God's Holy Days

God's people were commanded to keep this Holy Days. God's people comprise of the twelve tribes of Israel, which are today, twelve nations each living in their own land and speaking their own language. Only one of these twelve tribes today speak the Hebrew language. The remaining eleven have their own language. They have forgotten their roots.

MULTIPLE SABBATH TO KEEP

"You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you" (Exodus 31:13).

KEEP THE WEEKLY SABBATH

"For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy" (Exodus 20:11).

LEVITICUS 23 HOLY DAYS

1. The Passover (v. 5)
2. The Days of Unleavened Bread (vv. 6–8)
3. The Feast of Weeks, called the Day of Pentecost in the New Testament (vv. 15–22)
4. The Feast of Trumpets (vv. 23–25)
5. The Day of Atonement (vv. 26–32)
6. The Feast of Tabernacles (vv. 33–39)
7. The Eighth Day Feast, called the Last Great Day in the New Testament (v. 39)

GOD’S SABBATH REST—THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT

When God created through His Son, He planned six days of work and one day of rest. The day of rest was the seventh day, God’s Sabbath. It is by design that God created in six days and rested on one day. He rested on the seventh day—by design. 

“Then God blessed THE SEVENTH DAY and SANCTIFIED IT, because in it HE RESTED FROM ALL HIS WORK which He had created and made” (Genesis 2:3).

A total of seven is symbolic of completion. The seven days of creation is a complete period of time to accomplish God’s whole plan for mankind. For Him, 1,000 years of time on earth is but a day. 

“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (II Peter 3:8).

God has given mankind 6,000 years of their Self-knows-best style of reign and on the seventh day, He will rest because Jesus Christ will rule bringing order, peace and rest to earth and in heaven. God’s rest is only on the seventh day at the end of this evil age. 

Isaiah said, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom” (Isaiah 40:28).

Why then, does God Almighty, who does not tire or grow weary, talk of rest?

What is God Almighty resting from?

Moses recorded in Genesis 2:3 that God Almighty first set the seventh day apart from all other days of the week. He sanctified it. He is teaching mankind that a time period equivalent to a day is set aside as His day of rest. Based on His timeline, it is equivalent to 1,000 years of mankind’s timeline. This day is coming when He will rest from all His work; the work of a potter where His hands press against the clay to shape and perfect. The final day—the final one-thousand years of this physical world will be the rule of Jesus Christ. He will bring peace to earth and mankind will bend their knee. Everyone will rest with their Great Creator at that time.

God Almighty knows the end from the very beginning. He knew Adam and Eve would sin. He knew during the six-thousand-year reign of man on earth, He would be working hard to mold a stubborn people and bring them to their knees. He knew the sons of God—the members in His courts in heaven of whom He gave to be kings over the nations at the time of Babel, would also rebel. This painful outcome He knew from before creation. The rest that God Almighty will enjoy during the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ is the loving peace and harmony among His creation in heaven and on earth. Jesus Christ will restore all things as they were before lawlessness was found, then rest will come for all eternity.

God’s Sabbath is the day God looks forward to His creation living at peace with Him. Those who remember His weekly Rest and join Him each week have declared their allegiance to Him and their desire for all creation to join them and submit to their Creator loving Him with all their heart, mind, soul and strength.

GOD WILL REST

The Sabbath is that time when God will rest from battling rebellious mankind.

Paul identified the ‘rest’ that brought God Almighty relief. “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work [Paul quoted Genesis]” And God vowed, “‘They shall never enter my rest.’ It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did NOT go in, because of THEIR DISOBEDIENCE” (Hebrews 4:4-6).

He will rest from battling disobedient, rebellious mankind.

Behind the scenes, during the six-day work week, Christ has been working with God, overthrowing rebellion and restoring truth and righteousness on earth and in heaven. “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [Christ], and through him [Christ] to reconcile to himself ALL things, whether THINGS ON EARTH or THINGS IN HEAVEN, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:19-20).

