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Israel’s 7 Apocalyptic Days
The Day of Atonements
Chapter 1, Part 4 Preview: Most narratives about the azazel goat come right out of the Apocryphal Book of Enoch: Jews, Catholics, Muslims, most Protestants, Pagans, Witches, Adventists and Sabbatarian Churches of God, such as LCG (search:azazel) and UCG (minute 5) have teachings based on the Apocryphal fable of azazel! But very few sources reject the bogus Book of Enoch and explain the true identity of the azazel. Satan so wants to wreck your understanding of the Day of Atonements that he has influenced virtually all of the world’s religious authorities into crediting him with removing your sins! [UPDATE 2022: I recently found a relatively new exception to teaching the azazel lie in the Church of the Great God! This info is terrific!]
Just as with the name Lucifer, Satan is not the “light bringer” and he never abolishes sins! The mysterious allegory of a goat being led into the wilderness and mediating all the sins of the world really begins in Leviticus 16 and picks up with Yeshua (Jesus) being driven into the wilderness—not Satan! (Mark 1:12-13 & Luke 4), a mob tried to take Him out to a cliff and throw Him over it. It was Yeshua who was led into the wilderness! And during the next Day of Atonements they wanted to treat Him as they would an azazel! That was the Jewish custom of the day (contrary to Scripture)—they were to throw the ‘wicked’ azazel over a cliff, as explained in the Jewish Encyclopedia. Ironically, the Jews were accurate in equating Yeshua with the azazel goat on that Day of Atonements!
Eventually the Jews did kill the Lamb of Aloha (God) (Exodus 12:5), and when they did, He took on Himself the sins of the world (John 1:29). Naturally, Satan planted the lie of inserting himself into the role of the sacrificial lamb, making himself the focal point of the day rather than Yeshua! But the most solemn day of the year has no hairy goat demon removing your sins! (Satan can’t stop laughing!) A similar shell game enticed Adam and Eve out of paradise! Israel was given the Day of Atonements to prophesy something far different. This is that story:
Satan can not be blamed for anyone’s sins. He is actually allowed to live to test humanity—hastening the sorting of the wheat from the chaff! But ultimately he dies bearing only his own sins. Yeshua can take on your sins and remove them as far as the East is from the West—depending on how you live this life!, but the gate is narrow, (Luke 13:23-25.)
Did you know that there is a death sentense awaiting those who knowingly don’t “humble yourselves” on the Day of Atonements? (Leviticus 23:26-32)
Leviticus 16:29-31 “This is to be a perpetual statute for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must humble yourselves by fasting and do no work of any kind, whether native-born or foreigners living among you. 30 It is on this day that atonement will be made for you to cleanse you from all your sins. You must be clean in Yehovah’s presence. 31 It’s to be a Sabbath assembly for you. You must humble and deny yourselves, it’s a perpetual statute.—The Gabriel Bible
Fortunately, ignorance can be a valid excuse on Judgment Day for anyone who still has a functioning conscience (1st Timothy 4:3)!
Luke 12:47-48 The servant who knew what his master wanted, but wouldn’t do what he was instructed will be beaten with many stripes, 48 while the person who did something deserving stripes in ignorance will be beaten with fewer stripes. Much is required of anyone who is given much, and much is expected from anyone who has been entrusted with much.
I do not advise waiting for the new Temple to be built to comply!]
The amazing account of the azazel begins in a wilderness just outside of the promised land, but it doesn’t end with a lonely goat wandering in the wilderness. It doesn’t even end with Yeshua, all alone, taking upon Himself all of the sins of anyone who would truly follow Him.
Yehovah will actually give Israel a do-over in that same wilderness! There will be a Second Exodus of equally unconverted Israelites gathering just outside of the promised land, but with this offer (after experiencing 7 horrifying years) they’ll be eager to enter! In the coming Exodus everyone in Israel will know exactly who washes sins away, because He will be there in person to welcome them on that special Day of Atonements (there is more than one atoning—that’s why it’s plural). But very few people understand that day. (Hint: there will be fasting!)
Joel 2:1-20 Blow a shofar in Zion [1]! Sound the alarm on My 'special' mountain [2]! All the inhabitants of the land should tremble because the Day of Yehovah is coming, it’s soon! 2 It’s a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of thick clouds and darkness. Like the dawn spreading across the mountains, a huge and 'invincible' army moves in. There has never been anything like it and there will never be anything like it thruout the years, for generations and generations. 3 A fire devours before them and a flame blazes behind them. The land before them is like the garden of Eden, but behind them it’s a devastated desert. Nothing escapes! 4 They look very much like horses. They run like war horses. 5 They sound like noisy chariots leaping across the mountaintops, like flames of fire crackling as it devours stubble, like a powerful army in battle formation.
6 People writhe in their presence. Every face turns pale. 7 They charge like warriors. They climb walls like soldiers [locusts]. They all advance straight forward, never swerving off course. 8 They never crowd each other. They each advances in its own path, even bursting thru defenses without breaking ranks. 9 They rush into the city. They run along the walls. They climb into the houses, entering thru the windows like thieves.
10 The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon turn dark, and the stars no longer shine. [Revelation 6:12]. 11 Yehovah’s voice 'thunders' before His army, because His forces [3] are extremely large. Those who obey His 'commands' are powerful. The Day of Yehovah is great and very dreadful. Who can endure it?” 12 “Yet even now,” Yehovah says, “Turn to Me with all your being, with fasting and crying and mourning. 13 Rip your 'paradigm', not your clothes, and return to Yehovah, your Elohim, because He is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love and hesitant to send disaster. 14 Who knows He’s returning? [4] He’s granting a reprieve, and leaving a blessing behind, resulting in a grain offering and a drink offering to Yehovah your Elohim.
15 Blow a shofar in Zion, announce the fast, summon the Festival Assembly. 16 Gather the people. Prepare a 'special' assembly. Gather the elders. Gather the children, even nursing infants. The bridegroom must leave his room and the bride her chuppah. 17 The priests who serve Yehovah cry between the portico and the altar. They’re saying, “Spare Your people,” Yehovah, and don’t allow Your heritage to be scorned by the enemy, ridiculed by foreigners. Why should the nations ask, ‘Where is their Elohim?’”
18 Then Yehovah will be zealous for His land, and have pity on His people. 19 Yehovah will say to His people: “I’ll send you grain, new wine and oil, you’ll have an abundance! I won’t allow you to be ridiculed by the nations any longer. 20 I’ll remove the northern army far from you, and drive him away into a parched and barren land, with its vanguard driven into the 'Dead' Sea, and its rear guard into the 'Mediterranean' Sea. His stench will rise up, the stench of his putrefying will rise, because He has done great things!
[1] “Blow a shofar in Zion”: The Scriptures mention blowing a shofar five times: 1) Every year on the Day of Atonements {Leviticus 25:9}; 2) A separate blowing on Atonements to proclaim an upcoming Jubilee year; 3) The Ten Commandments were being implemented (Exodus 19) {or about to be again}; 4) When war is imminent; and 5) by musicians in the Temple. In this chapter, with Mount Zion standing in for the Temple just destroyed, all five reasons apply! [2] This is another account of a still future destruction of Jerusalem, this time from an invincible army! [3] Just like Babylon and Assyria where His armies scattered His unfaithful bride. [4] Lots of people talk about Yeshua (Jesus) returning, but who talks about Yehovah, the Ancient of Days returning? See Daniel 7:21-22. The italicized word if is added in the Joel 2:14, KJV, unnecessarily casting a doubt on His return. It set a precedent that virtually every modern version (revision) has repeated.Did you associate the actual end of the Second Exodus at the very border of the promised land with the fasting hint concerning the Day of Atonements?:
Leviticus 23:26-32 Yehovah said to Moses: 27 “On ‘exactly’ the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonements. You must hold a special public assembly. You must humble yourselves by fasting and present a burnt offering to Yehovah. 28 Don’t do any kind of work that day, because it’s the Day of Atonements, to make atonement on your behalf with Yehovah your Elohim. 29 If anyone won’t deny themselves on that day, they will be cut off from the people. [2] 30 Anyone who does any kind of work that day, I’ll put them to death and remove them from their people. 31 You must not do any kind of work, it’s a permanent rule thruout your generations wherever you live. 32 It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves by fasting on the ninth day of the month; from sundown until the following sundown you must celebrate your Sabbath.”
