What is the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur?

Between the Feast of Trumpets/Yom Teruah and the Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur are 9 days apart. Yom
Kippur is the holiest day of the year, a time of true repentance and physical and spiritual humility, a solemn
day charged with symbolism through the historical events that defined its past, but especially through the
prophecies that are to be fulfilled in the future. It is a Great Day of Shabbat on which the whole of Israel as a
community, as a chosen people, seeks to reconcile itself, to ask forgiveness from the Heavenly Father for all
the LAWLESS things they have done out of ignorance and unaware, and also from all those they have harmed.
It is the day on which the High Priest of Israel officiated at the ceremony of the atonement sacrifice and the
only day of the year on which he was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the people
of Israel. This procession was not only symbolically charged but was of immense responsibility, the High Priest
having the role of making atonement for all the people of Israel with humility and deep repentance, his own
life being at stake if he was not found worthy for this Great Office. As the first function in the Yom Kippur
procession we see the High Priest first bringing a calf as a sacrifice of atonement for himself and his house.
We then see as the next step how the High Priest draws lots between two perfect goats, one goat as a sin
offering for the people of Israel brought to YHVH, and the second goat after all the sins of Israel were
pronounced over his head (bore the curses of Israel) was to be released into the wilderness as the goat of
Azazel. The second goat was to bear the sins of the people in the desert also as a symbol of atonement .
Although each of these stages of the procession may seem shrouded in mystery and perhaps not understood
at a first analysis of the text, they are each symbolically charged and prophetically refer to the Saviour as the
High Priest, as the calf himself brought as a sacrifice and also as the two goats, each playing a very important
role in the process of cleansing from sins - atonement, a procession that took place annually.
Evidently the Savior as High Priest in the Heavenly Temple fulfilled this honorable calling, giving Himself as
the perfect atonement sacrifice for YHVH's people and the grafted into Israel, representing the calf that was
to become the atonement sacrifice for Himself and His House/Family, the goat that was to be offered as
YHVH's atonement sacrifice for the people of Israel, and also the goat that was to bear all the LAWLESNESS of
the people in the wilderness, becoming a curse for us at the stake. All these sacrifices had a double function, to
COVER the sins of the people, and to point to THAT Saviour who would prophetically fulfil all the atonement
sacrifices, once and for all, by bringing his own blood into the Heavenly Temple as the perfect atonement
sacrifice, accepted by the Heavenly Father.
We read the whole procession in Leviticus chapter 16.
Through the atoning sacrifice of Yahusha Messiah who opened the Way giving access to every sinner (both the
people of Israel and the Gentiles grafted into Israel) to enter the Holy of Holies on a spiritual level after the
tearing of the veil inside the Temple, we have the great privilege and honour of bringing before YHVH our
prayers of repentance and forgiveness, which represent our fragrant prayers before YHVH, both for us
individually and for all Israel, the people of which we are a part. The sacrificial system established in the Tent
of Meeting and later in the Temple in Jerusalem was a "shadow of things to come", symbolizing the sacrifice of
the Lamb of YHVH. It was to open the way to our own individual sacrifice which is brought daily through
turning from sin, prayers, fasting, humility of heart, songs of praise and obedience to YHVH's Word, in a
word by what Paul calls each of us to do daily - dying to the flesh (to our fleshly lusts - physical and spiritual),
giving up doing the will of the flesh (the sin that works in us) and living by the laws of the Spirit (in spiritual
cleansing through obedience to YHVH). In Hebrews 10:19-22 Paul calls us to bring our individual sacrifices
before YHVH, presenting ourselves honorably before our Creator " let us draw near with a true heart in
completeness of belief, having our hearts sprinkled from a wicked conscience and our bodies washed with
clean water"
The Creator of heaven and earth wants to live among men, but mankind is too attached to the fallen ways of
this world. Heaven's solution is represented in the imagery and ceremony of the Tent of Meeting and the work
of Yahusha Messiah. Discover in the reading of the Torah Vayikra which means "and He called" (Leviticus 1:1-
6:7) how the cry of our heart and the way we present ourselves before the Creator bringing our garments -
prayers, songs, turning from sin, fasting and obedience to the commandments, determines whether we are a
pleasing incense of „sweet fragrant aroma” unto YHVH.
1 Corinthians 15:31 „I affirm, by the boasting which I have in Messiah Yahusha our Master, I die day by day.”
Romans 12:1 “I call upon you, therefore, brothers, through the compassion of Elohim, to present your bodies a
living offering – set-apart, well-pleasing to Elohim – your reasonable worship.”