Upon Christ’s return, the final one-thousand-year Millennial rule will begin and mankind will put away their rebellion and learn the way of God. It is the day when God begins His celebration of the repentance of mankind—the day that brings Him rest. “A root will come up from the stump of Jesse…with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth… Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all… the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:1, 3-6, 9b).

This period in our history will fill up with peace, joy and love for one another. Mankind will come to know their loving, long-suffering and gracious Creator.

When iniquity on earth and in heaven is completely overthrown, Christ will bend his knee to God Almighty. Then, God who has created all things will rule supreme in peace with all of His creation in obedience to Him, again, as in times past. “Then, when all things are under his authority, THE SON WILL PUT HIMSELF UNDER GOD'S AUTHORITY, so that GOD, who gave his Son authority over all things, WILL BE UTTERLY SUPREME OVER EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE,” so that GOD WILL BE ALL IN ALL (I Corinthians 15:28).

GOD’S PLAN FOR MANKIND IN HIS HOLY DAYS

The Sabbath rest will continue throughout the Millennium including the keeping of God’s Holy Days, which are the template of the salvation plan for mankind. God’s Holy Days foretold the season of all of the strategic steps of the salvation plan of mankind:

1.  The Passover: The Messiah’s death on the cross and payment of our sins.

2.  The Days of Unleavened Bread: point to the removal of sin out of our lives.

3.  Pentecost: the birth of the church given God’s Holy Spirit.

Still in the near future

4.  Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah: forecasts the return of Jesus Christ.

5.  Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur: God’s people are atoned of sin.

6.  Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot: forecasts the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

7.  Last Great Day immediately after Sukkot: Judgement Day after the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ.

The nations of the world will learn that this template was given to God’s people from the beginning when He became their King. The people of the nations will wonder how it came about that the Christians did not keep them since they are significant for them and the people in the nations. God said, “Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy’” (Exodus 31:13).

Keeping God’s Sabbaths separates His people from the rest of the world that is living in sin and corruption. God planned that His people live His Sabbath and keep His Holy Days. The holy lifestyle would have brought the nations to look, ponder the blessings these people enjoy, ask about God’s Law and His way, marvel at the wisdom from ordinary people, then seek to serve this God and learn His way.

God’s plan for mankind cannot be thwarted. He will achieve is Rest. His people will become a model kingdom of royal priests, the nations on earth will see and marvel.

“‘For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,’ says the LORD, ‘So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,’ says the LORD” (Isaiah 66:22-23).

The time will come when the people from all the nations will worship the God of Israel, the Almighty God and the Seventh Day rest will be remembered and kept. It is important that the seventh day of the week is remembered and kept holy. Any other day of the week, is an attempt by theologians to disregard God’s application of sanctifying the seventh day and they are declaring themselves and their congregation to have the authority to sanctify a day of the week. The seven days of the week is a prophecy of the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ. It will not take place on any day of the week. It will occur only at the end of 6,000-years, the end of this evil age. God’s rest will never take place during this evil age. God is busy working during the evil age because mankind is bent on sinning and His people are weak and in desperate need of a strong, righteous leader.

Job understood the invincible power of Almighty God. “I know that You can do all things and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). God will achieve what He has set out to do.

Our Father in heaven, our Almighty God is awesome. Mankind is nothing and can do nothing in comparison. “All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done?'" (Daniel 4:35)

Our God is the supreme force in all existence. He, alone, determines His day of Rest because He is the engineer of the salvation plan for mankind. In His great power and goodness, He shared the details of His plan with His people through His Sabbath Rest and His Holy Days. Keeping these days, reminds them of His plan for them and all of mankind. His great power will bring all prophecy woven into these Holy Days into fulfilment. Nobody can change them by doing their own thing. Those who try are casting themselves out to wander deeper into darkness.

