Herbert W Armstrong

   You shall afflict your souls, we're told. We're also told in verse 28 that we're to do no work in that day and we're told that point is reiterated. That there are two special things that are emphasized more than once here in these few verses devoted to the Day of Atonement and that is it is a day upon which we are one to afflict our souls and two it is a day upon which no work is to be done.

   It is the Day of Atonement and so we're here on that day we are we focused in this past Sabbath on the point of afflicting our souls and what that means, why we fast and what fasting is all about. Brethren, the world we live in these times in which we find ourselves are not normal times. The world we live in is in a is approaching a state of crisis.

   We're approaching that time that is in reality the crisis at the close of this age. The fall festivals that we are celebrating, the Feast of Trumpets just a little over a week ago, the Feast of Tabernacles upcoming. Our attention during these times focuses in in a special way on the time when the God of heaven will intervene and establish a kingdom, will set up a kingdom that will never be removed.

   Now brethren, what is going on in the world around us is setting the stage for that and there are going to be some some things that are going to happen in the years immediately ahead of us that are so far beyond the things that that most people could even begin to imagine. Look around on a beautiful day and you know the sun is shining and the birds are singing and it seems like that it's going to go on that way forever. Well, the storm clouds are already on the horizon.

   The situation in the Middle East is continuing to boil in the bubble. The Israeli cabinet is meeting even as we have our service. The Day of Atonement of course is over over there and shortly after the Day of Atonement they met together because remember they had given an ultimatum.

   There are serious things that are building over there and if you've noticed the extent to which the rest of the world is becoming increasingly alienated to the state of Israel. If you notice there was a United Nations resolution, a Security Council resolution that passed by a vote of 15 to 1 with the United States abstaining. That was an anti-Israel resolution and the situation is building and we need to understand that what is happening there and the events that are going to flow from that tie in very directly with this day and something that we're going to see here in just a matter of a few minutes as to how these things tie together.

   Because you know what set off of course the whole thing over there was the Jewish presence on the Temple Mount itself. Ariel Sharon went up on top of the Temple Mount and that is the specific catalyst that set these events off. Now the time is going to come that the focus, the attention is on the Temple Mount and the whole dynamics of what has been going on in the Middle East have been altered and the stage is being set that Israel is not merely going to have the presence of Ariel Sharon going on top of the Temple Mount, they're going to have an altar offering sacrifices on the Temple Mount.

   And I'll tell you what, if it took a thousand policemen to get Ariel Sharon on top of the Temple Mount, what do you think it's going to take for some of these other things to happen? The stage is being set and yet the scripture tells there are things that link together and they link together with this land, this nation, right here where we are. God talks about back in Deuteronomy 28, he talks about the blessings that would come on the people of Israel. Deuteronomy 28 (Deuteronomy 28:1-6), to all these blessings shall come on you and overtake you if you hearken unto the voice of the Eternal your God.

   Blessed will you be in the city and blessed in the field, blessed will be the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your cattle. Blessed, verse 5, shall be your basket and your store. Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out.

   The Lord will cause your enemies that rise up against you to be smitten before your face. God will command these blessings. God talked about the blessings and the benefits and our nations, the American and the British peoples have had extraordinary blessings.

   We have had the blessings of Abraham. We have ridden, our feet have trod upon the high places of the earth and yet God goes on to say, inspired Moses to write here in Deuteronomy 28, verse 15 (Deuteronomy 28:15-25), but it shall come to pass if you will not hearken unto the voice of the Eternal your God to observe, to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city and cursed in the field.

   Cursed shall be your basket and your store. Are we cursed in our cities right now? There's virtually not a major city in this country that you can safely walk through the streets. Certainly not at night.

   For those of us who have, you know, those who remember back to the time in the aftermath of World War II and that period of time on up through the 50s and even into the early 60s, there is a drastic difference between the state of our nation right now, the state of our cities, the fact of whether a person can safely walk down the streets. We've got major cities in this country that all virtually every major city is a dangerous place to be. Even in small towns and small communities, people lock doors and put bolts and chains and everything on the doors in ways that many of us remember when we never even used to think of such thing.

   Cursed shall you be in your basket and your store. You know, right now we consider ourselves that you tell the average American the time is going to come when there's going to be a food shortage in this country and they don't believe it. They're going to find out.

   God talks about in verse 19, cursed shall you be when you come in and cursed when you go out. The Lord will send upon you cursing, vexation, and rebuke and all that you set your hand unto for to do until you be destroyed. Verse 21, he'll make the pestilence cleave to you until he's consumed you from off the land.

   Verse 22, the Lord will smite you with consumption and with fever and inflammation, with the sword and blasting and mildew. The heaven above you will be like brass and the earth beneath you like iron. Verse 25, the Eternal will cause you to be smitten before your enemies.

   He goes on to say that in verse 43 (Deuteronomy 28:43-52), the stranger that is within you shall get up above you very high and you shall come down very low. Things are going to be turned upside down. We'll already see a lot of that going on in our country right now.

   It's an amazing thing that has happened in just recent years. All these curses, verse 45, are going to come on you and pursue you and overtake you till you be destroyed because you hearken not to the voice of the Eternal, your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes, which he commands you. So they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder.