Galatians 5:24-25 „And those who are of Messiah have impaled the flesh with its passions and the desires. If
we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
Luke 9:23 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his stake daily, and follow
Me.”
1 Peter 2:24 „who Himself bore our sins in His body on the timber, so that we, having died to sins, might live
unto righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed.” – The choice belongs to each of us every moment,
dying to sin we live in righteousness (we walk in the Spirit serving the Master YHVH), while continuing in sin we
serve the earthly flesh. We serve either the Master YHVH or the enemy, there is no in between.
1 Peter 4:1-3,6,11,18,19 “Therefore, since Messiah suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same
mind, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin; so that he no longer lives the rest of his
time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but according to the desire of Elohim. For we have spent enough of our
past lifetime in doing the desire of the gentiles, having walked in indecencies, lusts, drunkenness, orgies, wild
parties, and abominable idolatries, For this reason the Good News was also brought to those who are dead, so
that, whereas they are judged according to men in the flesh, they might live according to Elohim in the spirit.. If
anyone speaks, let it be as the Words of Elohim. If anyone serves, let it be as with the strength which Elohim
provides, so that Elohim might be praised in it all through Yahusha Messiah, to whom belong the esteem and
the rule forever and ever. And if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where shall the wicked and the sinner
appear? So then, those who suffer according to the desire of Elohim should commit their lives to a
trustworthy Creator, in doing good.
Revelation 8:3-4 „And another messenger came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer, and much
incense was given to him, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the set-apart ones upon the golden
altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the set-apart ones, went
up before Elohim from the hand of the messenger.” We see the High Priest Yahusha Messiah fulfilling the same
functions in the Heavenly Temple by bringing the prayers of the saints as sweet fragrant aroma during the
process of incense burner, the same as described above in Leviticus 16.

Instructions for the tenth day of the seventh month - Day of Atonement
Leviticus 16:29-34 „“And this shall be for you a law forever: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the
month, you afflict your beings, and do no work, the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. “For on
that day he makes atonement for you, to cleanse you, to be clean from all your sins before YHVH. “It is a
Sabbath of rest for you, and you shall afflict your beings – a law forever. “And the priest, who is anointed and
ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, the
set-apart garments, and he shall make atonement for the Most Set-apart Place, and make atonement for the
Tent of Meeting and for the altar, and make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.
“And this shall be for you a law forever, to make atonement for the children of Yisra’ĕl, for all their sins, once a
year.” And he did as YHVH commanded Mosheh.”
Leviticus 23:27-32 „“On the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be a set-apart
gathering for you. And you shall afflict your beings, and shall bring an offering made by fire to YHVH. “And you
do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before YHVH your
Elohim. “For any being who is not afflicted on that same day, he shall be cut off from his people. “And any
being who does any work on that same day, that being I shall destroy from the midst of his people. You do no
work – a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ‘It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you
shall afflict your beings. On the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you observe
your Sabbath.”
Leviticus 25:9  „‘You shall then sound a ram’s horn to pass through on the tenth day of the seventh month, on
the Day of Atonement cause a ram’s horn to pass through all your land.”
Exodus 30:10 „And Aharon shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering
of atonement – once a year he makes atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most set-apart to
YHVH.”
Numbers 29:7-11 „And on the tenth day of this seventh month you have a set-apart gathering, and you shall
afflict your beings, you do no work. And you shall bring near a burnt offering to YHVH, a sweet fragrance: one
young bull, one ram, seven lambs a year old, perfect ones they are for you, and their grain offering: fine flour
mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ĕphah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram, one-tenth for each of the
seven lambs, one male goat as a sin offering, besides the sin offering for atonement, the continual burnt
offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.”
Hebrews 9:23-26 “It was necessary, then, that the copies of the heavenly ones should be cleansed with these,
but the heavenly ones themselves with better slaughter offerings than these. For Messiah has not entered
into a Set-apart Place made by hand – figures of the true – but into the heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of Elohim on our behalf, not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters into the Set-
apart Place year by year with blood not his own. For if so, He would have had to suffer often, since the
foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the
offering of Himself.”
