Day of Atonement 2024
(Sermon Notes) by Warren Zehrung October 12, 2024
Yom Kippur
We have come to the tenth day of Tishri, the seventh month of the Sacred Hebrew calendar. Today is the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement remains an enigmatic concept for the Church of God: Fasting on a Feast day is mysterious, and the emphasis on no work, is difficult to interpret and understand. Today, we’ll bring a little clarity to the matter.
The Day of Atonement is a wonderful day in the Plan of God picturing the reconciliation of God and man. It also brings thoughts of a world at peace because this day also pictures the reconciliation and brotherhood of mankind.
Offertory
We begin with the Amish, good folks, but they are stuck in history – they cannot or will not use an automobile—it is against their faith. I fear that much of our Church of God is also stuck in time and space.
When Herbert W Armstrong and Mrs. Loma first kept the Feasts of the Lord in 1934 – they were only being obedient to God – and they understood next to nothing about the meanings of the Feast days and their fulfillment in the Plan of God. As a matter of fact, we are still learning.
Herbert Armstrong warned us of human inadequacy when he stated: “Don’t believe me—BELIEVE YOUR BIBLE—BELIEVE GOD!”
After adamantly preaching a Monday observance of Pentecost for nearly forty years, he changed—basically turning on a dime—to keep it on a Sunday as soon as God lifted the veil.
He saw he had misunderstood the Hebrew meaning of a single word.
That minor tweak was all it took to make God’s intention clear.
Mr. Armstrong followed his own advice—an example all should note—and believed the Bible rather than himself.
For him, the Bible—the Word of God—overruled his teachings, thoughts, and traditions, no matter how long or firmly held.
Brethren, I am corresponding with a man who considers himself to be a “Loyalist – to Herbert Armstrong.” He still keeps Pentecost on Monday.
Mr. Herbert Armstrong knew that it was possible for him to make mistakes – and that God would straighten them out:
The truth is not revealed in one fell swoop, as noted by Herbert Armstrong on page 28 of his “Personal from Herbert W. Armstrong” in The Good News of December 1976: And I quote:
“I did not say ten years ago—twenty years ago—forty years ago—that God had revealed THE ENTIRETY of His TRUTH to me instantaneously, even before He conferred on me His GREAT COMMISSION.
“Always I have said, “God has revealed His TRUTH, little by little, a single bit of truth at a time.” Always I have said, “I am HUMAN—subject to MISTAKES.”
“Every man God ever chose and used was the same. David was a man after God’s own heart BECAUSE he confessed errors, mistakes and sins—REPENTED, and turned from the wrong to what God showed him was right. (Emphasis in the original. There was no bold type in those days)
God is working with very fallible men. Human beings can be quite thick-headed in overcoming habits, traditions, and biases developed over many years and need heavy persuasion to change their minds, especially over serious matters like doctrine.
“But God works with astounding patience in revealing His truth—even truths that should be obvious—to the church, spurring understanding by His Spirit when the time is right.” END: HWA
Mr. Armstrong knew that it was possible for him to make mistakes.
Brethren, I am bringing this up on this Holy Day of Atonement because there is a rift in the Church that is beginning to be erroneously, “set in stone.”
In the early days of the Radio Church of God, which became the Worldwide Church of God, a significant error was made in our understanding of the Biblical Atonement – an understanding partially inherited from non-scriptural Jewish tradition, Talmudic and Kabbalistic interpretations, apocryphal books not in the Biblical canon such as the apocryphal Book of Enoch, Muslim tradition from the Koran, none of which could be considered valid, as well as Arabic and Jewish mythology and folklore which have become the traditions of men’s religions.
We allowed false teachings to enter into our doctrine—it was a mistake on our part. That error has to do with the true meaning of the two goats of Leviticus 16. It goes back to Herbert W. Armstrong, and before, and it has to do with Leviticus 16 – the main chapter used to explain the meaning of this Day of Atonement.