   Verse 48, you shall serve your enemies, which the Lord shall send against you in hunger and in thirst and in nakedness and in want of all things. And he'll put a yoke of iron upon your neck until he's destroyed you. The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth.

   They're going to come with a swift blitzkrieg attack, a nation of fierce countenance. You'll be besieged, verse 52, and all your gates to your high and fenced walls come down wherein you trust throughout the land. Our missile shields and our great defenses are not going to avail us.

   We're going to be besieged within our gates. There are going to be all sorts of things going on and we will see tumults and civil strife to the point that our cities wind up in a state of siege. God says these things are going to happen if we don't listen to him as a nation.

   The more that we have been blessed and the more of the abundance that God has given us in this land, the more that we have sinned against him. You know, God indicts our nation in Isaiah chapter 1. He talks about addressing the leaders of the nation and he says, we warn to you, rulers of Sodom. That's what he calls the leaders of our nation, the rulers of Sodom.

   God labels our land as modern Sodom. It's an incredible thing that has taken place in this country. You realize that, you know, it's a great controversy.

   Maybe you've read or heard recently in the news that Boy Scouts are being threatened with loss of funding. There are major companies that have cut off their funding to Boy Scouts. There are civic governments that are saying, no, we're not going to let you use our schools.

   We're not going to let you use our public buildings. You know, Boy Scouts have done a terrible thing. They said, you know, we don't think that we want to take a homosexual and put him in charge of a bunch of little 12 and 13 year old boys to haul them off out in the woods and take them on a camping trip.

   We don't really think that's a good idea. And this created such a furor, it went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and by one vote, on a five to four decision, they were upheld. I'll tell you what, anybody that can't see the problem with that is dumber than dumb.

   They just are. And I'll tell you, you have to look and figure, we've got a lot of folks in this country that are dumber than dumb. They literally want to turn the, they think that it ought to be a crime not to turn the youth of this country over to perverts.

   Now that's crazy. That's insane. That's just one example.

   God labels our nation, he says, you rulers of Sodom, that's what he calls the leaders of the land. In fact, Jesus Christ said, told the people of his day that frankly, if Sodom and Gomorrah had seen some of the things that they had seen, Sodom and Gomorrah would have repented. But the more our nation has prospered, the more that we have reaped the blessings that God promised to our forbearer Abraham, the further we have sinned against him.

   And there are catastrophic punishments that are going to come on this land in a few years. The time is coming in a few years when the roads up and down here are going to be empty, when the houses are going to be empty, when the slain will fill the land. Notice in Leviticus 26, God talks about in verse three (Leviticus 26:3-6, 14-32), if you'll walk in my statutes and keep my commandments and do them, then I'll give you rain and do season and the land will yield or increase.

   He talks about the, I'll give you peace in the land, verse six. You'll lie down and none will make you afraid. God talks about the blessings and the benefits, but he says in verse 14, but if you will not hearken unto me and will not do all these commandments, you despise my statutes.

   Then verse 16, this is what I'm going to do to you. I'm going to appoint over you terror, consumption, and burning aid you various diseases. He's also, he talks about terror, terrorist attacks.

   We're going to experience terrible things in this country. Verse 17, I'm going to set my face against you. You'll be slain before your enemies.

   They that hate you shall reign over you. You will flee when none pursues you. And if you will not for all this hearken unto me, then I'll punish you seven times more for your sins and I'll break the pride of your power and I'll make your heavens as iron and your earth as brass and your strength will be spent in vain.

   God began to break the pride of the power of this land back at the time of the Korean war. God began to break the pride of the power of Britain and America during that time period over and over. I think Vietnam is a very apt description here in verse 20, your strength shall be spent in vain.

   God has punished us and withdrawn certain blessings and he's given us an opportunity to change. And yet we haven't, we've gone worse and worse. God says in verse 21, if you won't contrary unto me and will not hearken unto me, I'll bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

   God talks about a time when the highways will be desolate. He talks about a time in verse 25, I'll bring a sword upon you that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant. And when you're gathered together within your cities, I'll send pestilence among you and you'll be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

   He talks about breaking the staff of bread, famine. Then if you won't hearken, God says, I'm going to chastise you yet more. He talks about time when famine will grip the land, even to the point of people engaging in cannibalism.

   Verse 31, I'll make your cities waste. Verse 32, I'll bring the land into desolation. Verse 33, and I will scatter you among the heathen and draw out a sword after you and the land will be desolate in the city's waste.

   That is going to come pass. The events that are happening in Israel right now, the time is coming when a reconsecrated altar will be established on the holy, there in the, in the temple mount. And there is going to come a crisis that will ultimately lead to the events that are described in Daniel 12, where we're told that, in Daniel 12:11, that the daily sacrifice will be taken away and the abomination that makes desolate set up.

   And from that time until the time of the resurrection, the time of the return of Jesus Christ will be 1290 days. Hosea tells us in Hosea 5:5, the pride of Israel does testify to his face. Therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity.

   Judah also shall fall with them. Oh, this is something that's never happened before in history. Didn't happen with the fall of Israel.