At the end of the ages - on the 4th day from creation - the Savior was revealed to the people of Israel for the
first time, although his birth was foretold as part of YHVH's Plan of Salvation as early as Genesis 3:15 "I will put
a curse between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. She shall bruise your head, and you
shall bruise her heel." The 4th day of creation means 4,000 years according to 2 Peter 3:8 "with YHVH one day
is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.." So the 4th day of the 6 days of creation (not
counting the 7th day which is a separate day of rest - the Millennium), is of course the point that marks the
midpoint of the ages from the "end of the ages". Each 2,000 year period is CLEARLY delineated in Scripture by
two central figures, Abraham, the father of Israel and the Gentile descendants of Israel, whom Scripture calls
"the friend of YHVH" in Isaiah 41:8, 2 Chronicles 20:7 and James 2: 23, and by Yahusha Messiah 2,000 years
after Abraham, who first came into the world as Israel's Savior (High Priest who was the only one worthy to
bring the atonement sacrifice into the Heavenly Temple), and who would return among us after another 2,000
years of creation as Israel's Savior (King over YHVH's people), thus fulfilling the remaining unfulfilled
prophecies of the Torah and the Prophets.
Hebrews 10:9-17 “ “See, I come to do Your desire, O Elohim.” He takes away the first to establish the second.
By that desire we have been set apart through the offering of the body of Yahsuha Messiah once for all. And
indeed every priest stands day by day doing service, and repeatedly offering the same slaughter  offerings which
are never able to take away sins. But He, having offered one slaughter offering for sins for all time, sat down at
the right hand of Elohim, waiting from that time onward until His enemies are made a footstool for His feet.
For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being set apart. And the Set-apart Spirit also
witnesses to us, for after having said before, “This is the covenant that I shall make with them after those days,
says YHVH, giving My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I shall write them,” and, “Their sins and their
lawlessnes I shall remember no more.”
Hebrews 10:19-22 “So, brothers, having boldness to enter into the Set-apart Place by the blood of Yahusha, by
a new and living way which He instituted for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest
over the House of Elohim, let us draw near with a true heart in completeness of belief, having our hearts
sprinkled from a wicked conscience and our bodies washed with clean water.” – all this was symbolically
represented by the processions that the High Priest performed in the Tent of Meeting/Temple of Jerusalem
Hebrews 10:1-6 „For the Torah, having a shadow of the good matters to come, and not the image itself of the
matters, was never able to make perfect those who draw near with the same slaughter  offerings which they
offer continually year by year. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered? Because those who
served, once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those offerings is a reminder of
sins year by year. For it is impossible for blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, coming into the
world, He says, “Slaughtering and meal offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In
burnt offerings and offerings for sin You did not delight.”
The sacrificial system was meant to COVER the LAWLESNESS of the sinner with the unblemished blood of
innocent animals and not to remove them permanently. As a parallel in the worldly legal system (which also
derives from the Torah) in case of a law violation we end up in a courtroom and receive a sentence, we are
given a second chance to rectify our mistake, but this second chance does not absolve us of the original
violation of the law. The breach and the sentence remain on our record and they are not absolved or removed
from our record, they are just overlooked as is the first instance of breaking a law. Likewise the sacrificial
system as we will see explained in detail below, had this function. The Savior's sacrifice, however, has the
function of redeeming us, of paying our bail and freeing us from any accusation of breaking the law that the
prosecutor (the enemy) brings against us. For this, however, it is necessary that we once aware of our sin
(breaking the law/Torah) we stop sinning. It is our number one responsibility to stop sinning by will, because
sins by will are not paid for with the blood of the Saviour!
Numbers 15:24-25,28  „then it shall be, if it is done by mistake, without the knowledge of the congregation,
that all the congregation shall prepare one young bull as a burnt offering, as a sweet fragrance to YHVH, with
its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the right-ruling, and one male goat as a sin offering. Then
the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl, and it shall be forgiven
them, for it was by mistake. And they shall bring their offering, an offering made by fire to YHVH, and their sin
offering before YHVH, for their mistake. And the priest shall make atonement for the being who strays by
mistake, when he sins by mistake before YHVH, to make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.”