One of Herbert W. Armstrong’s favorite Bibles was The James Moffatt Translation that incorrectly refers to azazel as a demon.
This is a totally spurious translation because “demon” is not in the Hebrew text:
Leviticus 16:8 Aaron shall cast lots over the goats, one lot for the Eternal and the other for ‛ăzâ’zêl the demon. [The James Moffatt Translation]
Before HWA came along – much of the world had already concluded that azazel was a demon. And it has only gotten worse – even as some in the Church of God are now doubling down on this misunderstanding.
They too, feel that they are “loyalists – after so long a time.” Some will not consider what the clear Scriptures teach. They feel threatened by the truth of the meaning of the two goats of Leviticus 16. Brethren, here is the Truth:
Atonement is not a Feast that focuses on Satan’s actions.
Satan is not mentioned, referred to, or even alluded to in Leviticus 16!
There are a few translations that are wrong and spurious, like The James Moffatt Translation—but they are not of God—and you need to mark them as wrong and spurious.
It is not my purpose in today’s sermon to explain the two goats of Leviticus 16 in great detail.
Suffice it to say that there were two identical goats – for one sin offering.
One goat would not work – because it could not be brought back to life after being slain:
Two goats were needed to represent the two-fold work of Christ.
Leviticus 16:9-10 Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer [sacrifice] him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the azazel, shall be presented alive before the LORD…
Alive – that is the key word!
At the end of the ceremony, one goat was dead and the other was alive.
(repeat)
One goat was dead and the other was alive – just like Jesus – dead and resurrected!
That is the main theme of Leviticus 16.
I’ll refer to that fact in today’s sermon – but I will not belabor the fact.
Herbert W. Armstrong died in 1986 and things began to change as he predicted they would.
It was like when Paul warned the elders of the church at Miletus:
Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
A lifetime of his work of bringing the Gospel to the world was rapidly being derailed.
Only eight years after Herbert W. Armstrong died, when men from Pasadena Headquarters were getting advanced degrees’ form Azusa Pacific University an article came out – first in the Pastor General’s Report to the ministry, and then in The Worldwide News, that read, “Jesus Raised Himself.”
It was an article based on Catholic Doctrine that twisted Christ’s words.
John 2:19, 21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple [of His body], and in three days I will raise it up.
Jesus did not mean by this that He would come back to life on His own, contradicting the other verses in this regard. Rather, He was referring to the fact that once God the Father made Him alive again in His tomb, He would stand up from where He lay dead—raising Himself from His lying position to then ascend from the grave.
John 10:17-18 [Jesus said] … I lay down my life, that I might take it again. … I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
Jesus meant that He had the privilege of being raised to life – because the Scriptures are clear, God the Father raised Jesus back to life.
So, brethren, I quickly delivered a message to the Little Rock congregation – numbering over 800 brethren in those days – showing in two dozen Scriptures where it was God the Father who raised Jesus back to life.
Immediately, Pasadena sent the Regional Director to speak to me about my “egregious actions.”
The Regional Director’s comments after listening to my tape recording of services was, “Warren, that is the best explanation of John 2:19 I’ve ever heard! – but do you think this was the best time to speak on this subject?”
(I thought to myself, “When, except when doctrine was under attack?”)
While the Regional Director was at my home… (he and his wife had spent the night with Sharon and I), – I received a phone call from the Pasadena –Head of Church Administration – informing me that I was fired from the ministry.
Sharon and I were disfellowshipped a week later when we continued to attend Sabbath services with our congregation.
A few years later, after that Head of Church Administration had also left Worldwide and formed another church Organization, He told me, “Warren, you were the “First” man I fired. By then, hundreds of ministers had left the Worldwide Church of God.
In today’s sermon, I will present many of those clear New Testament Scriptures showing that God the Father raised Jesus back to life.
It has much to do with Jesus as the azazel goat.
