Today is the Biblical Day of Atonement. Today is the day upon which God told all Israel that they must afflict their souls or else they would be cut off from their people, they would be excluded from the national blessings of Israel. Here are his commands:
26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 27 “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. 28 And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God.29 For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall do no manner of work;it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.” (Leviticus 23:26-32 NKJV)
Many people interpret “afflicting your soul” as commanding that we fast from food and drink on the Day of Atonement. I always did, until last night. Toward evening yesterday I sat playing my guitar outside as I contemplated the LORD and all that he is doing at this time. My wife, my 21 year old son, and I were planning to eat a simple meal of cooked vegetables from our garden and today we planned to eat just fruit and vegetables. Then, as I was putting away my guitar, I noticed two or three of my seven grandchildren come out the back door of my house. “What is this?” I said to myself. Then I heard that my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter who lived an hour away were here, along with my older son, daughter-in-law, and the rest of my grandchildren. And then I heard the telephone ring and, lo, my other two children had called to wish us a “happy Bilbo Baggins birthday!”
I came inside and there was our dining room table spread out with all kinds of good food, baked chicken, mashed potatoes, stir-fried zucchini and mushrooms, home-made chicken pot pie, and fresh lettuce salad! All of our family had come to our house to celebrate Bilbo Baggins birthday! (You must read The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien to understand this) None of our children had remembered that this was the beginning of the Day of Atonement, but Mary and I did. And we knew that this feast was from the LORD.
Mary and I wept together as we considered this blessing after everyone left last night. We had fully intended to “afflict our souls” by depriving ourselves of certain things on this annual Day of Atonement. God had a different plan though. He taught us that the life we have lived of denying ourselves the pleasures of this world and not chasing after the vanities of man has been the Biblical fulfillment of the Day of Atonement. He taught us that the time of his rewards has come. Today begins the Year of Jubilee. We who walk in God’s ways will now come into our inheritance, our heritage.
Just after our children left last night the LORD reminded Mary that we had just witnessed an example of the blessing contemplated by Psalm 127.
Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early,
To sit up late,
To eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate. (Psalm 127 NKJV)
Today on this Day of Atonement Mary and I thank our God and Father who has built our house. We thank him for the many blessings he has given us including all of our children and grandchildren (and we here of course include our children “in-laws”). We thank God for our spiritual inheritance which includes our children. They did not realize that last night began the Day of Atonement, but they did realize that the unexpected party at their parents’ house would bless their parents! Our children had never planned an unexpected party on Bilbo Baggins’ birthday before, September 22, but this year they did. And this year September 22 marked the beginning of the Day of Atonement and God’s year of Jubilee. Man makes the plans, but God directs the steps!
8 ‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. (Leviticus 25:8-10 NKJV)
Today I proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants of the land who have not taken the mark of the beast and who have not walked in the ways of the world. Today I proclaim liberty to all those who have afflicted their souls, who have died to their own ways in order to live to God’s ways. Today I proclaim liberty to all those who have depended in faith for Jesus Christ to atone for the sins of their souls. Today the Day of Atonement is fulfilled. Today the year of Jubilee begins. Today the blessing of God comes upon God’s overcomers, those who chose God’s ways instead of man’s ways. The overcomers will not be “cut off from their people.” They become the very temple of God, New Jerusalem itself, for they choose God as their inheritance, not man.
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