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January 2012 Newsletter

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

Meet with the LORD

There is a belief among us that the Feasts that the LORD gave to Israel are in fact a prophetic calendar showing the outworking of God’s purposes in history. Under the Law the people of God were required to meet with the LORD at the appointed times of the Feasts. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus has fulfilled the Passover Feast and all of its parts. Through the sending of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, Jesus has fulfilled the Feast of Weeks [known as Pentecost in the New Testament].

Passover & Pentecost

The Passover Feast is fulfilled in the life of the believer through saving faith in Jesus and being baptised into Him – His resurrection. The Feast of Pentecost is fulfilled in the life of the believer by receiving the Holy Spirit, especially in the dimension of His power.

We understand that the Feast of Passover was the remembrance of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and the story of the Passover lamb is told in Exodus 12. When the people of Israel were coming out of Egypt, it was necessary for them to pass through the Red Sea and this was a type of baptism (1Cor.10:2). Moses then led the people of God to the wilderness of Sinai (Ex.19:1), to meet with God at the mountain of God. This was for the giving of the law; this was the first Pentecost: the law written on tablets of stone.

The Feast of Tabernacles

The third and perhaps greatest Feast was fulfilled in Christ, but is yet to be fulfilled in the life of the church. This feast is known as the feast of Tabernacles. It is the Feast of fulfilment! It is the Feast that heralds the dwelling of God with His people – even in them!

The Feast of Tabernacles has three parts: the Blowing of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days of dwelling in temporary booths. This was followed by an eighth day, called “that Great Day” by John in John 7:37. This was the day when “Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let Him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” Jn.7:37-39.

[Read Leviticus 23:33-44 for detail of Feast of Tabernacles]

Tabernacles has to do with Inheritance

The Feast of Tabernacles was not to be celebrated until the people came into the land of inheritance. This is very significant as it speaks of the church coming to the age of maturity in the last days of this age, and beginning to live in the inheritance that God has reserved for His people (1Pet.1:4-5). So we understand that the Feast of Tabernacles is fulfilled at the end of the age by the church coming to maturity and walking in the inheritance.

Day of Atonement

To enter the Feast of Tabernacles and dwell therein [a tabernacle is a dwelling place], we must first hear the Trumpets being blown [the proclamation of the prophetic word], calling us to the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement is the necessary entry place into the Feast of Tabernacles – into that time and place of dwelling with God and God dwelling with His people in a fully manifest way. If we do not come to the Day of Atonement in obedience to the Trumpets – the prophetic word – we will not be numbered among God’s people to enter into the fulfilment of the final Feast.

In Leviticus 23 the Feasts of Israel are set out in chronological order and some very important information is given concerning each feast. The Day of Atonement is spoken of in verses 26-32.

Verses 27-28 tell us that this Day was:

• “a holy convocation”, that is, a day of gathering together unto the LORD, coming away from normal activity;
• a day when “you shall afflict your souls”. The word, afflict, means to depress. It is mostly translated afflict [x50] but also by the word humble [x11], force [x5] and exercised [x2]. To afflict one’s soul is to humble down, to be meek, to acknowledge that we are poor and that we need to exercise discipline over our own soul.
• “an offering made by fire to the LORD”: this refers to the daily sacrifice of the lamb and is therefore a reference to the Lamb of God who took away our sins by the sacrifice of Himself. It was Jesus who fulfilled the Day of Atonement by offering His own life and taking His blood and placing it upon the Mercy Seat in heaven above. Jesus’ sacrifice is central in understanding this Day and this Feast.
• a day when “you shall do no work on that Day”: a sabbath day; a day of rest; a day in which we cease from customary work, even religious works. We are to come aside from normal work, even religious endeavours, and present our souls to God without the covering of our own works.
• “to make atonement for you before the LORD your God”: it is God who has made the atonement for us through His blood. Under the law, if the high priest did everything according to the prescription that God had given, then God ‘covered’ the sins of the people for that year. Let us emphasise again, God makes the atonement; our responsibility is to present our souls to Him, covering nothing up.

Affliction of the soul

In verse 29 and in verse 32, the affliction of the soul is mentioned twice more and in Leviticus 16:29 & 31, the affliction of the soul is again listed as a key component of the people’s participation in the Day of Atonement. The affliction of the soul could include fasting.

We are to humble ourselves and present ourselves [our souls] to the LORD, with no covering of past achievements and with no defilements of past failures. We are to fully trust the LORD that He has died to save our souls and now He wants to fully release us from any power or practice of sin.

Do no customary work

In verses 30, 31 & 32, God again reemphasises that “no person is to do any work”, “do no manner of work”, it is “a sabbath of solemn rest”. Afflicting our souls and ceasing from normal work go together. Through normal work we often find our identity as a person, and we hide from deeper issues in our soul, by carrying out our normal work and giving all of our conscious attention to that. The Day of Atonement requires that we cease from normal work, that we change our focus, to be fully on the LORD [see Col.3:1-4]. In this position we can present our souls, facing up to whatever we need to face up to and coming before God in a disciplined way, allowing Him to totally cleanse and save our souls.

Put on the holy linen tunic

Leviticus 16 enlightens us further as to the practice of the Day of Atonement and therein we gain further insight as to how the Day of Atonement is fulfilled in Christ and now to be fulfilled in the life and experience of the church – those members of His body who are ready and willing to go on into the Feast of Tabernacles, who are ready and willing to be fully committed, fully submitting their souls into the hands of the One who made us for His purposes.

In verse 2, God makes it clear that there is a special day in which the high priest of Israel could enter the Holy of Holies. The priest was to come with the blood as a sin offering and as a burnt offering (v.3). Before he could enter behind the veil, the high priest took off his high priestly garments, those garments of “glory and for beauty” (Ex.28:2-30), and was clothed in a simple “holy linen tunic ... girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban” (Lev.16:4).