[2] It stands to reason that there would be extenuating health circumstances. For example, my sister-in-law gave birth on Atonements without a drop of water, but she was already afflicting herself.This “returning”, as Paul Harvey used to say, “is the rest of the story!” It’s actually the story about the entire nation of Israel accepting Yeshua’s zebak [sacrifice] as portrayed by the azazel. I cover that event in The Time After Jacob’s Trouble—The Untold Story of the Second Exodus!
The Bible is filled with prophecies that involve the punishment of all twelve tribes of Israel for abandoning Yehovah. In a great many of them Yehovah pleads for them to return to Him. He had been a Husband to the nation of Israel. (Actually, the Hebrew is plural, both Father and Son are Husbands! Isaiah 54:5.) The Day of Atonements is the day when the backsliding stops forever! Yehovah will make a New (marriage) Covenant with Israel (no it’s not with “the church”). Atonements is the exact day where the happily ever after part begins! It also marks the rebirth date of the twelve tribes of Israel, presided over by 12 “apostles” sitting on 12 thrones. (Matthew 19:28)
Yeshua elaborated to His disciples about this very event:
Matthew 19:28 Yeshua told them, “I assure you that when the Human Son sits on His magnificent throne on the Renewed Earth, those of you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, presiding over the twelve tribes of Israel.
The Short-Lived Peaceful Beginning of Yeshua’s Ministry
He was driven into the wilderness by the spirit (John 1:1) immediately after being designated as the Lamb by John the Immerser (v.29) and having been immersed.
Yeshua’s time of service probably began on the very day that he turned 30: Aviv 1, (Nisan 1), a Biblically significant day—New Year’s Day, (rather than some generic day) when He was immersed and began fasting for forty days:
Mark 1:9-13 During this time Yeshua came from Nazareth in Galilee and was immersed in the Jordan by John. 10 Just as He was coming out of the water, He saw the skies opening and the spirit coming down on Him like a dove. 11 Then a voice came from the sky and said, “You are My dear Son who I delight in.”
12 Immediately the spirit led/carried/drove Him into the wilderness [2]. 13 He was in the wilderness for forty days, having His character tested by Satan. He was with the wild animals, but spirit messengers took care of Him.
[2] This is the actual fulfillment of the azazel goat banishment—the Lamb of Aloha [God], being banished into the wilderness on the Day of Atonements.Mark 1:22, 27-28 People were struck with amazement at His doctrine, because He taught them as someone with superior mental power, unlike their Torah teachers.... 27 Everyone was amazed and began to ask each other, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? He gives authoritative orders to unclean spirits and they obey Him!” 28 Immediately news about Him spread thruout the region of Galilee.
Yeshua Became A Target on the Day of Atonements!
Later, on the Day of Atonements, He became the recipiant of a superstition explained in the Talmud about an azazel goat wandering into Jerusalem. Perhaps he had mentioned His stay in the wilderness. So in sarcastic hatred, His fellow Jews tried to throw Him over a cliff (Luke 4:28-30) immediately after He announced the Jubilee, as mentioned below; a practice the Jews dreamed up and executed each year with the azazel goat on the Day of Atonements—instead of releasing it into the wilderness alive as required in Levitus 16:10! Leviticus 25:8-11 is the instruction for announcing in advance the upcoming Jubilee year.
Great events happen on Biblical Feast (mo’ed) and Festival (chag) Days. In the Levitical account of the azazel goat, it was driven into the wilderness on this particular day. From the very first minute that Yeshua announced the upcoming Day of Atonements people wanted to kill Him! We know from John 1:29 that Yeshua was to be the Passover “Lamb of Aloha” (God), symbolically making Him either a sheep or a goat (Exodus 12:5). His being a goat fulfills the symbolism of both the Day of Atonements and Passover.
This is where it really gets interesting. The commandment was to release the live goat into the wilderness—not kill it, but because the Azazel goat would occasionally return from the wilderness, a custom arose of throwing the azazal goat over a cliff, as explained in the Jewish Encyclopedia.
Yeshua accepted the role of the azazel goat and ultimately carried the sins of Israel (both physical and spiritual) into a wilderness, a physical illustration of the spiritual sins of the world being removed!
So Who or What is the Azazel Goat?
The Hebrew term ‘azazel’ is only found in Leviticus 16—nowhere else in the Bible. It is often translated something like “the goat that goes away” (“scapegoat” in the KJV). Other translations use azazel as a name, but since the phrase “for azazel” occurs in conjunction with “for Yehovah,” the wording implies that both goats were pure and equal. Jewish, Christian and pagan sources all suggest that azazel is a demonic figure from the wilderness who removes sins. Ancient texts from paganism mention a being with a name spelled “Azazel,” “Azael” and “Asael.” He is said to be either a fallen angel or even a serpent. In religion, whenever there appears to be unanimity, I suspect a problem! Naturally, if azazal was pure (as described), Satan would love to vilify the azazal’s purpose (even having the Jews shread the goat every year!) The Mishnah (ca. 200 AD; Yoma 6:6) explains how the goat for azazel was driven to a cliff and thrown over it to kill him, so that it would never return with the sins. But when Yeshua revealed His purpose, something only the Messiah could fulfill, that same hour the Jews in the synagogue tried to throw Him over a cliff! (Luke 4:29).
It is the second goat, or the “live goat”, that people do not recognize and almost universally cast as Satan. What a terrible misrepresentation! Religion is so misleading. Messiah’s death on the cross “that is for the people” (v.15), for the sins of all of us ultimately. Had Yeshua failed and remained dead we would have no eternity! Notice that before the azazel goat was sent “away into the wilderness” bearing “all the sins of the children of Israel”, it had to have all the sins of Israel symbolically put on its head by Aaron, the high priest, and in later years, his descendants carried out this annual depiction. That is how the story was enacted on the Day of Atonements for centuries, with no one understanding it for centuries.
Note that BOTH defect free (sinless) goats were part of the sin offering! Every offering has to be perfect to be accepted:
Leviticus 16:5 He must take two male goats as a sin offering from the assembly of Israel and a ram for a burnt offering.
Leviticus 16:9 Aaron will present the goat that the lot fell on to Yehovah and offer him as a sin offering.
The azazal represented the living zebak [sacrifice]!. Eventually Yeshua, typified by the azazel who escaped death was killed, most in likely 31 AD.
Leviticus 16:20-22 When he’s finished atoning for the 'cherished' place and the Tabernacle of Meeting, and the altar, he’ll offer the live goat. 21 Aaron will lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over him all the sins of the descendant’s of Israel and all their rebellious behavior—everything they did wrong; and he’ll put them on the head of the goat and lead him away into the wilderness, handled by a designated man who. 22 The goat will carry all their sins on himself to a remote place, and the ‘man’ will release the goat in the wilderness.
1 Peter 3:18-20 The Messiah died for sins once for all, a righteous for sinners, so that He could bring you to Yehovah. His body died, but His spirit was empowered with life. 19 He heralded to the souls [1] who were imprisoned in sheol [2], 20 those who disobeyed long ago in the days of Noah, when Yehovah in extreme patience, commanded an ark to be made. He was hoping that they would change their ways, but only eight people entered it and survived the water during the flood...
[1] Every Greek translation I checked had spirit here instead of soul. That should rule out demons!
[2] The Greek doesn’t mention sheol.So while His body (represented by goat #1) was to lay dead in the grave, His spirit (goat #2) was in a spiritual wilderness for a short stint!
Symbolism must be taken in context. Yeshua is described as the Lion of Judah in Revelation 5:5, but Satan is like a lion in 1 Peter 5:8. And a lamb can be a symbol of purity and innocence or typify someone quite stupid and prone to wandering off. (Two separate parables).
When it was time for this symbolism to actually be fulfilled, a Levitical descendant of Aaron was required to lay hands on the ultimate “Lamb of Aloha”. John the Immerser was used as a priest to fulfill the prophetic meaning of this symbolism. Both of John’s parents were descendants of Aaron:
Luke 1:5 In the time of Herod the king of Judea there was a priest named Zacharias, of the priestly division of the house of Abijah, and his wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
The Pharisees, claiming to be priests at the time were not even Levites. They took the role from the Sadducees, among whom were true Levites, as was John, tho he is not known to have belonged to a sect. So John was the high priest of Yehovah’s actual choosing.
The Devil In The Details!
