Do you know what the day of atonement is?

The Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur is the most solemn day of all Jewish Holidays. Yom Kippur is the day referrred to in Exodus 30 where the high priest goes into the Most Holy Place once a year to apply the blood of the sin offering. There were sacrifices made all throughout the year for sin, but only on the Day of Atonement could the High Priest go behind and the Veil to atone for his own sins and the sins of all of Israel before the Ark of the Covenant. This day is commemorated by Jews with a 26 hour fast with contemplation and prayer over their sins. 1

In the book of Hebrews we learn that the Tabernacle of Moses was actually created after the Tabernacle in heaven. Moses’s Tabernacle as great as it was, was actually a copy of what is in heaven. I realize we have been covering what the Ark, the Mercy Seat and the sacrifices represented as they all pointed to Jesus. But I want You to see from the Scriptures itself that the Day of Atonement was a picture of what Jesus did after He died on the cross, not once a year, but once for all by making the way for us eternally into “the Presence” where He applied His blood for us in heaven.

“Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” ‭Hebrews‬ ‭9‬:‭6‬-‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

As of this writing, today September 25, 2023 is the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur until the evening (as a Jewish day is from evening to evening). This is a good time to meditate on what Christ has done to pay for Your sins and make atonement for you to receive your eternal inheritance. This is a good day to turn from sin and live in the fullness of what Jesus paid for by applying His own blood for you in the Holy of Holies.

Lord Jesus, You are the Sacrifice and the High Priest. Your blood has atoned for my my sin and given me an eternal inheritance. Search my heart and grant me repentance. Cleanse me and renew me. Let me live in holiness and purity by power of Your blood and the access I now have eternally to Your presence. In Your name, amen.

1 https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/177886/jewish/What-Is-Yom-Kippur.htmThanks for reading John Hammer's Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.