We will now have Offertory Music: Blessed is the Nation God is For. – Track 25
Collection
A Matter of Life and Death
We have atonement because of the work of Jesus Christ. The Day of Atonement is about Jesus Christ. “Each feast is a Feast to the LORD.” Jesus is the object of each Holy Day.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve initially shared an intimate, unbroken fellowship with God, because there had been no rejection of God and His ways.
They were free from sin and able to openly interact until disobedience ruined their relationship with God. Sin entered the world.
There was a breakdown in that Godly relationship when man sinned causing a state of enmity and separation to exist between God and us—because sin cannot come into God’s Holy presence.
Atonement speaks of God’s act of covering sin in order to reestablish the original relationship between God and man.
Isaiah 59:1-2 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.
Because of His Holy Dignity, God the Father must remain at a distance from all the sin and corruption of mankind.
It is we who have severed the relationship with our Creator by our sins and iniquity.
The entire world, all of mankind was cut off from God.
Sin and iniquity brought the Plan of God to a standstill.
Everyone was destined to die in sin.
There could be no children of God to expand God’s eternal family (Ephesians 3:15).
How could the Plan of God be put back on course? How could this travesty be remedied? It was a matter of life and death.
There was only one way to put the Plan of God back on course.
And, there was only one way to save mankind from eternal death, because our sins and iniquities are too much for us to bear – they are a burden too heavy for us to carry – they bring death:
A key Scripture – that we all know by heart is:
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Only Jesus—creator of the universe— was worthy and able to pay the price of sin because His life is valued more than all the world.
He who created all things is worth more than that which He brought into existence.
Here is a good question, “How did Christ’s redemptive act of paying for our sins with His death on the cross make reconciliation with God the Father possible?
In death, Jesus Christ paid our penalty and covered our defilement – rendering us acceptable to the Father.
Galatians 1:4 [Jesus] gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
After all, this Day of Atonement is bringing about the restoration of all things to a right relationship with God the Father.
Atonement also means that we need to humble ourselves before our great and Sovereign God.
Fasting today helps us realize that all good things originate with God.
Even if it were only the water, soil, seed and sun, He provides, we would not survive for an instant without God.
We must realize that He alone possesses the Wisdom of what is good and right, and choose His way over our own will.
It is necessary that we yield to God in all things.
We were totally cut off from God the Father because of our sins!
Atonement shows how we were cleansed of our sins and restored to a right relationship with our Father.
Here is how it works: Jesus was delivered unto death to pay for our offences, sins and transgressions, and He was raised to life again for our justification, exoneration, and acquittal.
Only then are we declared to be righteous before the Father, and innocent of sin through Jesus Christ.
Jesus Atoning sacrifice and resurrection made it as though we had never been sinners— so that our relationship with the Father might be restored.
Here’s a technicality that we must not forget:
Our being sinless does not grant us, earn us eternal life.
As we just saw in Romans 6:23: eternal life is a gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jesus prophesied of His Atonement work:
Jeremiah 33:8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
Please Turn to The Reconciliation Chapter – 2 Corinthians 5
Here is how it works: Jesus would have to die for the sins of the world—and His Father would have to restore Him to life and glory!
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Spiritually, it is like the new creation relationship with God that Adam and Eve once enjoyed in the Garden of Eden.
With Atonement, God is replacing our sinful flesh with a New Creation – a new heart and a new mind like His!
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
So we can see that for reconciliation between man and God to be restored requires a monumental work on God the Father’s part:
2 Corinthians 5:18 All things are of God [the Father], who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation… [not only toward God, but with all the brethren as well].
Only God [the Father] can restore a right relationship to Himself. Only God is able to reconcile this sinful world back to Himself. Atonement is the answer.
… “given to us the ministry of reconciliation”…
God fully expects us to follow in His steps and be reconciled to others.
The ‘ministry of reconciliation’ means that our reconciliation to the Father must extend to all the brethren as well. We pray, “Our Father,” not “You and me Lord.” A lot of people do not practice this. It is very difficult!
