To Be At One (Page 14 of 14)
Introduction
· Wanted to reemphasize what I spoke of last year.
· Many who keep the holy days of Yahweh tend to focus on fasting for this day.
· Fasting is an important part of Atonement. It helps provide a much needed reminder that we are absolutely dependent on what Yahweh provides to us… our very existence… life, water, food, air!
· It also prepares us to better receive new understanding, by clearing and opening up our minds.
· Many times it frees us of the sluggishness we feel as we trudge along in our earthly existence.
· It puts us in the right state of mind to receive what Yahweh has in store for us.
· But fasting is only one part of the equation.
· There are actually many aspects to this day that we should consider.
· Principally, the name itself, the “Day of Atonement”, provides its ultimate purpose for us.
Atonement Background
· Listed as a high holy day. Leviticus 23:26-27, 29:
ü 26 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:
ü 27 “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh.”
ü 29 For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people.
· Note that we are to meet as an assembly of believers.
· We are also to “afflict our souls”… meaning we fast… of any food or liquids, for this day. This preps our minds… to open them to receive the Holy Spirit… to allow for the maximum opportunity to learn what Yahweh expects of us… to build on what we know now, and to gain further insights.
· Offerings and sacrifices were also made, by the priests, in the OT times.
· Additionally, we refrain from doing any work. Leviticus 23:28, 30-31:
ü 28 And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before Yahweh your Elohim.
ü 30 And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.
ü 31 You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
· What are we to do? Leviticus 23:32: It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.”
· The book of Numbers also summarizes these 2 important commands. Numbers 29:7: On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall afflict your souls; you shall not do any work.
· So, overall, this is something one would normally not do.
· It is a day set aside, and it is a day to make a point… to be a reminder.
· It frames our mind for something very important… something we need to be reminded of… something we need to put into practice… not only once a year, but as part of our character and habit.
· That is… to fast and do no work… in preparation of something absolutely profound.
Removal of Sin
· Leviticus chapter 16 also stresses these main thoughts concerning the Day of Atonement… with one added purpose. Leviticus 16:29-31:
ü 29 This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you.
ü 30 For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before Yahweh.
ü 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.
· Note what it says here:
1. It is commemorated once a year; on the 10th day of the 7th month.
2. It is a statute forever! We shall always celebrate it!
3. We shall afflict our souls (by fasting).
4. We shall do no work (unlike some other high Sabbaths that say we do no servile work).
5. One other element; the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, from all your sins!
· The slate is being wiped clean!
· How can the priest do that? Because Yahweh says He can… through a process that Yahweh instituted!
· Leviticus Chapter 16 also brings another element into the overall ceremony; that of the use of 2 goats to represent sin, and how their sacrifice draws away our sin, now and in the future. Leviticus 16:5, 7-10:
ü 5 And he <Aaron> shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering.
ü 7 He shall take the two goats and present them before Yahweh at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
ü 8 Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for Yahweh and the other lot for the scapegoat.
ü 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat on which Yahweh’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering.
ü 10 But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before Yahweh, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.
· Now what does all of this mean? Leviticus 16:15-17:
ü 15 Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat.
ü 16 So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
ü 17 There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.
· Even the tabernacle of meeting needed cleansing because of the sins of the people!
· This part of the ceremony removed the sins… all of the sins… of the people that have occurred over the previous year… when the last ceremony was performed.
· This is a preview of the sacrificed Messiah… Yahshua… the perfect, sinless being… that was… and is… the only sacrifice that takes away your sins and mine… when we sincerely apply that sacrifice.
· Why the need to a blood sacrifice? Leviticus 17:11: For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
· The 1st goat represented Yahshua the Messiah, who would come in human form years later, whose blood was required to be shed.
· But what about the other goat? Leviticus 16:20-22:
ü 20 And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat.
ü 21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man.
ü 22 The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
· The 2nd goat had all the iniquities of the children of Israel put on its head. But didn’t all the sins of the children of Israel just get removed with the 1st goat?
· They were, to the goat that represented Yahshua the Messiah. So what sins are we speaking of here with the 2nd goat.
· Humans, as humans are and have always been, continue to sin.
· That 2nd goat, which also takes on our sins, also represents Yahshua the Messiah!
· Only now, He is the risen, triumphant conqueror of sin and death, seated at His Father’s right hand, as our mediator. I Timothy 2:5-6:
ü 5 For there is one Eternal and one Mediator between the Eternal and men, the Man Messiah Yahshua,
ü 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
· Not all see it this way, but I recognize Him as that scapegoat of the OT ceremony, who went away (raised to eternal life, going to heaven) to continue to intervene for us, and to take on our sins, when we repent of those sins!
· So, both the sacrificed goat, and the scapegoat, of Leviticus 16, represent the Eternal Yahshua, our Messiah, and our Saviour!
· He is the one that takes away your sins immediately… the 1st goat… when you come into initial repentance and baptism.
· He is also the one that takes away your sins when… the 2nd goat… as we all fail after our baptism… but return to Him in repentance and ask for forgiveness.
Yahweh the Merciful
· So… a major element of Atonement is the removal of your sins!
· Why did Yahweh set up this system?
· Because mankind, because of their inherent nature, could not pass the test to please Yahweh, left to their own devices. Romans 8:7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against the Eternal; for it is not subject to the law of the Eternal, nor indeed can be.
· But thankfully, Yahweh is merciful. Ephesians 2:4-7:
ü 4 But the Eternal, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
ü 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Messiah (by grace you have been saved),
ü 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Messiah Yahshua,
ü 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Messiah Yahshua.
· He is also longsuffering. Psalms 86:15: But You, O Lord, are an Almighty One full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
· Yahweh is willing to work with us and remove our sins. Psalms 103:12: As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
· But… He is willing to do these things… for you and me… but only on His terms.
· What terms are those?
To Be “At One”
· One of the biggest characteristics that the Father and the Son share is that they think alike and they act alike.
· They do this perfectly… without flaw… without envy… without friction… without conflict!
· They are in essence “one”… not divergent in purpose and methods to achieve that purpose.
· Human beings are not like that. Even the most stable marriage between husband and wife cannot claim that they think and act the same.
· After all, everyone has their own opinions, right?
· Just how do we know that the Father and Son think alike?
· The OT indicates that there was only one Elohim; one Eternal and Almighty One. Isaiah 44:6: Thus says Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts: “I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no Elohim.”
· The same idea is repeated in the next chapter. Isaiah 45:21-22:
ü 21 Tell and bring forth your case; Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, Yahweh? And there is no other Almighty One <Elohim besides Me, a just Almighty One <El and a Savior; There is none besides Me.
ü 22 Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am the Almighty One <El>, and there is no other.
· Even in the NT (e.g. – James 2:19) it tells us that belief in the Eternal One is essential.
· Many have used these and verses like these to justify the Trinity doctrine; that the Eternal is really one Being with multiple personalities.
· But is that what your Bible says? Is the “one” an indication of one, singular being… or does it mean something else entirely?
· The Hebrew word Elohim itself is a plural noun; meaning more than one. It is used early in your Bible to identify the Creator of everything. Genesis 1:1, 26:
ü 1 In the beginning God <English translation, Hebrew is Elohim> created the heavens and the earth.
ü 26 Then Elohim said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”.
· Who is the “Us” and “Our” indicated here?
· These are the Ones (plural) that we refer to as the Father (Yahweh) and the Son (Yahshua).
· These are two separate beings with a very, very superior characteristic… unity.
· They think and act as one. Yahshua presented a testimony of unity. John 3:10-12:
ü 10 Yahshua answered <Nicodemus> and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?
ü 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.
ü 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”