JESUS, THEIR KING

Christians have Jesus, the Messiah to lead them. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He kept all of God’s Sabbaths while on earth. He taught the Christians to keep God’s Law, which includes the fourth commandment—Keep the Sabbath.

The noble quality of the 144,000 from twelve tribes of Israel in Revelation is that they follow Jesus wherever he goes.

“They have kept themselves as pure as virgins, following the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been purchased from among the people on the earth as a special offering to God and to the Lamb” (Revelation 14:4).

On earth, Jesus kept the Sabbath and God’s Holy Days.

“So, He [Christ] came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read” (Luke 4:16).

The Apostle Paul said, “Imitate me [Paul], just as I imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

It is our Father in heaven that we please. The Sabbath and the Holy Days are His. They are not Jewish; they belong to Almighty God, King over the Hebrew people who, into the 21st century, are remembered only as the Jewish people. The divorced house of Israel comprised of ten of the twelve tribes was brought back into the covenant family by Jesus Christ. An event will uncover them. This revelation will trigger a religious revival and intense persecution.

GOD’S SABBATHS WILL BE KEPT BY PEOPLE FROM THE NATIONS

“This is what the LORD says: ‘Maintain justice and do what is right, for My salvation is coming soon, and My righteousness will be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, ‘The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.’ And let the eunuch not say, ‘I am but a dry tree.’ For this is what the LORD says: ‘To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My covenant—I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.’ And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants—all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it and who hold fast to My covenant— I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations” (Isaiah 56:5-7).

Those from the nations who come to Almighty God at any time from now and into the Millennium will be welcomed into God’s temple if they keep the Sabbath holy, keep His other Sabbaths—His Holy Days. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on God’s altar.

The conditional Old Covenant given to ancient Israel will be opened up to the whole world to obey God’s Law and enjoy the blessings that He will shower upon them. To sacrifice to Him on His altar, acknowledges the consequences of their mistakes and that there is a price for forgiveness. It takes time for babes in Christ to understand the magnitude of sin and the consequences attached to it. The sacrificial system was also a foreshadow of Christ’s sacrifice and payment for our sins. The sacrificial system will be in effect during the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ because it is a teaching tool of God for the babes in Christ.

When the serpent is thrown down out of the second heaven, he immediately pursues the God’s “virgin” church. Imaged as the woman with the crown of twelve stars, she escapes “on the wings of an eagle” when the earth opens up to consume the serpent’s flood of rushing, turbulent water. Unable to destroy the saints, the serpent turns to those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

“And the dragon was enraged at the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea” (Revelation 12:17).

The churches who now keep the commandments of God, including the fourth commandment and hold to the testimony of Jesus will trigger a great religious revival discovering their roots, their calling and now valuing the importance of keeping God’s commandments and holding to the legal witness of Jesus Christ against all those who do not bend their knee to Almighty God.

THE LEGAL WITNESS MUST GO TO ALL THE WORLD

The disciples asked Jesus, “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”  (Matthew 24:3). Jesus said that many will come in his name and there will be wars and rumors of wars, but the end is still to come. Nations will go to war against each other, famines and earthquakes will increase but these tragic and life-taking events are merely birth pains. Hatred will fill the hearts of people and they will persecute you and some will die for Christ’s name. Christians will be the central target during this time when Satan is on earth with his beastly coalition. False prophets will rise and lead many astray. Wickedness will explode onto the face of the earth and people will hate deeper and spread their hatred wider. Still, none of these events will bring the end of this evil age. Only one achievement will bring the end of this evil age.

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

The legal witness to all the nations worshipping Satan and his beastly coalition of rebel, fallen heavenly beings must be complete before the end will come.  All people in all nations who surrender to Satan and his beastly coalition must be aware of the consequences of treason. God is building His legal case against all who refuse to repent. God’s people will take this witness to the whole world. They will finally be keeping God’s commandments and holding to the testimony of Jesus Christ. The West, the house of Joseph, will likely lead the way, as it was their patriarchal father who fed the whole of the known world during the time of the great famine in Egypt. He brought his family to Egypt under his protection during this unique time that will be mirrored again in our near future. God’s penmanship is an engineering feat. Mirroring, parallels, imagery, symbolism in numbers and colours, stories all work to build the big puzzle that unveils the most intricate details of God’s mind.

