Part 2 · The Day of Atonement and the Judgment
Updated: 2d
Part 2 of 3 · The Heavenly Sanctuary
Why did God command a yearly Day of Atonement after forgiving Israel’s sins all year long? In Leviticus 16, Hebrews 9:23–24, Daniel 7:9–10, and Revelation 14:7 (KJV), the Bible shows that the earthly cleansing of the sanctuary foreshadowed Christ’s final ministry of judgment and blotting out of sin in heaven.
Why Did the Earthly Sanctuary Need a Yearly Cleansing?
What solemn service took place on the tenth day of the seventh month in ancient Israel?
Verse: “Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.” (Leviticus 16:15–16, KJV)
Explanation: In Part 1 of this course, The Heavenly Sanctuary and Christ’s Priestly Ministry, we saw how repentant sinners brought their offerings day by day throughout the year, transferring their confessed sins through the blood to the sanctuary. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the Most Holy Place with the blood of the Lord’s goat to cleanse the sanctuary itself from the accumulated record of those forgiven sins.
What twofold work did the Day of Atonement accomplish for the sanctuary and the people?
Verse: “For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.” (Leviticus 16:30, KJV)
Explanation: The daily ministration brought forgiveness and reconciliation to the penitent sinner, but the yearly service on the Day of Atonement brought final cleansing—removing the record of sin from the sanctuary so that both the tabernacle and the congregation stood “clean from all your sins before the LORD.”
While the high priest ministered within the veil, what was required of every soul in the camp?
Verse: “Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.” (Leviticus 23:27–29, KJV)
Explanation: The Day of Atonement was a day of solemn judgment for Israel. While the high priest made atonement before the mercy seat, every person was required to search his heart, humble (“afflict”) his soul in genuine repentance, and put away every sin—or else be “cut off from among his people.”
Only after the sanctuary was cleansed by the blood of the Lord’s goat, what was done with the live scapegoat?
Verse: “And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.” (Leviticus 16:21–22, KJV)
Explanation: The live goat (`Azazel`) was never slain as a sin offering; its blood was never shed for the remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22). Only after the atonement by the blood of the Lord’s goat was completely finished (Leviticus 16:20) were the sins that had been cleansed from the sanctuary placed upon the scapegoat to be borne away into a desolate wilderness—foreshadowing how Satan, the instigator of evil, will bear the final guilt for the sins he caused God’s people to commit.
What Does the Cleansing of the Heavenly Sanctuary Mean?
Does the book of Hebrews teach that the heavenly sanctuary itself requires a cleansing?
Verse: “It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:” (Hebrews 9:23–24, KJV)
Explanation: Just as the earthly tabernacle (“the patterns of things in the heavens”) was purified with the blood of animal sacrifices on the typical Day of Atonement, Paul declares that “the heavenly things themselves” are purified by the infinitely better sacrifice of Christ’s own blood. Because no literal defilement exists in heaven, this purification is the investigative examination and blotting out of the recorded sins of God’s professed people.
How did the prophet Daniel behold this great judgment scene opening in the courts of heaven?
Verse: “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” (Daniel 7:9–10, KJV)
Explanation: Before Christ returns in glory to execute judgment upon the wicked, a solemn courtroom scene opens in heaven before the Ancient of Days. Unnumbered hosts of holy angels witness the opening of the books of record—the book of life (Revelation 20:12), the book of remembrance (Malachi 3:16), and the record of every deed and secret motive (Ecclesiastes 12:14)—to vindicate the justice and mercy of God before the universe.
What worldwide proclamation announces that this pre-advent judgment hour has arrived?
Verse: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” (Revelation 14:6–7, KJV)
Explanation: As we studied in Revelation 14: The Three Angels’ Messages, the first angel preaches the everlasting gospel while announcing to the living world, “the hour of his judgment is come.” Because the gospel is still being preached to every nation when this judgment begins, it takes place in heaven while probation is still open and before Christ’s Second Coming.
How Can a Sinner Stand in the Judgment?
What happens to the confessed sins of true believers before Jesus returns from heaven?
Verse: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:” (Acts 3:19–20, KJV)
Explanation: When a sinner repents and confesses his sin, he receives immediate pardon through Christ’s blood (1 John 1:9), yet his name and record remain in the books of heaven until the close of the antitypical Day of Atonement. For all who abide in Christ by faith, their sins are forever “blotted out” before the Lord sends Jesus back to earth, never to be remembered against them again.
Who stands as our Advocate when our names come up in the judgment?
Verse: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1–2, KJV)
Explanation: In the heavenly courtroom, our Judge and our Defense Attorney are the very same Saviour who died for us on Calvary! Holding fast to our Anchor within the veil, every repentant believer has “Jesus Christ the righteous” pleading His own spotless merits on their behalf, clothing them in the white raiment of His righteousness (Revelation 3:5).
By what standard are all lives and motives examined in the judgment?
Verse: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14, KJV; see also James 2:12)
Explanation: The standard of the judgment is the royal law of Ten Commandments that rests beneath the mercy seat inside the ark of the covenant (Revelation 11:19). Where God’s law reveals our guilt, the mercy seat above it reveals the atoning blood of Jesus—writing that very law of love upon the heart of every forgiven child of God (Hebrews 8:10).
Conclusion & Personal Appeal
We are living today in the great antitypical Day of Atonement. In the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary, Jesus Christ our High Priest is completing His final work of judgment and cleansing before He returns in glory. Do not delay to humble your heart before Him—confess every known sin, place your case fully in the hands of your righteous Advocate, and rejoice that His blood is able to blot out every transgression and present you faultless before the throne of God!
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