Feast of the Lord
Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur (יוֹם כִּפּוּר)
When · The tenth day of the seventh month (Tishrei), in autumn — the most solemn day of Israel's year.
One day a year, one man — the high priest — stepped behind the veil into the presence of God on behalf of an entire nation, carrying blood, while everyone outside held their breath.
Origin
The Day of Atonement was the one day the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place, where God's presence dwelt above the ark. After cleansing himself, he offered a bull for his own sins, then took two goats for the people: one was sacrificed and its blood sprinkled to cleanse the sanctuary, while over the other he confessed the nation's sins and sent it away into the wilderness — the 'scapegoat' that carried their guilt out of the camp. The people fasted and afflicted their souls, and on this day the nation's sin was covered for another year.
Historical Background
Yom Kippur was the climax of the autumn feasts and the holiest day on the calendar — a sabbath of complete rest and total fast. Its elaborate ritual, described in Leviticus 16, was the only time the high priest entered the inner sanctuary; tradition held that he did so with great fear. The two goats — one slain, one sent away — together pictured the double need of atonement: sin must be both punished and removed.
How It's Observed
Yom Kippur is kept as a full day of fasting from food and drink, rest, and intense prayer, devoted to confession and seeking reconciliation with God and others. It closes the Days of Awe begun at Trumpets. Worshippers spend much of the day in the synagogue; the fast ends at nightfall with a single long blast of the shofar — a release into mercy received.
In Christ
Hebrews reads the whole day as a shadow of Christ. He is the true High Priest who entered not an earthly sanctuary but heaven itself, 'not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood... securing an eternal redemption' (Hebrews 9:12). He is also both goats: the one slain to cleanse, and the scapegoat who carries sin away — 'as far as the east is from the west.' What had to be repeated every year, Jesus accomplished once for all. The veil that kept people out was torn at his death.
Why It Matters Today
The Day of Atonement confronts the seriousness of sin and the costliness of forgiveness — it is never cheap. For the Christian it magnifies the cross: the access Israel glimpsed one day a year through a trembling priest is now open continually through Christ. Believers can 'draw near with confidence' to a God who has already dealt fully with their guilt.
Scriptural Basis
Leviticus 16:30
'On this day atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you.'
Leviticus 16:21-22
The scapegoat carries all the people's sins into the wilderness.
Hebrews 9:11-12
Christ entered the holy places 'once for all' by his own blood.
Hebrews 10:10
We are made holy through the offering of Christ's body once for all.
Did You Know
- The English word 'scapegoat' was coined to translate the goat sent into the wilderness on this day — a biblical image now woven into everyday language.
- When Jesus died, the Gospels report the Temple veil — the very curtain the high priest passed through on this day — was torn from top to bottom.
- Yom Kippur is the only fast God commanded in the Law; every other appointed feast is a celebration.