This is a great sin in the Church of God today – the separation of corporate organizations, and the people of God from one another.
It is incumbent on us that we restore right relationships with others – as we are able, especially in the household of God. [Church brethren]
An important Point: God worked through Jesus Christ to reconcile the world to Himself. The Father did not work through anyone else to reconcile the world to Himself.
2 Corinthians 5:19 To wit, that God [the Father] was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
“not imputing their trespasses unto them,” We are no longer held guilty, nor are we blamed. Remember, that our trespasses were placed on Christ’s head? Our sins were carried away! [borne away by Christ, John 1:29]
2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Notice closely the meaning of this Day of Atonement:
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He [God the Father] has made Him [Jesus Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
Jesus bore our sins. Jesus became sin. God the Father had to turn His back on sin, represented by Jesus, and allow Him to stand alone; to die alone.
Jesus Christ willingly submitted to that estrangement.
Hanging on the stake at Passover, Jesus said, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46) in Hebrew, Mark 15:34 has this quote in Chaldee or Aramaic, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani”
God the Father had turned away from Jesus to let Him stand alone and die alone – because He had become “sin” personified.
Title: A Matter of Life and Death. That is a well-known phrase that involves decisions that will determine whether someone lives or dies.
Jesus must be the enthroned Savior on the throne of God for reconciliation to be entire and complete (Ephesians 1:20, Revelation 3:21).
Had He remained dead after dying to cover our sins—He would be no Savior at all. There is no such thing as a dead Savior.
How could we rise in the clouds – and who would we meet there – if Jesus were not alive?
1 Thessalonians 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them [the Church brethren] also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. [Jesus Christ is alive again.]
1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
In Romans 5, there is a most important Scripture that drives home to us the meaning of Atonement. Had Jesus remained dead after dying to cover our sins—He would be no Savior at all. Over and over in today’s sermon we will see in the Scriptures that Jesus died and then He lives again!
Paul wrote about this matter of the life and death of Jesus in this way:
Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Brethren, please mark that verse in your Bible, because Paul clearly says that Atonement takes both – death and life—because it is salvational!
It takes… Jesus death, to pay the penalty of the sins of the world, and Jesus resurrection to life, for our salvation.
The beloved apostle John described salvation in Jesus Christ, this way:
John 11:25-26 Jesus said unto [Martha], I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live … and shall never die.
2Timothy 2:11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him:
On the Day of Atonement the sins of the entire nation of Israel were transferred to the azazel goat of departure.
Let me give you an exact picture of the second goat – the goat of departure going away in fulfillment of prophecy.
It was a sad day for Jesus’ disciples when Jesus told them that He must depart from them:
Jesus is the fulfilment of the Azazel goat of departure in His own words.
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is to your advantage that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send [the Holy Spirit] unto you.
Jesus did not use the word depart accidently or casually. Jesus was driving a point home to us! The roots of the Hebrew word azazel, indicate a goat of “departure,” or “going away.”
That is a picture of the second goat—being alive and departing.
The Old Testament offerings are about Jesus – because, unknown to the world, all the Levitical offerings are about Jesus – they point to Jesus, or have to do with Jesus and His work. There are no exceptions to this rule.
That is why there are two goats in Leviticus 16—one had to die—and one had to live.
The first goat had to die for cleansing;
The second goat, the azazel goat had to remain alive for bearing the sins away and removing them from God’s presence.
To properly represent Jesus Christ, the Messiah, in Leviticus 16, in the Old Testament, it was necessary that an animal be sacrificed to represent Jesus Christ that could both die and then live again. [That is impossible! It takes two identical goats.]
The first goat in Leviticus 16 – selected by the LORD – represents Jesus Christ dying for our sins.
This is very clear…
Leviticus 16:9 And Aaron [the High Priest] shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
That first goat offered, represents Jesus Christ dying for our sins.
Bur, please remember that Jesus died, and then rose again.
