Every September or October most people of the Jewish faith, many
Messianic Jews, and even some Christians observe Yom Kippur, The Day of
Atonement. Atonement is rich with imagery pointing to Jesus
Christ. Leviticus chapter 16 shows the High Priest entering
the Holy of Holies, the innermost sanctuary of the tabernacle where the
Ark of the Covenant was kept, just one time a year on the Day of
Atonement. This Holy of Holies (also called the Most Holy
Place) is where God made his presence known to the
Israelites. It was on that day and in that place when the
High Priest made a blood offering for his own sins using the blood of a
bull and he used the blood of a goat as an offering for the sins of all
Israel.
Liberty from bondage is another theme of Atonement. Every
50th Atonement was the Jubilee year. On the Day of Atonement
of the Jubilee year, those who had become indentured servants were
freed, debts were released and lands were restored. The words
from Leviticus 25:10 "...Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto
all the Inhabitants thereof" inscribed on the Liberty Bell are taken
from the scriptural context of the Day of Atonement and the Jubilee
release.
What
does all this picture?
In chapters 7 through 10 of the book of Hebrews, the author --
apparently the Apostle Paul, a Jew and a Rabbi very familiar with the
imagery of Day of Atonement rituals and sacrifices, shows that imagery
pointed forward to Jesus filling the role of High Priest and entering
the real Holy of Holies, God's throne in heaven. (Hebrews 9:24
& 10:19) Jesus did this with the sacrifice of His own
blood for our sins, doing away with sin once and for all.
Interestingly, at His death on the cross, the veil of the temple
separating the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place was torn in two from
top to bottom signifying "...a new and living way opened for us through
the curtain,..." (Heb 19:20). Jesus is the way that
we have access to God and forgiveness of sin. He is the new
and living way. It also pictures the Old Covenant of Law
being replaced by the New Covenant of Grace. In short, we've
been liberated from the bondage of sin and brought into communion and fellowship with God
because Jesus is our Atonement. He makes us at-one with Himself and the Father in the Holy Spirit. |
