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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Leviticus 16:29 - 16:34
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The Purpose of the Day
v. 29. And this shall be a statute forever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, bowed down in penitence and humiliation, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you. The tenth day of the first month of the civil year, known first as Ethanim, and afterwards as Tishri, although not included in the great festivals, was yet of such importance as to give it the name of being the most solemn day in the year, and it was often designated simply as "the day. "
v. 30. For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
v. 31. It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, be regarded in every way as a true Sabbath, and ye shall afflict your souls, by fasting, as an expression of the deepest humiliation and shame, by a statute forever.
v. 32. And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, the intimation being that the high-priestly office was hereditary, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments, those especially set aside for the service of this day;
v. 33. and he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, the Most Holy Place, and he shall make an atonement for the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the Holy Place, and for the altar, the golden altar of incense, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.
v. 34. And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he, Aaron, did as the Lord commanded Moses. When the time came, this festival day was duly kept and all the ceremonies carried out in accordance with the will of the Lord. By reason of their symbolism and through the faith of the true Israelites the rites of the great Day of Atonement had power and efficacy until Christ made His great sacrifice, with its eternal power.