Festival of Atonement 2025

One of the interesting features of the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement is that the “covering” of sin extended geographically over all of Israel and temporally over the entire year from the date of the previous sacrifice. It even covered the sins of all resident non-Israelites in the land. This picture is inclusive of foreigners, rather than exclusive (as many imagine the Israelite laws were intended to be).

It was a different sacrifice than Passover, which was a celebration of salvation from slavery in Egypt. The Atonement sacrifices were about the restoration of right relationship with God through dealing with sin. It must have felt good to have God officially overlook the sins of the year. It would have perhaps felt like a renewal to a state like that initiated at the first Passover.

For Christians it would seem that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ at Passover was so full of significance that God set apart an extra Israelite holy day to look ahead other aspects of it. The author of the biblical book of Hebrews draws direct parallels between the sacrifices offered on that day (see Leviticus 16) and Jesus’ presentation of his own blood at the “heavenly temple” to literally “remove” sin (Hebrews 9:11-28).

Jesus’ sacrifice parallels the ancient sacrifices of Atonement, but goes way beyond by effectively dealing with sin once and for all. It also goes way beyond the temporal and geographical limits of the ancient Israelite sacrifices by being a once-for-all-time event. Jesus’ sacrifice removes the sins of all who believe in him, no matter what nationality and no matter when and where they have occurred. This opens up the way for the complete reconciliation of the human race with the God who made them and with each other.

I remember being asked by a chaplain about how many of my sins were in the future from the time of Jesus death. The answer, of course, was, all of them. Jesus’ one-time sacrifice deals with all sin, past, present and future.

In Zechariah 8:19 there is an obscure prophecy about how various fasts, including the “fast of the seventh month” or Atonement, would become joyous feasts. Jesus’ death and resurrection have done precisely that by reconciling all people with God through Jesus. If Passover is symbolic of freedom and salvation in Christ, Atonement extends it into symbolism of joy and the universal reconciliation of believers.

The ancient fast day of Atonement seems to hint at a future aspect of Jesus’ ministry as well. As individuals we have our sins forgiven by the application of Jesus’ sacrifice. As individuals we enter into a community of people whose sin is dealt with and who are reconciled with both God and each other (at least in theory).

However, we do not yet see sin completely wiped out in the world around us. (For that matter, we don’t even see sin completely wiped out in our own lives.) For this to happen, sin must be finally judged and eliminated once and for all. Like the Azazel goat of the Atonement offerings, Sin must be sent into an exile so far away that it can never return to trouble the world. That series of sacrifices, completed in Jesus Christ, paves the way for a Final Judgment that truly deals with sin in a final way.

There are two ways that sin can be finally dealt with in a final judgment:

1) the repentant sinner who accepts Jesus Christ’s sacrifice in payment for his own sin can be forgiven on the basis of a paid penalty and regenerated until he or she ultimately has no more desire to sin, or
2) the unrepentant sinner who rejects the sacrifice of Jesus Christ can be sacrificed in payment for his own sin.

Somehow, the former seems much preferable to the latter. In either case, the sin is eliminated, and the land is cleansed of both sin and sinners.

The temporal and territorial extent of the covering by the ancient Atonement Day sacrifices were only a shadow of their ultimate fulfillment by Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ sacrifice applies over the entire world. It applies for all time.

At this point questions inevitably come up about the Final Judgment. Will it be a simple sentencing for the obviously guilty (everyone) who did not come under Christ’s blood? Do all who come up in the second resurrection of Revelation 20:11-15 automatically go into the lake of fire?

What, then, do we make of Jesus’ declaration in John 6:44 that nobody can come to Him unless the Father draws them? What about the predestination passages in Romans 8:29-30, Ephesians 1:5, 1 Peter 1:2 and Acts 13:48? If some are chosen now, does that mean everyone else is automatically rejected? Forever? Consigned to an eternity of intense pain and suffering?

Or is it a matter of timing? Paul notes a progression of resurrections in 1 Cor 15:19-26 (KJV).

