The Day of Atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month according to the sacred calendar, is the day on which the sins that the Israelites had committed during the course of the year were atoned for (Lev 23:27). Today, also, we must celebrate the Day of Atonement to be forgiven for the sins that we commit each year. Without celebrating the Day of Atonement, we cannot say that our sins have been forgiven. Therefore, the Church of God celebrates the Day of Atonement, according to the teaching of Second Coming Christ Ahnsahnghong.
On the Day of Atonement, the sins that we have committed all year long are handed over to the devil. Thus, the devil makes every effort to prevent God’s people from celebrating this feast.
- Origin
After being released from Egypt, the Israelites lived in the desert for forty years. God called Moses to Mount Sinai and gave him the laws through which He would rule over the people. In response to God’s calling, Moses went up Mount Sinai. After fasting for forty days and nights, Moses received the Ten Commandments which God, Himself, had written. As Moses was a long time in returning from the mountain top, the Israelites began to assume he must have died. They thought that they lost their leader and some suggested that they make a god to lead them into the land of Canaan. Hence, the Israelites crafted a golden calf and worshipped it: eating, drinking and dancing around it. When Moses finally came down from Mount Sinai, the sight shocked and enraged him. He threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the foot of the mountain. He set fire to the golden calf that the Israelites had worshipped so lewdly then ground the charred remains into a powder. Moses scattered the ashes on the water and made the Israelites drink it and about three thousand people died by the sword.
The Israelites, who had sinned against God by worshipping idols, bitterly repented of their deeds, and, in response, God gave Moses a new set of stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. Since God gave the Israelites a second chance to keep His commands, God implied that He forgave them of their sins. The day Moses received the second set of the Ten Commandments is the Day of Atonement, which was to be commemorated every year (Ex 32:1-35).
- Prophecy and Fulfillment
The people’s sins were initially held in the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary, but on the Day of Atonement their sins were transferred onto the scapegoat. The scapegoat was released into the desert, carrying all of the people’s sins on its head. Eventually, the goat came to die.
Our sins are initially carried by Christ, but on the Day of Atonement our sins are transferred onto Satan—the scapegoat. Satan will be tormented in hell, carrying all of our sins on his head, suffering eternal destruction.
- Ceremony
(1) The Scapegoat Stands for Satan
In the Old Testament times, the priest sacrificed a bull as his sin offering and a goat was sacrificed on behalf of the people. Two goats were brought before the alter and lots were cast to decide the destiny of two goats: one goat was to be sacrificed for God and the other was to be named the “scapegoat.”
Until this day, all the sins of the people had been held in the Most Holy Place. On the Day of Atonement, these sins were transferred to the head of the scapegoat to be sent away into the desert and die. This process reveals that our sins are heaped onto Satan through the Feasts (such as the Passover and the Day of Atonement) after being temporarily carried by Christ—the reality of the Most Holy Place. Satan will be tormented, carrying the weight of our sins, and suffer in the Abyss—the uninhabited land represented by the desert. We come to understand this principle through celebrating the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:6-22).
(2) Entering the Most Holy Place
The Day of Atonement is the only day when the high priest enters the Most Holy Place, alone.
Hebrews 9:7『But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.』