That is most important if we are going to see the picture God is presenting to us.
The first goat being offered is only a part of the picture – the part the world understands – Jesus died for our sins.
To properly represent Jesus Christ, the Messiah, in Leviticus 16, it was necessary that an animal be sacrificed to represent Jesus Christ that could both die and then live again.
Where do you get an animal like that? The answer is, “You don’t.”
Unfortunately, there is no animal that could meet those qualifications.
The solution to this dilemma was to use two precisely identical goats for a single sin offering.
There is no being comparable to Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the (only occurrence in KJV) atonement / reconciliation is also correct [being restored to favor with God, being made right with God].
1Peter 2:24 [Jesus] Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins [we buried the old man of sin], should live unto righteousness:
Not to be redundant – this theme of death to life is ubiquitous in the Holy Scriptures.
Colossians 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in Him [Jesus] should all fullness dwell;
Colossians 1:20-22 And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, through [Jesus] God reconciled all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His [Jesus’] flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight:
The Day of Atonement pictures our being cleansed from sin and the reconciliation of all mankind to God.
Atonement comes in two stages: First to the brethren who are called by God, and then the rest of the world when God’s Spirit will be poured out on them.
…At that final fulfillment of the Day of Atonement – just prior to the Millennium.
As the Plan of God is unfolding, the realization of the Day of Atonement shows how God the Father will make reconciliation to Himself, possible for all the sinful world.
Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh;
Christ’s death on His last Passover on earth has made reconciliation possible for those called to be Children of God at this time.
We in God’s Church have been atoned for – and have direct access to God the Father. The world, living in sin, has not yet been atoned for.
That is what this Day pictures—the atonement of the World.
Passover and the Day of Atonement each teach us about the forgiveness of sin and our reconciliation to God through Christ’s sacrifice.
Brethren, we in God’s Church have been reconciled to God the Father—the world awaits its justification at a soon coming Atonement Day.
For those who have not yet been called and receive God’s Spirit, this Day of Atonement looks forward to the time shortly after Jesus has returned to this earth, and just prior to the Kingdom of God being set up in the Millennium.
It is God’s intent that all men be reconciled to Him, and ultimately be saved.
Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, … crowned with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.
1Timothy 2:3-4 … God our Savior will have all men to be saved.
After His death on the cross, Jesus was raised to life by His Father that we might be saved.
This often repeated truth is one of the most repeated facts in the Bible.
It was prophesied in Leviticus 16, where two indistinguishable goats representing Jesus Christ were being offered.
At the end of the ceremony – one goat is dead and the other is alive (:10).
On Atonement God desired to have a sin offering that would be sacrificed and yet live to represent both the sacrificed Jesus Christ, and the resurrected Jesus Christ—the two aspects of the Day of Atonement.
The resurrection to eternal spiritual life of Jesus was the greatest miracle ever worked by God the Father.
Jesus had been dead and lifeless in His grave for three days and three nights when, as Paul said:
Ephesians 1:17-20 [I always pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, enlighten your eyes to the understanding of what is the hope of His calling [which is our resurrection to life], and what the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what His mighty and exceeding greatness of His power toward us, the same power which He worked in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. {excerpted paraphrase}
After Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross in payment of our sins, God the Father, in the single greatest act of miraculous power, raised Jesus to eternal spiritual life, and glory that He possessed before the creation of the world (John 17:5) so that we might be saved.
After His life’s work on earth, God the Father enthroned Jesus at His own right hand in the heavenly places.
There is a place saved there for us also: Jesus said:
Revelation 3:21: To the one who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with me on my throne, just as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
Paul compared Christ’s resurrection to our resurrection:
1 Corinthians 6:14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by His own power.
Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, [God] hath quickened us together with Christ
Can we even begin to realize that incredible power that it took to raise the dead Jesus back to life?
That, is the same incredible power that God is presently using in us to bring us to the point of being His eternal Children in the Family of God?
