High Priest & Day of Atonement
July 30, 2020 - Pastor Jacob Kanda
Hebrews 9:6–7 (ESV):
“These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.
The greatest moment for the Jewish high priest was when he went into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement (Yom-Kippur). The ritual for this event was carefully prescribed by the law (Lev 16). This glorious day faded into the background when compared to Christ entering heaven as our High Priest.
Only the priests and Levites were permitted to enter the tabernacle. The Mosaic law did not allow other tribes to enter. The tabernacle was not for the general population of Israel. It was not a place where people assembled for worship.
The priests went into the first room of the tabernacle day after day to perform their services. Ordinary people could not enter the tabernacle. That was only for priests. The priests were their representatives. The outer room of the tabernacle was a symbol of the Mosaic economy. There they cared for the lampstand, replaced the bread of the Presence and sacrificed two lambs every day.
The “regularly” or “always” indicates that the priests never finished sacrificing. There was no final sacrifice at that time.
The “second part” refers to the Holy of Holies room in the tabernacle. By contrast the high priest’s function was entirely different from the priests who went into the tabernacle daily. His service was much more restrictive. God made the Holy of Holies room inaccessible except for the high priest once a year on the Day of Atonement. Free access into this room or the immediate presence of God was not possible for anyone else.
The high priest could not enter the Holy of Holies without blood sacrifice (Lev 16:11, 14). Hebrews mentions “blood” 18 times, 8 times in this chapter alone. The concept of blood sacrifice is very important to the idea of payment for sin.
Unintentional Sins are sins of inadvertent errors. This is also implying of “sins” committed in ignorance. Either way these sins are wrong.
Endless repetition of sacrifices in the Old Testament meant that there was no complete or finished sacrifice of sin by animals. Only the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ could finally and fully pay for sin. His sacrifice was permanent.
Those who attempt to earn God’s pleasure by their behavior never know that they have done enough. These people need to know that Christ completed everything they failed to accomplish in reference to God. We are acceptable to God because of Him.
However, we must remember that The perfect and complete sacrifice for sin came when Jesus died on the cross for our sins and thus became our (atonement).