   The first time didn't happen with the fall of Judah. This describes Israel and Judah falling together. It goes on down in verse 7 and talks about a month shall devour them with their portions.

   You know, many people sometimes notice in, in Daniel 12:11, it talks about from the establishment of the abomination and the taking away of the daily sacrifice, a period of 1290 days until the end. And yet other prophecies talk about the tribulation for three and a half years, which is 1260 days. Well, that's a 30 day differential.

   That's the month that's mentioned right here in Hosea 5:7. That's the month that will devour them with their portions. Israel and Judah will fall together. You read in Zechariah about all nations being gathered against Jerusalem to battle and the city taken and half the city taken into captivity, which half do you think is going to go? It's going to be the Jewish half.

   That's who they're coming. That's, that's who they're against. They're going to be against Judah and against Israel.

   Israel and Judah will fall together, Hosea described in Hosea 5:5. So at a time as we see some of these events happening in the Middle East, they also are a harbinger of things to come in this land because there are terrible calamities that are going to come on this land in terms of the, as God says, he'll break the staff of bread. Talks about pestilence, disease, epidemics, famine, warfare, destruction, deportation of people into far flung areas of the world. Deportation to serve as slaves, slave labor camps, things that took place.

   You know, some of those things people say, oh, well, you know, that's, that's so far removed. Well, I'll tell you what, World War II is not that far removed. And they had those same sort of things right then.

   We're going to have a repetition. Now, what does all that have to do with the Day of Atonement? We certainly know in a general sense that, you know, the fall festival seasons, but I want to show you something very specifically that it has to do with the Day of Atonement. I want you to turn back to Isaiah 27.

   Understand that as these events come on this nation, as the English speaking nations become increasingly isolated and as everything begins to break down and to fall apart and civil strife and tumult, the strangers in the midst rising up very high, all of the confusion and the strife and the riots that are going to take place all over this land and the disease epidemics that are going to begin to sweep terrorist activities. And this combination of events culminating in a nuclear attack by a revived Roman Empire based in Europe, revived, final seventh revival of the old Holy Roman Empire. And God talks about the literal deportation of our people into far-flung areas.

   What's the answer to that? Well, I'll tell you what, God's going to get the attention of the peoples of Israel. God said, if you won't serve me voluntarily, you're going to serve your enemies and you're going to serve them under an iron yoke. They're going to put a yoke of iron on you.

   If you won't serve me in abundance, you will serve them in hunger and thirst. You know, we can learn our lessons the easy way or the hard way. Well, what does that have to do with the Day of Atonement? Notice Isaiah 27.

   Isaiah 27 describes a time that is coming in verse six (Isaiah 27:6-13), when he will cause those that come of Jacob to take root. Israel will blossom and bud and fill the face of the world with fruit. You see, he describes that what God's smiting of Israel and that verse nine, by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged.

   He talks about the defense cities, verse 10, being desolate and habitation forsaken. He talks about all of the destruction that comes, but notice verse 12, it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river under the stream of Egypt and he shall gather and you shall be gathered one by one, O you children of Israel. So they're going to be those deported down to Egypt and he says you'll be regathered one by one.

   Verse 13, it shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet shall be blown and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria and the outcasts in the land of Egypt and shall worship the Eternal and the holy mount at Jerusalem. It's going to come to pass in that day that a great trumpet is going to be blown and that trumpet. Now, you know, there are a variety of trumpets that are blown and we celebrated today, just a little over a week ago, the Feast of Trumpets and that focuses in on the final seven trumpets and the seventh trumpet, which signals the resurrection, the return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection.

   But you know there is a trumpet, there is another trumpet, there is a trumpet that is specifically associated with the Day of Atonement. We don't usually think of the Day of Atonement connected with trumpet, we think of the Feast of Trumpets, but there is a day, there is a specific trumpet that is associated with the Day of Atonement. I'm going to show you in just a moment.

   But notice here the particular trumpet that is blown in that day, this great trumpet that is blown and what does this trumpet, what does this trumpet signal? The one that's blown in verse 13. It signals the liberation of captives. It is a liberation of those in captivity, outcasts being regathered and brought to Jerusalem.

   It is the trumpet of liberation. Now, notice something else. Notice verse 1 of Isaiah 27.

   In that day, you see the praise in that day is used several times in Isaiah 27. Isaiah 27:13 says it shall come to pass in that day, the great trumpet will be blown. Let me show you something else that's going to happen in that day.

   Isaiah 27:1. In that day, the Lord with his sword and great strong sword shall punish Leviathan, the piercing serpent, even Leviathan, that crooked serpent. He's going to deal. He's going to slay the dragon in the sea.

   God is going to punish Leviathan, the piercing serpent. So there is a day that God is going to deal with Leviathan, that crooked serpent, that dragon. And there is a day when a great trumpet is going to be blown that is going to signal liberation for the outcasts, for the captives, the people of the United States and British nations, along with many Jews that had been taken into that captivity.