Hebrews 10:26-29 „For if we sin purposely after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no
longer remains a slaughter offering for sins but some fearsome anticipation of judgment, and a fierce fire
which is about to consume the opponents. Anyone who has disregarded the Torah of Mosheh dies without
compassion on the witness of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think shall he
deserve who has trampled the Son of Elohim underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was set
apart as common, and insulted the Spirit of favour?” (Grace=unmerited favor/forgiveness that YHVH gives to a
sinful man who turns from his sins)
Romans 2:5-15 „But according to your hardness and your unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself
wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of Elohim, who “shall render to each one
according to his works” everlasting life to those who by persistence in good work seek for esteem, and
respect, and incorruptibility; but wrath and displeasure to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the
truth, but obey unrighteousness; affliction and distress on every human being working what is evil, of the
Yehuḏi first, and also of the Greek; but esteem, respect, and peace to everyone working what is good, to the
Yehuḏi first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with Elohim For as many as sinned without Torah
shall also perish without Torah (with reference to the Greeks), and as many as sinned in the Torah shall be
judged by the Torah (with reference to Jews). For not the hearers of the Torah are righteous in the sight of
Elohim (in reference to those who hear and do not do the will of YHVH), but the doers of the law shall be
declared right (those who hear and do the will of YHVH). For when gentiles, who do not have the Torah, by
nature do what is in the Torah, although not having the Torah, they are a Torah to themselves, who show the
work of the Torah written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their
thoughts accusing or even excusing,
Paul proposes a parallel between those who hear and do not do, and those who hear and do the will of YHVH,
also putting in context those who despite not having understood that the Law is still in force, fulfill by nature
their own conscience (prompted by the presence of the Holy Spirit) who guides or convicts them. It is the Holy
Spirit who naturally leads our hearts to obedience (sanctification) and not to breaking the will of YAH (sin).
Ezekiel 45:15,17 „And one lamb from a flock, from two hundred, from the watered pastures of Israel, for grain
offerings, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them,” declares the Master
YHVH. And on the prince are the burnt offerings, and the grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the festival, the
New Moons, the Sabbaths – in all the appointed times of the house of Israel. He is to prepare the sin offering,
and the grain offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings to make atonement for the house of
Yisra’ĕl.”– a future prophecy pointing to King Yahusha and his office as High Priest, along with the ceremonies
he will perform as King during the Millennium.
Temple offerings along with the five types of sacrifices and the tithes, as well as the requirement to be present
at the Temple in Jerusalem during the annual feast days (3 times a year), will continue during the Millennium,
this time their symbols and meanings will be explained and exemplified to us by our High Priest in the New
Temple of YHVH in Jerusalem.
The Book of Ezekiel elaborates much on the aspects of the Millennium. Although it is often thought that with
the return of Messiah sin will supernaturally cease to exist in the world, we must refer to the book of
Revelation where we see that sin will continue to exist on earth until the end of the Millennium, so for another
1,000 years, at the end of which death, hell, the devil, the beast and the false prophet, along with those not
found written in the book of life, will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 20). The
Millennium with Yahusha will mean the preparation of the saints for eternal fellowship in the presence of the
Glory of YHVH in the New Jerusalem.

The Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur is the day on which:

 atonement was made for the people of Israel by the High Priest who enters the Holy of
Holies once a year.
 the Kings of Israel were crowned/coronated
 the Jubilee was proclaimed (the 50th year which was also a Sabbatical year)
 those who had sold themselves as servants among the children of Israel were released
 inheritances were returned to their rightful tribes/families if they had for any reason been
alienated
Let's take a few Scriptural references to the Day of Atonement and its symbolism.
Leviticus 17:11 “ For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your
souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”
John 20:17 „“Do not cling to Me,” Yahusha said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father . But go and tell My
brothers, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My Elohim and your Elohim.’ ” – for the sacrifice of
Yahusha Messiah to be accepted, first the blood of the Savior had to be sprinkled on the Ark of the Covenant in
the Heavenly Temple, and Yahusha himself had to bring it, fulfilling the function of the High Priest who makes
atonement for the people, and also the one who brought himself as the perfect sacrifice - the Lamb of YHVH.
Any touching of Yahusha's body/blood after the resurrection would have profaned his perfect sacrifice.
1 Kings 1:34-35 „There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet are to anoint him king over Israel. You are to
blow the ram’s horn and declare, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ Then you shall go up with him, and he is to come
and sit on my throne and reign in my place. For I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah.” – another
prophecy with double fulfillment pointing not only to Solomon but also to the anointing of Yahusha Messiah as
King over the people of Israel and the Gentiles grafted into Israel
Leviticus 25:10 „So you are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its
inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan.” - the
proclamation of the Jubilee brings with it the deliverance of all the servants from the Babylonian bondage of
this world and the return of every member of Israel to his tribe (family) and to the inheritance promised to
Abraham. Furthermore, for all these prophecies to be fulfilled by Yahusha Messiah, he will have to return in
the 120th Jubilee according to a simple calculation: 120 jubilees X 50 years each jubilee = 6,000 years since the
creation of the world.
