to cover over,
pacify, make propitiation
Original Word: כָּפַרTransliteration: kaphar Phonetic Spelling: (kaw-far') Short Definition: appease
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Modern Judaism refers to it as the Day of Covering.
The Day of Atonement: This day was so called because the individual and the whole nation received the highest symbolic expression of expiation and reconciliation and atonement which was prerequisite to a life of peace and fellowship with YHWH.
1. On this day the sin-offering obtained its most complete development and signal meaning.
A. The Jewish Rabbis referred to it as the day or Yom Kippur- the day of covering.
B. The word atone and its equivalents occur 16 times in Lev.16.
2. The object or purpose of this day of atonement.
A. First and foremost, it was Prophetic concerning the coming of Christ.
B. To present atonement for sin as God accounts sin - not as man records wrong.
C. To show that atonement must be universal -applying to all covenant people, the sanctuary and instruments of worship.
1) The priestly family - Aaron and his household - v.6
2) The Holy Place and the Tent of Meeting -vs. 18-19.
3) The altar of burnt offering in the outer court. vs. 18-19.
4) The entire congregation of people in Israel. vs. 20-22,23.
D. To show the impossibility of any system of one sacrifice for one sin ever meeting the need of God and the people.
E. To show that Holiness of God must be vindicated - for every sin must be atoned for before the worshiper is accepted by God.
F. To show the total dependence of the people on the finished work of the Great High Priest.
H. To convict Israel of their sinfulness before the God they served.
I. To send the accumulation of their sins out of the camp on the head of one of the goats.
J. To identify all who entered into the spirit of the day and to cut off all of those who do not.
3.
The
idea of rolling forward sin of the
people for another year is
totally foreign to the book of Leviticus and the book of Hebrews
(simply false teaching)
A. While it is hard for the human mind to comprehend the idea that God is eternal and therefore outside of time, it nevertheless is a true concept.
B. The Jews did enjoy forgiveness of sins, and that they knew it is evident from the verses below, let alone the many times in Leviticus 4 and 5 we are told that sin was forgiven.
(1) Psa. 32: 1-11; 103: 1-22; 51: 1-19; Micah 7: 18-20; II Sam. 12:13.
4. The time of the year was significant - the tenth day of the seventh month.
Notes, Notes, and more Notes.
1. The people must prepare themselves for this great day - Lev. 16: 29-34; 23: 26-32.
A. No work or servile labor.
B. They must afflict their souls - vs. 31;Lev. 23:26-32.
C. Each Israelite was expected to see himself and himself alone in the sacrificial reparation of that day.
1) If he failed to enter the spirit or tenor of the day's activities, he would be cut off from the people of God - Lev.23-26-32.
2) If he worked or did not afflict himself on this day he lost fellowship with God and all Israel.
2. The High Priest must undergo several special activities of preparation.
A. The High Priest alone conducts all the functions - since Christ would have no help in making atonement, then Aaron, his fellow, or Shadow Priest, could have no help from man.
B. The other priests who on other occasions served continually in the Holy Place, must on this day leave all in the hands of Aaron.
C. The High Priest could officiate only after certain elaborate ceremonial preparations.
1) First He must bathe in water his whole body. Body must be wholly clean and pure.
2) Second, special robes for Aaron are used for this occasion alone, He lays aside bright colored garments for glory and honor and beauty. Ex. 28: 2-3 and dresses himself with pure, white,
unadorned linen coat, breeches, girdle and mitre.
3) Aaron normally wears a girdle of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet - but on this day, his girdle was pure white linen - symbolic of purity and humility.
The Stages of the Ritual for the Great Day of Atonement.
1. Reception of the sacrifices by the priest - vs. 3-5. The animals required.
A. A young bull for a sin-offering for Aaron and his fellow priests.
B. A ram for a burnt offering for Aaron and his fellow priests.
C. Two he-goats for a sin offering for the congregation.
D. One ram for a burnt offering for the congregation.
2. Presentation of the sacrificial animals to YHWH. v.7
3. Aaron cast lots on the two goats - one for YHWH and one for Azazel.
A. The priest then tied a scarlet cloth to the horn of Azazel.
B. He tied the scarlet cloth around the neck of the goat for YHWH.
C. Both goats remain standing before the Lord during the ceremony.
4. Aaron then kills the bull of the sin offering for himself and the house.
A. There was no laying on of hands as in all other sin-offerings.
B. However, the bull was symbolically to make atonement for him and his house - v.11.
5. He enters the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood.
A. First he takes both hands full of incense and a censor of coals taken from the altar of burnt offering. v.12
1) Upon entering within the veil he immediately put the incense on the coals.