   What trumpet is that? And what is its connection with the Day of Atonement? What does all this have to do with the Day of Atonement? Let's go to Leviticus chapter 25. Leviticus 25 in verse 8 (Leviticus 25:8-9), it says, you shall number seven sabbaths of years unto you, seven times seven years. And the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto you 49 years.

   Then, verse 9, you shall cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month in the Day of Atonement. Shall you make the trumpet sound throughout all your land, and you shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof, it shall be a jubilee. And you'll return every man to his possession, return every man to his family.

   You see, the trumpet blown on the Day of Atonement, every 50 years there was a trumpet blown on Atonement. It was the trumpet of the jubilee. The trumpet of the jubilee proclaimed liberty.

   It proclaimed liberty and announced that people could come back home again. When you read in Isaiah 27, in that day, those that were ready to perish, those who were the outcasts, who were the captives, those who had been hauled away, transported in the cattle cars of the future, in that day the trumpet shall sound. Those that were ready to perish are going to hear the sound of liberation, the sound of the jubilee.

   You see, the trumpet of the jubilee ushering in that time of liberation. In that day, God's going to deal with Leviathan, the piercing serpent, that's a type of Satan. In that same day, the trumpet of the jubilee, the trumpet of liberation will sound.

   You know, when you go back to the story very carefully in the book of Revelation, you notice that the seventh trumpet signaling the resurrection is sounded in Revelation chapter 11. Revelation 11:15, that's when the seventh trumpet is sounded. The following chapters then, you have several chapters of insets.

   They're inset chapters because they pick up a story early, bring it down up to the point of the seventh trumpet sound. See, we've come through the story flow up through chapter 11, you've come up to the seventh trumpet sound. Then in chapter 12, you go back and you pick up the story of the church in the Old Testament.

   You bring it all the way down through the tribulation and up to the conclusion of the tribulation, which is when the seventh trumpet sounds. Chapter 13 goes back and picks up the story of the beast and it tracks that all the way down to the end. Chapter 14 gives you a picture of those who are with Christ, a picture of the resurrection and of punishments that are going to be poured out as you come on through.

   You see when you go on up through chapter 19, 17 and 18 or chapter 16 rather, is the seven last plagues. See, the seven last plagues are poured out after the seventh trumpet is sounded. Now, one of the things that becomes apparent when you go through chapter 16 and the seven last plagues, and that is the fact that you can at most be only dealing with a few days because when all of the seawater is turned to blood, when all of the rivers and lakes are turned to blood, when all of the life in the sea dies, life on this planet simply could not continue on for more than a few days.

   You know, if all the describes here in Revelation 16, when it talks about the seven last plagues being poured out and talks about the seas being turned to blood and it talks about the events that are going to, the terrible things that are going to happen, then what you find, of course, is that these are things that could simply, life on the planet couldn't go on much longer. You know, there wouldn't be oxygen to bring all the seas turned to blood. You're talking about a matter of days before oxygen would become so depleted.

   If it's not continually being, if oxygen is not being generated through the cycles that God has established, then you wind up within a relatively short period of time where life would cease. So the events that are described in Revelation 16 can at most only involve a few days where there would be no life in the sea. All of the water would be turned to blood.

   All the fresh water would be turned to blood. You know, what you're really looking at is there are things that occur between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. You've got a period of days, you know, nine days differential coming between them.

   The Day of Atonement comes nine days after the Feast of Trumpets. So you've got all of these things, these plagues that are poured out. And then when the time comes for the Day of Atonement, the trumpet of the Jubilee is sounded and something else occurs.

   Now, Revelation 19, in the prelude to this, describes Jesus Christ in power and glory. Describes the, Revelation 19:19, the beast and the kings of the earth and the armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which they had deceived them that received the mark of the beast and them that worshiped his image.

   These were both cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. The remnants were slain. God is going to deal with those armies that those all nations are gathered there and are going to, talks about these armies that are going to be destroyed in the outskirts of Jerusalem.

   Destroyed actually when you put all the prophecies together in the valley of Jehoshaphat, right outside of Jerusalem. What's going to happen next? Revelation 20:1, I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up, set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till a thousand years should be fulfilled.

   Then he'll be loosed for a little season. You see, in that day, God's going to punish Leviathan, the piercing serpent. And in that day, the trumpet of the Jubilee is going to be sound and those that were ready to be, to perish in the land of Assyria and the various areas where they've been taken into captivity are going to hear that trumpet of liberation.

   Liberty will be proclaimed and they will be regathered. And that gives us five days to start regathering people and get them there, right on the outskirts of Jerusalem, just in time for the opening night service to inaugurate the millennium. Can you imagine? Can you imagine the opening night service of the Feast of Tabernacles just a few years from now, when Jesus Christ himself will be there in power and glory to give the opening message? When people who have been brought back from captivity, camped there on the outskirts of Jerusalem will be gathered together and will begin to have explained to them why they're here, what life is all about.

   And in that first Feast of Tabernacles, the whole outline of what is proposed for the next thousand years will be explained and the way will be explained. But as was pointed out in the sermonette, you can't have paradise with the devil running around loose. You know, Adam and Eve were in paradise, but they didn't stay there because the devil was there.