Leviticus 25:23 „The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and
residents with Me.” - the inheritances were returned to their rightful tribes/families which we will see with the
return of Yahusha Messiah and the tribes of Judah and Israel (Ephraim) back to the Promised Land
Leviticus 25:39-40 „If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not
force him into slave labor. Let him stay with you as a hired worker or temporary resident; he is to work for you
until the Year of Jubilee.” - the year of rejoicing is the Jubilee, from which we derive the word 'to jubilate’
Isaiah 61:1-11 „The Spirit of the YHVH ELOHIM is on Me, because the YHVH has anointed Me to preach good
news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and
freedom to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the YHVH’s favor and the day of our Elohim’s vengeance, to
comfort all who mourn, to console the mourners in Zion— to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of
joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the YHVH, that He may be glorified. They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the
places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. Strangers will
stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers. But you will be called the
priests of the YHVH; they will speak of you as ministers of our Elohim; you will feed on the wealth of nations,
and you will boast in their riches. Instead of shame, My people will have a double portion, and instead of
humiliation, they will rejoice in their share; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and
everlasting joy will be theirs. For I, the YHVH, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity; in My faithfulness I will
give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known
among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a
people the YHVH has blessed. I will rejoice greatly in the YHVH, my soul will exult in my Elohim; for He has
clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a
priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a
garden enables seed to spring up, so the YHVH ELOHIM will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before
all the nations.”
All these future prophecies will be fulfilled with the return of the Saviour. They all as "shadow of things to
come" and reconfirm what Scripture prophetically anticipates - the coronation of King Messiah, the salvation
of the people of Israel through the atoning sacrifice of our High Priest Yahusha Messiah presiding in the Holy
of Holies in the Heavenly Temple, the return of Yahusha Messiah in a Jubilee year in which the children of
Israel will be delivered from all forms of worldly bondage, to be restored to them the inheritance promised
to Abraham under this everlasting Covenant which the Saviour has reestablished with Israel by His own blood.
Hebrews 9:11-14 „But Messiah, having become a High Priest of the coming good matters, through the
greater and more perfect Tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, entered into the Most Set-
apart Place once for all, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood, having obtained
everlasting redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the defiled, sets
apart for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of the Messiah, who through the
everlasting Spirit offered Himself unblemished to Elohim, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve
the living Elohim?”
Isaiah 42:5-8 „This is what YHVH Elohim says— He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who
spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it: “I,
YHVH, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint
you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations” to open the eyes of the blind, to bring
prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house . I am the YHVH; that is
My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols.”– we see here the prophetic role that
Yahusha Messiah fulfills, the Redeemer and Savior of Israel, as we have seen in the above and following
examples
Isaiah 49:6,8-9 „He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to
restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the
ends of the earth.” This is what the YHVH says: “In the time of favor I will answer You, and in the day of
salvation I will help You; I will keep You and appoint You to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to
apportion its desolate inheritances, to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show
yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.”
Isaiah 53:2-12 „He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately
form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a
man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we
esteemed Him not. Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by
Elohim, struck down and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. We all like sheep have
gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and YHVH has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. He was
oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken
away, and who can recount His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was stricken for
the transgression of My people. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death,
although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it was YHVH’s will to crush Him and
to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His
days, and the good pleasure of YHVH will prosper in His hand. After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light
of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their
iniquities. Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong,
because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the
sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors .”
1 John 2:2  „He Himself is the atoning sacrificea for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the
whole world.”
1 John 4:10  „And love consists in this: not that we loved Elohim, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the
atoning sacrificed for our sins.”
Hebrews 2:17 „So in every way He had to be made like His brothers, in order to become a compassionate and
trustworthy High Priest in matters related to Elohim, to make atonement for the sins of the people
Romans 3:25  „whom Elohim set forth (was in YHVH's Plan of Salvation before he was born) as an atonement,
through belief in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His tolerance Elohim had passed over
the sins that had taken place before”

What do animal atonement sacrifices symbolize?

