Day of Atonement Goat Before the TabernacleBible World
16:31Leviticus 16:31
It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
Leviticus 16:31 appoints the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of the seventh month as a Sabbath of rest when all ordinary work was laid aside for solemn worship, humility before God, and deep searching of heart. To afflict the soul was to humble oneself in sorrowful repentance with confession of sin and cleansing from moral defilement, under a lasting statute that all were required to obey on pain of being cut off. On that day the high priest entered the Most Holy Place once a year to cleanse the sanctuary and complete the yearly ministration, removing the confessed sins that had been transferred there by sacrificial blood and bearing them away upon the scapegoat forever separated from the people. That type was fulfilled in time on October 22, 1844, at the end of the 2300 days, when Christ as great High Priest entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to perform the closing work of atonement and cleanse it by His own blood. The present is therefore the great antitypical Day of Atonement and investigative judgment of professed believers, in which every individual case is examined and each person must now afflict the soul in self-examination, repentance, and overcoming, for there will be no second probation.
Sabbath Rest and Humbling
It is a Sabbath of rest, a day when all ordinary business and work were laid aside and the whole congregation spent the day in solemn rest, worship and humility before God with prayer, fasting and deep searching of heart. This solemn humbling impressed upon them God's holiness and His abhorrence of sin, and that contact with sin brings pollution. The day was marked by solemn worship while the atonement went forward.
To afflict the soul meant to humble oneself in solemn repentance before God in sorrow for sin. That humbling included confessing sins, remembering sins, and seeking purification from moral defilement. It called for inward humility and confession as the pattern for seeking God's presence and victory rather than focusing on others.
The observance was imposed by a statute for ever, a lasting statute that remained in force. It required reverence and careful performance of every part of the service. This pattern belongs also to the antitypical Day of Atonement, during which those ministering in sacred things must be holy and guard their lives from contamination, and God's commands including the Sabbath must be obeyed rather than adjusted for convenience.
The day fell on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month at the close of the yearly round of ministration, when the sanctuary was cleansed. It came shortly before the feast, and after confessing their sins the people were declared to be at peace with Heaven, which prepared them to rejoice at the feast. Its timing and ritual served as a type of Christ's work as High Priest, who after the 2300 days entered the most holy place to cleanse the heavenly sanctuary, and who after completing His special atonement for Israel will come in kingly power and gather those waiting for Him.
While the high priest entered the Most Holy Place once a year to meet with God before the mercy seat, all Israel were required to gather about the sanctuary. They waited in solemn silence and prayer, fearing that sin might bring death in God's presence if he was delayed. They rejoiced when he came forth and blessed them.
Everyone was required to take part in humbling the soul in order to receive pardon of sins. Refusing this response brought the danger of being cut off from among the people and from the congregation.
Sanctuary Cleansing Work
On that day the high priest made atonement for all Israel to cleanse the sanctuary and complete the yearly round of ministration, thus removing their sins from the sanctuary. It was the annual service of atonement at the close of the year, kept as a Sabbath of rest when ordinary work was laid aside and every Israelite humbled himself before God with prayer, fasting, and searching of heart, by a lasting statute. That earthly cleansing in the most holy place is the type of Christ's final work as High Priest, who after completing His special atonement for Israel will come in kingly power and gather those waiting for Him.
The day had a part only for those who had come before God with confession and repentance and whose sins through the blood of the sin offering had been transferred to the sanctuary. The sacrificial blood transferred sin to the sanctuary but did not yet fully release the sinner from the law's condemnation. On the Day of Atonement the high priest made satisfaction for the law's claims, then carried the sins from the sanctuary and symbolically transferred them to the scapegoat, which bore them away as forever separated from the people.
