“Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat, which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat” (Lev.16:2-3) These words of the LORD precede the events of the Day. They contain a warning, but they also focus on the central feature of the Day, turning our attention from the sacrifice to the LORD Himself who is the One who will accept the token of the sprinkled blood as evidence that the sacrificial offering has been made for sin. It is the presence of the LORD which must engage our attention. Jesus died in the presence of His Father. The cross was a transaction between Father and Son. No other sacrifice in Leviticus more clearly anticipates the future and greater salvation of Israel’s Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. And no other sacrifice provides a better backdrop against which to see the vast superiority of our Lord’s reconciliation (atonement) over that of Aaron (Rom.5:11). For the orthodox Jew, this is still the most important day in their religious calendar, - Yom Kippur2 remains pivotal to their faith, marking the nations atonement for sin. We will identify these events as they occur and refer to their spiritual significance. However, the meaning of them has been determined, in large measure, by the Writer to the Hebrews who reveals the meaning of the Mosaic system of sacrifices 2
The Day of Atonement is referred to in contemporary Judaism as “Yom Kippur.” Yom means "day" in Hebrew and Kippur comes from a root that means "to atone", which is related to the biblical name of the covering lid of the Ark (in Hebrew it is called the kapporet). In the Greek translation of the O.T. (the Septuagint) the lid of the ark is called ἱλαστήριον. The lid is therefore called “the propitiatory,” the word from which we get “propitiation,” a key word related to salvation. The AV translated this word as the “mercy seat.”
New Life Radio – Talk No 19
7 Derrick Harrison
17/02/2021