Leviticus 17:11 “ For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your
souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”
As we know all of YHVH's covenants made with His chosen ones involved blood sacrifice. The phrase "to make
a covenant" (=karath berith) translated from Hebrew correctly translates "to cut a covenant". The word
covenant (=berith) is derived from the word barah which means "to eat" and the verb to cut (=karath) means
"to cut" or "to cut down". To ratify an agreement between two parties, covenants in ancient Israel were
established by a sacrifice and concluded with a meal/feast given in honour of the agreement the two parties
had agreed to. We see this type of sacrifice all over Scripture symbolising the signing/ratification of a covenant
between two parties with blood. Thus we understand the importance of the sacrifice from this perspective of
the covenant, which we see in the Saviour himself on the evening before his crucifixion. Moreover, eating at
table with someone in ancient Israel was symbolic of alliance, of establishing and sharing common principles.
For this reason the Saviour, and later the apostles, were judged by the Pharisees and the other apostles for the
meals they partook alongside sinners and the uncircumcised/Gentile people (e.g. Cornelius and his family).
We see how YHVH shows through a vision to Peter in Acts chapter 10 "all kinds of four-footed animals and
reptiles of the earth, as well as birds of the air" which in verse 13 a voice says to him “Get up, Peter, kill and
eat!” and verse 15 “Do not call anything impure that Elohim has made clean.”This account is often used and
brought up as an argument to justify the freedom to eat any animal/bird/creeping thing, even those that are
not edible and are not "clean animals" according to Leviticus 11. In reality, however, the vision had nothing to
do with the freedom to eat anything, but refers strictly to the Gentile/uncircumcised people who were seen as
unclean (just like the animals in the vision). The explanation of this vision is found in verse 28 "He said to them,
“You know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit him. But Elohim has shown me that
I should not call any man impure or unclean." Verse 45 clarifies the context "All the circumcised believers who
had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the
Gentiles."
Returning to the animal sacrifices, we also have the sacrifices as atonement sacrifices or thanksgiving
sacrifices necessary either to cover sins or to set aside as a sign of thanksgiving the first fruits of the labor, with
the intention of glorifying YHVH for His blessings. In Scripture, in the very first chapter of Leviticus, we are
given the five different types of such sacrifices. These were made according to a ritual well established by
YHVH and given since the creation of the world, passed on through Adam to his sons and on to all the
patriarchs. We thus see the first biblical account in the story of Cain and Abel who bring thanksgiving sacrifices
and blood sacrifices of their first fruits of the earth, and of the animals with which they had been blessed, as a
confirmation that the sacrificial system had existed since the time of Adam. We see Noah, Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob bringing thanksgiving offerings to YHVH in Genesis. Furthermore, the sacrifice that Abraham was to
bring (his son Isaac) foreshadowed the sacrifice that YHVH would bring 2,000 years later through His Son
Yahusha Messiah. Nothing in Scripture is accidental, for ALL point to YHVH's Plan of Salvation through Yahusha
Messiah.
Deuteronomy 30:9 „So YHVH your Elohim will make you abound in all the work of your hands and in the fruit
of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, YHVH will again delight in
your goodness, as He delighted in that of your fathers”– YHVH's promises of blessings
The sin offering was meant to bring about the sinner's repentance (repentance according to the Hebrew
definition means to renounce and turn from sin - teshuva), through awareness of the consequences of sin -
the shedding of innocent blood. The sacrifice of an innocent animal should have generated mercy and
compassion in the sinner, made him appreciate more the value of his animal's life, taught him that the
payment for his sin is the death of an innocent soul covering death in his place, and made him observe how
the food the animal generates prior to being brought as a sin sacrifice (e.g. milk) was diminishing, to see how
the price that the slaughtered animal costs reduces his wealth, to observe how his work is depreciated and
how his blessings were fading away because of his own sins. Thus it required to be constantly aware of the
consequences and gravity of one’s own actions. Bloodshed was to generate mercy, compassion and kindness,
not a system that gave people a license to sin! The atonement of animals COVERED sin, but it did not
completely eliminate it, as explained above. As a parallel we see how in Egypt, on Pesach night, the blood of
the lamb on the doorposts of the house was to COVER and guard that house from the action of the angel of
death. The same people saved from the death decree of the angel of death in Egypt ended their lives later
during the 40-year journey in the wilderness.
Hosea 6:6 „For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of YHVH rather than burnt offerings.”
Matthew 9:13 „But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew 12:7 „If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have
condemned the innocent..”