   At the end of the millennium, if you want to know what a difference the devil makes, again, as was pointed out, just look one day to the next. The millennium is over when the devil’s turned loose, it doesn’t take long, all of the sudden you’ve got trouble stirred up. But God's going to deal with Leviathan, with that serpent, that old dragon.

   He describes here in Revelation 20 that Satan is going to be laid hold on and put away. He's going to be put in an area where he will not be allowed contact with people anywhere, going to be isolated and put away. So as we see events shaping up in the world around us, when we see events beginning to speed up on the world scene, does that have anything to do with the Day of Atonement? Absolutely.

   Because the Day of Atonement is the day that liberty will be proclaimed throughout all the land. God established the Jubilee to be proclaimed on Atonement, not on Trumpets, interestingly enough. The Jubilee was proclaimed on Atonement.

   That old serpent is going to be put away. Now let's go on. Let's understand a little more as we look at the role that Satan has played.

   You know, you can go all the way back to Genesis 3 where Satan is introduced on the scene. And we see the role that he has played. We see how he has shown himself to be subtle and crafty and clever.

   He appears as an angel of light. In reality, he is a messenger of darkness. But he doesn't show up saying, I'm the devil and I'm here to deceive you.

   He's got a little sign around the neck, a little tail and a pitchfork. You know, you can always tell the devil. No, he appears as an angel of light.

   He's crafty. He's clever. He's subtle.

   Jesus Christ said he was he was a liar from the beginning. He is a liar, the father of a lie, murderer from the beginning. Let's go back to the book of Leviticus chapter 16.

   Let's note here a particular ceremony that took place on the Day of Atonement in ancient Israel. In Leviticus 16, God instructed Moses to tell Aaron that he was to be very careful in approaching the holy place, that God himself, this is the end of Leviticus 16 too, that God himself would appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. Now, he describes here there was one time in the year when Aaron was allowed to come into the holy of holies, into the inner sanctum of the temple.

   And we're told in verse 29 (Leviticus 16:29-31) that this is in the seventh month on the 10th day of the month. This is a statute goes through. See, it describes all the ceremony.

   And then in verse 29 says, this will be a statute forever unto you, in the seventh month on the 10th day of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all. Verse 30, on that day shall the priests make an atonement for you to cleanse you. It's to be a Sabbath of rest.

   Verse 31, you shall afflict your souls. And it goes through and describes a little more of the ceremony. Now we're going to notice that ceremony one particular day of the year on the 10th day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement.

   Aaron was told that on that day, verse four of Leviticus 16 (Leviticus 16:4), he was to put on the holy linen coat, have the linen britches upon his flesh and be girded with a linen girdle and a linen miter. These are holy garments. He shall wash his flesh in water and put them on.

   And he'll take of the congregation of the children of Israel, two kids of the goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself and make an atonement for himself and for his house. And he shall take the two goats and present them before the Eternal at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

   And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats. One lot shall be for the Eternal and the other lot for the scapegoat. Now the word, literal word here in the Hebrew is Azazel and that should have been rendered as a proper name.

   The word scapegoat in old English when the King James was translated simply meant the goat that escaped. That's where it was a contracted form of the escaped goat. Based on a misunderstanding of Leviticus 16, the word scapegoat has taken on a connotation in modern English that a scapegoat is somebody who's unfairly blamed for what others did.

   Well, that creates a problem here because in this case, the goat that was chosen for Azazel, it's not a matter that Azazel is unfairly blamed. Notice here. The goats are brought before God.

   They're brought before the door of the tabernacle and the lots are cast. And God chooses one goat for the sin offering and the other goat will be for Azazel. Verse 9 (Leviticus 16:9-13), Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell and offer him for a sin offering.

   But the goat on which the lot fell to be the Azazel shall be presented alive before the Eternal to make an atonement with him and to let him go for Azazel into the wilderness. Aaron shall bring the bullet of the sin offering that's for himself and make an atonement for himself and for his house. And he would take the censer full burning coals of fire.

   Verse 12, bring in the incense and put the incense. Verse 13, upon the fire before the Lord, the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat. You know, the the temple, the tabernacle originally later, the temple was a rectangular room and about two thirds of the way back there was a curtain.

   And, you know, we look like approximately here where the where the wall comes out, there would have been a curtain. The front two thirds was the holy place. The priests entered in on a daily basis every morning and every evening.

   There were there were three items of furniture in the holy place sitting right in the middle, just back just in front of the curtain was a golden altar that was an incense altar. And then on either side of the room on one side was a table with 12 loaves of the showbread, and on the other side was a lamp stand that had seven branches. Aaron came.

   To the golden altar of incense right up in front of the curtain behind the curtain in the Holy of Holies, there was one item and that was the Ark of the Covenant overshadowed by the mercy seat and these great Cherubim that had been carved there that were part of the mercy seat. The mercy seat was symbolic of the very throne of God. Now, you know, it's sort of interesting.

   What did the mercy seat, the symbol of God's throne, what did it rest on? It was the lid for the Ark. What was in the Ark? The Ten Commandments, the two tables of stone. You know, later on in the book of Revelation, when God was preparing to pour out the seven last plagues, John in vision saw, was seeing an event in heaven, and he saw the temple in heaven open, and he saw the Ark of the Testimony.

