God shows us His plan for salvation by His festivals. His festivals are throughout much of the year going from the spring into the summer and then into the fall. We are here together on the Day of Atonement which is one of the fall festivals. Please turn to Leviticus chapter 23. We call this the Festivals Chapter. That is where all the festivals of God are listed.
In Leviticus chapter 23 we will start in verse 26. “And the Lord spoke to Moses saying: ‘Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement.’” It talks about the tenth day of the seventh month. That is God’s Hebrew calendar. It is His sacred calendar. That day occurs in September or October.
Read Leviticus 23:27-32. On this day of Atonement we are not to work, and we are to afflict our souls. To afflict our souls means to humble ourselves and to fast. We will talk more about that a little bit later. That is the only day of the year that we are commanded to fast. It says from evening to evening you shall celebrate your Sabbath. God’s days start at evening, so on this tenth day of the seventh month, as it begins in the evening, we begin to fast. We fast throughout that whole day until the sun goes down again at the end of the day.
PICTURING SATAN’S REMOVAL
In Leviticus 16 there was a ceremony that the high priest used to perform in the tabernacle or in the temple that helps us to understand what this day is all about. It is a very special day. Read Leviticus 16:2. Aaron could not just come at any time into the Holy of Holies. What he had to do was to come only on this one day of the year, the Day of Atonement. It was the only day he could go in there.
Read Leviticus 16:5-8. This word scapegoat is really from the Hebrew word azazel. That is another name for Satan. One of the goats was to represent Satan the devil. The other one was for God. There were two goats, and lots were thrown to determine which was which. There is a separation that occurs here. It is a separation of those who are God’s and those who are Satan’s.
We will continue reading in Leviticus 16:9-10. Read Leviticus 16:15, 20-22. This goat that represents Satan has the guilt that Satan is responsible for put on his head. We are responsible when we sin, but Satan is the one who tempts us to do it. Some of that responsibility is Satan’s and that guilt (that responsibility) is put on his head, and he is put away. He is sent into the wilderness, a separated place, a far away place.
Read Leviticus 16:29-31. The priest does make atonement. He cleanses the people, just as now when we fast we allow God to cleanse us. This Day of Atonement pictures a separation (a judgment) between those who insist on going Satan’s way and simply will not repent, and those who will choose God’s way. It is a separation. We want to be sure we are on the right side.
A WORLD HELD CAPTIVE
Turn to Isaiah chapter 14. Once we understand this day pictures Satan being put away, let’s look at some of the damage that Satan has been doing. Let’s look at some of the reasons why Satan needs to be put away. We will read Isaiah 14, verse 3: “It shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon…”
That king of Babylon is Satan. He is being represented by the king of Babylon in these verses in Isaiah. It is talking about a future time when God gives us rest from our sorrow and from the bondage that Satan has held us in. Satan is indeed holding the world captive.
Continue reading from the last half of Isaiah 14:4 and read to verse 7. Satan does rule the whole earth, in fact, even now. But at that time when everyone will be released, the whole world will be at rest and quiet and singing!
Read Isaiah 14:12. Satan does weaken the nations. He still does.
Continue reading verses 13-14. Let’s remember these words that Satan is saying.
Read verses 15-17. In several places in the Bible, Satan is described as being like a man. Here he is described like a man who shook kingdoms, made the world as a wilderness, made it a desert, ruined the earth, destroyed cities. He also keeps people prisoners.
In II Corinthians 4:4 Satan is described by the apostle Paul. Read verse 4. He is the god (that is god with a small “g”) who is ruling this world, and he knows it.
Turn to Ephesians chapter 2. There is another name (another title) that he has been given. Read Ephesians 2:1-2. He is called the prince of the power of the air. Now that we have radio, we understand what that means. The radio waves in the air are around us all of the time, but if we do not have the right equipment, we cannot pick them up. We do not know they are there. It is similar to Satan’s broadcasting. He broadcasts his bad attitudes and his evil thoughts, and we are there to pick them up. We have to resist. Some people do a very good job at resisting. Other people seem to not resist at all.