The second apartment of the earthly tabernacle, the holy of holies containing the ark, was opened only on that day for the cleansing of the sanctuary, and this earthly ministration served as the example and shadow of heavenly things. That yearly opening points to the opening of the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844, when Christ entered there to perform the closing work of atonement, officiating before the ark and pleading His blood in behalf of sinners, a change of ministration understood by those who study the sanctuary and follow Him by faith. The high priest's ministry for Israel pictures Christ's actual present ministry for His people as Sin-bearer and Substitute for the offender, to whom all types point. As Satan then pointed to the defilement of God's people and triumphed in their discomfiture while accusing them as transgressors of the law, so he does now, but unlike sinful man Christ cannot be so accused and He takes away the sin of the repentant, believing transgressor.
Type Fulfilled in 1844
As with the Passover and first-fruits foreshadowings of the first advent, which were met not only in event but in time, so the types pointing to the second advent must be met at the time marked out in the symbolic service. The cleansing of the sanctuary, the great Day of Atonement, fell on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month, when atonement was made for all Israel to remove their sins from the sanctuary and the high priest then came forth and blessed the people. That work foreshadows Christ as great High Priest appearing to purify the earth by destroying sin and sinners and to bless His waiting people with immortality.
The tenth day of the seventh month in 1844 fell upon October 22, and was therefore regarded as the time of the Lord's coming, in agreement with the evidence that the 2300 days would end in the autumn. On that day those looking for Christ expected Him to come, and were mistaken in the nature of the event. The verse appoints that very day for the high priest to accomplish his special work of atonement as a sabbath of rest with affliction of souls.
On that very day Christ as the great High Priest did accomplish all that the type justified expecting, fulfilling the antitypical Day of Atonement. Those who acted according to that faith could sorrow in disappointment yet rejoice with a conscience void of offense toward God and man, abundantly blessed by God. All was soon made to work together for the good of His people and His glory.
After the 2300 days ended He entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844 to perform the closing work of the atonement. The second apartment of the earthly tabernacle, the holy of holies containing the ark, was opened only on that day for the cleansing of the sanctuary, and this earthly ministration served as example and shadow of heavenly things. Its fulfillment is the opening of the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844, when Christ entered there to officiate before the ark and plead His blood in behalf of sinners. There He cleanses it from the sins of the people by virtue of His own blood, completing the annual service of atonement at the close of the year in antitype.
The sanctuary to be cleansed is not the earth to be purified by fire at Christ's second coming to punish its inhabitants for iniquity, but the sanctuary in heaven. In mercy this gives sinners still more time to repent of their sins and prepare for His coming. After completing His special atonement for Israel in the most holy place and cleansing the sanctuary, He will come in kingly power and gather those waiting for Him.
Present Investigative Judgment
The present time is the great antitypical Day of Atonement, now present as a solemn work going on in the sanctuary above. It is the solemn scenes of the judgment concerning every individual, when each person's case comes under review before God. In this great day God's people are to confess their sins and diligently repent, each person seeking God, confessing his own sin rather than another's, and humbling the heart before Him. It is the time when Christ makes atonement for His people in the heavenly sanctuary, and God's commands, including the Sabbath, must be obeyed rather than adjusted for convenience.
The great day of final atonement and investigative judgment considers only the cases of the professed people of God, while the judgment of the wicked is a distinct and separate work that takes place at a later period. That judgment has part only for those who have come before God with confession and repentance and whose sins through the blood of the sin offering have been transferred to the sanctuary. The work of preparation is individual and not in groups, with every person examined and tested separately as closely as if there were not another being upon the earth, to be found without spot or wrinkle. Those who would have their names retained in the book of life must sorrow for sin, truly repent, search their hearts faithfully and put away the light frivolous spirit during probation, waging earnest warfare to subdue the evil tendencies that strive for the mastery. They must put sin away, confess it, and trust Christ to cleanse them so that their sins go beforehand to judgment and pardon can be written against their names, doing the work of overcoming here in this life with mourning and weeping over sin, cleansing the hands and purifying the heart, forsaking every sin and keeping thoughts and bodies pure, while names not confessed are blotted out as every case is decided and the investigative judgment comes upon the living.