   Well, you know, evidently, nobody let God know that the Ten Commandments had been done away. He still had them right there, you know, they were the Ark of the Testimony, that's the testimony. Here, John is seeing something in the future way, you know, that is in the years immediately ahead of us, way in front of him.

   And he saw the Ark of the Testimony there in heaven. Well, if you take the testimony out, it's not the Ark of the Testimony anymore, is it? Very plain, God's government rests on God's law. You see, what would symbolize the throne of God sat on the Ark, and in the Ark was the law.

   The government of God rests upon the law of God. Now, we find that as Aaron was to prepare to come in, he offered a bullock for himself. And he first came in with that, put the incense and a cloud, filled the whole room, and then he went back into the Holy of Holies, and he put the blood, sprinkled the blood of the bullock on the mercy seat.

   Then, verse 15 (Leviticus 16:15-22), he goes back out, then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring his blood within the veil and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock and sprinkle upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. And he shall make an atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel and their transgressions. And so shall he do for the tabernacle.

   And there shall be, verse 17, no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goes in to make an atonement in the holy place until he comes out and is made an atonement for himself and his household and all the congregation. And he shall go unto the altar that's before the Lord and make an atonement for it. Then, it describes him sprinkling the blood.

   And verse 20, when he has made an end of reconciling the holy place and the tabernacle of the congregation and of the altar, he shall bring the live goat. Now, he had two. And God was the only one who could make the determination as to which goat was to symbolize what.

   Lots were cast and one lot was the goat that was chosen for the Lord was slain. Now, that symbolized Jesus Christ who gave himself as one.

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   Then Aaron, as the high priest, symbolized the resurrected Jesus Christ in taking the blood of that sacrifice into the Holy of Holies before the very throne of God and coming in within the veil to make an atonement.

   So, the blood of the sin offering has been poured out, has been shed, it has been accepted at the throne of God. Isn't it all over? No, there's another goat. Aaron comes out where the live goat is.

   And we're told that in verse 20, when he's made an end of reconciling the holy place, the tabernacle and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions and all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities onto a land not inhabited.

   And he shall let him let go of the goat in the wilderness. And then Aaron comes back and and washes and change his clothes. And the talks about what is to be done.

   And this is a part of the ceremony on the Day of Atonement. You see, there were two goats. And while one was had his blood poured out and that blood was taken in as a sin offering.

   Ultimately, the other goat was taken. And the sins of the nation were confessed over that goat and he was taken away into an isolated area. We read in Revelation 20 about an angel coming to lay hold on Satan and to bind him, to put him away, to put him in what is called a bottomless pit, a great abyss, is going to be isolated from all people for a thousand years.

   You see, Satan is the originator of sin. And ultimately, the matter of sin is not fully resolved until the one who invented it is dealt with. You know, it was mentioned earlier that we all have three things to deal with.

   We have ourselves, we have society and we have Satan. What did Satan have? He wasn't Satan. God didn't create a devil.

   He created a great covering Cherub. Talks about that in Isaiah 14. Talks about the talks about Lucifer, Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28.

   In Ezekiel 28, he's described as one of the great Cherubs that covers. God created a great powerful angelic being. And yet, that being became the inventor of sin.

   What did he have to pull him down? Well, he didn't have human nature. He didn't have the lusts of flesh, the pulls of the flesh, because he wasn't flesh, he was spirit. He didn't have a corrupt society to serve as a bad influence.

   And he didn't have some great powerful spirit being to tempt him and entice him and try to deceive him. So we're told in Isaiah 14, how are you fallen from heaven? Isaiah 14:12. How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How are you cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations? For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven.

   I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

   I will be like the Most High. Yet shall you be brought down to Sheol, to the grave, to the sides of the pit. Notice back in Ezekiel 28.

   In Ezekiel 28, God has been addressing the prophet Ezekiel to prophesy about the human ruler of Tyre, called the prince of Tyre. But on down in Ezekiel 28, it switches from talking about the human ruler, the prince of Tyre, to one called the king of Tyre, which is not a human being, but is the one that we know as Satan. Ezekiel 28:11.

   Moreover, the word came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus says the Lord God, You seal up the psalm, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You have been in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covenant.

   The sardius and the topaz, the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, the carbuncle, gold, the workmanship of your cabrets and your pipes were prepared in you in the day that you were created. You are the anointed Cherub that covers, and I have set you so. You were upon the holy mountain of God.

   You walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. You were perfect in all your ways from the day that you were created until iniquity was found in you. By the multitude of your merchandise, they fill the midst of you with violence.

   You have sinned. Wherefore, I have cast you as profane out of the mountain of God, and I will destroy you, O covering Cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Verse 17, Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty.

   You have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness. I'll cast you to the ground. I'll lay you before kings that they may behold you.

   What was the problem? What happened to Lucifer? What was the original sin? See, the original sin is not what you read on Genesis 3. That was when man sinned. The original sin was the sin of Lucifer. What was the original sin? Ezekiel 28:17, Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty.

