Bible Studies

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The Great Day of Judgment
Part Seven of the Eight Feasts of YHWH
By David Wiseman

“Also, on the tenth of this seventh month shall be a day of atonement; you shall have a holy gathering, and you shall humble yourselves, and shall bring a fire offering to Jehovah.” Vayiqra‘ (Leviticus) 23:27 (LITV)
Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement, is the seventh holy day on the calendar. What exactly is ‘atonement?’ Exodus 30:16 says, “And you shall take the money of atonement from the sons of Israel,” (LITV) speaking of this same money in verse 12, “When you lift up the head of the sons of Israel, of those numbered, each one shall give the ransom of his soul to Jehovah when numbering them; and there shall not be a plague among them when numbering them.”
The word for ransom is Kofer. The word Kippur is spelled Kaf Peh Resh. The word Kofer is also spelled Kaf Peh Resh. The word for atonement is the root of the word ransom. Atonement is ransom paid to YHWH to redeem one’s soul.
Leviticus 23:27 commands Israel to “humble yourselves” (LITV) on Yom Kippur. The King James translates this “afflict your souls.” Both of these translations are correct. According to Thayer’s lexicon this word, ’anah, means to afflict, humble, humiliate, or submit. The phrase “ve’anitem et-naphashtichem” or, “afflict your souls,” means “fast.” It is a day of fasting to YHWH.
Because this is the Day of Atonement it has two sides to it. It is a day of solemn asking for forgiveness for sins, and a day to remember that not everyone is willing to be atoned for. Rabbinic tradition goes so far as to say that on Yom Kippur it is decided where each soul is for the year; whether following YHWH or not, in the fold or out of it.
Leviticus 16:34 says, “And this shall be to you a never-ending statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel, because of all their sins, once a year. And he did as Jehovah had commanded Moses.” (LITV)
This chapter in Leviticus teaches the commandments of Yom Kippur. In verse 6, the High Priest is to make atonement for himself with a bull. Then in verses 7-10 an interesting command is given. The High Priest brings two perfect goats. He then casts lots for the goats. One goat is chosen to be sacrificed, and the other is chosen to be sent into the wilderness. In verses 11-14, it commands the High Priest to first take a censor full of incense into the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant sat, and place it in front of him. “And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints went up before God from the hand of the angel.” Revelation 8:4 (Murdock)
Incense is a picture of prayer, which is why Yom Kippur is traditionally a day of great prayer. In this case, prayer actually covered the High Priest, keeping him from being struck dead by looking at the Ark of the Covenant.
The High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies, or Kodesh haKodeshim, and sprinkle the blood of the bull on the Ark of the Covenant seven times, and also at the base of the Ark seven times.
In verses 15-19 the High Priest is commanded to kill the goat, and sprinkle its blood the same way the blood of the bull was sprinkled. This is to make atonement for the sins of the nation of Israel. Then he is commanded to take the blood of the bull and the blood of the goat and make atonement for the Holy Place and for the altar because of “the pollutions of the sons of Israel” v. 16 (LITV) this is done to pay the ransom for the sins of Israel. “Just as the son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give Himself a ransom for the sake of many.” Matthew 20:28 (Younan)
In verses 20-22 the High Priest is commanded to take the live goat, put his hands on its head, and confess all the sins of Israel over it. According to tradition, because the High Priest couldn’t possibly know exactly every sin that had been committed, especially since often a person could sin by accident and not know about it, the High Priest would confess the entire Law, the entire Torah, over the goat. “For he that shall keep the whole law, and yet fail in one [precept], is obnoxious to the whole law.” James 2:10 (Murdock) so whether or not every sin had been committed, every commandment had been broken every time a sin was committed.
Then the goat is sent out into the wilderness. Verse 22, “And the goat shall bear on him all their iniquities to a land cut off. And he shall send the goat away into the wilderness.”
Isaiah 53:8-11, “He was taken from prison and from justice; and who shall consider His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living; from the transgressions of My people. And He put His grave with the wicked; and with a rich [man] in His death; although He had done no violence, and deceit [was] not in His mouth. But Jehovah pleased to crush Him, to make Him sick, [so that] if He should put His soul as a guilt offering, He shall see [His] seed; He shall prolong [His] days; and the will of Jehovah shall prosper in His hand. He shall see [the fruit] of the travail of His soul; He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify for many, and He shall bear their iniquities.”
This is all about the goat that is sent out, called the scapegoat. Messiah took the sins of the nation to a place completely cut off, that is Hell, but something unusual happened with Messiah. The scapegoat was expected to die, but in Isaiah is says, “He shall prolong His days,” because Messiah was actually raised up from the grave. He left the sins of the redeemed there and returned, having conquered death.
Hebrews 10:4&5 says, “For the blood of bulls and of goats cannot purge away sins. Therefore, when entering the world, he said: In sacrifices and oblations, thou hast not had pleasure; but thou hast clothed me with a body.” (Murdock) YHWH was not interested merely in sacrifices to atone for sins. He wanted a scapegoat to take away the sins. The purpose of the blood of the bull and the ram was not to take the sin away, but atone for it. That is why He gave Y’shua a body, in order that He might take the sins of man on His head and take it to Hell where it was completely cut off.
Going back to Leviticus 16:21b, “and shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send it by the hand of a chosen man into the wilderness.” The word “chosen” literally means “ready” or “timely.” This is a man who has been made ready. The body that YHWH took on Himself, in Y’shua, was a man made ready. This body carried Y’shua in the world, and when His body died, it directed his soul to Hell, just as the man directed the goat to a place that was completely cut off.
