Atonement In Hebrews

Addressing some conventional interpretations.

This is a special post on the Day of Atonement, for those who understand the Festivals of God, as out lined in this previous post. It is much longer and more detailed than other posts, so I hope you enjoy it and have a great Day Of Atonement.

The blood of Christ is what we symbolically take of when we walk in the New Covenant, as explained in this previous post from Chapter 4 of Friends With God.

Once A Year

The book of Hebrews provides us with an insight into the meaning of the Day of Atonement, and the sacrifice of Christ. The entire book talks about the role of Christ and demonstrates how the functional actions of the priests, and the high priest in particular, were a copy, imitation, or living metaphor of the actual events occurring in heaven, which Christ, as our High Priest, was to undertake.

The crux of the matter is stated in Hebrews 9:11-12:

But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Christ as our High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies with his own blood for our redemption. Yet, in order to understand the significance of this event, we also need to see the context of these two verses, for , as the word “priest” occurs 26 times from chapters 2 to13, it is evident that not just this chapter in Hebrews, but the entire book of Hebrews, is about the subject of Christ as High Priest.

Offered Only Once

In the Temple there were two rooms for the worship of God- the Sanctuary where the priests went on a daily basis, and the Holy of Holies, where the High Priest alone went once a year. (Heb 9:1-7) The reason the High Priest went only once a year into this Holiest of all rooms is: “The Holy Spirit this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing. (Heb 9:8) So the Holy Spirit had ordained the structure of the building, and the sacrifice at Atonement, as a metaphor to indicate that the way into the Holy Place was not available to enter, until the time of Christ.

By going behind the veil into the second room only once a year, the High Priest was imitating what Christ would need to do only once, which is what verses 11-12 quoted above tell us. So, the once a year event of the High Priest symbolized a once only event that Christ was to fulfil.

Most Christian scholars believe that these verses are talking about Christ acting as High Priest and offering his blood as a sacrifice to God the Father on what seems to be the Day of Atonement. Yet there are some significant problems with this interpretation:

1)     Christ did not die on Atonement, so how could his blood have been symbolically offered on Atonement?

2)     There is no record of Christ going to heaven on the Day of Atonement, to offer his blood upon the altar. It was about six months before Atonement at the Passover that Christ died. He is then recorded as going up to heaven to the Father at about the time of the Wave Sheaf offering, during the Days of Unleavened Bread. (Lev 23:11-15, John 20:17)  

3)     This leads to a third significant problem with the conventional interpretation: does the indication of Christ taking his blood into the sanctuary on Atonement mean he would again be sacrificed at Atonement, or perhaps wait till then to offer his blood? Christ is clearly identified as the Passover Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. (John 1: 29-36) We also see in Hebrews that the sacrifice of Christ is to be offered only once (Heb 9:28, 10:12), it therefore cannot be offered again on Atonement.

This post is an attempt to re-evaluate these verses in order to consider these issues.

Atonement Offerings

Hebrews tells us that Christ went unto the Father behind the veil, but it does not specifically state that this occurred on Atonement:

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, (the physical Temple) which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, (the actual Temple in heaven) now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters he into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
(Heb 9:24-28)

Christ was only offered once to bear the sins of many, and his death occurred at Passover. What then is the sacrifice for sin at Atonement all about? The conventional reading of these verses in Hebrews is that Christ acted as High Priest on the Day of Atonement and offered his blood then. But that is not what it says. It says the High Priest went once a year and this symbolized that the way into the Holiest of all was not yet made manifest. It then says that Christ went in there once and for all, but it does not say that he went on the Day of Atonement.

Christians Now Enter the Holy of Holies

So, the once a year entering into the Holy of Holies in the Temple on Atonement, showed that the way was not open while the first tabernacle was still standing- which it apparently was during the time of the writing of the book of Hebrews. However, when Christ died, he opened the way, which was demonstrated by the veil in the Temple being “torn in two from top to bottom” at the time of his death. (Mark 15:38, Mat 27:51, Luke 23:45)

This was a significant event, as the veil was across the doorway into the Holy of Holies, and this tearing from top to bottom occurred at Passover, not Atonement.

