What does the day
of atonement picture?
What is the meaning of afflict your souls?
Why do we fast?
How should we fast?
What is The Meaning of Lev. 16?
The date of the Day of Atonement must be counted from
the new moon. Remember Trumpets is on the new moon
as it comes to us. We need to check to find out the
exact time of the new moon as it comes to us, here in
The new moon is on the 1st of the month, and so is
Trumpets, the Day of Atonement is on the 10th day of
that month.
In these end times
God is giving His church a greater understanding of many
times, events, doctrines, and the knowledge of who He
and Jesus Christ are, and also a deeper meaning of the
holy days and His plan.
The Day of
Atonement in the past has usually been kept by the
church simply by fasting. All we have done is gone
without food and attended church for a few hours, where
we joked around and spoke about the animals or garden,
or some idle gossip.
HAVE WE GIVEN
DEEP THOUGHT TO WHAT THE DAY REALLY PICTURES?
This is a serious
day, we need to approach it with much thought, study and
prayer about what the day pictures.
What does this day
picture?
Lev 16:29 "This
shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh
month, on the tenth day of the
month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at
all, whether
a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells
among you.
Lev 23:32 It shall be
to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict
your souls; on the ninth day of the
month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall
celebrate your sabbath."
Lev 16:31 It is a
sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict
your souls. It
is a statute forever.
The next verse is
very interesting, once a year we are to make atonement
for the sins of
Lev 16:34 This shall
be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement
for the children of
Once a year, on the
Day of Atonement, the sins of the people of
The day pictures
the covering or cleansing of our sins: we must realise
the seriousness of this day, we must afflict our
souls.
What is the
meaning of afflict your souls?
Does this just mean
to fast? NO. It means much
more than that. Some people do not feel much
different after 24 hours of fasting. They may have
a slight headache and be a little tired and feel hungry
and thirsty, but that may be all the discomfort they
feel.
We are to afflict ourselves for the full 24 hours.
When we start our fast at sunset until we go to bed, do
we feel in any way afflicted? Maybe we have
missed our cup of coffee and perhaps a biscuit, but how
is this afflicting ourselves?
There is a far greater meaning to afflict our souls than
to simply fast. We must afflict our souls for the
full 24 hours.
The word afflict
means to humble, to answer for something, to debase, to
depress. We must feel truly sorry for the fact
that we have committed sin during the past year.
We must realise how God views sin, and what it means to
Him.
How sin caused the death of His Son. How sin separates
us from Him. How it drives us away from Him.
Sin has a penalty. The penalty is death.
Christ has paid that penalty for us. We need to
truly see what that sacrifice meant for us. We
need to try very hard to not sin at all.
During this period of time, we must saturate our
thoughts with the seriousness of our sins, the actual
day means cleanse and forgive, that is what atonement
means, that our sins are cleansed and forgiven.
However God wants us to realise the seriousness of the
day and to not talk about the weather or gossip at
church or fool around at church, but to think for 24
hours the consequences, of what we have done. How
a totally innocent man had to die for our sins.
Why do we fast?
What are some of
the reasons we need to fast?
Notice the following verses gives some of the
reasons.
To seek the right
ways.
Even though this
account was during dangerous times for these people, God
will show us the right ways to walk, talk, and
live.
Ezr 8:21 Then I
proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we
might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from
Him the right way for us and our little ones and all
our possessions.
To cry out to the
Lord, for help, guidance, to save us, to heal us, there
could be many reasons that we especially need God to
hear us.
Joe 1:14 Consecrate a
fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders And all
the inhabitants of the land Into the
house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD.
We need to turn
from evil and violence.
Jon 3:8 But let man
and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily
to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and
from the violence that is in his hands.
Jon 3:9 Who can tell
if
God will turn and relent, and turn away from His
fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
To seek the
Lord.
2Ch 20:3 And
Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD,
and proclaimed a fast throughout all
Fast for the
sick.
Psa 35:13 But as for
me, when they were sick, My clothing was
sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my
prayer would return to my own heart.
To turn from
evil; and make supplication before the Lord.
Jer 36:6 You go,
therefore, and read from the scroll which you have
written at my instruction, the words of the LORD, in
the hearing of the people in the LORD's house on the
day of fasting. And you shall also read them in the
hearing of all Judah who come from their cities.
Jer 36:7 It may be
that they will present their supplication before the
LORD, and everyone will turn from his evil way. For
great is
the anger and the fury that the LORD has pronounced
against this people."
ON THE DAY OF
ATONEMENT THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH CHAPTERS 1 UP TO AND
INCLUDING CHAPTER 36 WOULD BE PROFITABLE TO
READ IT IS FOR A FUTURE TIME AND A FUTURE FAST.
To confess our
sins, and also notice that Daniel confessed the sins
of Israel.