The story of Joseph is also the story of Jesus. He will lead all of mankind into repentance and feed them the word of God. 

God’s work during this evil age includes creation in heaven and on earth. God’s plan has been a mystery throughout times past. He is working to bring the first creation in heaven and the second creation on earth together under one sovereignty, one King, one Lord. Mankind on earth is not aware of the countless kings, princes, rulers, powers and principalities over vast dominions in heaven. All this will be brought under one King over them all and one Lord over all lords.

THE MYSTERY OF GOD’S WILL

“And he made known to us THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL according to his good pleasure, which HE PURPOSED IN CHRIST, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things IN HEAVEN and ON EARTH TOGETHER under ONE HEAD [under God Almighty], even Christ [Christ will again at that time bend his knee to God Almighty]” (Ephesians 1:9- 10). 

After Christ’s death and resurrection, God crowned Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords. “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority IN HEAVEN and ON EARTH has been given to me’” (Mathew 28:18).

A NEW THING IS HAPPENING

Almighty God rejoices in the near future when sin and death are overthrown. “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing [restoring all things]! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland...” (Isaiah 43:18-19). 

The restoration back to how things were before iniquity was found is the “new thing” God Almighty is excited about. God is anticipating a close relationship with all humanity. Fulfilling God’s will, will be our greatest pleasure. We will call Him, “Abba, Daddy, our Papa.” And as the Apostle Paul said, “As indeed He says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved’” (Romans 9:25).

God is forecasting His ownership again over people who return to Him and “her” the religious leaders and their congregations will be loved because they will be keeping His theology.

GOD’S PEOPLE, ALL TWELVE TRIBES WERE NEVER REJECTED

“I am as likely to reject my people Israel as I am to abolish the laws of nature!” (Jeremiah 31:3)

“Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are My servant, O Israel. I have made you, and you are My servant; O Israel, I will never forget you” (Isaiah 44:21).

Note God’s use of the name O Jacob in the same sentence as O Israel. “Remember… O Jacob, you are My servant, O Israel.” God Almighty is being very clear here. The overcomers like Jacob after wrestling with the Angel of the LORD whose name is changed to Israel, they will be God’s servant. When God begins His sentence with O Jacob, He is talking to those who have not yet overcome that they need to overcome so that their name will be changed to Israel and become a servant of God that He will never forget. The overcomers are the saints; they will never be forgotten. Rebel Jacob will be forgotten because unrepentant Jacob will be destroyed.

Again, the wonder of God’s penmanship. “Now this is what the LORD says—He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine!” (Isaiah 43:1)

God said, “He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel.” Nuggets of precious clues glisten out as God uses the names of Jacob and Israel to identify the rough unmolded people and the carefully crafted, glorious saints who are the work of God’s hands. God has redeemed these rough rebels, but His Sabbath Rest does not come until Jesus Christ is given the green light to return. Until then, God Himself, the Great Potter, will press against the clay to form a humble and righteous people. God will win! There is no greater honour in all creation in either heaven or earth to be called by name and identified as God’s servant.

Jeremiah recorded, “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have drawn you with loving devotion. AGAIN, I will build you, and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again, you will take up your tambourines and go out in joyful dancing” (Jeremiah 31:3-4).

Both houses of the kingdom of Israel failed. Neither house: Judah or Israel will ever be able to claim any righteousness. It will be the invasion that will bring them to their knees and cry out to their God in the latter days. Their God will hear them.

“Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ Then the people of Judah and of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and will go up out of the land” (Hosea 1:10-11).

The kingdom of Israel will be re-united as it was in ancient times. Judo-Christians will appoint one leader for themselves and return home.