The veil was torn in two at the time of his death, which is recorded as happening late on the afternoon of the 14^th of Nisan, which was a Wednesday. The next day was the Holy Day of the First Day of Unleavened Bread, then Friday, then the Sabbath. These are the three days and nights that Christ was to be in the grave. He then rose and was seen on the Sunday, just before sunrise.

During all this time the veil of the temple could not have been repaired, as it was mostly holy time when no work could be done. The only time that would have not been Holy time, would be the Friday, but given the size of the job, and the importance of doing it correctly, they would have only been able to assess the damage and perhaps determine a method of fixing it.

Perhaps the tearing of the veil could indicate that the second temple was not in fact now “standing” as it had been desecrated?

It seems therefore that Hebrews 9:1-10 is talking about the events on Atonement and what they signify, then verses 11-25 is talking about the parallel events of Passover when Christ died.

If this is the case then what do the sacrifices on the Day of Atonement mean? Before we address that, we must also ask what is the point that Paul (the assumed author) is trying to make in Hebrews 9? If he is not talking about Christ offering his blood on Atonement, what is he getting at?

Chapter 10 clarifies the issue somewhat:

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he comes into the world, he says, Sacrifice and offering you would not, but a body have you prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do your will, O God. Above when he said, “Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin you would not, neither had pleasure therein; which are offered by the law”; Then said he, “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God”. He takes away the first (sacrifices), that he may establish the second (doing the will of God). (Heb 10:1-9)

So, taking the above quote in short sections we see that verses 1-4 tell us that the law is a shadow of good things and subsequently as it is only a shadow it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins, which means that “In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure. (in that they could not take away sin)… Then said I (Christ), Lo, I come to do thy will, O God, which verse 9 tells us means “He takes away the first (sacrifices), that he may establish the second (doing the will of God).

Verses 12-14 of Hebrews 10 tells us that after Christ had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, (he then) sat down on the right hand of God; … For by (this) one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified. 

How has he perfected them? If we skip down to Heb 10:36 we will see:

“For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.”

So Heb 10:9 tells us that Christ took away the sacrifices and replaced them with doing the will of God.

Christ set us the example in his life (his flesh) of being a living sacrifice, in that he lived his life doing the will of God. We, therefore, also need to become living sacrifices doing the will of God. Which is what Paul continues to tell us: 

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Heb 10: 16-17)

By having the law in our minds and hearts we will be doing the will of God in our lives:

Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
Therefore, brothers, having boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way which He has consecrated for us
through the veil, that is to say, His flesh;
(Heb 10:18-20)

This verse, and this entire chapter of Hebrews, are both an analogy about Christians entering the Holiest place, comparing it to when Christ previously did so at the Wave Sheaf.

We enter in the Holy of Holies by the blood of Christ (by doing the Will of God), which is the new and living way of life that he has created. We do the Will of God by following the example of his life that he lived in his flesh- which is his sacrifice.

The whole point of this chapter is that we are the ones entering into the Holy Place, behind the veil that was torn in two.

It’s not talking about Christ doing so for us at the time of Atonement, but rather more amazingly, it’s about our having direct access to God the Father, due to the act that Christ died at Passover. And as 10:36 tells us, if we have the patience and faith to do the will of God, then we will receive the promise of eternal life. 

What ‘we enter in the holy place by the blood of Christ’ means is, that by living His life in us (by doing the will of God and by having the law of God in our hearts and minds) we will be walking in a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us.

Paul repeats this idea in Romans:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
(Rom 12:1-2)

We see that doing the Will of God is set as the gold standard that we should aim to do. It was also doing the Will of God that Christ demonstrated in his living sacrifice in his life in the flesh (including his death) which is what we are to emulate.