Dan 9:3 Then I set
my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer
and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Dan 9:20 Now while I
was
speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin
of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication
before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my
God,
Dan 9:21 yes, while I
was
speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen
in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly
swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening
offering.
To ordain into
an office.
Act 14:23 So when they
had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with
fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they
had believed.
To ask God to
intervene for someone who is dying.
2Sa 12:22 And he said,
"While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I
said, 'Who can tell whether the LORD will be gracious to
me, that the child may live?'
Christ fasted
before He was tempted by Satan, of course Christ did not
have to confess sin, but this fasting would be to come
closer to the Father, to receive strength and
encouragement from Him.
Mat 4:2 And when He
had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He
was hungry.
In times of
national disaster.
The following
scripture is for the not too distant future.
Joe 1:14 Consecrate a
fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders And all
the inhabitants of the land Into the
house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD.
Joe 1:15 Alas for the
day! For the day of the LORD is at
hand; It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.
Joe 1:16 Is not the
food cut off before our eyes, Joy and gladness from
the house of our God?
Joe 1:17 The seed
shrivels under the clods, Storehouses are in shambles;
Barns are broken down, For the grain has withered.
Joe 1:18 How the
animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless,
Because they have no pasture; Even the flocks of sheep
suffer punishment.
Joe 1:19 O LORD, to
You I cry out; For fire has devoured the open
pastures, And a flame has burned all the trees of the
field.
Joe 1:20 The beasts
of the field also cry out to You, For the water brooks
are dried up, And fire has devoured the open pastures.
How should we
fast?
A fast day is not
just a day to go without food. Look at what God says
about fasting in the following verses.
This particular
fast in Isaiah is a future fast day, called by the
Watchman, to the nation of
Isa 58:1 "Cry aloud,
spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My
people their transgression, And the house of Jacob
their sins.
Isa 58:3 'Why have we
fasted,' they
say, 'and You have not seen? Why have
we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?' "In
fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, And
exploit all your labourers.
God says that we
went without food and have claimed to have afflicted our
souls, but we just did our own things, we did whatever
we wanted on that day. Instead of having our hearts and
minds and thoughts on the meaning of the day.
Isa 58:4 Indeed you
fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the
fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do
this day, To make your voice heard on high.
God explains we
fast for the wrong reasons. Unless we fast to get close
to God, to see how we need Him, and to see ourselves as
God sees us, and to see how we can give to others, God
simply will not hear our fast day.
Isa 58:5 Is it a fast
that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his
soul? Is it
to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out
sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And
an acceptable day to the LORD?
If we make a show, and let the world know that we are
fasting, and look sad and wistful, this just is not
acceptable to God. God wants us to do things in
secret. Not to make out that we are something
wonderful.
Isa 58:6 "Is this
not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of
wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the
oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?
God wants us to see
our sins and to put them away from us, to stop sinning,
to be released from the burdens of slavery to sin, to be
freed from oppression from those over us.
Isa 58:7 Is it not
to share your bread with the hungry, And that you
bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When
you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide
yourself from your own flesh?
We must share our
food with the hungry people, invite poor and needy to
your home, if we see people in need then give to them,
clothe them, and do this to our families.
Isa 58:8 Then your
light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing
shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness
shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be
your rear guard.
If we would only
obey God and turn to Him and turn away from sin, look at
how we will be…..how God will bless us.
Isa 58:9 Then you
shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry,
and He will say, 'Here I am.' "If
you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing
of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
God will hear us if
we, stop talking about others, and stop putting others
down, and stop finding fault with everything, and stop
our pride and haughty attitudes.
Isa 58:10 If you
extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the
afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the
darkness, And your darkness shall be as the
noonday.
If we feel sorry
for the hungry, and relieve the afflicted people, then
we will be close to God.
Isa 58:11 The LORD
will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in
drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like
a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose
waters do not fail.
God will guide us, and feed us in drought, and we will
flourish and be like an oasis in the desert.
Isa 58:12 Those from
among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall
raise up the foundations of many generations; And you
shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The
Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
This verse applies
to a time yet ahead of us, after
When
It also has the
spiritual application of restoring the truths of God.
Isa 58:13 "If you turn
away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing
your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a
delight, The holy day of the
LORD honourable, And shall honour
Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own
pleasure, Nor speaking your own
words,
This above verse is
referring to the Day of Atonement and not just the
weekly Sabbath. God wants His people to know which day
is the Sabbath. The Day of Atonement, must be
calculated as we have stated above. The Sabbath lasts
for 24 hours, and we must forget about work, sports, all
pleasures which take us away from the worship of our
God. We must fill our hearts and minds and
thoughts with God, study, pray and talk about God, for
the whole day, not just a few hours. We must
devote this time to God, be with Him, spend this time
with Him, try to learn more about Him learn to love the
Sabbath. The Day of Atonement is a holy day and is
holy to God. We must learn to love the Day of Atonement
and keep it correctly.
