Sanctuary 3 - Day of Atonement
Study given by W. D. Frazee - July 18, 1969
We would like to have Jesus come right away. What is He waiting for? The cleansing of the sanctuary.
"We are in the great day of atonement, and the sacred work of Christ for the people of God that is going on at the present time in the heavenly sanctuary should be our constant study. We should teach our children what the typical Day of Atonement signified and that it was a special season of great humiliation and confession of sins before God. The antitypical day of atonement is to be of the same character" Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, page 520.
This is for children as well. I think there is a danger sometimes of feeling that children need a different religion than older people. But as the trumpet sounds for the antitypical Day of Atonement the message is to gather the children along with all the rest (Joel 2:16). And one of the great reasons the Lord gave these kindergarten lessons is so our children as well as those of us who are grown up can understand how to be saved. We need these lessons.
We are going to study the Day of Atonement in type and antitype. The cleansing of the sanctuary as foretold in the fourteenth chapter of Daniel is the work of the antitypical Day of Atonement. The chapter in the Bible that deals with this work is the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus.
We have already studied that the great work of the sanctuary is to deal with the sin problem. The true sanctuary is in heaven,
Jesus is our High Priest there, and He is engaged in His closing work within the second veil. In order to understand what He does we study what the priest did in the ancient tabernacle that Moses built at the foot of Mount Sinai.
The cleansing of the sanctuary is the cleansing of sin accomplished by blood. The reason sins have to be taken out of the sanctuary is because they have been put into the sanctuary. The cleansing of the sanctuary is the removal of the sins that have been placed there.
The reason sins have been placed in the sanctuary is because the sinner wishes to get rid of those sins that he may escape the death penalty, and that he may be rid of sin itself. It is the work of Christ in the sanctuary to make an end of sin, to put it away. Friends, I am so thankful that Jesus is in the business of getting rid of sin.
The sanctuary is like a laundry. The great work of a laundry is to get the clothes in and get them out. They come in dirty and go out clean. Concerning those who will be saved it is written:
This the cross
" And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" Revelation 7:14.
is the work of the sanctuary. Through the sacrifice of
where the one great offering was made, and through that offering presented and ministered for us in the heavenly sanctuary, Christ is making and will make an end of sin so affliction will not rise up a second time. Rebellion will never again rear its head in the universe of God. I am glad we are living in the hour when we will see all this. We are going to see the end of sin and the ushering in of everlasting righteousness.
"And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. Leviticus 16:29,31.
The Bible calls the tenth day of the seventh month the Day of Atonement. Atonement means bringing man and God together. At-
Sanctuary 3
One-Ment. All through the year an atonement was provided as the priest sprinkled the blood in the holy place or ate some of the flesh offering and bore the sins in his own body into the holy place. Ten times in Leviticus chapters four, five, and six it states that the priest shall make an atonement.
If the priest was making the atonement every day in the holy place as the sin offerings were brought and sacrificed and ministered, why is there another service in the most holy place on a special day called the day of atonement? Why is it necessary to have a special day of atonement when the atonement was made every day by the priest?
This is an important question. Is the atonement made in the holy place or the most holy place, or is it made on the cross before we ever go to the sanctuary?
It is clear that this day we have read about is called the Day of Atonement. Therefore there is an atonement that must be made in the most holy place. That is the purpose of this Day of Atonement. What happens with and as a result of this special work?
For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD" verse 30.
Does the Day of Atonement cleanse the sanctuary or the people? Both:
"And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation" verse 33.
The sanctuary needs an atonement. The sanctuary needs cleansing (Daniel 8:14). Both apartments must be cleansed. The people need cleansing.
The sanctuary in heaven can never be cleansed until God's people on earth are cleansed. This is why this whole subject is of supreme importance. This is why I read from Vol. 5 that we are in the great Day of Atonement, and the sacred work of Christ for the people of God that is going on at the present time in the
Sanctuary 3
heavenly sanctuary should be our constant study.
What does constant mean? Once a year? No, all the time. We should teach our children what the typical Day of Atonement signified. It was a special day of great humiliation and confes- sion of sins before God.
Dear parents, if Jesus is coming as soon as we hope He is, will our children need to meet these issues while they are still children? Yes. We must have that in mind all the while. It is not only a solemn thought, it is a happy thought that Jesus is coming soon. And it is a glad thought that He is in the work of cleansing His people from sin that He may cleanse the sanctuary from sin. The very thought of it should make us all glad.
Let us see if we can find out how this work of the Day of Atonement is carried forward. We have seen that it is a work of cleansing. When the sun sets on that day we have a clean sanctuary and a clean people. The sad thing is that back there they opened up shop and started all over again the next day. The blood of bulls and goats was not sufficient to accomplish what it represented. It was only a lesson teaching what Jesus could and would accomplish through the sacrifice of His blood.
