Today is the Day of Atonement, commonly known as the Yom Kippur in Hebrew. It is the most sacred of all Jewish holidays. Yom Kippur culminates the ‘ten days of awe’ that start on the Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah is the first day of the month of Ethanim and is mainly characterized with the blowing of the shofar- calling people out to repentance before the Yom Kippur.

The Day of Atonement is one of the feasts of Elohim recorded in Leviticus chapter 23, a 24 hour fasting period from dusk to dusk on the tenth day of Ethanim (Leviticus 23:32) - a time to seek God, to plead for forgiveness – it is a time for retrospection.

Let me shift my focus on the sacrifices that were done on this day as explained in the 16th Chapter of the book of Leviticus. In particular, I will discuss about the two goats addressed here. One of the goats was for sin offering while the other one was for Azazel (Leviticus 16:7). The former was meant to be sacrificed in order to take away the sin of the nation of Israel and for the tent of meeting. According to verse 16 of the same chapter, the tent of meeting was cleansed because it ‘dwelt among the children of Israel, amidst their uncleanliness.’

The second goat was for Azazel. The high priest would place his hands on its head and confess over it the sins of the children of Israel. He would then send it into the wilderness, thereby bearing all the iniquities of the people of Israel.

The method of choosing either of the two goats was through casting of lots by the high priest.

Basically, here we see a clear illustration of one life being substituted for the lives of many other people. This is the fundamental concept of the Yom Kippur. In other words, we can say that, without the two goats, the ceremony of atonement would technically not take place.

Note that on the Yom Kippur, it was the only day in a year when a high priest would access the most holy place section of the tent of meeting / temple. However, the second temple was totally destroyed by the romans in 70 AD as had been prophesied by Messiah in Mathew 24:1-2.

This event raises very important questions:

1. Does it mean that atonement for the sins of the children of Israel would no longer be done?
2. Was the destruction of the temple a judgment and a sign of rejection by God of a system for atonement that He had established?

(Apparently, this is the reason why most of the traditional Jews mourn over their temple today, which is now over 2000 years since its destruction in 70 AD. They have not been able to carry out their commanded ceremony of the Day of Atonement. )

Therefore, destruction of the temple can only imply two possibilities:

1. The day of Yom Kippur was nullified and there is no more atonement of sins or
2. God has brought about a better way

This fact is right – that repentance is good but without having a substitute to take away our sins, there is no atonement. Hebrews 9:22 says “without shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins”. Also in Mathew 26:28 “..for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

The two goats for the Day of Atonement in Leviticus chapter 16 were pointing to the Messiah, the perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 10:4).

Yahshua our Messiah became the better fulfillment by replacing the two goats. He died as a sacrifice for the sins of many as recorded in John 11:50 “it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” Also in Ephesians 1:7 we read “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”

He bore our transgressions and curses like the goat for Azazel (Isaiah 53:5). As a matter of fact, he had to be taken to Golgotha, outside the city, to be hanged on a tree just like the goat of Azazel was taken into the wilderness.

May you have an easy fast and your names be sealed in the book of life of the lamb.