Christ’s redemptive sacrifice has made God’s people clean along with all people from the nations who repent. A new start has begun with the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit beginning on Pentecost. His people though not fully a “virgin” today, will repent, during a time of great distress—their trouble—Jacob’s trouble. They will become a virgin, a church undefiled from false religion. God has promised to rebuilt His kingdom of royal priests—a church-nation. They will become a model church-nation and the whole world will watch them grow spiritually into Israel—the overcomers, like the transformed spiritual, eternal saints of God.

God promises blessings to those who rest with Him. “If because of the Sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to FEAST ON THE INHERITANCE OF YOUR FATHER JACOB." The mouth of the LORD has spoken” (Isaiah 58:13-14).

Feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob means being coronated kings and queens—princes and princesses with God.

God’s house is a house of prayer for ALL nations. “And FOREIGNERS who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, and love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, and all who KEEP THE SABBATH WITHOUT DESECRATING IT and who hold fast to my covenant—THESE I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL NATIONS” (Isaiah 56:6-7).

God loves creation on earth. His redemptive plan will be highly successful. He longs to lavish all of mankind with His goodness. God lives knowing all this is moments away, but for mankind, those moments are their lifetime and more. Patiently, waiting on God is Jesus’ command. God, our Father, wants to save everyone. It will take time and as He has suffered long for us, we can suffer long for others, wanting also, that everyone be saved.

The Psalmist understood, “I wait for You, O LORD; You will answer, O Lord my God” (Psalm 38:15).

Isaiah expressed his wonder of the Living God. “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4).

Eternal life is coming to those who wait on the LORD. “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:29-31).

A new thing is coming. Wickedness will be overthrown and destroyed. The dark, evil days will end. For those who deeply respect Almighty God, their Great Creator, “The sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall” (Malachi 4:2). Wait on the LORD and rest with Him. Soon all that you have waited to happen will be fulfilled and your joy will be eternal rest and happiness.

Many Christians are in danger of spiritual death, regardless of having accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. How can this be said? The ceremony on the Day of Atonement holds all of the answers.

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God’” (Leviticus 23:26-28a).

Aaron is to take two goats, “present them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat” (Leviticus 16:6-8).

Each young goat images a leader and the role the leader fulfills. The questions are:

• Who are the leaders?
• What role do they fulfill?

God has carefully and methodically established a specific set of processes to atone for His people that will be fulfilled on the official Day of Atonement. These processes comprise of two main components:

1. The sacrifice of a young goat to cover the sins of God’s people
2. The release of a live young goat in the wilderness as a scapegoat is used for making atonement of God’s people.

The process of the ceremony is comprised of several very important and unique features, which are key to adding clarity of understanding of this unique Holy Day. 

Unique features:

• Two young goats from their herd are presented before the LORD

The two young goats are both without blemish and in this case, they are indistinguishable because it requires the casting of lots in the assignment of the roles. Both young goats qualify for either role.

• Lots were cast giving the LORD Almighty the task of choosing which young goat is to Him and which young goat would be kept alive as the scapegoat. Casting lots was a common practice in ancient times for calling on God or the gods over the nations to make the decision of the outcome. A good example of the practice of the casting of lots is when God chose the tribe of Levi to be His priests. God commanded each leader of each tribe to provide a rod. Overnight, Aaron’s rod was the only one to demonstrate a miraculous change. It “put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds” (Numbers 23:8).
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SCRIPTURES THAT SUPPORT GOD USING THE CASTING OF LOTS TO AFFIRM HIS DECISION.

Decision from the LORD: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD” (Proverbs 16:33).

“Then they drew lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so, he was added to the eleven apostles” (Acts 1:26).

“Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes” (Numbers 33:64).

SCRIPTURES THAT SUPPORT THE CUSTOM OF THE PRIESTHOOD.

Custom of the priesthood: “He was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood,to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense” (Luke 1:9).