I began wondering about the “fit man” in all of this. What exactly is “fit” about him. My out-of-the-blue thought was that it seemed like a job for Satan! So I started checking various commentaries to see if anyone else had ever considered that, and one of them had—Gill’s! While most sources put the fit man in a good light, Gill’s considers someone quite the opposite. The term is unique to this one verse so many renderings have been proposed: “fit for the purpose”, “a man of time or opportunity”, “ready”, “appointed” or “prepared to go” and “waiting”. All of these could apply to the being who began testing Yeshua for forty days, as I mentioned, the minute He turned 30, the “fit man” Satan was “appointed”, “ready”, “prepared to go” and “waiting” for the “opportunity”. Then several months later other “fit men” began leaping from nowhere to squash Yeshua the moment He revealed His ultimate objective in a synagogue, intending to throw Him over a cliff to become buzzard food. After all, Satan had been “there for Him” as a baby when so many babies were killed in an effort too kill him, and Satan was there at the end to make sure that his minions finished Him off as He bore all of our sins—justb out!
“Aben Ezra finds fault with those who render [the fit man] a wise man, but observes, that some of their Rabbins say it was a priest that led the goat to the wilderness, which he approves of; according to the Misnah, all were fit for this service (formerly common and unclean), but what the high priest did (afterwards) was fixed, and they did not suffer an Israelite to lead him (i.e. a common Israelite, one that was not a priest); according to the Talmud, even a stranger, and an unclean person, was fit for this service... but seeing by azazel, to whom this goat was let go, Satan seems to be meant...rather, as Witsius observes, the hand of the fit man may denote the power that rose up against Christ, namely, the Gentiles and the people of Israel, and particularly Pilate”—Gill’s.
The goat that was released into the wilderness represents the One who lived, died and lived again in the spirit realm after removing our sins.
The people in the synagogue viewed Yeshua as an azazel goat on that Day of Atonements, returning to the city in accord with a long standing fear, as we are about to see!
...“A man was selected, preferably a priest, to take the goat to the precipice in the wilderness; and he was accompanied part of the way by the most eminent men of Jerusalem. Ten booths had been constructed at intervals along the road leading from Jerusalem to the steep mountain. At each one of these the man leading the goat was formally offered food and drink, which he, however, refused. When he reached the tenth booth those who accompanied him proceeded no further, but watched the ceremony from a distance. When he came to the precipice he divided the scarlet thread into two parts, one of which he tied to the rock and the other to the goat's horns, and then pushed the goat down (Yoma vi. 1-8). The cliff was so high and rugged that before the goat had traversed half the distance to the plain below, its limbs were utterly shattered. Men were stationed at intervals along the way, and as soon as the goat was thrown down the precipice, they signaled to one another by means of kerchiefs or flags, until the information reached the high priest, whereat he proceeded with the other parts of the ritual.
“The scarlet thread was a symbolical reference to Isa. 1. 18; and the Talmud tells us (ib. 39a) that during the forty years that Simon the Just was high priest, the thread actually turned white as soon as the goat was thrown over the precipice: a sign that the sins of the people were forgiven. In later times the change to white was not invariable: a proof of the people's moral and spiritual deterioration, that was gradually on the increase, until forty years before the destruction of the Second Temple, when the change of color was no longer observed (l.c. 39b).”
So the Jews developed a custom of shreading the azazel goat to a bloody mess and then throwing him over a cliff. Does this sound familiar? As soon as Yeshua proclaimed the Jubilee, or “the acceptible year of Yehovah”, what happened:
Luke 4: 28-30 Everyone in the synagogue was filled with rage when they heard this. 29 They got up and rushed Him out of town, then brought Him to the top of the hill that the city was built on, intending to throw Him over a cliff. 30 But He walked right thru 'the mob' and went His way.
There are a lot of ways to murder someone, but how often do people rush someone out of town to throw them over a cliff to do it?
So Yeshua was sent into the wilderness for 40 days that spring, and by fall on the Day of Atonements He was thought to be azazel. Ironically, they were right! But why 40 days? I believe the same Talmud quotation cited above about the 40 years explains that. Once they actually managed to beat Him to a bloody pulp, an ominous sign occurred in the Temple for the next 40 years.
...So would the crowd, “called Babylonians or Alexandrians, pull the goat's hair [it’s beard being most readily available] to make it hasten forth, carrying the burden of sins [of the people] away with it (Yoma vi. 4, 66b; "Epistle of Barnabas," vii.), and the arrival of the shattered animal at the bottom of the valley of the rock of Bet Hadudo, twelve miles away from the city, was signalized by the waving of shawls to the people of Jerusalem, who celebrated the event with boisterous hilarity and amid dancing on the hills (Yoma vi. 6, 8; Ta'an. iv. 8).”—Jewish Encyclopedia
Isaiah 50:6 I offered My back to those who scourged Me, and My cheeks to those who pulled out My beard. I didn’t 'turn' My face from insults and spitting.
John 11:49-51 But one of them, named Caiaphas, the high priest that year, told them, “You don’t know anything. 50 You don’t realize that it’s better for us, for one Man to die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” 51 However He didn’t say this on his own initiative, but as high priest that year, he prophesied that Yeshua was about to die for the people...
After this, the “live goat” was not to publicly return to the scene for another two thousand years!
There is a second huge but almost entirely unnoticed reference to the Day of Atonements in Luke 4. In addition to the implications concerning the Azazel goat we just saw in Luke 4, there is also a very plain reference to the Day of Atonements in Luke 4:16-21. You see, it was on a Day of Atonements that an upcoming Jubilee year was announced. (No, a Biblical year never starts in the 7th month.) A synonym for Jubilee is ‘the Acceptable Year of Yehovah’ (the Lord). On the Day of Atonements in 28 AD Yeshua revealed His ultimate objective, just before they drove Him out of a synagogue intending to kill Him. (As of 2023 I have mathematically eliminated virtually any doubts that the Jubilee announcement part of His mission was fulfilled in His death in 31 AD, the year He in all likelihood said “It is finished”. During the Babylonian captivity the Israelites adopted the seventh month as the beginning of their years, tho the Jubilee year was always meant to be begun on the first month of the year—Aviv 1.
Leviticus 25:8-12 You must count off seven Sabbaths of years—seven times seven years, so that the seven Sabbaths of years amounts to a period of forty-nine years. 9 Then you will sound the shofar alarm [Literally “shofar shofar”, not Jubilee] [2] on the tenth day of the seventh moon, on the Day of Atonements you’ll sound the shofar alarm thruout your entire land. 10 You’ll dedicate the fiftieth year, and shout liberty thruout the land to all of its inhabitants. It will be a Jubilee for you, and each of you can return to your own property, and each of you will return to your own clan. 11 The fiftieth year will be your Jubilee year. During ‘that year’ you won’t plant, or preserve the “after crop”* from what grows by itself, or make wine* from any leftover* grapes. 12 It’s a Jubilee, it will be a ‘time of dedication’ [special] for you. You can eat the fresh voluntary produce from your fields.
[2] The KJV wrongly says “trumpet of the jubile[e]”, in agreement with the Jewish custom of beginning years in the seventh month—a practice begun in Babylonian captivity. But an upcoming Jubilee was meant to be announced on the Day of Atonements of the seventh Shemitah year (the 49th year) and then begin on New Year’s day (the 50th year) in the spring.Yeshua stated His ultimate objective right after His immersion and after Satan tested Him. In Luke 4 we begin to read His first recorded words. Commentaries acknowledge that Yeshua was referencing the JUBILEE, but then they apparently spiritualize the words away! Luke gave us the circumstances leading up to Yeshua’s statement:
Luke 4:16-19 He went to Nazareth where He had been raised, and He went into the synagogue as usual on the Sabbath and stood up to read. 17 He was handed the scroll of Isaiah the prophet. Yeshua unrolled the scroll and found the place where it says: 18 “The Sovereign YEHOVAH’s spirit overlooks Me, because Yehovah has anointed Me to bring Good News to the afflicted. He has sent Me to relieve the grief stricken, to proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight for the blind and to set the oppressed free; 19 to proclaim the Acceptable Year [1] of Yehovah... [Jubilee] [Directly from Isaiah 61:1-2]
[1] The azazel goat being led out into the wilderness in Leviticus 16:10 corresponds with the spirit leading Yeshua into the wilderness in Luke 4.The “Acceptable Year of Yehovah” is how Jubilee is expressed in Aramaic, Yeshua’s native language. Announcing the Jubilee was an unbelievable part of His mission statement!