It is much more essential to understand the work of Christ as merciful High Priest in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary and to know what duties are required. Only those who by faith follow Jesus in the great work of atonement and follow the change of ministration receive the benefits of His mediation. The careless and unbelieving who are willingly ignorant of it, like the unbelieving Jews at Christ's first advent, receive no benefit and have no communion with God. That change is the opening of the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844, when Christ entered there to perform the closing work of atonement, officiating before the ark and pleading His blood in behalf of sinners, as the second apartment of the earthly tabernacle containing the ark was opened only on that day for the cleansing of the sanctuary.
That heavenly work is to be kept constantly before the mind, especially by those employed in institutions, and not be lightly regarded through business cares absorbing the mind. It should be the constant study of believers and should be taught to children, calling for turning away from worldly customs and practices to spirituality, piety, and earnest work for God. It is to be kept before the people and urged upon their consciences with earnestness and power, giving correct views of the importance of the work for this time. A proper appreciation of it produces greater energy and zeal to make the work a success, guards against becoming careless and blinded to the wants of the cause and the perils attending every soul, and makes each a channel of light.
Call to Humble Soul Today
The command to afflict the soul applies now, in the few remaining days of probation, for the present is the great antitypical day of atonement. Now is the accepted time to afflict the soul, for there will be no second trial. Those who would have their names retained in the book of life must sorrow for sin, truly repent, and search their hearts faithfully during their probation, each person examined and tested separately and not in groups. Its call is to humble the heart before God and confess sins.
Afflicting the soul means deep faithful searching of heart and self-examination, sorrow for sin and true repentance, putting away the light frivolous spirit, and earnest warfare to subdue the evil tendencies that strive for the mastery. It is sincere repentance with mourning and weeping over sin. The Israel of God needs this work now but does not feel the need for it, preferring busy activity to the self-examination that must take place, while a heart not in harmony with the Word neglects to search its pages and a heart not in harmony with Jesus feels it a punishment to approach Him in prayer.
It means that all the high-minded and self-sufficient must humble themselves before God and repent of their sins, lest they be weighed in the balances and found wanting. It means cleansing the hands and purifying the heart, forsaking every sin, keeping thoughts and bodies pure, waging valiant warfare against every kind of sin, and doing the work of overcoming here in this life, in order to receive pardon written against the name and to stand when every case is brought up. It means to cease striving for the highest place and causing heart-burning and discord, and never to think or speak evil of a brother or judge him. It is being sanctified through the truth, for Christ is the Truth, by putting on Christ and partaking of His love and tenderness and compassion and of the divine nature, through receiving the truth as it is in Jesus and applying the Word to the soul, and those who humble themselves in this way will be lifted up by God and will pass through the portals of the holy city to live in the heavenly courts.
Each person is to seek God, confess his own sin rather than another's, and humble the heart before Him in a life filled with the Holy Spirit and made new. Wrong must be confessed rather than covered when the books are opened and every deed is judged, with sin put away and forsaken and no sin cherished or practiced while the cases of all are being decided, trusting Christ to cleanse so that sins go beforehand to judgment and pardon can be written against the name. This is resting by living faith upon the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, accepting His justifying grace and the Holy Spirit's sanctifying work.
Its pattern calls for inward humility and confession to seek God's presence and victory rather than focusing on the sins or confessions of others. It requires reverence and careful observance of every part of the service, with those ministering in sacred things holy and guarding their lives from contamination. It is a solemn period of self-examination in which each person's case comes under review, when people must consider how their conduct and influence and how one's case will stand before God's judgment, and turn from sin and seek purification before God because eternal results are at stake.
The work calls for turning away from worldly customs and practices to spirituality, piety, and earnest work for God, and that work should be the constant study of believers and should be taught to children. There is no time left for doctrinal disputation and contention that confuses people and destroys harmony, but a man must be confessing his sins, humbling his heart before God, and getting ready for the great conflict.
