Leviticus 16:29-34: a reflection

29“It shall be a statute to you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no kind of work, whether native-born or a stranger who lives as a foreigner among you; 30for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you. You shall be clean from all your sins before the LORD. 31It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. 32The priest, who is anointed and who is consecrated to be priest in his father’s place, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments. 33Then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary; and he shall make atonement for the Tent of Meeting and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34“This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” It was done as the LORD commanded Moses.

This is the heart of the Day of Atonement, the most solemn day in Israel's year. On the tenth day of the seventh month, the people were to afflict themselves and rest from all work, while the high priest made atonement, and God's promise attached to the day is remarkable: on this day atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you; you shall be clean from all your sins before the LORD. One day a year, a comprehensive cleansing, clean from all your sins.

Notice the deep human need this day addressed, and the deep provision it offered. The need is to be clean, not just outwardly but before the LORD, cleansed from the accumulated weight of all our sins. And the provision is exactly that: a day appointed for atonement, so that the people could stand clean before God. It answered the ache every honest conscience knows, to be truly and wholly clean.

And it pointed forward. The Day of Atonement came every year, again and again, because its cleansing was never final; it was a shadow of the one great Day of Atonement to come, when Christ, our High Priest, would make atonement once for all and cleanse us from all sin, not for a year, but forever. The yearly longing to be clean from all your sins is fully answered in him. If you long to be truly clean before God, that longing is not naive; it is met, completely and permanently, in Christ. Receive the cleansing the ancient day foreshadowed, made final in him.

Lord, on the Day of Atonement you promised your people they would be clean from all their sins before you, answering the deep ache to be truly clean. Thank you that the yearly cleansing pointed forward to Christ, who made atonement once for all and cleanses me from all sin, not for a year but forever. Meet my longing to be clean before you in him, and let me stand cleansed and unafraid in your presence.