10/23/22 addition: When His ministry was finished, so was the 4th millennium: He had become the light of the world—fulfilling the spiritual aspect of the 4th day of creation week by “separating the light from the darkness!”“ (Genesis 1:17-19)
Until the spring of 2022, I had believed that Yeshua had somehow fulfilled the announcement of the Jubilee on day #1 of His ministry, described in Luke 4, but Luke 4 simply states His ultimate objective. I had been calling it His “mission statement”.
I also found another “Mission Statement article” that does a really good job of explaining that at age 30 He had accomplished none of those goals. So in...
Luke 4:17-20 He was handed the scroll of Isaiah the prophet. Yeshua unrolled the scroll and found the place where it says:
“'Yehovah’s spirit' is on Me, because He has: {1} anointed Me to proclaim Good News to the poor; {2} He has sent Me to heal the oppressed {3} and to herald release from bondage to the captives, {4} to give the blind vision, {5} to assure the penitent by liberating them from their sins 19 {6} and to announce the Acceptable Year of Yehovah.”
He rolled up the scroll and gave it to the attendant and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue was gazing at Him.”
But the original uncut list includes all of the above, and it picks up right where He was crucified, without missing a beat, when He returns to finish the job and enables His servants and the redeemable survivors to participate themselves!
Isaiah 61:2b...AND THE DAY OF VENGEANCE of our Elohim, [Jubilee, 2032/2033 AD?
] and to comfort everyone who mourns [due to the end time calamity]; 3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them crowns instead of ashes on their heads, the oil of joy instead of mourning, clothing of praise instead of a spirit of weakness, so that they can be called ‘terebinth trees of righteousness’, ‘a cluster planted by Yehovah’, so that they can display His splendor.4 They’ll rebuild places desolate since antiquity, they’ll rebuild the ancestral places and places now wasted and deserted, and they’ll restore cities parched from heat, and places deserted for many generations. 5 Foreigners will tend your flocks; they’ll farm your land and work your vineyards. 6 And you’ll be called the priests of Yehovah, people will call you the ministers of our Elohim. You’ll savor the wealth of the nations. You’ll change places with them. 7 Your shame will be replaced with a double inheritance, and instead of humiliation you’ll shout for joy over your territory. So in your land you’ll own twice as much as the other nations. You’ll have everlasting joy.
8 “Because I, Yehovah, love justice. I hate robbery and injustice. I’ll certainly give you your compensation, and I’ll make an EVERLASTING COVENANT [i.e. The New Covenant] with you. 9 Your descendants will be revealed [2] among the nations, and their descendants among all ethnicities. Everyone who sees them will acknowledge that they are the descendants of the people who Yehovah has blessed.” [Today His people are scorned by the nations].”
10 I will greatly rejoice in Yehovah, I’ll be joyful in my Elohim, because He has clothed me with the clothing of deliverance, He has covered me with a robe of righteousness like a bridegroom [3] serving as a priest wearing a crown, and like a bride [“your descendants”] adorns herself with her jewels. 11 Like the soil pushing up sprouts, and like a garden enabling things that are sown in it to spring up, so the Sovereign Yehovah [“Yeshua”] will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
[2] Today most of even Judah needs the “lost” tribes of Israel to be revealed to them! [3] At the end of the age, His people will either be figuratively part of Yeshua’s bride or part of the Bridegroom Himself—part of the “one new man”, part of the figurative male “body of Messiah.” There is no word “a” in Hebrew, they are all added in English contextually.The next verse is where Yehovah’s pre-millennial servants fit into the storyline:
Verse 10: I [Isaiah] will greatly rejoice in Yehovah, I’ll be joyful in my Elohim, because He has clothed me with the clothing of deliverance, He has covered me with a robe of righteousness like [the] Bridegroom serving as a priest wearing a crown, and like [the] bride [“your descendants”] adorns herself with her jewels. 11 Like the soil pushing up sprouts, and like a garden enabling things that are sown in it to spring up, so the Sovereign Yehovah will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
END of 2022 comment.
On the Day of Atonements, we should focus on Yehovah’s formula for obtaining eternal Life. Sin and death necessitate an offering so that we can obtain life.
Leviticus 16:8 goats, one lot 'representing' Yehovah and the other lot 'representing' the azazel goat.
Azazel is literally two words (Strong’s 5795 and 0235) meaning “a kid goat” and “to go away”. No further clarification is known.
1 Corinthians 15:17 If the Messiah hasn’t been raised, your faith is worthless and you are still without hope in your sins.
Romans 5:10 If when we were adversaries, we were reconciled to Yehovah by the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be rescued by His life?
2 Timothy 1:8-10 So don’t be ashamed of the Testimony of our Sovereign or of me His bondsman [1], rather, endure the hardships associated with the Good News thru the power of Yehovah, 9 who has rescued us from perishing and called us with a supernatural invitation not because of what we’ve done, but because of His own dignity that was given to us thru Yeshua Messiah before the time [Gr. chronos] of eternity [or “the worlds”]. 10 And now it’s been plainly revealed by the appearance of our Life Giver, Yeshua Messiah, who has abolished death [2] and brought real life and immortality into plain view thru the Good News.
[1] See why “bondsman” is far better than “prisoner.” Keyword prisoner. [2] This pertains to the resurrection: 1 Corinthians 15:21,50-56, 1 John 3:14, Revelation 20:14, 21:4
1 Corinthians 15:54 So when this perishable is clothed with the imperishable, and this mortal is clothed with immortality, THAT IS WHEN the written Word will be accomplished: “Death is devoured in victory. (Isaiah 25:7)
The death penalty is permanently removed for those who qualify, more people will qualify as time goes on and new generations are born.
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb—on Atonements!
Before going on, I want to note some Scriptures about this Husband and bride. This is very important because people almost never figure out who the bride of this Husband is. Yet she is at the core of all prophecy!
Jeremiah 31:31-33 Yehovah says: “The time is coming [1], when I’ll make a New [marriage] Covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. 32 It won’t be like the [marriage] Covenant that I made with their ancestors during the time when I took them by the hand led them out of the land of Egypt, since they broke My Covenant, tho I was their Husband,” says Yehovah.
[1] Jeremiah 30 and 31 are one long prophetic monologue about the events to occur at the time of the Second Exodus (Jeremiah 23:7-8), when all 12 tribes of Israel return to the land (not just the Jews!) AND The Time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7)—better known as the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:1-22). Not one verse of this 2 chapter prophecy has been fulfilled, including the Torah being written on anyone’s hearts. Why single verse 33 out of all this futuristic context?
But this marriage is only after the bride-to-be quits whoring around spiritually (and physically) and is brought back into the wilderness outside of the Promised Land to learn about her miserable Torahless lifestyle! Hosea’s marriage case study is actually a portrayal the Marriage Supper of the Lamb! Notice below the dire circumstances that were necessary “His bride to make herself ready for her marriage (Revelation 19:7). She went directly from prostitution into the marriage covenant! I personally have higher aspirations than to be this bride. See Who is the Messiah’s Bride?
Hosea 2:7-17 She’ll chase her lovers but she won’t catch them, and she’ll look for them but not find them. Then she’ll say, ‘I’ll go back to my first man [1], because it was better for me then than now.’ 8 She doesn’t realize that I provided her with grain, new wine and olive oil. I even supplied the silver and gold that she used for Baal!
9 “So I’ll take back My grain when it 'ripens' and My new wine during the harvest season, and take away My wool and My linen that covered her nakedness. 10 Now I’ll expose her genitals [2] in the presence of her lovers, and no one will rescue her from My grasp. 11 I’ll put an end to HER celebrations, HER Pilgrimage Feasts [3] [Chag], HER New Moons, HER Sabbaths and all HER appointed Festivals [Moedim]. 12 I’ll destroy the grapevines and the fig trees that she claimed were the wages her lovers have given her, and I’ll make them a forest and wild animals will devour them. 13 I’ll come and punish her for the times when she burned incense to the Baals, when she adorned herself with her rings and jewelry, chased her lovers and forgot Me,” says Yehovah.
[1] The word for 'Husband' and 'man' are the same in Hebrew—such a small vocabulary! Anyway, in ancient Israel, people were considered to be married at their betrothal, and if their “engagements” were broken off they actually had to get a divorce—sometimes before they had even met each other (due to arranged marriages), and months to years before their marriage would have ever been consummated—just like Joseph considered divorcing Mary before their marriage was consummated. But the New Covenant will be “happily ever after”!
