Once a year, in the early fall, Israel's high priest conducted a special service that is often referred to as the Day of Atonement. It was the day of "At-One-Ment" or the day when God and His people were "at-one." In the Contemporary English Version of the Bible (copyright the American Bible Society, 1995) this day is referred to as "The Great Day of Forgiveness." The sanctuary services all year long built up to this special day. As we see it now, this was the final part of the object lesson that demonstrated God's plan of salvation.

The people were told: "No one is to work on that day---it is the Great Day of Forgiveness, when sacrifices will be offered to me, so that I will forgive your sins." Leviticus 23:28 CEV. The 16th chapter of Leviticus contains very detailed instructions for the priests and people. In brief, the high priest represented the people and stood before God on their behalf. Through the rituals and animal sacrifices the people were shown that one time, once and for all, sin would be forgiven and the record wiped clean. God instructed: "Aaron, you must next sacrifice the goat for the sins of the people, and you must sprinkle its blood inside the most holy place...... By doing this, you will take away the sins that make both the most holy place and the people of Israel unclean." Leviticus 16:15,16 CEV.

The New Testament writer of the book of Hebrews says of Jesus, "We have a great high priest, who has gone into heaven, and he is Jesus the Son of God." This statement brings us back to the Old Testament object lesson that pointed forward to Jesus Christ our high priest in heaven, who, for real---takes away the sins that make us unclean. Or as we read in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

The ritual of the high priest going yearly into the most holy place and acting out his special role continued down until the time of Christ's death on the cross. It was at the cross where the object lesson ended. The true sacrifice for sins was made. The death of Jesus is described as, "Around noon the sky turned dark and stayed that way until the middle of the afternoon. The sun stopped shining, and the curtain in the temple split down the middle. Jesus shouted, 'Father I put myself in your hands!' Then he died." CEV.

The curtain splitting down the middle marked the departure of the presence of God from the most holy place. When Jesus came and died, the whole purpose of the object lesson of the Hebrew Sanctuary ended. It ceased to have a purpose. The type had met the anti-type. The real replaced the imaginary. The rituals of the priests were no longer necessary because the true Lamb of God had been slain. Recalling the words of John the Baptist we read, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29.

Next week, what happened when the "Tent of Meeting" got old and dilapidated? We will also consider why we refer to part of Jewish history as the First and Second Temple periods and why the Jews don't offer sacrifices today.

Blessings in your study of God's Word!

Marvin Hunt

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Blessings!
Marvin Hunt

Http://www.biblehistory.com

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