“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall he a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by . fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atone ment, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever through out your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath" (Leviticus 23:26-32).
T he last three feasts in the sacred calendar of God’s plan o f redemption, namely, Trum pets, Atonement, and Tabernacles, all look into the future from our present position in the Church Age. At the sound o f the first trumpet, the Church will be caught up to be with the Lord (I Cor. 15:52; I Thess. 4:16). The next trumpet sound will be the voice of God calling Jews back to their own Land of Palestine (Matt. 24:30, 31). In that day no man or nation, Arab or otherwise, will be able to prevent the Jewish people from coming into their rightful place and possession. For Israel, that day will truly be the Day of Atonement. It is regarded as the most solemn day in the entire sacred cycle. (For a fuller apprecia tion of this important day and all that took place thereon, read Leviticus, chapter 16, carefully). The annual Day of Atonement was a day of expiation and atonement, not so much for the individual, but for the nation as a whole. The blood sacrifice was “ for the people . . . the children o f Israel . . . for all the congregation of Israel” (Lev. 16:15-17). The Jews themselves understood the Day o f Atone ment to be Israel’s national day o f reconciliation, “ hence,” as David Baron writes, “points to an event in Israel’s history yet unfulfilled and future.” The heart attitude o f the people of the Day of Atonement was to be that o f repentance and sorrow for sin. No rejoicing in the Feast was to appear, as at other convocations. This day was to bring out the heinousness of sin in contrast to the ful ness of the Atonement as they had never witnessed heretofore. It was a time o f self-judgment and true confession. Notice in God’s words to Moses the association of affliction o f soul with atonement for sin. The
Lord said, “ Ye shall afflict your souls” (Lev. 23: 27, 29, 32). This thrice-repeated command is not to be overlooked. And what a challenge this all conveys to us! Are not many professions o f faith in Christ woefully lacking in affliction of soul? Too few “ conversions” give evidence o f true re pentance and sorrow for sin, yet this was neces sary before the blood of atonement could be ap plied. How perfectly this all fits into the prophetic picture for Israel! Before all Israel shall be saved there must come the day of Israel’s affliction. Im mediately following the rapture o f the true Church of Jesus Christ, at the sound of the first trumpet, comes a brief period o f peace for the Jew. Soon after this, the Man o f Sin will reveal his true char acter by traitorously turning against the nation he seemingly befriended. Then will commence the day of Israel’s affliction, the day o f “ great tribulation” (Matt. 24:31), when “ desolations are determined” (Dan. 9:26, 27), “ a day of darkness and of gloomi ness” (Joel 2 :2 ), “ the time o f Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:4-7). Our Lord said, “ Immediately after the tribulation of those days . . . they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matt. 24:29- 31). At this second coming o f Jesus Christ to the earth, Israel’s mourning and repentance will com mence. At the sight of their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, they will recognize Him as the One whom they rejected and crucified. “ In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem. . . . In that day
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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