2) The burning of incense was essential for Aaron lest he die - vs. 13.
B. Secondly, he sprinkles the blood of the bull.
1) First with his finger on the mercy seat on the east.
2) Then before the mercy seat...seven times, probably on the floor.
6. Next, he kills the goat for YHWH - the goat for Azazel still
stands before YHWH for later use. vs. 15
7. Now he enters again and sprinkles the blood of the sin-offering for the people - same as with the blood of the bull - vs. 15-17, 20.
8. With the blood of the priest's bull from the sin-offering and the blood of the peoples goat for a sin offering mixed together - Aaron sprinkles the altar of burnt offering in the court yard.
A. He thus makes atonement - vs. 18
B. He first applies the blood to the horns of the altar (on them).
C. He sprinkles blood on the altar seven times.
9. Presentation of the goat for Azazel with Aaron laying both hands on the head of the goat.
A. Remember, on other sacrifices only one hand was required.
B. Two are required here- one for the priest and one for the people.
C. The confession of all Israel's sins and transgressions both against God and man was required of Aaron.
10. Sending the live goat into the wilderness and releasing him.
11. Aaron re-enters the Holy Place, disrobes, bathes, and re clothes himself.
A. He removes the white robe of humiliation and leaves them in the Holy Place - vs. 23.
B. He re-clothes himself with his bright colored garments.
12. He offers the burnt offering - the first ram for the priestly family, and then the ram for the whole congregation. This is to make atonement for himself and for the people. Lev.1:4; 16:24
13. Fuming of the fat of both sin-offering sacrifices on the altar. v.25
14. Burning the bodies of the two killed sin-offerings outside the camp.
A. The body of the priest's sin-offering - the bull.
B. The body of the people's - goat.
C. Done outside the camp.
D. Not fumed to God - but destroyed.
I. Ritual of the Day of Atonement in Review.
A. Reception of the Sacrifices.
B. Presentation of all the victims before YHWH
C. Aaron casts lots on the two goats.
D. Killing the bull of the priest's sin-offering.
E. Entering the Holy Place - and
1. Burning of Incense
2. Sprinkling of the blood
F. Killing the goat of the people's sin offering.
G. Sprinkling of the blood of the goat.
H. Sprinkling of the blood of the bull and goat mixed together on the altar of burnt offering.
I. Presentation of the goat "for Azazel" by Aaron, together with the laying on of hands (both hands), on the head of the goat by which Aaron entails the confession of all Israel's sins.
J. Sending the live goat into the wilderness and releasing him.
K. Aaron re-enters the Holy Place, disrobes, and changes clothes.
L. Offering of the burnt offering for the priests and the people.
M. "Fuming" the fat of both killed sin-offering sacrifices on the altar.
N. Burning the bodies of the two killed sin-offerings outside the camp.
II. The Meaning of Azazel - the word - what does it
imply?
entire removal
Original Word: עֲזָאזֵלTransliteration: azazel Phonetic Spelling: (az-aw-zale') Short Definition: scapegoat
from an unused word Definition entire removal NASB Word Usage scapegoat (4).
From ez and 'azal; goat of departure; the scapegoat -- scapegoat. see HEBREW ez see HEBREW 'azal
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A. Azazel is a proper name, just as YHWH - or at least some Hebrew scholars believe.
1. As a noun with an inseparable preposition- "for Azazel"
2. We normally refer to Azazel as the 'Scapegoat.'
3. The etymology is doubtful and has given rise to many conjectures to be rejected.
a. William Gesenius says simply that it stands for "entire removal." in A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the OT, page 736.
b. Benjamin Davidson,The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, page 594, more properly interprets the Hebrew root to mean "to make strong, to strengthen" (Ecclesiastes 7:19; 1st Chronicles 5:8)
c. So, if the two ideas are combined then we have the idea of a "strong removal or triumph over sin."
B. To be noted: both goats are ONE sacrifice only - a unit.
1. Leviticus 16:5 states so. “And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel, two he-goats for a sin-offering." (Both only make one offering).
2. The singular form indicates the unit idea.
a. Not as the two doves of other sacrifices.
b. And not divided in covenant fashion.
