The Day of Atonement to be observed forever

The Day of Atonement to be observed forever

 

Leviticus 16:23-34

 

God tells us to keep the ordinances of the Day of Atonement forever. If so, how were the ordinances to be kept on the Day of Atonement? Also, what does this mean for us believers in Jesus Christ, who accomplished the perfect and eternal work of atonement?

 

1. The people of Israel had to keep it strictly without forgetting it.

 

The Day of Atonement was designated as July 10th in the Jewish calendar (the month of the Exodus was calculated as January) (verse 29). According to tradition, this day is the day on which Moses received the law and commandments again after the Golden Calf incident. Therefore, it was also the day when God visibly showed the forgiveness of sins of the people of Israel. Therefore, the Israelites could never and should never forget this day. Because the Israelites worshiped the golden calf in the wilderness, they could not enter Canaan and all of them were in danger of being exterminated in the wilderness (Exodus 33).

 

Therefore, the Israelites could never forget the day they received the grace of apology from God and reassured the land of Canaan. Likewise, the saints must never forget the very day (the day they were converted with their first faith) that they were freed from the chains of sin by the grace of Jesus Christ and joined the ranks of the eternal heavenly Canaan. And whenever the world's unbelieving temptations and evil hands are stretched out throughout your life, you must live with the impression of the first faith in your heart and cherish it (Rev 2:4,5 But I have something against you; Think about whether you have fallen, repent and do the first deeds. If you do not do so and do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place).

2. The Israelites had to torment themselves.

 

The Israelites had to keep the Day of Atonement as a great Sabbath and torment themselves (verse 31). That is, once a year on the Day of Atonement, the Israelites had to refrain from physical benefits and pleasures, confess their sins, torment themselves, mourn, and lament.

Now, through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, our saints who have received the grace of forgiveness of sins forever, how should we keep the Day of Atonement? In fact, the Old Testament system of the Day of Atonement has disappeared for New Testament believers. However, the saints who have received the grace of Christ's atonement must now live with the heart of facing the Day of Atonement every day.

You have to look back on your life moment by moment, confess your mistakes and faults, repent, and live a life of denying yourself every day. And we must give up our desires for self-interest and self-centered life, deny ourselves daily, take up our cross, and live as true disciples who follow the Lord (Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever follows me If he would come, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me).

 

 

3. The Israelites had to keep it forever.

 

The Day of Atonement was a ordinance that the Israelites had to keep forever (verses 31, 34). This shows that as long as human beings commit sins before God, they must continue to live a life of atonement and forgiveness.

 

This fact teaches us that we saints who were born in sin and live in a fallen world should never stop living in repentance and atonement until we reach the world of eternal happiness (the kingdom of heaven) where there will be no sin, tears, and death.

That's right. Although we have all received the grace of salvation through the grace of the blood of Christ, all sins and transgressions committed in our daily life must always be repented of and forgiven.

 

Truly, a life that pursues sanctification through continuous repentance and atonement is the New Testament meaning of the ordinance of the Day of Atonement that must be kept forever.

 

May ourselves, our families, saints, and people of faith in the world thank Jesus for his cross, and pray that we will live every day in the life of the day of redemption, denying ourselves, bearing our cross, and following the Lord.