[2] “... ‘galah’ is frequently used in the context of exile, referring to the act of being taken captive or departing from one’s homeland. This dual usage highlights both the physical and metaphorical aspects of uncovering and displacement. Cultural and Historical Background: In ancient Israelite culture, the concept of uncovering or revealing was significant both in religious and social contexts. Uncovering could imply shame or dishonor, especially in terms of nakedness or exposure of sin. The theme of exile is a major motif in the Hebrew Bible, reflecting historical events such as the Babylonian captivity. Exile was seen as a form of divine judgment, a consequence of the nation's unfaithfulness to God's covenant.” [3] There is a difference between Feasts and Festivals, but this refers to HER Feasts based on pagan substitute feasts like Christmas and Easter or perhaps even the wrong calendar.Here Comes the Bride—Again!
Continuing: 14 “But I’m going to allure her back. I’ll bring her into the wilderness [Ezekiel 20:35] and speak tenderly to her there. 15 I’ll give her back her vineyards beginning there and the Valley of Achor [trouble] into a door of hope. She’ll respond there as in the days of her youth, just like when she came out of the land of Egypt.” 16 Yehovah says: “When That Day Comes* you’ll call Me ‘Husband’ [Ishi] and you’ll never again call Me ‘Lord’ [Baali]. 17 I’ll remove the names of the Baals from your mouths, and you will never mention them again.
The Day of Atonements is the day when Israel’s backsliding stops forever! I speculate that the Day of Atonements may be September 15th or 16th of 2032—scroll right, unless years change to 360 literal days with the Antichrist appearing in 2025 and zebakim (sacrifices) beginning as well.
Isaiah 54:4-8 Don’t be afraid, because you won’t be ashamed or humiliated. You won’t be put to shame, and you’ll forget the shame of your youth. You won’t remember the stigmatism of widowhood. 5 Your MAKERS are your HUSBANDS [1], Commander Yehovah is His name, and the 'special' One of Israel is your Redeemer. He is called the Elohim of the entire earth. 6 Yehovah has called you like a deserted wife tormented by grief, like a wife rejected early in life,” says your Elohim. 7 “For a brief moment I let you alone, but with infinite compassion I’ll bring you back. 8 In a spurt of anger I hid My face from you momentarily, but with eternal love I’ll have compassion on you,” says Yehovah your Redeemer.
[1] Yes, both are plural, but not a trinity. This site source has plenty of plurality verses that some call a Binity. But to read historical statements confirming the fact that Yehovah was recognized as a Binity until Constantine forced a “reconsideration”, see this link. Also, when last I checked, Wikipedia’s article on Binitarianism (a moving target) was an equally informative article that is as persuasive as it can be, while still maintaining the necessary air of neutrality required of an encyclopedia.
(As an aside, verse 5 is like: “Let Us make mankind to resemble Us [06213, (8799)], that is, in Our outward appearance [01823] ...”, of Genesis 1:26.)
Jeremiah 3:20-22 Surely like when a treacherous wife leaves her 'husband', that’s how you’ve been unfaithful with Me, House of Israel,” says Yehovah. 21 A voice is heard on the barren heights, the crying and the pleading of the Israelites, because they have perverted their ways, they’ve forgotten Yehovah their Elohim. 22 “Return you apostate children, and I’ll heal your apostasy.” “We’re coming to You because You’re Yehovah our Elohim!
1 Samuel 7:3-8 Samuel told the whole household of Israel, “If you want to return to Yehovah with all of your being, then get rid of your foreign gods and Ashtoreth [Easter] icons, and establish yourselves with Yehovah, and only serve Him, and He’ll rescue you from the grasp of the Philistines.” 4 So the Israelites got rid of their baalim [Lords], and their Ashtaroth icons, and only served Yehovah. 5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all the Israelites to Mizpah and I’ll pray to Yehovah for you.” 6 So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before Yehovah. They fasted that day, and it was there that they confessed, “We have sinned against Yehovah.” Samuel became the judge of the Israelites in Mizpah. 7 When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered in Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines advanced against Israel. When the Israelites heard about it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 The Israelites asked Samuel, “Don’t stop crying to Yehovah our Elohim for us. Ask Him to rescue us from the grasp of the Philistines.
Soon Israel regained her lost towns:
1 Samuel 7:14-15 The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were returned to Israel, from Ekron all the way to Gath. Israel was delivered from the grasp of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. 15 Samuel continued to judge Israel all the days of his life.
But the government didn’t even last thru the lifetime of Samuel. Israel wanted human rule instead of Elohim’s rule:
1 Samuel 8:6-8,18 But Samuel was very angry when they said, “Give us a king to rule over us. So Samuel prayed to Yehovah. 7 Yehovah told Samuel, “Listen to what the people are saying to you, because they haven’t rejected you, but they’ve rejected Me as their King! 8 As with everything they’ve done since the day that I brought them out of Egypt including today, they abandoned Me and served other gods, and they’re treating you the same way... 18 When That Day Comes* you’ll cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, but Yehovah won’t answer you then.
When Yehovah comes with fire and chariots on Trumpets, the wheels of change will be set in motion. A few days later on the Day of Atonements of the next Jubilee year, national repentance, literally from in the wilderness again, will remove the last barrier for the rebirth of a nation of Israel and open the floodgates for the return to the land:
Isaiah 66:7-16 Before she has* [tense] any labor pains, before any pain, she will give* birth to a son! 8 Who has heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such a thing? Can a country be born in one day? Can a nation be born instantly? Yet as soon as Zion has* labor pains, she’ll give birth to her children! 9 Would I bring to the moment of birth and not bring about the delivery?” Asks Yehovah, “Would I, the One who brings about births shut the womb?” Asks your Elohim. 10 “Celebrate with Jerusalem and be happy for her. Everyone who mourns over her should be extremely delighted. 11 You can nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts. You can drink deeply and be delighted with her overflowing splendor.” 12 Yehovah says: “I’ll extend peace to her like a river, and the splendor of the nations like an overflowing stream. You’ll nurse and be carried on her side, and bounced on her knees! 13 As a mother comforts her child, that’s how I’ll comfort you, and you’ll be comforted in Jerusalem. 14 When you see it, you’ll feel like celebrating, and your bones will flourish like tender grass, and the hand of Yehovah will be apparent to His servants, but He’ll be angry with His enemies. 15 Yehovah will come with fire, and His chariots will be like a whirlwind! He’ll return with fierce anger and punish them with flames of fire. 16 Yehovah will execute judgment by fire and with His sword on all 'humanity', and many will be killed by Yehovah.
The Book of Joel, just three chapters long, is entirely about the latter day fulfillment of the Day of Atonements. The Day of Atonements portrays the prophetic time when Israel is finally reconciled to Yehovah. The context of Joel indicates that the Antichrist has already, by this time, defiled the latter day Third Temple, “the 'special' place” mentioned in Matthew 24:15, and that Yehovah—now actually present on earth—is annihilating all of the armies who stand Israel’s way! The book of Joel describes the response of Israel to the events that they witnessed beginning just nine days earlier on the Day of Trumpets. Joel contains the clearest explanation concerning the Atonements of the people of Israel in response to the Day of Yehovah. Notice from the following excerpts what the people will do; then notice what Yehovah will do in return!
The Third Temple
Joel 1:13-14 Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Cry loudly, you ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my Elohim, because they have withheld the grain and drink offerings from the 'Temple' of your Elohim. [Daniel 9:27] 14 Proclaim a fast. Announce the solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all of the people of the land to the 'Temple' of Yehovah your Elohim, and cry out to Yehovah. [1]
[1] This would be the third Temple that will be in existence prior to the Day of Yehovah (v.15, and all of ch 2).
So the Great Tribulation is drawing to a close and the Day of Yehovah is about to strike! (Matthew 24:29-30).
Joel 2:1-3, 9, 11-14 Blow a shofar in Zion [1]! Sound the alarm on My 'special' mountain [2]! All the inhabitants of the land should tremble because the Day of Yehovah is coming, it’s soon! 2 It’s a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of thick clouds and darkness. Like the dawn spreading across the mountains, a huge and 'invincible' army moves in. There has never been anything like it and there will never be anything like it thruout the years, for generations and generations. 3 A fire devours before them and a flame blazes behind them. The land before them is like the garden of Eden, but behind them it’s a devastated desert. Nothing escapes! ... 9 They rush into the city. They run along the walls. They climb into the houses, entering thru the windows like thieves. ... 11 Yehovah’s voice 'thunders' before His army, because His forces [3] are extremely large. Those who obey His 'commands' are powerful. The Day of Yehovah is great and very dreadful. Who can endure it?” 12 “Yet even now,” Yehovah says, “Turn to Me with all your being, with fasting and crying and mourning. 13 Rip your 'paradigm', not your clothes, and return to Yehovah, your Elohim, because He is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love and hesitant to send disaster. 14 Who knows He’s returning? He’s granting a reprieve, and leaving a blessing behind, resulting in a grain offering and a drink offering to Yehovah your Elohim.