Leviticus 16:31 appoints the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of the seventh month as a Sabbath of rest when all ordinary work was laid aside for solemn worship, humility before God, and deep searching of heart. To afflict the soul was to humble oneself in sorrowful repentance with confession of sin and cleansing from moral defilement, under a lasting statute that all were required to obey on pain of being cut off. On that day the high priest entered the Most Holy Place once a year to cleanse the sanctuary and complete the yearly ministration, removing the confessed sins that had been transferred there by sacrificial blood and bearing them away upon the scapegoat forever separated from the people. That type was fulfilled in time on October 22, 1844, at the end of the 2300 days, when Christ as great High Priest entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to perform the closing work of atonement and cleanse it by His own blood. The present is therefore the great antitypical Day of Atonement and investigative judgment of professed believers, in which every individual case is examined and each person must now afflict the soul in self-examination, repentance, and overcoming, for there will be no second probation.
Sabbath Rest and Humbling
It is a Sabbath of rest, a day when all ordinary business and work were laid aside and the whole congregation spent the day in solemn rest, worship and humility before God with prayer, fasting and deep searching of heart. This solemn humbling impressed upon them God's holiness and His abhorrence of sin, and that contact with sin brings pollution. The day was marked by solemn worship while the atonement went forward.
To afflict the soul meant to humble oneself in solemn repentance before God in sorrow for sin. That humbling included confessing sins, remembering sins, and seeking purification from moral defilement. It called for inward humility and confession as the pattern for seeking God's presence and victory rather than focusing on others.
The observance was imposed by a statute for ever, a lasting statute that remained in force. It required reverence and careful performance of every part of the service. This pattern belongs also to the antitypical Day of Atonement, during which those ministering in sacred things must be holy and guard their lives from contamination, and God's commands including the Sabbath must be obeyed rather than adjusted for convenience.
The day fell on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month at the close of the yearly round of ministration, when the sanctuary was cleansed. It came shortly before the feast, and after confessing their sins the people were declared to be at peace with Heaven, which prepared them to rejoice at the feast. Its timing and ritual served as a type of Christ's work as High Priest, who after the 2300 days entered the most holy place to cleanse the heavenly sanctuary, and who after completing His special atonement for Israel will come in kingly power and gather those waiting for Him.
While the high priest entered the Most Holy Place once a year to meet with God before the mercy seat, all Israel were required to gather about the sanctuary. They waited in solemn silence and prayer, fearing that sin might bring death in God's presence if he was delayed. They rejoiced when he came forth and blessed them.
Everyone was required to take part in humbling the soul in order to receive pardon of sins. Refusing this response brought the danger of being cut off from among the people and from the congregation.
Sanctuary Cleansing Work
On that day the high priest made atonement for all Israel to cleanse the sanctuary and complete the yearly round of ministration, thus removing their sins from the sanctuary. It was the annual service of atonement at the close of the year, kept as a Sabbath of rest when ordinary work was laid aside and every Israelite humbled himself before God with prayer, fasting, and searching of heart, by a lasting statute. That earthly cleansing in the most holy place is the type of Christ's final work as High Priest, who after completing His special atonement for Israel will come in kingly power and gather those waiting for Him.
The day had a part only for those who had come before God with confession and repentance and whose sins through the blood of the sin offering had been transferred to the sanctuary. The sacrificial blood transferred sin to the sanctuary but did not yet fully release the sinner from the law's condemnation. On the Day of Atonement the high priest made satisfaction for the law's claims, then carried the sins from the sanctuary and symbolically transferred them to the scapegoat, which bore them away as forever separated from the people.