Ephesians 1:19 What is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power,
The principle method of interpretation in God’s church has always been that Scripture interprets Scripture, and that a doctrine, definition of a word, or a pattern requires at least two or more substantiating Scriptures.
What if a doctrine is mentioned a few dozen times? That shows God’s intense emphasis on what is written.
There is a preponderance of Scripture showing that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead. Azazel is alive!
Let’s look at a few more among two-dozen Scriptures indicating that Jesus Christ was raised from death to life by God the Father: Please notice how much this one single point is emphasized and driven home to us.
In Peter’s sermon at Pentecost he said of Jesus:
Acts 2:24 Whom God has raised up [to life], having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it.
Acts 2:32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Peter speaking of the atoning covenant God made with Abraham saying: And in thy seed [Jesus] shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
Acts 3:15 And killed the Prince of life [Jesus], whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
Acts 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said:
Acts 4:10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole.
Acts 5:29-30 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Peter opened his mouth and said:
Acts 10:40 Him [Jesus] God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
Paul and Barnabas at Antioch taught:
Acts 13:29-30 … they laid Jesus in a sepulcher. But God raised Him from the dead:
Acts 13:33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus again [to life];
Acts 13:34 And as concerning that [God] raised Him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption,
Acts 13:37 But He, whom God raised again [to life]; saw no corruption.
Acts 17:31 … [God] hath raised Him from the dead.
Paul explains why Jesus Christ encompasses both aspects of death and life:
Romans 4:24-25 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on [God the Father] who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered [unto death] for our offences [sins and transgressions], and was raised [to life] again for our justification [exoneration / acquittal / declared righteous before the Father, and innocent of sin through in Jesus Christ].
Over and over we find Paul explaining the nature of Leviticus 16’s two goats.
Paul wrote about the two-fold process of atonement, and Christ’s resurrection to life, beautifully:
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
“Walk in newness of life” has two meanings. Yes, we are to live our lives as the sinless Christ lived His life.
But, it also means that just as Christ lives eternally, we will live also. Our death penalty has been taken away, and we have salvation through Christ’s life and resurrection.
Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Romans 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. [Christ paid our cost.]
Romans 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him
Romans 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Romans 6:10 In that [Christ] died, He died once unto sin: but in that He lives, He lives [continuously] unto God.
Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Man had sinned and the price of sin is the death of mankind.
Jesus died to pay that price in our stead.
Interestingly enough, a great deal of the world understands that concept.
God became a man with a nature like man’s sinful nature, to condemn sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3).
Paul mentions Christ’s resurrection, and ours, to life in this single verse:
Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of Him [God the Father] who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through His Spirit that dwells in you.
Paul describes what it takes for a Christian to be saved:
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess (verbally acknowledge, even covenanting with Him in obedience) with thy mouth the Lord Jesus (That He is LORD and recognizing His Power, Authority and Majesty as God), and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
In the resurrection chapter Paul commented:
1 Corinthians 15:15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ [from the dead]: whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. [But, they do.]
2 Corinthians 5:15 And that He [Jesus] died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but [live] unto Him who died for them, and rose again.
Paul trusted in God:
2 Corinthians 1:9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead:
2 Corinthians 13:4 For though [Jesus] was crucified through weakness, yet He lives by the power (dunamis) of God.
Yes, that power of God is the same power we saw in Ephesians where the Father in exceeding great power raised Jesus from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places.
Paul’s very first words to the Galatians were:
Galatians 1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead.
Ephesians 2:5-6 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ [made alive, 2:1], … And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Philippians 2:8-9 And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath raised Him to the highest position, and given Him a name which is above every name:
Over and over, Paul ties our resurrection to that of Christ:
Colossians 2:12-13 Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, has He quickened (made alive) together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses.
1 Thessalonians 1:10 And to wait for [God’s] Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Peter’s writings here are some of the most profound in the Scriptures…
1 Peter 1:18-21 [We are] redeemed … with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by Him do believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened [made alive] by the Spirit [of God].