   Pride was the original sin. That was the gateway to everything else because his heart was lifted up because of his beauty. He was corrupted in his wisdom by reason of his brightness.

   And we're told this great being, we're told, read there in Isaiah 14, this great being said, I'll be like the Most High. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I'm going to take over.

   Now that's pride. In fact, you can't get filled with more pride than that. Somebody says, I'm going to replace God.

   I really think that I ought to be in God's chair. He needs to move and give way to me. I'm going to exalt my throne above the stars of God.

   I'll be like the Most High. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. His heart was lifted up.

   Pride was the original sin. And it gave rise to everything that came after because as Lucifer became lifted up in his heart, he wanted others to follow him. And so he lied.

   He's a liar and a father of a lie. He lied to other angels and tried to entice them and attract them. He was prepared to tell whatever he thought somebody wanted to hear.

   I guess you could say he was the first politician. He made promises. Sure he did.

   After all, he enticed the third of the angels to follow him, didn't he? He made promises. He promised them a new deal, better deal. If they followed him.

   Pride lifted him up. He became deceitful. He became filled with what Jesus labeled as the spirit of murder.

   He said he was a murderer from the beginning, a liar and the father of a lie. The spirit of hatred and contempt for others, the very opposite of love. Filled, Lucifer, he was cast as profane out of the holy mountain of God.

   But pride lifted him up. Pride was the original sin and gave rise to everything else. And so on this day in which we look forward to and anticipate the putting away of Satan, the sending away of the Azazel goat, the binding of Satan.

   What do we do? We afflict souls. Now, what did David say in Psalm 35? He says, I humbled my soul with fasting. You can't get any further away from Satan than to be humble.

   You see, the very opposite of Satan's attitude is humility. The word, as we went through, you know, in detail on this past Sabbath, the word is translated humble there in Psalm 35. I humbled my soul with fasting is the same word that is rendered afflict to, to afflict our souls back in Leviticus 23 and other places.

   You see, we afflict our souls. That means we humble our soul. That, by the way, is just another proof that your soul is not immortal.

   By the end of the Day of Atonement, most everybody knows their soul is not immortal. In fact, most of the kids, particularly their soul is feeling very mortal. And, you know, our soul gets a little weaker and it gets not feeling quite so good.

   And it begins to run down, lose a little energy. No, the soul is not immortal. We afflict ourselves.

   Our souls are our lives. It is. There's nothing inherently immortal about soul.

   We afflict our souls. We humble ourselves with fasting before God, which is the very opposite of Satan.

   You see, Jesus Christ. The two goats that were chosen by lot, one was chosen to represent Christ and the other was chosen to represent Satan. Jesus Christ described in John chapter one, the one, (John 1:1), who was in the beginning in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.

   The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him. And without him was not anything made that was made.

   The word became flesh and dwelt among us. He came as the lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. Here was.

   Lucifer, on the other hand, you know, we're told in John one that without the word, there was absolutely nothing that was made, nothing made that was made. So he was responsible and play and played the creative role in not only the physical creation, but the angelic creation. Now, let's go back here to the book of Philippians, Philippians chapter two, the apostle Paul, speaking in Philippians two and verse three (Philippians 2:3), says, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory.

   Now, does anything better sum up the attitude of Satan? What did Satan do when Lucifer became Satan? Was there any strife or vainglory? Well, he started with vainglory and he very quickly had strife. His heart was lifted up and then he began to stir up other angels and try to attract a following to himself. You see, Paul says, look, we need to be of the totally opposite frame of mind than Satan.

   Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Well, Satan was corrupted by reason of his brightness.

   He was so proud of himself and how much he knew and how great he was and how smart he was and how beautiful he was and all of the things. He was so self-focused that his whole world revolved around him and it led him to be willing to destroy anything and everything to exalt the self. Brethren, that's the attitude that tears this whole world apart.

   That's why this whole world is in the state that it's in. Strife and vainglory, that's the motivating factors. But not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

   Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery, not something to be seized and grasped and held on to, to be equal with God. But he made himself of no reputation. He emptied himself and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in the fashion of a man, he humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

   Wherefore also God has highly exalted him and given him a name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Things in heaven, that's all the angelic host, of things in earth, that's all human beings that are now alive, of things under the earth, that's everybody that's dead. That pretty well takes in everything.

   The angelic host and people alive and people dead. Every knee should bow and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Jesus Christ, who had all glory, who inherently possessed the greatness and the glory of God, he emptied himself.

   Satan was lifted up in his heart and he was wanting to take over. Jesus Christ did the opposite. He emptied himself.

   He said, I'll go. I'll become that sin offering for them. I'll be made flesh.

   I'll take upon me the form of the seed of Abraham. I'll become a human being. I'll live life in the flesh.

   I will triumph over Satan through the power of the Spirit of God. I will voluntarily offer myself. I will humble myself.

   Jesus Christ, who was the great creator, he didn't come down all strutting around and saying, well, that everybody needs to serve me. He came setting an example of service. Even to the point he knelt down and washed the disciples' feet, washed their feet, humbled himself, performed the job of the lowest servant, being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

   You see, it's no accident that we have things which coincide on this day that the day that pictures the banishment of Satan is a day we celebrate by fasting. The day that pictures the putting away of Satan, we celebrate by fasting because when we fast, we are humbling ourselves. We are afflicting our souls.