The second apartment of the earthly tabernacle, the holy of holies containing the ark, was opened only on that day for the cleansing of the sanctuary, and this earthly ministration served as the example and shadow of heavenly things. That yearly opening points to the opening of the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844, when Christ entered there to perform the closing work of atonement, officiating before the ark and pleading His blood in behalf of sinners, a change of ministration understood by those who study the sanctuary and follow Him by faith. The high priest's ministry for Israel pictures Christ's actual present ministry for His people as Sin-bearer and Substitute for the offender, to whom all types point. As Satan then pointed to the defilement of God's people and triumphed in their discomfiture while accusing them as transgressors of the law, so he does now, but unlike sinful man Christ cannot be so accused and He takes away the sin of the repentant, believing transgressor.
Type Fulfilled in 1844
As with the Passover and first-fruits foreshadowings of the first advent, which were met not only in event but in time, so the types pointing to the second advent must be met at the time marked out in the symbolic service. The cleansing of the sanctuary, the great Day of Atonement, fell on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month, when atonement was made for all Israel to remove their sins from the sanctuary and the high priest then came forth and blessed the people. That work foreshadows Christ as great High Priest appearing to purify the earth by destroying sin and sinners and to bless His waiting people with immortality.
The tenth day of the seventh month in 1844 fell upon October 22, and was therefore regarded as the time of the Lord's coming, in agreement with the evidence that the 2300 days would end in the autumn. On that day those looking for Christ expected Him to come, and were mistaken in the nature of the event. The verse appoints that very day for the high priest to accomplish his special work of atonement as a sabbath of rest with affliction of souls.
On that very day Christ as the great High Priest did accomplish all that the type justified expecting, fulfilling the antitypical Day of Atonement. Those who acted according to that faith could sorrow in disappointment yet rejoice with a conscience void of offense toward God and man, abundantly blessed by God. All was soon made to work together for the good of His people and His glory.
After the 2300 days ended He entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844 to perform the closing work of the atonement. The second apartment of the earthly tabernacle, the holy of holies containing the ark, was opened only on that day for the cleansing of the sanctuary, and this earthly ministration served as example and shadow of heavenly things. Its fulfillment is the opening of the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844, when Christ entered there to officiate before the ark and plead His blood in behalf of sinners. There He cleanses it from the sins of the people by virtue of His own blood, completing the annual service of atonement at the close of the year in antitype.
The sanctuary to be cleansed is not the earth to be purified by fire at Christ's second coming to punish its inhabitants for iniquity, but the sanctuary in heaven. In mercy this gives sinners still more time to repent of their sins and prepare for His coming. After completing His special atonement for Israel in the most holy place and cleansing the sanctuary, He will come in kingly power and gather those waiting for Him.
Present Investigative Judgment
The present time is the great antitypical Day of Atonement, now present as a solemn work going on in the sanctuary above. It is the solemn scenes of the judgment concerning every individual, when each person's case comes under review before God. In this great day God's people are to confess their sins and diligently repent, each person seeking God, confessing his own sin rather than another's, and humbling the heart before Him. It is the time when Christ makes atonement for His people in the heavenly sanctuary, and God's commands, including the Sabbath, must be obeyed rather than adjusted for convenience.
The great day of final atonement and investigative judgment considers only the cases of the professed people of God, while the judgment of the wicked is a distinct and separate work that takes place at a later period. That judgment has part only for those who have come before God with confession and repentance and whose sins through the blood of the sin offering have been transferred to the sanctuary. The work of preparation is individual and not in groups, with every person examined and tested separately as closely as if there were not another being upon the earth, to be found without spot or wrinkle. Those who would have their names retained in the book of life must sorrow for sin, truly repent, search their hearts faithfully and put away the light frivolous spirit during probation, waging earnest warfare to subdue the evil tendencies that strive for the mastery. They must put sin away, confess it, and trust Christ to cleanse them so that their sins go beforehand to judgment and pardon can be written against their names, doing the work of overcoming here in this life with mourning and weeping over sin, cleansing the hands and purifying the heart, forsaking every sin and keeping thoughts and bodies pure, while names not confessed are blotted out as every case is decided and the investigative judgment comes upon the living.