Hebrews Chapters 9 and 10 therefore are not about Christ entering into the veil on the Day of Atonement, but about the fact that we Christians can now do so, as the way has been open to us by the example of Christ having made it available by him doing the Will of God.

We are expected to follow Christ’s example, which is why we are called Christians as we are ‘followers of Christ”.

We therefore, metaphorically, present the blood of Christ (his life and way of life that we have lived by) in the Holiest place to God the Father, behind the veil, which then enables us to receive the gift of eternal life.

The Blood Of The Covenant

But what does it mean that we present the blood of Christ to God the Father?

Jesus himself tells us that on the night of the Passover:

He took bread and gave thanks, and He broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is My body which is given for you, this do in remembrance of Me. In the same way He took the cup, after having dined, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is being poured out for you. (Luke 22:19-20) See also Matt 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24.

Jesus, after his resurrection at the time of the Wave Sheaf offering, went into this heavenly temple, into the highly restricted area of the Holy of Holies, and offered his blood in the form of the New Covenant to God the Father.

As his blood represents the New Covenant, we have the analogy in Hebrews of Jesus presenting his blood, being the New Covenant, to God the Father.

He did this to pave the way for us to actually follow him into the Temple and to also present his blood of the covenant to God the Father:

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest (the Holy of Holies) by the blood of Jesus, (we, the brethren, enter the Holy of Holies. How do we do this…) By a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, (that is his covenant that we are to follow) through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (Heb 10:18-20)

So the New Covenant is also his flesh, which we are to partake of at the New Covenant Passover:

And as they ate, Jesus took bread and blessed and broke it, and He gave to them and said, Take, eat; this is My body. (Mark 14:22)

The New Covenant in his blood and body is that new and living way of life: which means we are following the example of his life in his flesh.

It is a very simple analogy.

Christ led the way into the Father by presenting his covenant to him. Anyone who lives by this covenant (through the process of imitating Christ) will also be able to go into the presence of God the Father, in prayer, and he will accept him.

What Is Atonement About?

However, what Hebrews does not tell us is what the High Priest is representing Christ doing on the Day of Atonement. All it tells us is that the way behind the veil was not provided until the death of Christ, which happened at Passover, when the veil was torn, and made it accessible for us to go directly to the Father.

We need to look elsewhere in scripture to see what the actions of the High Priest represent regarding what Christ is doing on this most significant Holy Day.

In Leviticus 16 we see that the High Priest chooses two goats on the Day of Atonement. He kills one goat and, via a strong man, lets the other goat (the scape goat) go free into the wilderness.

What therefore does this represent Christ doing? These two goats seem to parallel the two events that happen to Satan in Revelation 20:1-10:

• first, Satan is chained and confined for 1,000 years (similar to the scape goat),

• then, Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire after he has deceived the nations at the end of the 1,000 years (the goat that is killed).

We also see in Ezekiel 28 a history of Satan’s life (pictured as the King of Tyre) which culminates in his destruction:

By all your sin, even by your evil trading, you have made your holy places unclean; so I will make a fire come out from you, it will make a meal of you, and I will make you as dust on the earth before the eyes of all who see you. (Eze 28:18)

There is a similar prophecy in Isa 14:4-23 where we see Lucifer (pictured as the King of Babylon this time) is also destroyed and cast down to the ground.

Will Satan die? It seems so, but we are told that only Christ has the power to destroy the Devil:

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he (Christ) also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he (Christ) might destroy him (Satan) that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Heb 2:14)

So it seems that Satan is destroyed, which corresponds with the fact that the lake of fire destroys everything that goes into it.

However, we see that Revelation 20:10 says that Satan shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Perhaps this does indicate that he does not die but is merely kept in torment forever? Such a punishment is what the doctrine of Hell is all about, but it would be ironic poetic justice if such is Satan’s punishment, for, as discussed in previous posts, we know that it’s a punishment that will not be something that actually happen to people.