In Leviticus 16 notice in verse five that on the morning of this day two kids of goats were presented by the congregation at the tabernacle. In verse seven and eight we see Aaron, the high priest, casting lots. These two goats standing side by side were to be marked - one for the Lord and one for the scapegoat. When they had been marked the Lord's goat is slain, and the priest takes the blood of the Lord's goat within the inner veil and sprinkles it on the mercy seat above the ark.
We have already noticed that before the sin offering was slain the sin was confessed over it. The man put his hands on it and confessed his sins, thus putting the sin on the sacrifice. But it is interesting to notice that no hands were put on the Lord's goat. No sins were confessed over it. The sins for which this blood was shed and ministered were already in the sanctuary. They had been put in day by day through these offerings that the people brought when they confessed their sins.
When Jesus died on the cross He was the antitype of every Sanctuary 3
offering that had been slain from the gates of Eden right down to the day He died. Every goat and bullock and lamb that died pointed forward to Jesus dying on the cross. But keep in mind that when Jesus died upon the cross He died bearing our sins, but He also died as the sinless One. This is important. If He had not died bearing our sins there would have been no reason for Him to die. But bearing our sins did not make Him a sinner. He was treated as a sinner, but if He had really been a sinner then His death would not have availed to atone for our sins at all.
So when we look to Calvary we see a sinless One dying; the just for the unjust. But we see Him bearing our sins. That is what kills Him. He is an innocent One suffering for the guilty.
Back in the sanctuary both of those lessons were taught. Day by day the people put their sins upon the sacrifice and slew it in order that the sin-bearing life might be taken into the sanctuary either through the blood or the flesh eaten. All year the priest and the sanctuary were bearing the sins of the people so they might be free.
On the Day of Atonement those sins must all be erased in the final atonement. Here we see the sinless One typified by the offering upon whom no sins are confessed. We see this sinless One dying, the just for the unjust. His blood is taken in and sprinkled upon the mercy seat.
This involves something far more than someone from heaven coming down here and dying for us. Before Jesus died on the cross He was born into the human family, taking our nature. For over thirty years He lived in this world the life of a human being. In this human body He lived out the law which He Himself had written on the tables of stone. He said, I have kept My Father's command- ments. So He was the living law. And when He came to the cross, He came with a body in which the will of God had been perfectly carried out. He wasn't just some being from far off space dying for us. The life that was poured out on Calvary was a life in which had been demonstrated here in human flesh the keeping of God's commandments. And it is because of the life that He lived that the death He died could make atonement for us.
"It is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life" Leviticus 17:14 - (Revised Version).
Sanctuary 3
Because of the life Jesus lived, that life could be poured out for us. Not only does He bear those sins in the most holy place, but in the final atonement that perfect life which he lived in humanity is presented as the atonement for everyone of His children.
Do we have any instruction as to who are going to have their sins blotted out in the final atonement. Will everyone who begins finish? Will everyone who starts complete? Will everyone whose name has been written in the book of life finally have all their sins erased? Will there be some names blotted out of the book of life? Oh, yes. The investigative judgment which is now going on in the most holy place is to ascertain who has reached that place where Jesus can blot out their sin.
Leviticus 16 tells the people had to afflict their souls on the Day of Atonement. It was a very solemn day. There was no eating on that day, and no work done (verse 29). Why? So the people would have no excuse to keep from gathering at the sanctu- ary. No man could say he wished he could be up there but he has to keep his shop open, or he has to go work in the field. No woman could say she would like to go up there, but she has dinner to fix. No work, no eating. No sowing or reaping. No housecleaning. Nothing. When the priest goes into the most holy place to make the atonement everything else stops. Everyone comes to the sanctuary because it is the day of judgment. And God said that any soul that will not be afflicted in that day shall be cut off from His people.
So when the sun set on that day a man was either cut off from the congregation, or else his sins had been cleansed from the sanctuary and himself.
When the high priest had done this work within the veil, when covered with the cloud of incense he had sprinkled the blood of the sacrificial goat upon the mercy seat making the final atonement, there was a further service to be done. It was not to make an atonement for the children of Israel, but to accomplish a very important purpose.
"And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the
Sanctuary 3
live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness" Leviticus 16:20-22.
This is the scapegoat. This is the goat standing there alive while all this work was going on within the veil. The priest comes out bearing the sins from the sanctuary which had been atoned, and puts his hand on the head of the goat. How many hands? Both of them. While he puts his hands on the goat he confesses the sins of Israel. How many of them? All of them. What is accomplished by this? Verse 21 is a clear verse that shows the transfer of sin from one place to another and one person to another. When the high priest put his hands on that goat and confessed the sins of Israel they were transferred to the scape- goat. Those sins had been in the sanctuary all year. The work of the daily service was to take them in. The work of the yearly service was to take them out.
