Day of Atonement

The Day of Atonement (Hebrew Yom ha-Kippurim, plural in form) falls on 10 Tishri and is the most solemn day of Israel's year (Lev 16; Lev 23:26–32). It is a sabbath of complete rest and a day of fasting — the people "afflict their souls" by abstaining from food, drink, and ordinary comforts. The ritual centres on the high priest. He sets aside his gold-embroidered vestments and bathes, then puts on a simple linen tunic. He offers a bull as a sin offering for himself and his household, then takes two male goats from the people: lots are cast, and one goat is "for the Lord," the other "for Azazel." The first goat is slain as a sin offering for the nation; the high priest carries its blood — and the blood of the bull — through the veil into the Most Holy Place and sprinkles it on the mercy seat over the ark of the covenant. This is the one day of the year when the inner sanctuary is entered. Then he lays both hands on the head of the live goat, confesses over it all the iniquities of Israel, and sends it away by a designated man into the wilderness, bearing the people's sins to a remote place. Hebrews 9–10 read the whole rite as a shadow of the once-for-all atonement of Christ, who entered not by the blood of bulls and goats but by his own blood into the heavenly sanctuary.