The Day of Atonement is upon us. Also known as Yom Kippur, it begins at sundown on Tuesday, October 4th, and ends on Wednesday, October 5th.
Everyone knows that Yeshua (Jesus) was crucified on Passover as our Passover lamb. John the Baptizer called Him the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The interesting thing is that the Passover Lamb doesn’t take away sin. It’s a substitutionary sacrifice. In the Exodus account, the blood of the lamb was put on the doorposts so that the death angel would pass over the house instead of killing anyone inside. But not everyone was in danger of dying. It was only the firstborns that would be taken by the death angel. The lamb was slain so that the firstborns would not be. No atonement of sin took place on Passover. The whole family of Israel (they were not a nation yet) was spared any mourning of death because the lambs were substitutes for them.
Now, looking at the Day of Atonement, the High Priest slaughtered a goat on the altar for the sins of the whole nation. It’s the once-a-year sacrifice to atone for all of Israel’s sins. This is the sacrifice that atones for everyone’s sins, not Passover. Yeshua was and is our Passover lamb AND the sacrifice that atones for sin on the Day of Atonement. Hebrews explains how this is the case. I won’t share all of the passages here because it would make this post really long. I’ll just go over some highlights.
The major topic of Hebrews is that Yeshua is a High Priest in the order of Melchi-Zedek. He’s a more perfect High Priest than the earthly one in the Levitical line. Whereas the earthly High Priest had to offer the Day of Atonement sacrifice every year, Yeshua offered His sacrifice once and for all. Most people take this to mean that Yeshua did away with all sacrifices once and for all. But that’s not what the text is talking about. It’s clearly identifying the Day of Atonement sacrifice of bulls and goats. The blood of a bull was used to cleanse the High Priest before he could go in to sacrifice the goat for atonement. Yeshua was without sin and didn’t need to be cleansed by the blood of a bull. In chapter 8, it says that Yeshua offered His sacrifice on the altar in heaven. The Day of Atonement sacrifice was fulfilled in heaven but not in the Temple on earth. However, His sacrifice superseded the Day of Atonement sacrifice on earth. It was recorded that the Day of Atonement sacrifice was rejected by God for 40 years leading up to the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. But what about the other sacrifices?
Hebrews 7:27 says, “He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for His own sins and then for those of the people, since He did this once for all when He offered up Himself.” This is not talking about the Day of Atonement sacrifice because that was only once a year and not daily. This is talking about the individual sacrifices that people brought throughout the year to atone for their own sins. This verse is saying that His sacrifice took care of these sacrifices, also. John wrote this in 1 John 2:1, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” He is our advocate for forgiveness. Sin sacrifices are no longer necessary. But what about the other sacrifices?
Hebrews 8 says that Yeshua is a High Priest in the heavenly tent, and verses 3 and 4 say, “For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law.” There are two things to notice from these verses. First that Yeshua cannot be a High Priest on earth because the Levitical Priesthood is still in effect, and second that the writer of Hebrews doesn’t condemn the fact that sacrifices are still being offered. Since Hebrews already pointed out that the sin sacrifices have been paid for through His sacrifice, these sacrifices are not about sin.
In a recent poll from Kinetic Love Ministries, the question was asked if Yeshua did away with all sacrifices. There were only five responses to date, with four votes for no and one vote for yes. It looks like the nos were correct. The offering and gift sacrifices were still OK under the Temple system. And we know that James told Paul in Acts 21 that he should go with four other men and take the Nazirite vow which would include offering sacrifices. So it looks like the early church had no problem with sacrifices for offerings and gifts. But, after the Temple was destroyed, all of that changed. According to the Torah, sacrifices could only be offered where God said and how He said, which was through the Levitical priesthood.
In the Millennial Kingdom, there will be a third temple where sacrifices will be offered, but there will be no sin so there will be no need for sin sacrifices, including the Day of Atonement sacrifice. How that is all going to work out is a mystery, but the Messiah will be on the throne in Jerusalem and He will teach us all that is unknown. I can’t wait.
Have a blessed Yom Kippur as we reflect on His sacrifice for our sins. Shalom.