[1] “Blow a shofar in Zion”: The Scriptures mention blowing a shofar five times: 1) Every year on the Day of Atonements {Leviticus 25:9}; 2) A separate blowing on Atonements to proclaim an upcoming Jubilee year; 3) The Ten Commandments were being implemented (Exodus 19) {or about to be again}; 4) When war is imminent; and 5) by musicians in the Temple. In this chapter, with Mount Zion standing in for the Temple just destroyed, all five reasons apply! [2] This is another account of a still future destruction of Jerusalem, this time from an invincible army! [3] Just like Babylon and Assyria were His armies scattering His unfaithful bride.Joel 3:1-8, 15-17 In those days and in that time, when I bring back the captives [not “fortunes” or “captivity”] of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I’ll gather all the heathens [Psalm 83:1-8]
and bring them down to the Valley of Yehoshaphat [not Armageddon], and I’ll execute judgment on them there on behalf of My people, because they’ve scattered My heritage Israel among the nations and divvied up My land. 3 They cast lots for My people. They traded boys for prostitutes, and sold girls for wine so they could get drunk. 4 “What business do you have with Me, Tyre and Sidon and all of the regions of Philistia? Are you repaying Me for some wrong? If you’re repaying me, I’ll quickly return your payment on your own heads. 5 Since you’ve taken My silver and My gold [from His 'Temple'], and brought My precious treasures into your pagan shrines, 6 and sold the House of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their homeland. 7 “I’m going to cause an awakening among them in the places where you’ve sold them, and return your payment on your own head. 8 I’ll sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the House of Judah, and they’ll sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away. I Yehovah have spoken. ... 15 The sun and the moon will go dark and star light will vanish. 16 Yehovah will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem, and the sky and the earth will quake, but Yehovah will be a refuge for His people and a means of safety for the House of Israel.” 17 “Then you’ll realize that I am Yehovah your Elohim, living in Zion, My 'special' mountain. Then Jerusalem will be 'special', and no foreigners will ever invade her again.The message of Ezekiel 20 pictures the very day when all 12 tribes of Israel return to the promised land of Israel. They will have just come out of literal slavery in a second exodus. The Shepherd of Israel will sort out the people there at the border. Those willing to abandon their idolatrous and evil ways will be judged worthy to enter the land and allowed in, while the rebellious are turned away:
Ezekiel 20:33-38 As surely as I live,” declares the Sovereign Yehovah, “I’ll rule you with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I will be your King! 34 I’ll bring you out of the nations and gather you out of the countries where you were scattered with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out. 35 I’ll bring you into the wilderness of the people [Isaiah 1, Hosea 2:14], and I’ll judge you there face to face, 36 just like when I judged your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, that’s how I’ll judge you, declares the Sovereign Yehovah. 37 I’ll make you pass under the shepherd’s rod, and I’ll bind you in a [Kimchi]
[New] Covenant, 38 and I’ll purge out the rebels from among you and those who disobey Me. I’ll bring them out of the land where they were living, but they won’t enter the land of Israel. Then you’ll realize that I am Yehovah.On the Day of Atonements preceding the next Jubilee year, I expect to hear “the shofar of the Jubilee to sound” announcing (but not beginning) the most important Jubilee year since the one that Yeshua announced in Luke 4. This is when the survivors of the coming holocaust will be given back the property that was lost by their ancestors many centuries ago due to disobedience. While the Jubilee is announced in the 49th year, on Atonements, it is fulfilled in the 50th year, fulfilling the Atonements prophecies:
Leviticus 25:1,8 Yehovah said to Moses on Mount Sinai... 8 ‘You must count off seven Sabbaths of years—seven times seven years, so that the seven Sabbaths of years amounts to a period of forty-nine years.
Verse 9 of this chapter takes us to the time of Day of Yehovah that will be entirely fulfilled during the next Jubilee Year. It not only marks the year all twelve tribes return to their ancient territories (Ezekiel 47), but it is the “Time of Vengeance”—the year when Israel is “redeemed” and her enemies receive “vengeance”. The Day of Atonements on the tenth day of the seventh month is when the Jubilee is announced for the upcoming year with a special Jubilee shofar. But this has absolutely nothing to do with the beginning of a new year, (Karaite Korner)! In fact the seven Jubilee Shofars of Joshua 6:4-5,13-16 when honestly translated, were sounded at the fall of Jericho in the first month of the year on the Seventh Day of Unleavened Bread!
As an aside, on the 7th day of Unleavened Bread, counting eight days inclusively from Yeshua’s Supper on Preparation Day (Luke 22:12-13) would have been for the celebration of the Last Day of Unleavened Bread!:
John 20:26 After eight days [2] the disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Yeshua came in, even tho the doors were locked, and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.
[2] This gathering, counting eight days inclusively from Yeshua’s Supper on Preparation Day (Luke 22:12-13) would have been for the celebration of the Last Day of Unleavened Bread!Jubilee and the Year of Vengeance
Leviticus 25:9-13 THEN you will sound the shofar alarm [Literally “shofar shofar”, not Jubilee] [2] on the tenth day of the seventh moon, on the Day of Atonements you’ll sound the shofar alarm thruout your entire land. 10 You’ll dedicate the fiftieth year, and shout liberty thruout the land to all of its inhabitants. It will be a Jubilee for you, and each of you can return to your own property, and each of you will return to your own clan. 11 The fiftieth year will be your Jubilee year. During ‘that year’ you won’t plant, or preserve the “after crop”* from what grows by itself, or make wine* from any leftover* grapes. 12 It’s a Jubilee, it will be a ‘time of dedication’ [special] for you. You can eat the fresh voluntary produce from your fields. 13 In the Year of Jubilee everyone can return to their own property.
[2] The KJV wrongly says “trumpet of the jubile[e]”, in agreement with the Jewish custom of beginning years in the seventh month—a practice begun in Babylonian captivity. But an upcoming Jubilee was meant to be announced on the Day of Atonements of the seventh Shemitah year (the 49th year) and then begin on New Year’s day (the 50th year) in the spring.Isaiah 63:4 The Day of Vengeance was on My mind, and My Year of Redemption [Jubilee] [1] has come.
[1] Israel will be 'purchased', redeemed on the next Jubilee year, beginning with the 144,000 of Revelation 14:1-4.
Here is a brief time line of end time events: The Two Witnesses will explain to Israel the significance of their captivity, beginning with the Jews in Jerusalem during the Great Tribulation over a period of 3 1/2 years:
Here is something else that did not happen in 1948—Jerusalem has remained insecure since day one:
Zechariah 12:6 When That Day Comes I’ll make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a burning torch among sheaves. They’ll burn up all the surrounding nations right and left, while the people of Jerusalem will once again be secure.
Without getting deeply into that topic here, I believe that these “leaders” include the Two Witnesses. They will be the movers and shakers of the Second Exodus.
Zechariah chapters 12 thru 14 describes the transition from the Great Tribulation—the second 3 1/2 year period (making seven years, Daniel 9:27) into “the Day of Yehovah” (or “the Day of the LORD”) perhaps better than any other prophecy. Millions of Israelites from all twelve tribes will die, but a remnant will survive the ordeal, being “counted worthy to escape” (Luke 21:36). While the many nations that tortured Israel are suffering thru the Day of Yehovah, Israelites from all over the world will have already begun the return to Israel in the Second Exodus (Isaiah 11:11). The inhabitants of Jerusalem will be experiencing supernatural protection during the regathering as they begin to understand that their ancestors killed the Messiah, and they themselves were indifferent at best. (Zechariah 12:8-12) Now Israel is torn between agony and ecstasy! So much suffering has occurred, but it is time for the twelve tribes to resettle the entire the Promised Land as described in Ezekiel 47. The Day of Atonements completes one of the most monumental events in human history—the Second Exodus! Read almost anyones Scripture references to the establishment of “Israel” (they considered calling it Judah) and the context reveals a much larger event involving all 12 tribes in an event far more miracle filled than the first exodus!