Hebrews 5:7 In the days of His flesh, when [Jesus] had offered up [exacting] prayers and [urgent] supplications with strong crying and tears [for that which He needed] unto [God the Father] who was able to save Him from death [through the resurrection to life], and was heard because of His reverent submission toward God [His sinlessness and His unfailing determination to do the Father’s will]. (Amplified Bible paraphrased)
Hebrews 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
That payment of our sins reconciled us to the Father, paving the way for us to be His eternal Children.
The Day of Atonement pictures two things Jesus does for us:
He paid the price of sin for us;
He removes the guilt of sin from us so that we can appear before His Father.
Hebrews 9:12-14 not only shows Jesus’ fulfillment of the first goat with His own blood, but also how superior His shed blood was, even to the point of cleansing consciences:
God the Father then declares us legally innocent of all charges.
We are completely innocent and exonerated before the High Court of heaven.
Paul writing to Roman Christians expounded on how Jesus Christ first died – but then He was raised alive again: Paul, writing of Jesus:
Romans 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again [to secure] our justification.
Atonement encompasses getting right with God, and it takes both the death and life of Jesus.
With John 3:16 in mind, “God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son,” Paul wrote:
Romans 5:8 God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
A major theme of Paul’s writings is the Death to Life aspect of Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection.
Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together [made us alive ] with Christ, by (grace ye are saved;)
Ephesians 2:6 And [God] hath raised us up together,[Jesus and us – resurrected together] and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 53:6 … the LORD hath laid on Him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all.
The world raves about the resurrection of Jesus to life—not knowing when it took place or the significance of it:
Before our baptism, God the Father knew what sinners we had been – and why would He want to have anything to do with us? He knows good and well that we are actually guilty of sinning against Him. At that point, why would He give us the gift of eternal life?
When Jesus has paid the death sentence penalty for our sins, called for by God’s law (Romans 6:23), He purged our conscience—giving us a good reputation with our Father.
Isaiah 43:25 (Jesus speaking:) I, even I, am he that blots out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.
Jesus announced Himself to the apostle John:
Revelation 1:18 I am He who lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore.
Romans 5:21 As sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 8:6 To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. [Sin brings death (Romans 6:23)].
Romans 6:5 If we have been buried together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection [to life]:
Is Paul belaboring the point? I think not!
Paul is making a vital point.
We have seen clearly in Leviticus 16:5 where Paul finds his inspiration for Christ’s two-fold, life/death combination, which is necessary for our reconciliation with God to take place.
In Leviticus 16 the two goats begin by being indistinguishable, but by the end of the ceremony – one is dead and the other is alive.
The two goats comprise one offering—two goats for a [single] sin offering (Leviticus 16:5).
God satisfied the single-sin-offering by requiring two identical goats be used to represent each of two characteristics of Atonement.
One goat’s life was sacrificed so its blood could be used to cleanse.
The second goat was left alive and set free, representing the living resurrected Jesus seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven.
Romans 5:17 For if by one man’s [Adam’s] offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
Romans 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection [to Life]:
Isaiah 53:6 is a Biblical witness that it is Jesus upon whom the LORD hath laid the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:11 He shall … justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities.
Isaiah 53:12 Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Again, only Jesus bears away our sins (John 1:29).
God satisfied the single-sin-offering by requiring two identical goats be used to represent each of two characteristics of Atonement.
One goat was sacrificed unto death – as Jesus Christ was, – and the live goat bore the iniquities of mankind away as Jesus Christ also does.
End: A Matter of Life and Death
For more information on this important subject, I’ve attached two sermons by David C. Grabbe:
https://www.cgg.org/index.cfm/library/sermon/id/5549/azazel-beginnings.htm
and
https://www.cgg.org/index.cfm/library/sermon/id/5571/azazel-endings.htm
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