On the other side, Y’shua is also the slaughtered ram. Isaiah 53:5-7 says, “But He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His wounds we ourselves are healed. All we like sheep go astray; we have turned each man to his own way, and Jehovah has made meet in Him the iniquity of all of us. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, but He did not open His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a ewe before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.” (LITV)
“Jehovah has made meet in Him the iniquity of all of us.” This passage talks about redemption, about the ransom for sins, in order to bring peace, being paid. This is the ram of atonement because in this He paid the ransom, or atonement, for sins.
Hebrews, starting in chapter 9 verses 3 and 4 is about the first ram, aswell. “But the inner tabernacle, which was within the second veil, was called the Holy of Holies. And there were in it the golden censer and the Ark of the Covenant, which was all over laid with gold; and in it were the golden urn which contained the manna and the rod of Aaron which sprouted, and the tables of the covenant;” (Murdock)
The author of Hebrews it talking about when the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies, which was only done on Yom Kippur, as it says in Leviticus 16:34. Also, it talks about the censer, clearly referring to the censer that the High Priest was to take into the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur, referred to in Leviticus 16:12-13.
It becomes even clearer in verse 7 of Hebrews 9 that this is talking about Yom Kippur. “But into the interior tabernacle, once a year only, the high priest entered, with the blood which he offered for himself and for the sins of the people.” (Murdock)
Verse 12, talking about Messiah says, “And he did not enter with the blood of goats and calves; but with the blood of himself, he entered once into the sanctuary, and obtained eternal redemption.” Murdock) Here it says to obtain eternal redemption, not to take away sins. That was His job as scapegoat, and this is talking about the sacrificed goat.
Verses 13-14 are very important, “For if the blood of goats and calves, with the ashes of a heifer, was sprinkled upon them that were defiled, and sanctified them as to the purification of their flesh; then how much more will the blood of the Messiah, who by the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purge our conscience from dead works, so that we may serve the living God?” (Murdock)
Because the sacrifices did not have souls in the sense that man has a soul, they were only able to cleans the flesh. Y’shua, having a soul, was able to cleans the soul and “conscience.” This is a beautiful comparison of the light matter, which is cleansing the flesh, and the heavy matter, which is cleansing the soul.
In verses 15-17 it refers to YHWH writing a new will because the old had been violated. This is not talking about any kind of covenant, which is made clear by verse 17, “For it is valid, only of a deceased [person]; because it hath no use, so long as the maker of it liveth.” (Murdock) This is only true of a will or testament.
In verses 20-25 the writer shows that this is the perfect sacrifice, because it was in the Heavens, by a soul, and once-and-for-all. Some say that because of this Yom Kippur doesn’t need to be done anymore. Leviticus 16:29 says, “And it shall be for a never-ending statute.” Now that the feast has been fulfilled, it is to be done in remembrance of Him, rather than in looking forward to Him. Just like He said of the bread and the wine, “do this in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19)
Since Messiah is both goats, Galatians 3:13 is given a whole new light. “But the Messiah hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, and hath been a curse for us; (for it is written, Cursed is everyone that is hanged on a tree)” (Murdock) both goats are mentioned in this passage. “Messiah redeemed us” that is the goat that was killed to redeem Israel from the curse for having sinned, “and hath been a curse for us” He became the curse of His People, and took it to Hell.
Likewise, Romans 8:3 is given new meaning, “Inasmuch as the law was impotent, by means of the weakness of the flesh, God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin; that He might, in his flesh, condemn sin.” The law was weak in that the scapegoat was only flesh. It could not literally take the sins of the people because it did not have a soul in the sense that mankind has a soul. It was only flesh.
Hebrews 10:1-3, “For in the law there was a shadow of the good things to come; not the substance of the things themselves. Therefore, although the same sacrifices were every year offered, they could never perfect those who offered them. For, if they had perfected them, they would long ago have desisted from their offerings; because their conscience could no more disquiet them, who were once purified, on account of their sins. But in those sacrifices, they every year recognized their sins.”
Y’shua did not just atone for sins, but took them away, to a place where YHWH would not look on them, and would not remember them, empowering believers to “Go and sin no more.” (John 8:11)
“And I saw the dead, great and small standing before the throne; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life. And the dead were judged from the things written in the books, according to their deeds.” Revelation 20:12 (Murdock) it is believed that this is Yom Kippur, as it is the day of judging. Judgment is usually thought of negatively. But in Psalm 35:24 David said, “Judge me, O Jehovah my God, according to Your righteousness; and do not let them rejoice over me.” (LITV)
David actually asks to be judged. Judgment is not something to be feared, but actually something to look forward to, for those who “have walked in my integrity; I also have trusted in Jehovah; I shall not slide.” Psalm 26:1 (LITV)
While there is little or no actual Scriptural evidence that the last judgment will be on Yom Kippur it makes sense, since all of the other most significant events have circled around feasts, and because the nature of these two events are so closely bound, as days of judgment.
“You shall do no work; it is a never-ending statute throughout your generations, in all your dwellings. It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you shall humble yourselves in the ninth of the month at evening; from evening until evening you shall keep your Sabbath.” Leviticus 23:31-32
Amein!

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