The linen garment speaks of righteousness. The taking off of the elaborate clothing with all of its inspired decorations which represent gifts and ministries and the putting on of the simple linen garment speaks to us of laying aside our giftedness in the Spirit and even fruits of the Spirit that we have been able to develop in our lives and to trust fully in the blood of Christ: He alone is our righteousness! This was the only way the priest could enter beyond the veil. This speaks of us putting on, being fully clothed in, Christ.

The two goats

Then Leviticus 16 teaches us about the two goats: the sacrificial goat and the scapegoat (v.7). The goat for sacrifice and the scapegoat were chosen by lot (v.8). The sacrificial goat was for a sin offering (v.9). Its blood was taken and offered and that blood was brought within the veil and sprinkled on the Mercy Seat (v.15). The offering of the blood within the Holy of Holies was to “make atonement for himself, for his household and for all the assembly of Israel” (v.17).

The scapegoat was brought to the high priest after he had “made an end of atoning for the Holiest place” (Lev.16:20). “Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness, by the hand of a suitable man” Lev.16:21. “The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness” v.22.

It required both the goats to complete the atonement. Jesus fully made atonement for our sins but to do this, it required Jesus to take His blood into the Holy of Holies (Heb.9:11-12). Before that, it was necessary for Jesus to go outside the camp to die for our sins; “that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, to suffer outside the gate ... outside the camp” (Heb.13:12-13). Jesus had to go to the cross bearing our sins and transgressions in His own body on the tree (1Pet.2:24), outside the camp; but then Jesus, when He rose from the dead had to take His own blood into the heavenly places, thus cleansing the heavenly Tabernacle (Heb.9:23-26).

Notice that the scapegoat was taken into the wilderness and released by “a suitable man”.

The smoke of the incense

When the priest went in to the Holy of Holies, he was to take “a censer full of burning coals ... with his hands full of sweet incense ... and bring it inside the veil”(v.12). “And he shall put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of incense may cover the Mercy Seat that is on the Testimony” (v.13).The smoke of the incense fully covered the Mercy Seat, but it also fully covered the priest, so that his flesh was fully covered, so that he could enter into the Presence of the Almighty in the Holy of Holies.

It is important for us to understand that the affliction of our soul is to be complete in that we do not try to offer anything of ourselves to atone for ourselves, but that we trust fully in the blood of Christ, and that He has gone before us into the Holy of Holies as our great High Priest (Heb.4:14). In the New Covenant, the smoke of the incense can be understood to represent prayer (Rev.5:8). Our entering in to the Day of Atonement will be enabled by deep fervent prayer, through which we fully present our souls to the Lord for His sanctification and cleansing (Eph.5:26).

Christ has fulfilled the Day of Atonement

“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect Tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation ... with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” Heb.9:11-12.

“The blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God will cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” Heb.9:14.

By fully redeeming us through His own blood and thus fulfilling the Day of Atonement, Jesus Christ is now able to give to us “the promise of the eternal inheritance” (Heb.9:15). “Christ has entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (v.24).

“He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (v.26b). If Christ has put away all sin, then He has fulfilled the Day of Atonement, and now it is incumbent upon us to put off all sin and put on the Lord Christ.

Coming to the Day of Atonement

Coming to the Day of Atonement was essential under the law, qualifying the people of God to then enter into the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles itself. For us to experience the fullness of Christ, the living God, dwelling within us, we need to come to the Day of Atonement spiritually.

We are to be set apart as His people and fully knitted and joined together in His body. We are not to be denominational in our thinking; nor are we to be cultural or ethnic in our value system; but fully partakers of, and members of, the one new man.

We are to afflict our souls, that is, to take full responsibility for our own personhood and seeking to hide nothing in our soul from God.

We are to cease from doing customary work, that is, we need to humble down and acknowledge that God in Christ has done everything for us. It is not our works or our giftedness, but it is His righteousness imputed to us.

Finally, it is understanding and acknowledging that the Day of Atonement is fulfilled by God declaring that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is complete: “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” Heb.10:14.

CALENDAR

COMMUNITY WEEKENDS 

February: 10^th -12^thCOMMUNITY WEEKEND at SHILOH

Friday: 7pm outreach meeting

Saturday: 10.30am – 4pm teaching sessions, fellowship lunch

Sunday: 9.30am Teaching; 10.30am Worship service; Community lunch: this  community Sunday will be hosted by Withcott House Church 

March: 9^th   Friday: 7pm outreach meeting

              11^th COMMUNITY SUNDAY at SHILOH – this community Sunday will be hosted by  Tabletop House Church

[please note there will be no training day on Saturday 10^th due to wedding being held on that day that a number of the fellowship brethren will be attending]

April: Fri. 6^th – Sun.8^thEASTER WEEKEND at SHILOH – special outreach ministry to the community will be arranged.   

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Bible School at SHILOH recommences on Thursday 2^nd February

Friday Lunchtime meetings recommence on Friday 27^th January

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Mission trips

South America:

February 8^th 2012 – Alberto departs for Chile. He will be doing ministry and preparing for Paul & Janet to join him on March 4^th – April 8^th, we will be ministering in Chile, Argentina & Brazil

India & Holland:

March 21st 2012 – Arend Tibben will be in Andrah Pradesh, India & then on to Holland

West Africa & Kenya:

May 2012 – Paul & Janet to Kenya and West Africa, Nigeria, Ghana & Togo

Southern Africa

Nick & Rhoda to Join Andrew Mataka in a number of nations, late July

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