Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement

We can read about it in Leviticus 16:15, “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.

The Scapegoat: A Sin Bearer

After the first goat was sacrificed, the High Priest took the second goat—the scapegoat whose lot identified it as “For Azazel.” He laid his hands on its head as it faced the people and confessed over it all the sins of the children of Israel. This goat became a “sin bearer,” and the terrible burden of the people’s sin was transferred to it.

The scapegoat was then led into the wilderness, and according to Jewish tradition, it was pushed over a cliff. It had taken Israel’s place and was sent away from the presence of God, carrying away their sins. This powerful imagery foreshadowed how Jesus would endure this same burden and separation when He bore our sins in His body. As 1 Peter 2:24 declares: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we, removed from sins, might live for righteousness. By His wounds you were healed.”

 Jesus: Our Yom Kippur Sacrifice

Our lives mirror this atonement process of confession, repentance, and blood sacrifice. However, Jesus is both the High Priest and the sacrifice, dealing with our sin and reconciling us to God. Through His work, we who were once far away have been “brought near through the blood of Messiah” (Ephesians 2:13).

The Talmud tells us that the High Priest spent the week before Yom Kippur in preparation, even serving as an ordinary priest. He had to be ready to minister as a mediator before the presence of God, knowing that the sin of the High Priest brought guilt upon the people (Leviticus 4:3). Jesus’ earthly life and ministry were His preparation. The writer of the Book of Hebrews 5:8 tells us that He learned obedience through His own suffering, which tested and proved His obedience and the right to be the once and for all sacrifice that perfects those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14)

Facing God’s Holiness

Each year as the High Priest drew near to minister, he feared that he might be struck dead, for he was entering the Most Holy Place where God dwelt. Before entering the Holy of Holies with blood, he brought burning coals and fragrant incense. The incense’s smoke would hide the Ark from his sinful gaze so that he would not be destroyed.

Today, through Jesus’ sacrifice, we have an open invitation to enter the Most Holy Place and draw near to God. Hebrews 10:10-12 proclaims: “By His will we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Messiah Jesus once for all… when this One offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.” We can now “draw near to God” through Him who “always lives to make intercession” for us (Hebrews 7:25).

The Lesson of Jonah

The Book of Jonah is read every year on Yom Kippur because it embodies the theme of repentance. Jonah was a prophet to King Jeroboam II, a man with spiritual authority through whom the voice of the Lord was heard. Yet when God commanded him to “arise and go” to Nineveh, Jonah’s response was to flee in the opposite direction.

Jonah later revealed his motivation: “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (Jonah 4:2). He understood God’s character but rebelled against His compassion. Jonah exemplifies the reluctant servant—Jonah shos us that it’s perfectly possible to obey God with a resentful attitude.

God’s Persistent Love

God sent a great storm to redirect Jonah’s path, even when he went as far in the opposite direction. He spent three days in the belly of the fish, which brought him to a place of repentance and prayer. God used the provision and the destruction of the vine to teach him valuable lessons about compassion and love for the lost

The true lesson in the story of Jonah is that God’s heart for all people is revealed, which, despite Jonah’s attitude, included Israel’s enemies. This was a prophetic foreshadowing of the Gospel: Jesus came for all humanity.

God sent a storm, a whale, a vine, a worm, and scorching wind to teach Jonah. Even at the book’s end, we’re uncertain whether Jonah truly repented of his attitude. As Thomas Carlyle wrote: “And Jonah stalked to his shaded seat and waited for God to come around to his way of thinking. And God is still waiting for a host of Jonahs in their comfortable houses to come around to His way of loving.”

Living with the Spirit of Yom Kippur

Today, the great theme of Yom Kippur remains repentance, but our standing before God depends on who Jesus is and what He has accomplished through His sacrificial death. This is the true qualification for entrance into God’s Book of Life. The Tanach teaches us the importance of returning to God, beginning with humility and genuine seeking.

As 2 Chronicles 7:14 declares: “If My people, upon whom My name is called, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways; then will I hear from heaven, and I will forgive My sin, and I will heal their land.” Let us live each day with the spirit of Yom Kippur in our hearts—embracing a lifestyle of repentance, drawing near to our Great High Priest who understands our struggles and intercedes for us eternally.