“These were the Levites, according to their families. They also cast lots, just as their brothers the descendants of Aaron did, in the presence of King David and of Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites” (I Chronicles 24:30-31).

ISRAEL ALONE WERE NOT THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO UTILIZED THE CASTING OF LOTS.

Custom among the people outside of Israel: “Then the sailors said to each other, ‘Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.’ They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah” (Jonah 1:7).

It becomes apparent in the story of Jonah that it was not only the ancient Israelites using the lot method to ask their god to make the decision on a matter. The sailors on the boat each worshipped different gods. “All of the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god” (Jonah 1:5).

So, it is evident that other people from the different cities outside of Israel also utilized the casting of lots to ask their god for the decision of a matter. The sailors worshipping different gods suggested that lots be cast to determine who was responsible for the calamity they were experiencing. The lot fell on Jonah.

The casting of lots is an essential practice for the ritual on the Day of Atonement because only Almighty God, the Creator with the legal right as the Owner of all created, can determine the leader to fulfill the sacred Day of Atonement. The two young goats were both without blemish and equally qualified for the atonement ceremony. The two roles comprise of a sacrifice and an ongoing atonement until the Day of Atonement is fulfilled. The casting of lots represents Almighty God’s direct input in assigning each role to each goat.

THE FIRST YOUNG GOAT

The young goat the LORD chose for Himself would be sacrificed as a sin offering in redemptive payment of the sins of His people, Israel and all of mankind.

Violations of God’s law results in penalties. The sins of Israel resulted in their death. The legal price for the sins of God’s people would be reconciled by the sacrifice imaged in the young goat God selected to Himself. The LORD God is the ultimate Judge who only can rule on an offense that would satisfy His law. Satisfying God’s law is the first step to receiving eternal life.

The Son of God was the leader imaged in the first young goat. Jesus Christ died on the cross and his redemptive sacrifice was fulfilled on the Passover.

THE SECOND YOUNG GOAT

The second young goat would be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement of His people by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.

Each of the highlighted points above will be discussed separately.

ALIVE BEFORE THE LORD

The young goat remains alive before the LORD. This young goat is an image of a perfect being—without blemish, a spiritual leader who is alive and well and qualified to atone for the sins of God’s people.

USED FOR MAKING ATONEMENT

“Used for making atonement” that is the work of Jesus Christ who intercedes for God’s people who repent and have accepted his sacrifice as payment of their sins. Jesus Christ is also the image of the second young goat. This explains why Almighty God made the decision through the casting of lots because the priesthood could not distinguish one goat from the other. In fact, both goats image Jesus Christ. Almighty God selected the Son from before creation to be the redemptive sacrifice for mankind. Christ purchased mankind when he paid the price for their sins. They are under his jurisdiction and he alone can intercede for them.

“Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:25-26).

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). The spirit of Jesus Christ knows the heart of the saints. “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27). 

The spirit of Jesus Christ intercedes for God’s people.

The two young goats image Jesus Christ who hold two roles in the salvation of mankind. The making of atonement is the second step to complete the forgiveness process. Those who accept the sacrifice of Christ have completed only the first step. Accepting the redemptive sacrifice, commits these people to the death of their old self. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (Romans 6:3)

This second step is the ongoing spiritual growth of repentant people to come into the fullness of Christ. They are reborn to grow into spiritual maturity, growing in the knowledge, understanding and wisdom of God.

The Apostle Peter said, “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (I Peter 2:1).

Repentant people begin as babes in Christ who cannot yet distinguish right from wrong.

“Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:13-14).

Because the rebirth is a growing process where mistakes and errors are made, making of atonement, that is, the intercession by Jesus Christ is necessary.

Repentant people are required to overcome and reach the whole measure and fullness of Christ. Jesus gave teachers to God’s people to prepare them “for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-15).

