The Cincinnati Church

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
I. Under the law, God gave Israel numerous religious ceremonies which spoke of the sinfulness of
sin, the need for atonement and the price of deliverance (death & bloodshed).
A. However, these things never actually took away sins. HEB 10:1-4, 11.
B. The tabernacle system of worship set forth only an outward purification of the flesh in
time designed to be a pattern of the perfect inward purification in eternity wrought in
Christ. HEB 8:4-5; 9:13-15, 22-23.
C. The law sacrifices were only the form, not the substance of the remission of sins.

The Day of Atonement
Leviticus 16
I. Though a daily sacrifice was made for sin under the Law (HEB 7:27; 10:11), God ordained an
annual day of atonement for Israel. LEV 16:29-34.
A. Unlike the other sacrifices, this was to be done only by the high priest once each year in the
holiest place of the tabernacle (where the ark and God's presence dwelt). HEB 9:6-7.
B. As the high priest alone made an atonement in the holy place, Christ BY HIMSELF
purged our sins. HEB 1:3; 1PE 2:24.
C. The Levitical high priest had to make this atonement once each year whereas our High