Go to Ephesians chapter 6. Read verses 10-12. When people harm us and when people harm each other, it is not all their fault. They are being influenced by Satan and the demons. It is as if in the sky above us we have Satan and the demons each dividing up the world into their little areas that each one is responsible for. Each one is governing an area, causing all kinds of trouble. This is what we are up against. We need Satan and his demons removed. We need to be made ready to replace them. Christ is already prepared. He has qualified to replace Satan the devil, but He needs to a government under Him. We must qualify to replace the demons who are ruling the earth right now.
REPLACING SATAN
Turn to Revelation 19 where it talks about what happens right before Satan is put away. Read Revelation 19:6-9. When Christ returns, His wife (the bride, the firstfruits, the Church) will have made herself ready. Then the Church can marry Christ. We must become ready. We must clean away all the spots and blemishes. We must clean ourselves up. We need to have righteous acts (good acts). We need to have righteousness by keeping God’s commandments and doing all that God intends us to do. We need to be showing out-going concern for people. We need to learn this way of out-going concern and this way of love. We must learn all of this to be ready so that Christ can come back and marry us as His Church. Turn to Revelation to see what happens after this.
Read Revelation 20:1-3. We look forward to that day when Satan will be put away and bound for a thousand years. It will be just like that goat which was led away to a distant land, far away where it could have no contact with anyone. Satan will be put away where he can harm no one.
RESISTING SATAN BY FASTING
On this Day of Atonement we read earlier that we are to afflict ourselves by fasting. Let’s study a little bit on the subject of fasting today. Turn to Psalm 35. Let’s first see what we mean by “afflicting” ourselves. Read Psalm 35:13. A way to humble ourselves is by fasting. We do without food and water for 24 hours.
We can see this again in Isaiah chapter 58. Isaiah 58, verse 3: “‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’” These people afflicted their souls by fasting, again showing us that is what it means.
What is fasting trying to accomplish? What are we trying to do today? Why are we fasting today? Read Isaiah 58:3-5. People must have the right attitude when they are fasting. It is not a day to continue to harm people, hurt people, to try to get our own way, to preach harsh messages of destruction.
Continue reading Isaiah 58:6. Satan has control over the earth and the Church in bondage. We fast so that we can be free and then help others become free.
Verse 7: “‘Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out…’” We share our spiritual message with the people who are hungry for it.
Continue in verse 7: “‘When you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?’” When someone is naked, that means he does not have the white linen garments that the bride is to have. We just read that in Revelation 19. If someone is having trouble, help them develop God’s character.
Read Isaiah 58 verses 8-9. We are not to be accusing people. We have to stop doing that if we want our fast to be productive to learn something.
Read verses 10-11 of Isaiah 58. We are like a garden that is bearing fruit. We are growing in righteous character for God.
Read verses 12-14. These last two verses talk about how we are not to be doing our own pleasure on the Sabbath, whether it is the Day of Atonement or a weekly Sabbath. We should delight in that Sabbath but not do our own thing on that day. Do not do anything that is going to keep us from knowing what day it is, understanding that day and appreciating that day. We certainly do not work on that day.
Turn to James chapter 4. Since we understand now that fasting is a way to humble ourselves, let’s read James 4:6-10. It is talking about humbling ourselves. Instead of being proud, we should be humble. It is the opposite. It is not thinking highly of ourselves, and this is how we resist the devil. We submit to God and resist the devil. We want to cleanse our hands. In other words, stop doing bad things. Purify our hearts. Stop thinking bad things. Stop feeling bad thoughts toward each other. Instead humble ourselves, and it says He will lift you up.
Turn to I Peter 5 where we also read about humbling ourselves. Read I Peter 5:5-9. Satan is compared to a roaring lion who will devour us. He will destroy us if we let him. Instead we must humble ourselves and be sober. Be very careful what we are thinking. Do not yield to that temptation. Be vigilant and watch for Satan’s thoughts and attitudes and the bad things that he does. Realize they are coming from him and resist. If we resist, he must flee.
Read verse 10. God is trying to perfect us. He wants us to have perfectly righteous character.
We are learning that this Day of Atonement is a prophecy of Satan being put away along with any who will not repent. It is also a day to fast to help us resist Satan. If we resist Satan and continue to grow and overcome, then we can be ready to receive the reward after Christ returns.