The Holiest Day of the year in Israel.
According to the Old Testament, the holiest day of the year in ancient Israel was the festival of Yom Kippur. As described in Leviticus chapter 16, this was the one day when the high priest would perform an elaborate ceremony to atone for the sins of the nation. Since the destruction of the Temple 2,000 years ago, this ritual no longer takes place. How can the ancient Day of Atonement be relevant to our lives today?
Beyond the Priestly Ceremony
Yom Kippur is the biblical “Day of Atonement”. In ancient Israel atonement meant wiping the slate clean by asking for God’s forgiveness. This was done by means of a priestly ceremony involving two goats. The first goat was sacrificed and its blood was sprinkled within the innermost room of the Temple. The second goat – the scapegoat – was sent off into the wilderness as a sign that the nation’s sins were eradicated.
To free a slave
We get a better idea of the deeper meaning of this day when we turn to the New Testament. The Letter to the Hebrews says, “Christ entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12). The word redemption here does not just mean freedom. In the original Hebrew, the word is pedut פְּדוּת which refers to paying a ransom to free a slave.
Free Yourself from Translation The idea of Yom Kippur is making a payment in order to be released from spiritual bondage. Like the high priest, Jesus made a payment with his own blood. However, unlike the high priest’s annual offering, the blood of Christ was only offered once, upon the cross. The blood of Jesus frees humanity from the slavery of sin forever. Enroll in our live online Biblical Hebrew courses and free yourself from the confines of the Bible in translation.
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