Equally YHVH does not give us through Yahusha Messiah a license to continue in sin! On the contrary, our
deeds are the expression of our faith, and they TRULY demonstrate what is and especially WHO is in our heart.
They demonstrate our devotion and loyalty to our Master YHVH, our Creator and Savior. Our acts of mercy,
compassion and kindness are seen when we obey the Spirit of YHVH and are guided by the Truth of His Word,
not by the relativity of this world, not by our own misunderstood or misinterpreted definition of 'love'. LOVE to
YHVH means ACTION. LOVE to YHVH is expressed through VERBS (obey and fulfill, keep, guard, remember,
return). LOVE to YHVH is not a deep hidden feeling in our heart, an ineffable feeling that no one can observe
with the naked eye. LOVE and BELIEF (trust) just as in human relationships are DEMONSTRATED by DEEDS. For
this reason each of us will be judged according to Scripture not by our faith or by the hidden love in our hearts,
but by our DEEDS! FAITH in turn is misinterpreted... FAITH is BELIEF in the Word of YHVH and in Yahusha
Messiah as the Way, the Truth and the Life, which is also demonstrated by demonstrable deeds and actions.
The proof of our love is our faith (sincere trust) we have in YHVH. Even when we cannot justify His rules,
rigours and laws, we trust in the Father because He is superior to our childlike understanding. He knows what
is best for us and sees everything both in a bigger picture and in detail. Even when we ourselves do not
understand or cannot justify the situations we go through, we rely on His all-encompassing perspective, which
results in a complete trust in Him, a certainty that He holds the key to all the events of our lives, that
everything is meant for our benefit, and most importantly that our hope as His children and creations must
rest entirely on our Heavenly Father and His Plan of Salvation. YHVH is our Rock to whom we run, our hope
and our salvation.
Psalm 62:6 „He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress; I will not be shaken.”
Isaiah 55:7-9 „Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him
return to YHVH, that He may have compassion, and to our Elohim, for He will freely pardon. “For My thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares YHVH. “For as the heavens are higher than
the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Psalm 138:7-8 “ If I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me from the anger of my foes; You extend Your
hand, and Your right hand saves me. YHVH will fulfill His purpose for me. O YHVH, Your loving devotion endures
forever— do not abandon the works of Your hands.”
Our proof of Faith is our Love for Hearing His Word. All Scripture is our guide into the Truth, nothing is
accidental or too far from us, it is right before us.
Deuteronomy 30:11-20 „For this commandment I give you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your
reach. It is not in heaven, that you should need to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heavend to get it for us and
proclaim it, that we may obey it?’ And it is not beyond the sea, that you should need to ask, ‘Who will cross the
seae to get it for us and proclaim it, that we may obey it?’ But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth
and in your heart, so that you may obey it. See, I have set before you today life and goodness, as well as death
and disaster. For I am commanding you today to love YHVH your Elohim, to walk in His ways, and to keep His
commandments, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and increase, and YHVH your Elohim may
bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not listen, but
are drawn away to bow down to other Elohims and worship them, I declare to you today that you will surely
perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. I call heaven
and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing .
Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live, and that you may love YHVH your Elohim,
obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that YHVH swore to
give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Pray for the acceptance of our repentance, for our sin to be covered by the blood of Yahusha Messiah, for our
praises and worship to be received as a sweet fragrant aroma before the throne of YHVH, and to see our
entrance into YHVH's promised inheritance and His 1,000 years of rest.
Hosea 14:1-9 “Return, O Israel, to the YHVH your Elohim, for you have stumbled by your iniquity. Bring your
confessions and return to the YHVH. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we
may present the fruit of our lips . Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say,
‘Our Elohims!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.” I will heal their
apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he
will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon. His shoots will sprout, and his splendor will be
like the olive tree, his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon. They will return and dwell in his shade; they will
grow grain and blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon. O Ephraim, what have I to
do anymore with idols? It is I who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing cypress; your fruit comes
from Me.” Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them . For the
ways of the YHVH are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.”
Acts 17:30-31 „Although YHVH overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people
everywhere to repent. For He has set A DAY when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has
appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
In closing we read from the book of Leviticus chapter 16, the book of Jonah, Psalms 20, 23, 27, 32, 51, 90,
keeping this holy day in fasting and with a humble heart, in prayer and turning from sin through repentance.