3. Both goats were "set alive before YHWH” - V.7
4. The function of the unit sacrifice is clear - it is to atone for Israel's sin, and remove them from the camp.
C. Obviously the two goats expressed different aspects of the atonement process.
1. The first goat by dying symbolizes the MEANS of reconciliation between God and man.
2. Whereas, the second goats symbolizes the EFFECTS
a. Psalms 103:12" As far as the east is from the west He has removed our transgressions."
b. 2nd Samuel 12:13 Nathan says to David, "YHWH has put away your sin.”
D. Some Far Out Explanations by some Noted Brains.
1. Some suppose that Azazel is some evil spirit that inhabits waste and desert lands - like the "waterless place" of Matthew 12:43 and Luke 11:24.
2. Others claim that Azazel is really Satan.
a. Since he caused those sins he just gets them back.
b. Accordingly, he (Satan) bears the sins.
3. Still others suggest on the basis of Leviticus 17:7,9 some kind of demon worship, in which the goat would be sacrificed in the wilderness.
a. Leviticus 17:7 demands that no man of Israel shall "sacrifice their sacrifices to a he-goat, after which they play the harlot."
b. The same sin of idolatry was still practiced by Jeroboam in 2nd Chronicles 11:15ff.
c. Such would come from the Egyptians who worshiped the bull and the he-goat.
e. Anyway, for obvious reasons this must be rejected.
1) It is condemned in Leviticus 17:7 and again in V.9
2) Anyone who did such a thing was "cut off from the people."
3) Therefore, it could not have anything to do with Azazel.
4. One variation of the Satan idea seems to have little more reason in it to bolster its claim for our attention - but even so, it is still be be rejected even if some areas may be true.
a. Scripture teaches that Satan has power over man ONLY because of our sins.
1) 1 John 5:19 - "the whole world lies in the evil one."
2) Hebrews 2:14 - fear of death is attributed to the Devil's claim over men - which fear Christ destroyed.
3) He is the accuser of God's people.
a) Job 1:9-11; 2:4-5 - Job himself
b) Zechariah 3:1-6 - Joshua the High Priest
c) Revelation 12:7-12 - the great accuser is cast out.
b. According to this theory, to this Evil one, the Accuser, and Adversary of God's people of all ages, is sent this goat.
1) The goat bears the sins of Israel on his head but they are forgiven.
2) For the first goat slain, it blood offered and accepted in the sanctuary.
3) This shows that God accepted the sacrifice.
c. So the purpose of the second goat is to announce to Satan that his power over Israel is gone.
1) His accusations are now out of place.
2) And this predicts the future atonement to be effected by Christ.
3) And the total overthrow of Satan's claims against God's elect - Romans 8:32-34 and Revelation 12:7-12.
III. Further implications of the sacrifice of Christ.
A. As the High Priest, he acted alone
1. He was the bull of the priest's sacrifice for sin.
2. He was the goat for the people's sacrifice for sin.
3. He was the ram for both the priest's and the people's burnt offering.
4. His blood was sprinkled in the Holy of Holies, and the Tent of Meeting, and the Covenant and all Covenant people's conscience.
a. But this was not in the shadow tabernacle, but in "THE TENT WHICH THE LORD PITCHED AND NOT MAN" - Hebrews 8:2; 9:11
b. And it was not with the blood of bulls and goats "BUT THROUGH HIS OWN BLOOD"- Hebrews 9:12
5. As the sacrifice in keeping with typology "JESUS ALSO....SUFFERED OUTSIDE THE CAMP" - Hebrews 13:12 - as the sin offering of the Law were burned outside the camp.
6. The two goats symbolize one unit.
a. As the first goat, Jesus died to atone for sins, thus He is the cause of our salvation.
b. As the 2nd goat, He survived the sacrificial death in His resurrection - and bore our sins "outside the camp," as He put away our sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Hebrews 9:26/
B. Again as the High Priest He did not die - only as a sacrifice, but even His death as the sacrifice, He is a functioning priest.
a. For he penetrates the veil of the Temple and rends it forever.
b. As He "entered not into a holy place made with hands...but into heaven itself, now to appear before God for us." Hebrews 9:24
c. And now as the "High Priest" on the "right hand of the throne of Majesty in the heavens," He is the permanent "Minister of the sanctuary and of the true (reality) tabernacle" Hebrews 8:1-2.
d. And as His priesthood is "unchanging" and since He lives forever, "He is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near to God through Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:24-25.
a) He continually stands as a "propitiation" for our sins.
b) And as Priest Eternal, He continually applies the benefits of His sacrifice in our behalf.
by Lane Rogers