The priest bore the sins from the sanctuary. Did any of those sins originate in the sanctuary? Not a bit. The work of the daily service was to take them into the sanctuary. The work of the yearly service was to take them out. It took blood to put them in, and it took blood to take them out on the Day of Atonement. None are left in the sanctuary. They are put on the head of the scapegoat and led off into the wilderness. It must have been a wonderful relief to see that goat led away. In my imagination I watch with those two million people as they see that man leading that scapegoat away. What is on it? Their sins. That scapegoat is led so far away that they never see it again. It is gone, and with it their sins.
This scapegoat represents Satan. Our enemies like to make capital of our teaching that Satan is the scapegoat, and they say Satan is therefore our sin-bearer. There is a lot more to the sin problem than simply confessing our sin and getting forgiveness. Who started this sin business anyway? Satan did. He not only started it but he has kept it up. He is the tempter in every sin.
When David broke the law of God who tripped him? Satan. When Peter denied his Lord with cursing and swearing who tripped
Sanctuary 3
him? Satan. It is true we have a choice to make. We can't blame the devil for yielding. But he is a party to the crime.
Let me illustrate it. Suppose some boys are discovered breaking into a house and stealing. They are brought into court. There is no question but that they are guilty of the crime for they are found with the stolen goods. They are punished. Then it is discovered that some old criminal deep in sin and crime has taught these boys to do that. Will the law do anything to him? I hope so. And suppose there is found some way that the judge can pardon these boys that have broken the law. Does that let that old criminal that taught them to do it go free? No.
When Jesus died upon the cross, did He die for the devil? Did he die to relieve the devil of his responsibility in all these sins? No. Then when Jesus has made full and final atonement for the sins of His people that old criminal still deserves to be punished for every sin he caused them to commit. This is what happened to the scapegoat. This is justice. It has nothing to do with Satan bearing our sins in the sense that he bears them so we don't have to. Jesus bore our sins, but He didn't bear our sins to let the devil off. He bore our sins so we could get rid of them, and they would at last be put back where they came from.
What a wonderful thing it is going to be when the antitypical scapegoat laden with the load of universal sin is led off. After he wanders over this broken earth for a thousand years, he is finally going to perish in the lake of fire. That will be the end of sin. The author of sin must be destroyed before the sin problem is eternally solved. And all this is involved in this wonderful work of the Day of Atonement.
Where is Jesus now? He is in the most holy place. What is He engaged in? The work of the final atonement. What has to happen before our names are retained in the book of life and our sins are blotted out? The investigative judgment. When our names are called in judgment, what is it that Jesus must show? That we have confessed our sins, and that they are covered with His blood.
Do you see that Jesus could not blot out our sins in the sanctuary if we have not sent them in? Have you sent yours in? Sin is the transgression of the law. To break one point is to be guilty of all. And God's commandments are exceeding broad. They
Sanctuary 3
reach even to the thoughts and intents of the heart. The lustful look is a violation of the seventh commandment. The hateful thought is a violation of the sixth commandment. The covetous thought is a violation of the tenth commandment. So with all the commandments.
I am so glad that Jesus is in the business of taking our sins away, aren't you? It has cost Him everything. All these sin offerings show us something of the cost. Jesus died on the cross so our sins might be covered in the most holy place. He died so that they might be blotted out in the final atonement. And He is pleading there for us tonight. But remember, the only clothes He can wash are those that are turned in. Let's be looking over our lives every day in the light of this law so that when sin is discovered under the searchlight of the Spirit we may put it away.
We can't do this ourselves. We won't be able to see all that is wrong with us. And even if we could we can't take sin away. But we can bring our Lamb. We can come with Jesus and place those sins on Him. We can watch as He suffers, is slain on the cross, and the blood is ministered in the sanctuary. All this is to teach us the cost of sin. When we realize what it cost, and is costing, we will not want it to keep on.
"As you near the cross of Calvary there is seen love that is without a parallel. As you by faith grasp the meaning of the sacrifice, you see yourself a sinner, condemned by a broken law. This is repentance. As you come with humble heart, you find pardon, for Christ Jesus is represented as continually standing at the altar, momentarily offering up the sacrifice for the sins of the world. . . . The
atoning sacrifice through a mediator is essential because of the constant commission of sin" Selected Messages, Book 1, pages 343,344.
Did you sin yesterday? Did you confess it? That means Jesus must cover that sin with His blood in the sanctuary. This has been going on for a long time. But some day the blood is going to be sprinkled on the mercy seat, and the sanctuary will be cleansed once for all.
Sanctuary 3
Continue by clicking on the study below
Study 1 The Holy Spirit & The Sanctuary - The Sacrifice
Study 2 The Holy Spirit & The Sanctuary - The Priest
Study 3 The Holy Spirit & The Sanctuary - Day of Atonement
Study 4 The Holy Spirit & The Sanctuary - Sanctuary Closed
Study 5 The Holy Spirit & The Sanctuary - Sprinkled Blood
Study 6 The Holy Spirit & The Sanctuary - House of God