Here is an example of a prayer in which we confess each sin committed and for which we ask forgiveness both
individually and collectively on behalf of the people of YHVH:
This forms the heart of the time of confession during Yom Kippur, forty four sins are recited. The fact that
these confessions are made in the plural, underscores the idea that this day is a day of repentance on a
national scale! (Now a worldwide scale through everybody coming into the truth in all nations)
For the sin that we have sinned before You under duress and willingly And for the sin that we have sinned
before You through hardness of the heart. For the sin that we sinned before You without knowledge And for
the sin that we have sinned before You with the utterance of the lips. For the sin that we have sinned before
You in public or in private And for the sin that we have sinned before You through immorality. For the sin that
we have sinned before You through harsh speech And for the sin that we have sinned before You with
knowledge and with deceit For the sin that we have sinned before You through inner thoughts; And for the
sin that we have sinned before You through wronging a neighbour. For the sin that we have sinned before You
with insincere confession; And for the sin that we have sinned before You in a session of vice For the sin that
we have sinned before You wilfully and carelessly And for the sin that we have sinned before You by showing
contempt for parents and teachers For the sin that we have sinned before You by exercising power And for
the sin that we have sinned before You through desecration of Your Name. For the sin that we have sinned
before You through impure speech And for the sin that we have sinned before You through impure lips For
the sin that we have sinned before You by negligence and carelessness And for the sin that we have sinned
before You knowingly and unknowingly.
FOR ALL THESE, ELOHIM OF REDEMPTION, FORGIVE US THROUGH THE SACRIFICE OF OUR MESSIAH YAHSHUA.
For the sin which we have sinned before You by false denial and lying And for the sin which we have
committed before You by bribe-taking or bribe-giving. For the sin which we have committed before You by
scoffing And for the sin which we have committed before You by evil talk about another. For the sin which we
have committed before You in business dealings. And for the sin which we have committed before You by
eating and drinking. For the sin which we have committed before You by a glance of the eye. For the sin which
we have committed before You with proud looks and a haughty demeanor And for the sin which we have
committed before You with an impudent heart.
FOR ALL THESE, ELOHIM OF REDEMPTION, FORGIVE US THROUGH THE SACRIFICE OF OUR MESSIAH YAHSHUA.
For the sin which we have committed before You by refusing to seek Your Kingdom And for the sin which we
have committed before You by scheming against a fellowman And for the sin which we have committed
before You by a begrudging eye. For the sin which we have committed before You by frivolity. And for the sin
which we have committed before You by stubbornness. For the sin which we have committed before You by
running to do evil And for the sin which we have committed before You by tale-bearing. For the sin which we
have committed before You by swearing in vain. And for the sin which we have committed before You by
harbouring hatred in our hearts. For the sin which we have committed before You by embezzlement. And for
the sin which we have committed before You by a confused and impure heart.
FOR ALL THESE, ELOHIM OF REDEMPTION, FORGIVE US AND GRANT US REDEMPTION THROUGH THE
SACRIFICE OF OUR MESSIAH YAHSHUA.
May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart find favour before You, YHVH, my Rock and my
Redeemer. Our Elohim and the Elohim of our forefathers, may our prayers come before You and do not ignore
our supplication, for we are not so brazen and obstinate as to say before You: YHVH our Elohim and the Elohim
of our forefathers, that we are righteous and have not sinned – rather We and our forefathers have sinned

YHVH our Elohim and Elohim of our fathers, may the remembrance of us, of our fathers, of Messiah the Son of
David your servant, of Jerusalem Your set apart city, and of all the people of the house of Israel ascend, come
and be accepted before You for salvation, for good, for grace, for kindness, for mercy, for life and for peace on
this day of Yom Kippur. You know the mysteries of the universe and the dark secrets of every living soul. You
search all the innermost chambers of man’s conscience; nothing escapes You, nothing is hidden from Your
sight. We thank You YHVH that You have provided atonement for all our transgressions through the sacrifice of
Yahusha HaMashiach, our Salvation

I conclude this study with one of the most holy blessings that YHVH gives to Moses to be spoken over the sons
of Israel in which he says „‘Thus they shall put My Name on the children of Yisra’ĕl, and I Myself shall bless
them.”:
Numbers 6:23-26 „Speak to Aharon and his sons, saying, ‘This is how you bless the children of Yisra’ĕl. Say to
them
YHVH bless you and guard you;
YHVH make His face shine upon you, and show favour to you;
YHVH lift up His face upon you, and give you peace.”
May this holy blessing cover you so that the Will of YHVH may be fulfilled in you! Amen.