While the Day of Atonement is not fully understood among the Christian community and the rich meanings embedded in the ritual, God has still provided Christians with the essential knowledge of growing into spiritual maturity through the scriptures in the New Testament. However, the knowledge that the Day of Atonement will be fulfilled, ten days after Jesus Christ returns on the Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah, is a unique piece to the grand puzzle which is unveiled in the study of the Holy Day. Eventually, all of the Holy Days will be fulfilled, leaving a remembrance of God’s transparency of His plan for His people.

THE WILDERNESS

“By sending it into the wilderness.” The wilderness is an image of an isolated place where repenting people enter separating themselves from the general unrepentant public to grow in God’s knowledge, understanding and wisdom to live righteously.

Ancient Israel entered the wilderness for forty years. It was the separation essential to their spiritual journey to draw close to God. After forty years, only the children of the original people who left Egypt survived because they did not rebel against God.

Today, into the 21st century, the journey of the Judeo-Christians who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour are separated in a virtual wilderness as they privately develop an intimate relationship with Almighty God, our LORD through Jesus Christ. As ancient Israel was fed directly by Almighty God in the forty-year wilderness journey by manna, so, the Judeo-Christians are fed by Jesus Christ after accepting his redemptive sacrifice.

THE SCAPEGOAT

The final highlighted point is the scapegoat. Jesus Christ bore the sins of all of mankind. He was the sinless, perfect sacrifice willing to die for mankind from the creation. He is the scapegoat. We see this in Isaiah, “Therefore, I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life until death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).

THE ROLE OF THE FIRST YOUNG GOAT

God Almighty selected the young goat as the sacrifice for the sins of mankind. The redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ fulfilled the legal requirement for Atonement.

THE ROLE OF THE SECOND YOUNG GOAT

The role of the second young goat sent in the wilderness is the ongoing, continual work of Jesus Christ who intercedes for God’s people as they grow and overcome. This work will continue and reach its apex on the official year and day of Yon Kippur—the Day of Atonement. It will take place and be fulfilled ten days after the return of Jesus Christ. It will be a solemn day for God’s people. At the end of the great tribulation, Jacob’s trouble, the people who are repentant and remain mortal because they have not reached the fullness of Christ and are not transformed into their spiritual bodies, will be atoned for on the Day of Atonement. They will bring this day to completion. A remembrance of this day will continue in the same way that the Passover, Feast of Weeks and Pentecost are kept today.

Before God’s people enter into the Holy Land, God will have them walk under His staff and He will, at that time, purge anyone who holds an unrepentant and rebellious spirit. Ezekiel 20:38 “I will take note of you as you pass under my staff, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 20:38).

Among God’s people, people from the nations will also enter into the Holy Land. “The LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land. Foreigners will join them and unit with the house of Jacob” (Isaiah 14:1). 

These foreigners who join with DNA people of God from all twelve tribes will be given rulership, an inheritance, exactly the same as the DNA people of God. Ezekiel recorded God’s word. “You are to distribute this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners who have settled among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the foreigner settles, there you are to give him his inheritance” (Ezekiel 47:21-23).

There will be no re-atonement for God’s people returning to the Holy Land at the beginning of Jesus Christ’s millennial reign. They will walk under God Almighty’s staff; He will purge the unrepentant and the remainder will continue to settle in the Holy Land to live righteously. The Apostle Peter urged God’s people to recognize the importance of their calling. 

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (I Peter 2:9).

Both of the young goats selected for the sacramental service on the Day of Atonement image Jesus Christ. The two indistinguishable goats require the selection by Almighty God, Himself. This is intentional to point to only one heavenly ruler who could qualify to fulfill two roles. Jesus Christ fulfilled the perfect sacrifice paying the price of mankind’s sins. His sacrifice entitled him to have rulership over God’s people and all of mankind and qualifies him to be able to forgive their sins, awaken the spiritually dead and heal all of the spiritual infirmities.

God’s Holy Days given to His people will be remembered for all eternity.