The following Scriptures and commentary, relate specifically to the celebration of the Day of Atonements.
Leviticus 23:27-29 On ‘exactly’ the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonements. You must hold a special public assembly. You must humble yourselves by fasting and present a burnt offering to Yehovah. 28 Don’t do any kind of work that day, because it’s the Day of Atonements, to make atonement on your behalf with Yehovah your Elohim. 29 If anyone won’t deny themselves on that day, they will be cut off from the people. [2]
[2] It stands to reason that there would be extenuating health circumstances. For example, my sister-in-law gave birth on Atonements without a drop of water, but she was already afflicting herself.The Day of Atonements is easily associated with fasting and drawing closer to Yehovah. Yet the vast majority of people who claim to follow Yehovah have always been a great disappointment to Him. This situation will no longer be allowed once Israel’s captivity and release has softened the hardened heads of our people. Notice from the context that this is a time when people can actually hear Yehovah’s voice. The “breach” in human relationships with Yehovah that has mystified humanity since the time of Adam will be repaired! All of “Palestine” will again be truly dedicated and rebuilt. This is definitely not just figurative speech!
Isaiah 58:1-12 Shout aloud, hold nothing back, lift up your voice like a shofar and announce to My people their disobedience, and to the House of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek Me daily, appearing to favor My ways as if they were a righteous nation that didn’t forsake the regulations of their Elohim. They ask for My righteous judgments, 'ostensibly' delighted to draw near Elohim. 3 “They ask, ‘Why have we fasted without Your seeing? And why have we humbled ourselves without Your noticing?’
Well, on your fast days you do whatever you want to and mistreat your workers. 4 You fast only to quarrel and fight, and to strike with a wicked fist. You don’t fast today to make your voice heard high above! 5 Is this the kind of fast that I’ve chosen? Isn’t this a day for people to humble themselves? Shouldn’t you bow your heads down like reeds, spreading sackcloth and ashes to lie on? Would you call this a fast and an acceptable day to Yehovah?
6 “Isn’t this the fast that I’ve chosen: to release the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry and bring the wandering poor into your house? And cover the naked with clothes when you see them, rather than hide from your own 'relatives'?”
8 “Then your light will break thru like the dawn, and your recovery will spring along quickly. Your righteousness will precede you, and the splendor of Yehovah will be your rear guard. 9 Then you’ll call, and Yehovah will answer, you’ll cry, and He’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
Get rid of the yoke, and quit pointing your finger and saying wicked things. 10 If you give some of your 'resources' to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your darkness will be like midday. 11 Yehovah will guide you continually, and satisfy you in scorched places, and strengthen your bones. You’ll be like a well watered garden, like an unfailing artesian spring. 12 Some of your people will rebuild the ancient ruins, you’ll raise up the foundations of many generations. You’ll be called ‘those who repair broken walls and restore the streets where people live.’[1]”
[1] The oldest possible interpretation of this is the Targum (Aramaic): “They will call you one who confirms the right way, and converts the profane to the Torah.”
Atonement means reconciliation. Some say that the azazel goat, or azazel goat, a part of the core meaning of the Day of Atonements, represents, in essence, Satan taking on the sins of the world—atoning for our sins, so as to reconcile us to Yehovah! Were that the case, then Satan would be our Savior! Is that Satan’s role? If that teaching isn’t blasphemous, then what is? Satan has produced many counterfeit ‘Saviors’.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 expresses a common opinion about the primary meaning of the Day of Atonements—that is that the day has something to do with “an evil spirit”.
“The general meaning of the ceremony is sufficiently shown in the text [of Leviticus 16]. But the details present some difficulty. The Vulgate caper emissarius, “emissary goat”, represents the obscure Hebrew word azazel, which occurs nowhere else in the Bible. Various attempts have been made to interpret its meaning. Some have taken it for the name of a place where the man who took the goat away used to throw it over a precipice, since its return was thought to forebode evil. Others, with better reason, take it for the name of an evil spirit; and in fact a spirit of this name is mentioned in the Apocryphal Book of Henoch, and later in Jewish literature. On this interpretation—which, though by no means new, finds favour with modern critics—the idea of the ceremony would seem to be that the sins were sent back to the evil spirit to whose influence they owed their origin. It has been noted that somewhat similar rites of expiation have prevailed among heathen nations. And modern critics, who refer the above passages to the Priestly Code, and to a post-Exilic date, are disposed to regard the sending of the goat to azazel as an adaptation of a pre-existing ceremon[y].”
Repeatedly, the Atonement Scriptures concern these four pivotal commonalities: sin and death, ze’bak [sacrifice] and life.
The symbolic and prophetic significance of the Day of Atonements can be determined from the information contained in Leviticus, provided we have the simple understanding that the Messiah was made an offering for our sins. Offerings were always “without blemish”. If Satan, who was blemished top to bottom, could have done the job, then certainly our eternal lives would have been secured that way!
The Two Birds
Our Life Giver literally bore all of the sins of the world—past, present and presumably into the millennial future. However, for the prize of Life to be complete, the Life Giver has to return and “clean house”. This is symbolized in the seemingly mundane rituals involving the cleansing of a home contaminated with an infectious skin disease. Both a slain “bird” and a LIVING “bird” make atonement (compare to Matthew 3:16). I believe that the actual fulfillment of the Day of Atonements is further elaborated on in the passage about the two birds. Israel became spiritually leprous.
Leviticus 14:49-53 To purify the house he must take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop, 50 and he must kill one of the birds in a clay pot filled with living water. 51 Then he’ll take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed as well as in the living water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 He’ll cleanse the house with the bird’s blood, the living water, the living bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn, 53 but he’ll release the live bird outside of the city into an open field. This is how he’ll make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.
There is a great deal of symbolism in this skin disease account. Notice the emphasis on “atonement”, the offering of two “clean” birds, a seven day period (the Feast of Tabernacles?) and an eighth day (the Eighth Day?).
Leviticus 14:1-13,18-31 Yehovah said to Moses: 2 “This is the instruction [Torah] for person with a skin disease on the day of their cleansing, when they are brought to the priest. 3 The priest must go outside of the camp for the examination, to see if the skin disease has been healed in the person with the skin disease. 4 Then the priest will order someone to take two live clean birds, some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. 5 Then the priest will order someone to kill one of the birds in a clay pot over living [1] water. 6 As for the living bird, he’ll take it, the cedar wood, the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the living water. 7 He’ll sprinkle the person who is being cleansed from the skin disease seven times, and pronounce them clean and release the living bird in the open fields. 8 “The person being cleansed must then wash their clothes, shave off all their hair, and bathe themselves in water, and they’ll be clean. Afterwards they’ll return to the camp, but remain outside of their tent for seven days. 9 On the seventh day, they must shave off all the hair from their head again, even beards and eyebrows, all their hair must be shaved off. They must wash their clothes, and bathe their body in water, then they’ll be clean. 10 “On the eighth day they must take two defect free male lambs, and one ewe lamb a year old without defects, and three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a flour offering, mixed with olive oil, and one log [about half a liter] of olive oil. 11 Then the priest who pronounces them clean will present both the one being cleansed and their offerings before Yehovah at the entrance of the Tabernacle of Meeting. 12 The priest will kill one of the male lambs and bring it for a 'restitution' offering, along with the log of olive oil, and present them as a wave offering before Yehovah. 13 He’ll kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offerings and the burnt offerings, in that part of the Temple, because as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the 'restitution' offering. It’s very special... 18 The priest will put on the head of the person who is being cleansed the rest of the olive oil in the palm of his hand, to make atonement for the person before Yehovah. 19 “The priest will offer the sin offering, and make atonement for the person who is being cleansed from their impurities, and afterward they’ll kill the burnt offering. 20 The priest will offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. In this way the priest will make atonement for the person, and the person will be clean. 21 “But anyone who is poor and can’t afford so much can bring one male lamb for a 'restitution' offering to be waved, to bring about their atonement, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering and a log of olive oil, 22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whatever they are able to afford. One of them will be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 23 On the eighth day they must bring them for his cleansing to the priest in the doorway of the Tabernacle of Meeting, before Yehovah. 24 The priest will take the lamb for a 'restitution' offering, along with the log of olive oil, and the priest will wave them before Yehovah as a wave offering. 25 He’ll slaughter the lamb of the 'restitution' offering. The priest will take some of the blood of the 'restitution' offering and put it on the right ear lobe of one who is being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 26 “The priest will pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his own left hand, 27 and sprinkle with his right finger some of the olive oil that is in his left palm seven times before Yehovah. 28 Then the priest will put some of the olive oil that’s in his palm on the right ear lobe of the person being cleansed, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot in the same place where the blood of the 'restitution' offering was put. 29 And the rest of the olive oil that’s in the priest’s palm will be put on the head of the person who is being cleansed to make atonement for them before Yehovah. 30 Then 'the priest' will offer one of the turtledoves or the pigeons, whichever the person can afford, 31 the most affordable one as a sin offering, the other for a burnt offering, along with the grain offering. The priest will make atonement for the person who is being cleansed before Yehovah.