The other goat, the scape goat, also seems to represent Satan. The Angel that confines Satan with a strong chain in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years (Rev 20:1-2) could seemingly be symbolized by the strong man who takes this goat into the wilderness where he leaves it alive.

Given this eventual destruction (or at least complete removal) of Satan, it seems reasonable that the High Priest on the Day of Atonement symbolizes Christ taking the blood of the other sacrificial goat (representing the destruction of Satan) into God the Father. This death of Satan is also a once only event.

So, Atonement has two representations of Satan in the form of the two goats: one when Satan is put away for 1000 years, the other when he is finally destroyed by Christ.

We Overcome Satan Now

So, due to Christ’s sacrifice, he opened the way for us to enter into the Holy of Holies.

But what does this actually mean?

As Christ (via the Angel) will not only initially remove Satan for 1,000 years, but later destroy him completely (or remove him permanently in torment, depending on how you read it), then it seems clear that Christ has now already overcome Satan, which Christ also seems to indicate:

And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. (Luke 10:18)

We also therefore are encouraged (indeed required) to also overcome Satan by the blood of Christ, which as we have seen means doing the Will of God in emulation of Christ doing the will of God:

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God, day and night.
And they (the saints) overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. (Rev 12:9-11)

 By opening the way for us to have access into the Holy Of Holies, Christ has provided (by the example of his life that we must follow to do the Will of God) the way to overcome Satan in this life.

We therefore don’t follow sin anymore, but righteousness:

He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (1John 3:8)

So, not only is Satan destroyed, but also his works are destroyed.

This book of 1st John talks a great deal about the need for us to be righteous:

• If you know that he (Christ) is righteous, you know that every one that does righteousness is born of him. (1John 2:29)

• Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as he (Christ) is righteous. (1John 3:7)

• In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother. (1John 3:10)

Finally, we see that the Church, as a whole, is clothed in righteousness:

And to her (the Church) was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. (Rev 19:8)

Summary

Christians are to do the Will of God in our lives, which means to live by the example of Christ, as if the blood of Christ were literally in us.

We figuratively eat his flesh and drink his blood:

Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves.

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him. (We live as if we are in the flesh and blood of Christ)

As the (eternally) living Father sent me, and I (eternally) live because of the Father; so he who feeds on me, he will also (eternally) live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven—not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.

(John 6:53-58)

 By living Christ’s way, and thinking his thoughts, we manifest his life in us, and in so doing we too overcome Satan, and, like Christ, we too have eternal life in us, and are able to boldly enter into the Holy of Holies and have direct communication with God the Father.

For this reason we are able to pray to the Father directly, as Christ taught us: “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name....”

We now can come unto God the Father in Heaven, by living Christ’s life in us:

Having then a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold tightly to our confession.
For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need. (Heb 4:14-16)

We now need to do the will of God, by emulating the actions of Christ in our lives:

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through (us following the example of) Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Heb 13:20-21) 

Conclusion

We have now addressed the three issues raised at the beginning of this article:

1)     Why did Christ offer his blood on Atonement when he did not die on Atonement?

a.      He did not offer his blood on Atonement, but at the Wave Sheaf when he was resurrected 3 days after the Passover when he was killed. (John 20:17)

2)     Why is there no record of Christ going to heaven on the Day of Atonement to offer his blood upon the altar?

a.      Because he did not go there on Atonement.

3)     Does the indication of Christ taking his blood into the sanctuary on Atonement, mean he would again be sacrificed at Atonement, or wait till then to offer his blood?

a.      This is an incorrect assessment of what Hebrews is talking about. Jesus was offered only once for sins, and that was all that is necessary, and his offering was six months before Atonement.

b.     What is delivered to God the Father on Atonement is the symbolic blood of Satan, indicating his final death and destruction. So, while Christ may act as High Priest on Atonement, there is no record of Christ’s physical or spiritual act to symbolize what he actually does on Atonement, for when Jesus presents his blood to God the Father it is not at Atonement.