THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

"Atonement will be made for you on this day to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord." (Leviticus 16:30 HCSB)

Atonement--it is not a word we use in everyday conversation, but it is a word we should know, for it describes an experience we must have. Look at the word, and break it down this way: at-one-ment--to be put into the state of being at one with God, received by Him and reconciled to Him.

We need that, for we are not naturally in that state. Rather, we are unclean and unwelcome. To underscore our problem, the word "unclean" or "uncleanness" is used 35 times in only 33 verses in the preceding chapter. The consequences of being unclean are to be unwelcome--until the unclean person is washed they are excluded from the worship of God and excommunicated from the people of God. This is what sin does. It contaminates all it touches and spreads defilement abroad.

But God wants us to be at one with Him. He loves us and provided for our cleansing. That is what the Day of Atonement meant for ancient Israel.

Atonement literally means "to cover." It conveys the thought of having our sins blotted out. The ritual of Yom Kippur--the Day of Atonement--portrayed the removal of sin--expiation. That which defiles is sent away and gone forever.

This is graphically symbolized in the scapegoat. The exact translation of the Hebrew word is disputed. It is used only four times in Scripture--all in this chapter. Because the translation is murky, the HCSB scholars chose to transliterate it and render it "azazel." While the precise translation may be debated, the symbolism is beyond dispute. Thus, we will refer to this act as the scapegoat, which has come into our language as a term for one who bears the guilt and pays the penalty another deserves. That is what is pictured here.

The scapegoat is brought before the people, and the High Priest lays his hands on it, symbolically transferring the sins of Israel upon it. "Aaron will lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the Israelites' wrongdoings and rebellious acts-all their sins. He is to put them on the goat's head and send [it] away into the wilderness by the man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on it all their wrongdoings into a desolate land, and he will release it there." (Leviticus 16:21, 22 HCSB)

Imagine as this appointed man leads the chosen goat out into the wilderness. They walk some distance, and the man turns back--he still sees the camp--and so treks farther. Again, he turns, and gazing intently, he can just see the tents dimly on the edge of the horizon, so he walks on and on. Finally, there is nothing behind him but his tracks. Securing the goat, he walks away retracing his steps. The goat watches him diminish until he vanishes from vision. The goat is alone. The desert sun beats down upon it. There is no water to quench its thirst. There is no one to hear its mournful bleating. Only the vultures are there, circling ever lower, soon to feast. The goat dies--all alone.

All this was fulfilled on the day that Jesus died. What the Day of Atonement prefigured was realized on Good Friday. He was chosen and brought before the nation of Israel. Our sins were thrust upon Him. The prophet spoke of this, "Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all....He was taken away because of oppression and judgment; and who considered His fate? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was struck because of my people's rebellion." (Isaiah 53:4-6, 8 HCSB)

We hear His pitiful cry, from cracked lips, swollen tongue, and parched throat, "I thirst!" (John 19:28) In an isolation greater than physical--an exclusion from the presence of God--we hear Christ's despairing plea, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) As our Scapegoat, He has carried our sins away, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:12 HCSB)

Christ was excluded that we might be included. He was stripped bare that we might be covered. He was forsaken that we might be forgiven. He died so we could live. He experienced hell that we could enter heaven. Jesus is our Scapegoat--glory to His name!