[1] I take this living water to be the pure vibrant flowing water from an artesian spring.
Here is a big clue for those who still don’t know who it is who bears our sins:
Isaiah 53:9-11 He was given a grave with the wicked, 'buried' in a rich man’s grave, tho He had done nothing violent, and He never 'said' anything deceitful.” 10 Yet it was Yehovah’s desired plan to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if it would render Him a sin offering. He’ll see His offspring, and prolong His days, and the desirable things of Yehovah will advance by His hand. 11 After the suffering in His life, He’ll see His accomplishment and be satisfied. My righteous Messiah [Targum Jonathan] will justify many by what He has learned thru suffering. He’ll bear their sins.
What does the “wilderness” represent that the live goat was released into, and what about the “open field” that the “living bird” was released into? The Hebrew midbar places emphasis on “large tracts of wilderness (or uninhabited land) (around cities).” The first itemized use of field emphasizes a “cultivated field”.
Ezekiel 36:33-36 The Sovereign Yehovah says: On the day that I cleanse you from all of your sins I’ll enable you to inhabit the cities, and your ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be worked rather than remain lying desolate in the plain view of everyone who passes by. 35 They’ll say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the Garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fenced and inhabited.’ 36 Then the nations that are left around you will know that I, Yehovah, have rebuilt the ruined places, and replanted the land that was desolate. I, Yehovah, have said it and I’ll do it.
I would suggest that the “wilderness” and the cultivated “field” appear to represent a before and after comparison. This “day” will literally occur on the Day of Atonements of the next Jubilee year!
Exodus 16:2 And the entire assembly of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
Ancient Israel is the “before” picture.
Leviticus 16:21-22 Aaron will lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over him all the sins of the descendant’s of Israel and all their rebellious behavior—everything they did wrong; and he’ll put them on the head of the goat and lead him away into the wilderness, handled by a designated man who. 22 The goat will carry all their sins on himself to a remote place, and the ‘man’ will release the goat in the wilderness.
(The use of the words “fit man” in the KJV, instead of something like ‘man who’s waiting’ has caused some people to think that an “ape man” was needed for the task, leading to a total misunderstanding of the symbolism!)
The First Exodus involved Israel escaping captivity to hold a Feast in the wilderness.
Exodus 5:1 Later Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what Yehovah, the Elohim of Israel says: ‘Let My people go so that they can hold a Feast [Chagag] for Me in the wilderness.
The Second Exodus portrays the “after” picture.
Zechariah 12:10-11 “Then I’ll pour on the family of David and on the residents of Jerusalem the spirit of favor and a plea for mercy. They’ll see Me (Aleph Tav) [Alpha Omega], the One they’ve pierced, and they’ll mourn for Him, as someone mourns over a firstborn. [2] 11 When that day comes there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadad rimmon in the valley of Megiddo [Armageddon].
[2] Aleph Tav hidden in the Hebrew text here [= Alpha & Omega in Greek] Yeshua is One who was pierced, and knowledge of this will eventually bring about planet wide mourning and sorrow! The Hebrew letters Aleph & Tav, (equivalent to the Greek Alpha and Omega), are left untranslated thruout the Scriptures in pertinent places, in reference to Yeshua, the Alpha & Omega!During the Day of Yehovah, while many other nations of the world are being punished for having way overdone their punishment on Israel, the many Israelite nations will begin to become at one with Yehovah! That is what the following Scriptures were to portray to ancient Israel, tho they never had a clue.
Exodus 30:10 Aaron must make atonement on its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements. Once every year he must make atonement on it thruout your generations. It’s very special to Yehovah.
A considerable number of Israelites (and others) will be spared the seven last plagues!
Exodus 30:12 “When you take a census of the Israelites, to number them, then each man must pay a ransom for his life to Yehovah as he is counted, so that there will be no plague among them when you count them.
The Day of Atonements is “a memorial” of the day when Israel makes atonement for her sins!
Exodus 30:16 When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, then each man must pay a ransom for his life to Yehovah as he is counted, to prevent any plague among them when you count them.
During the Day of Yehovah, Yehovah will “defend” those who are seeking refuge in Jerusalem, as we saw in Zechariah 12:8 above, and He will teach them righteousness:
Zechariah 9:15-16 Commander Yehovah will defend them. They’ll devour and subdue with sling stones, and they’ll drink and shout as if they were drunk, and they’ll be filled like the basin at the corners of the altar. 16 Yehovah their Elohim will rescue them When That Day Comes* as the flock of His people. They are like the jewels of a crown, like a glimmering beacon over His land.
Isaiah 60:21-22 Your people will all be righteous, they’ll inherit the land forever, a shoot that I planted, the work of My hands bringing about My splendor. 22 The least of you will become a thousand, and the smallest one a mighty nation. I, Yehovah, will do it quickly when it’s time.”
The Day of Atonements is when sorrow turns into joy!
Psalm 30:11 You’ve turned my mourning into dancing. You’ve removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy...
Isaiah 51:11 Those ransomed by Yehovah will return and return singing into Zion. Everlasting joy will 'crown' their heads. They’ll be overwhelmed with gladness and joy as sorrow and sighing flee.
Jeremiah 33:10-12 This is what Yehovah says: You say that this is, ‘a desolate waste, without people or animals.’ Yet in these deserted cities of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, devoid of people and animals, 11 the sounds of joy and happiness will be heard again, the sounds of bridegrooms and brides, and the sounds of those saying, ‘Give thanks to Commander Yehovah, because Yehovah is good and His faithful love. endures forever’ as they bring zebakim [sacrifices] of thanksgiving into Yehovah’s 'Temple'. Because I’ll bring back the captives to the land as in the past,’ says Yehovah. 12 “This is what Commander Yehovah says: ‘This deserted land, a place without people or animals in all its cities will once again be a habitat where shepherds rest their flocks.
On the Day of Atonements we should look forward to the Promised Land that our generation will reenter (one way or another) at the very onset of the Everlasting Kingdom.
Very shortly after the turn of the century (No, not that one!) I wanted to associate with the Church of the Great God, what I considered to be the best offshoot of the old Worldwide Church of God (and it very well may be). But about that time they banned anyone using the ancient Aviv New Moon calendar to determine the Feast Days. All of the WCG splinter groups I know of have what I consider to be a Nicolaitan (totalitarian) government. So I met with people I consider to be Laodiceans from 2009 thru most of 2019, because at least Nicolaitan oppressors are not well tolerated there—leaders insisting that you should have have no personal convictions, and that you are just supposed to accept the teachings they feed you without question. So I never have fit back in there. (2022: I have learned of a woman I know who attends CGG, accepts true moons to determine Feast days, and is guardedly well tolerated in CGG!)
So I was very surprised in 2017 to see the CGG take a stand for truth in regard to the meaning of Day of Atonements in regard to azazel. The various WCG splinter groups virtually never admit that they have ever taught anything wrong! And while this is certainly not a salvational issue (few things are), it is a breath of fresh air. This five part series by David Grabbe covers it in depth. I rate the series nearly 5 stars (almost unheard of for me). PS,10/22/22 I emailed David about azazel this week and he mentioned this too that he recently did on azazel.
Then in Sept, 2019 I heard a monolog from the late Ronald Dart. I have known of him for perhaps 50 years, but I have just now accessed some of his treasury of audio & video files, and coming to the conclusion that he was the best voice, in my opinion, to ever come out of the old Worldwide Church of God. Here is his mild mannered non confrontational approach to what the azazel goat has to do with the Day of Atonements.
Deuteronomy 12:30...be careful not to be ensnared by following their customs after they have been destroyed in your presence. Don’t study their gods, asking, “How did these people worship their gods? We’ll do the same.
Now for Part 5: The Feast of Tabernacles