If in this life only we have hope* in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign, till he hath put* all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

There are several aspects to this passage that seem to go unnoticed by most readers. I have highlighted some important phrases for emphasis.

The first is the parallel “all” in the last sentence of the first paragraph. Does the “all” in the second half refer to the same “all” of the first half? If so, this might be considered a universal being “made alive.” Revelation 20:5 speaks of a time when “the rest of the dead” do not come to life until “the thousand years are ended.” At a minimum, everybody is brought back to life, either for resurrection to glory with Jesus or for final judgment “after the thousand years.” Verses 11 to 15 speak of the final judgment of “the rest of the dead.”

The second is that there is an order to being made alive. “Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God…”  We have already seen that Revelation 20 speaks of a time of being brought back to life for judgment. That confirms the third in the order of “being made alive” of 1 Corinthians 15:24.

Revelation 20:12 Refers to two book being opened. The second book is the “book of life.” No commentator that I have read has been open to the possibility that the fact of the book of life being open might mean that names could still be inscribed in it. One reason for this seems to be a troublesome translation of Revelation 13:8.

Some translations make out the subject of “from the foundation of the world” to be “written.” as the subject. This makes less sense in either Greek or English, since the immediate antecedent in Greek is “the Lamb slain.” Even in English, that is a very complex subject for the phrase “from the foundation.”

If the book of life only had names written in it “from the foundation of the world,” what would be the point of opening it? Is it merely a checklist? We are not told that nobody can be added to it during the time of judgment. You would only translate it this way if you wanted the contents of the book to be immutably predestined in order to justify a static judgment of predestined condemnation.

A general rule of Greek grammar is that, whenever there is a possibility of two or more antecedents to an adverbial or adjectival phrase, you choose the one physically closest to the verb or noun unless there is a really good reason to choose one that is farther away. As I read my Greek Interlinear, what is being modified by “from the foundation of the world” seems to be “slain” because it appears immediately before “from the foundation of the world.”

That is how the King James Version, the New King James Version, the New Living Translation and the New International Version translate the passage. This seems to be the most natural way to read it. It makes more theological sense to see Jesus as “slain from the foundation of the world,” especially if you see Genesis 3 as the foundation of this “present evil world.”

Hebrews 9:27-28 suggests that there is an appointed time to die, followed by a judgment. This is followed by a parallel: Jesus’ death and departure is followed by a second coming to bring salvation, not condemnation. Judgment and salvation in parallel, hmmm…

For these and other reasons below, I have what has been called an “optimistic view.” Others might call it erroneous or even heretical.

If Peter is correct about judgment being on the “family of God” at this time   (1 Pet. 4:17), it would seem that judgment takes a certain amount of a lifetime, even for believers. Peter is telling believers to continue doing good in the face of persecution. Could a final judgment also take longer than most of us have been trained to assume?

Do those who have never known Jesus have an opportunity to learn of Him and accept Him as Lord? James tells us that Jesus Christ is the one Judge “who is able to save and destroy (James 4:12).” When we think of Jesus as Judge, do we think of saving or destroying?

Because Jesus the Judge both saves and destroys, I have hope.

I know that this falls far short of proof, but Ezekiel 37:1-14 speaks of a resurrection of “the whole house of Israel” after a long period of death. The fact that their bones are scattered on the surface of a valley suggests a most ignominious death, which a Hebrew would have expected of somebody cursed by God. In other words, these are not the faithful dead. These dead bones represent the utterly rebellious people of Israel.

The most intriguing thing is that God speaks of breathing His Spirit into them at this time of resurrection.

Commentators are no doubt correct to see this vision as representing the rebirth of the nation as a faithful people in Jesus Christ, not as a literal description of the resurrection proper. We, who believe in Jesus Christ, are grafted into the house of Israel and share in this promise of mass conversion. I do get that, really.

Still, I am intrigued by this suggestion of post-mortem conversion. They died the death of those cursed by God, yet He not only gives them life, He gives them His Spirit. If nothing else, this suggests a favourable intent on the part of God.