Isa 58:14 Then you
shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause
you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed
you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth
of the LORD has spoken."
When we obey God,
then we will enjoy being part of His plan, God will then
bless us, and give us the
Mr. Armstrong used
to say that when we fast we should do it in three hour
sections.
1 hour of prayer, 1 hour of study and 1 hour of
meditation.
This is a very good guide and one which should be
followed.
Also another
method, similar to the above, is given in the
scriptures.
Neh 9:1 Now on the
twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel
were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with
dust on their heads.
Neh 9:2 Then those
of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all
foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins
and the iniquities of their fathers.
Neh 9:3 And they
stood up in their place and read from the Book of the
Law of the LORD their God for one-fourth
of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and
worshiped the LORD their God.
To sum up: the Day
of Atonement pictures a cleansing, or forgiving of our
sins, it is a time we need to realise the seriousness of
sin. We must afflict our souls, feel deeply sorry for
what penalty our sins have caused.
God wants us to
spend this time in fasting to get closer to Him.
We can feel the closeness we have with Him compared to
the wedge we place between God and ourselves with our
sins.
When we fast we
need to pray meditate and study God’s word for as much
time as possible during the 24 hours. We need to
come closer to God and saturate our thoughts and speech
with God’s words. We must try to put sin out of our
lives.
We need to give to the poor and share what we have with
the needy.
WHAT IS THE
MEANING OF LEV 16?
Notice both goats
are for a sin offering.
Lev 16:5 And he shall
take from the congregation of the children of Israel
two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram
as a burnt offering.
The two goats: one
is for the Lord and one is for the Scapegoat.
We will look at the goat which is for the Lord first.
Lev 16:8 Then Aaron
shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the
LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat.
Notice that the
goat for the Lord is a sin offering.
Lev 16:9 And Aaron
shall bring the goat on which the LORD's lot fell, and
offer it as
a sin offering.
Lev 16:15 "Then he
shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the
people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that
blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and
sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy
seat.
The goat is for an
atonement for the holy place, because of uncleanness of
the Israelites, and transgressions in all their sins.
Lev 16:16 So he shall
make atonement for the Holy Place,
because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel,
and because of their transgressions, for all their
sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting
which remains among them in the midst of their
uncleanness.
Now the Live
Goat:
He is to make an atonement and to be let go as the
scapegoat.
Lev 16:10 But the goat
on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be
presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement
upon it, and
to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.
Notice that
Aaron confessed all the iniquities of the children
of
This is very
important that we confess the sins of
It is vitally important that this be done.
Lev 16:21 Aaron shall
lay both his hands on the head of the live goat,
confess over it all the iniquities of the children of
Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all
their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and
shall send it
away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable
man.
Notice the goat
bears all their iniquities, one of the meanings for this
word is sexual sins.
Lev 16:22 The goat
shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an
uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the
wilderness.
On the Day of
Atonement we are cleansed from all our sins before the
Lord.
Lev 16:30 For on that
day the
priest shall make atonement for you, to
cleanse you, that
you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
Lev 16:31 It is a
sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict
your souls. It
is a statute forever.
Lev 16:32 And the
priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as
priest in his father's place, shall make atonement,
and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments;
Lev 16:33 then he
shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he
shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and
for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the
priests and for all the people of the assembly.
Lev 16:34 This shall
be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement
for the children of
The day of Atonement is tied in with the other
holy days in an interesting way...notice the following
The death of Jesus
reconciled us to God, but it is by His life that we are
saved. The atonement is the time God the Father
accepts us for eternal life.
Rom 5:9 Much more
then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall
be saved from wrath through Him.
Rom 5:10 For if when
we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the
death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled,
we shall be saved by His life.
Rom 5:11 And not only
that,
but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have now received the
reconciliation. [atonement]
The Day of
Atonement pictures us being at one with God. This
does not happen at our acceptance of Christ’s death,
this happens when the Father accepts us for eternal
life.
But firstly we must
accept Christ's life. Christ ascended to the
Father to be accepted for us. It is then that we
have qualified to receive the Holy Spirit of life.
Joh 20:17 Jesus said
to her, "Do
not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My
Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am
ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My
God and your God.' "
Joh 20:22 And when He
had said this, He breathed on them, and
said to them, "Receive
the Holy Spirit.
On the Day of Atonement, we
confess our sins to God. Because of the sacrifice of
Christ these sins are forgiven, we are then at one with
God the Father when He accepts us for eternal life.
We will finish with
the final words of Leviticus.
Lev 16:30 For on that
day the
priest shall make atonement for you, to
cleanse you, that
you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
Lev 16:31 It is a
sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict
your souls. It
is a statute forever.
Lev 16:32 And the
priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as
priest in his father's place, shall make atonement,
and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments;
Lev 16:33 then he
shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he
shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and
for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the
priests and for all the people of the assembly.
Lev 16:34 This shall
be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement
for the children of