   We are drinking in of the attitude of Jesus Christ, the attitude of humility. We afflict our soul. We humble our soul with fasting.

   We're doing the opposite of trying to exalt and glorify the self. We are repudiating the self-focused, self-centered attitude of Satan because humanly, we all rather eat than not eat, right? We anticipate it's easy to get somebody excited about the feast. Oh boy, you know, you'd be able to go here and do this.

   That's easy. You know, it's easy to get little kids all excited about the feast, but humbling ourselves, afflicting our soul, fasting, it doesn't come as natural, does it? That's the point. It's not natural.

   It's not the reflection of the natural man. It is where we're telling God that we hunger and thirst for righteousness more, that that is of greater value to us than the physical, that we'd rather feed on God's spirit and God's word, that we are putting into practice what is described right here in Philippians 2. You see, the Day of Atonement looks forward to and anticipates the putting away of Satan. There was a ceremony in ancient Israel carried out by the high priest described in Leviticus 16.

   Of the goat that was selected for Azazel and the sins being placed upon him and is being sent away, taken away by the hand of a fit man into a place of isolation. As we look forward to and anticipate the banishment of Satan and with it the banishment of the things that beset this world, we demonstrate that that really is what we want. We want Satan and his attitude banished because by our celebration upon this day, we are rejecting the original sin, the sin of pride.

   We are humbling our soul with fasting. So there are several aspects of the Day of Atonement. One focuses on our role of afflicting soul, of realizing it is a day that God wants us to fast and to come before him, recognizing our dependence upon him and to humble ourselves.

   It is also a day that looks forward to the banishment of Satan, the father of pride. And it also reminds us of the time when, because the Jubilee pointed toward the Messiah, Jesus Christ said that he came to proclaim liberty, to set at liberty those who were bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. The coming of the Messiah will usher in the acceptable year of the Lord.

   The trumpet of the Jubilee will sound forth on the Day of Atonement that year, and it will proclaim liberty to the captives. And they'll begin to be regathered and brought back to Jerusalem just in time for the inauguration of the millennium, the inauguration of what the Feast of Tabernacles pictures. Just a matter of five days from now, we'll be at the Feast of Tabernacles.

   In fact, five days from now, we'll be in the concluding portion of the last service on the first holy day. We will be there picturing the ushering in of the kingdom of God on this earth, the rulership of the kingdom of God, our entering into the family of God as kings and priests to rule and reign with Jesus Christ. First, dealing with the regathered tribes of Israel and ultimately spreading out until the knowledge of God covers the earth like the waters cover the sea.

   But before the millennium can begin, the devil's got to be bound. The trumpet of the Jubilee will sound, Satan will be put away. And by our fasting, by our afflicting our souls and setting our focus on God, we are telling him that we that our world is not this present world.

   Our world is not based on the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, because that passes away and those who embrace it are going to pass away with it. Rather, our world is his world. That we desire deeply to have the mind of Christ in us, the mind of Christ that reflected itself and humbling himself, emptying himself and ultimately then being exalted by God in the aftermath.

   Brethren, this fall festival season is a very special time. It reminds us of the plan and purpose God is working out. And as we celebrate this, what we need to understand is that we are yet one year closer to the time when it will actually be fulfilled.

   You know, for centuries, century after century, year after year, Jews went to Jerusalem. They brought a lamb. And they slaughtered that lamb and they celebrated the Passover year after year.

   The disciples of Jesus did that. And then one year came. And that was the last year they ever slaughtered a lamb, because then the Lamb of God gave himself they ate, they ate the Passover, they made the transition.

   It's recorded the last, the Christ's last Passover of his human ministry. You know, for centuries, for decades, for years, those who understood the plan of God anticipated the fulfillment of that Passover. And you know, it happened in the same way.

   The decades, the centuries have gone by, the years have gone by, and we anticipate the fulfillment of these fall festivals. Well, brethren, the time is coming when these days will be fulfilled. And we're standing on the brink of that.

   We look at what's going on in the world around us. And one thing it teaches us is that things can take a turn very quickly, very quickly. We need to be focused in realizing the pivotal role that this day pictures.

   It is what connects the return of Christ on trumpets with the kingdom of God, the Feast of Tabernacles, the putting away of Satan. God punishing that crooked serpent, Leviathan, the dragon of the sea, punishing him, dealing with him, sounding the trumpet of liberation and trumpet of the Jubilee and regathering the captives. And those who are going to be there with you are those who have year by year in their celebration of the Day of Atonement, consciously rejected Leviathan as their captain because he rules over the children of pride, we're told in the book of Job, consciously rejected him.

   We have humbled our souls with fasting, looking to Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, who humbled himself and gave himself for us. Brethren, as we conclude our Day of Atonement today, let's be deeply conscious of the tremendous opportunity of what God has given us a chance to be part of. And let's anticipate the fulfillment of this day and all the fall festivals.