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{{DOD-February}}
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the fast (Acts 27:9), on the tenth day of the seventh month, marked the climax of access to [[God]] under the old covenant. It was the most solemn day of the entire year, when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to make annual atonement for the sins of the nation. Hebrews 10 is the [[New Testament]] commentary on this chapter, and should be read in conjunction with today's reading. The High Priest made three visits into the Holy of Holies on this day: First, to burn the incense; then with the blood of his own [[sin]] offering; and finally, with the blood of the [[sin]] offering for the people. Before any blood was taken into the Holy of Holies, the incense was first taken in. Why? Because the burning of the incense before the Mercy Seat symbolized the praise and glory of [[God]].
The Priest had to bring the blood of his offering to the Mercy Seat. The blood shed was not enough; it had to be sprinkled at the Mercy Seat. This atoned for the High Priest and his household, and thus made him a fit person to offer the [[sin]] offering for the people. All of this was preparation for the main task of the day, the offering of the [[sin]] offering for the nation.
Verse 20 of chapter 16 indicates that the blood of the [[sin]] offering "reconciled" the people and the Tabernacle to [[God]] (see Hebrews 9:23,24). Having applied the blood, the High Priest then took the live goat, laid his hands on its head and confessed the sins of the people, thus symbolically transferring their guilt to the innocent animal. The [[Word]] "scapegoat" comes from a Hebrew [[Word]] which means "to remove." This goat was then sent away into the wilderness, never to be seen again. This illustrated the removal of the nation's sins. Of course, these rituals did not remove [[sin]], since they had to be repeated year after year, but they illustrated what Christ would do when He died ONCE for the sins of the world. The believing [[Israel]]ite was saved by his [[faith]], just as we are saved by [[faith]].
Chapter 17:11 is a key verse of the [[Bible]], for it emphatically states that the only way of atonement is through the blood. Long before science discovered the marvel of blood, the [[Bible]] taught that the life is in the blood. We live in a day when "modernists" reject the doctrine of the blood of Christ. They call it "slaughterhouse religion." It needs to be made clear that the [[Bible]] is a book of blood, from Genesis (where [[God]] slew animals to clothe [[Adam]] and Eve) to Revelation (where [[John]] beheld Christ "as a Lamb that was slain"). It is not Christ the Example or Christ the Teacher who saves us; it is Christ the Lamb of [[God]], crucified for the sins of the world.