The apostle Peter speaks of why we should live a pure life of service in Jesus’ name. This is so that “having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles; that, wherein they speak of you as you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Pet. 2:12). 

So, what is Peter’s “day of visitation?” Who is visiting? When is it? Must it happen within the lifetime of the people “who speak of you as evil-doers?” Or might there be a “time of visitation” that refers to a future resurrection at which time they may see the Christian they have maligned as a glorified, risen new creation, along with their Maker, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ?

While some versions of predestination seem to place non-believers in eternal peril, it is possible to understand it differently, in a more redemptive frame. Predestination, rightly understood, may actually be the key to understanding both grace and final judgment. Predestination is actually about the timing of your calling.

Predestination explains why there is an order of resurrections in 1 Corinthians 15:19-26. Some are called at different times.

• Predestination also explains why God can be comfortable hardening hearts, like He did with the Pharaoh of the exodus from Egypt. It was not Pharaoh’s time for being called to Christ.
• Predestination as the timing of your calling also explains why Jesus is comfortable explaining to His disciples that nobody comes to Him except if the Father calls them. The Father is in charge of the best time to call any individual to Jesus.
• In Revelation 6:11 God tells the “souls” of martyred saints that He has a predestined number of saints who are to be also to be “killed just as they had been” before He intervenes to “judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge [the martyred saints’] blood.”
• Predestination also explains why Christ did not come to the earth until roughly 4000 years after creation. Jesus’ death covers all human sin throughout time and space, but nobody could hear His name until His earthly ministry. The time of those who died before knowing Jesus was not yet. Nor has He been heard by everyone on earth, even to this day. Are they predestined to believe in Christ when they have not heard? Of course not.
• In fact, predestination goes all the way back to the Fall in Genesis 3, when God tell the serpent that there would be conflict between the serpent’s “seed” and the “seed” of the woman. This would culminate in ultimate victory of her “seed” over the serpent himself. In other words, there would be “called” and “uncalled” human beings throughout history. God predestined both the conflict and the ultimate resolution.

This give me hope for most of humanity in that ultimate resolution.

Even though Jesus came to save, I am aware enough of human nature to be pretty sure that not all human beings, even if given a post-mortem chance at conversion, will actually accept Jesus Christ. I do not think it is universalism to wonder if there is a post-mortem chance for those who have never heard of Jesus Christ to learn of Him and accept Him. Nor do I think that would constitute a “second chance” to be saved, since they really had no opportunity prior to this to know Jesus.

Even knowing human nature, I have hope. I have hope for the vast multitudes of the unsaved of history.

Does this hope lessen the urgency of evangelism? Wouldn’t it make sense to just not evangelize your loved ones if you think they would stand a better chance after death? Several possible answers present themselves.

• Are we sure they stand a better chance after death? We had better be sure before we make that choice.
• Evangelism is a commission of the church. It is not an option. It shouldn’t make a difference whether we think the unevengelized dead will have a post-mortem opportunity.
• Life with Jesus now has meaning and blessings. Why deny those to potential new believers?
• Overcomers now get to reign with Christ in the Millennium. Would we want to wait 1000 years to be reunited with our loved ones?

Another possibility: Yes, it can reduce the frantic urgency of evangelism.

I hope it reduces the frantic urgency to a point where calm and thoughtful spiritual conversation can ensue. Sometimes the intense pressure some people feel to evangelize leads to a relentless pressure that drives people away from Jesus Christ.

I hope it reduces our urgency to resort to coercion rather than gentle exhortation. I hope it reduces our urgency to resort to preachiness rather than helpfulness. I hope it reduces our urgency to resort to preaching moralism instead of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus came to save, not condemn. Can we discern the difference?

The real pressure to evangelize should come from a conviction that “having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles; that, wherein they speak of you as you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Pet. 2:12).

Frankly, it is only by grace that people are called to Jesus Christ. All we can do is spread the word in the best way we can. It is up to God the Father to call people to His Son, Jesus Christ. It is good and necessary to participate in His work… but it is still His work.

I have hope that the saving work of Jesus Christ continues in His role as Judge of the Living and the Dead.