It is much more essential to understand the work of Christ as merciful High Priest in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary and to know what duties are required. Only those who by faith follow Jesus in the great work of atonement and follow the change of ministration receive the benefits of His mediation. The careless and unbelieving who are willingly ignorant of it, like the unbelieving Jews at Christ's first advent, receive no benefit and have no communion with God. That change is the opening of the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844, when Christ entered there to perform the closing work of atonement, officiating before the ark and pleading His blood in behalf of sinners, as the second apartment of the earthly tabernacle containing the ark was opened only on that day for the cleansing of the sanctuary.
That heavenly work is to be kept constantly before the mind, especially by those employed in institutions, and not be lightly regarded through business cares absorbing the mind. It should be the constant study of believers and should be taught to children, calling for turning away from worldly customs and practices to spirituality, piety, and earnest work for God. It is to be kept before the people and urged upon their consciences with earnestness and power, giving correct views of the importance of the work for this time. A proper appreciation of it produces greater energy and zeal to make the work a success, guards against becoming careless and blinded to the wants of the cause and the perils attending every soul, and makes each a channel of light.
Call to Humble Soul Today
The command to afflict the soul applies now, in the few remaining days of probation, for the present is the great antitypical day of atonement. Now is the accepted time to afflict the soul, for there will be no second trial. Those who would have their names retained in the book of life must sorrow for sin, truly repent, and search their hearts faithfully during their probation, each person examined and tested separately and not in groups. Its call is to humble the heart before God and confess sins.
Afflicting the soul means deep faithful searching of heart and self-examination, sorrow for sin and true repentance, putting away the light frivolous spirit, and earnest warfare to subdue the evil tendencies that strive for the mastery. It is sincere repentance with mourning and weeping over sin. The Israel of God needs this work now but does not feel the need for it, preferring busy activity to the self-examination that must take place, while a heart not in harmony with the Word neglects to search its pages and a heart not in harmony with Jesus feels it a punishment to approach Him in prayer.
It means that all the high-minded and self-sufficient must humble themselves before God and repent of their sins, lest they be weighed in the balances and found wanting. It means cleansing the hands and purifying the heart, forsaking every sin, keeping thoughts and bodies pure, waging valiant warfare against every kind of sin, and doing the work of overcoming here in this life, in order to receive pardon written against the name and to stand when every case is brought up. It means to cease striving for the highest place and causing heart-burning and discord, and never to think or speak evil of a brother or judge him. It is being sanctified through the truth, for Christ is the Truth, by putting on Christ and partaking of His love and tenderness and compassion and of the divine nature, through receiving the truth as it is in Jesus and applying the Word to the soul, and those who humble themselves in this way will be lifted up by God and will pass through the portals of the holy city to live in the heavenly courts.
Each person is to seek God, confess his own sin rather than another's, and humble the heart before Him in a life filled with the Holy Spirit and made new. Wrong must be confessed rather than covered when the books are opened and every deed is judged, with sin put away and forsaken and no sin cherished or practiced while the cases of all are being decided, trusting Christ to cleanse so that sins go beforehand to judgment and pardon can be written against the name. This is resting by living faith upon the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, accepting His justifying grace and the Holy Spirit's sanctifying work.
Its pattern calls for inward humility and confession to seek God's presence and victory rather than focusing on the sins or confessions of others. It requires reverence and careful observance of every part of the service, with those ministering in sacred things holy and guarding their lives from contamination. It is a solemn period of self-examination in which each person's case comes under review, when people must consider how their conduct and influence and how one's case will stand before God's judgment, and turn from sin and seek purification before God because eternal results are at stake.
The work calls for turning away from worldly customs and practices to spirituality, piety, and earnest work for God, and that work should be the constant study of believers and should be taught to children. There is no time left for doctrinal disputation and contention that confuses people and destroys harmony, but a man must be confessing his sins, humbling his heart before God, and getting ready for the great conflict.