I was traveling in Israel this time last year. While there, I witnessed the people observing Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement. It reflects the hope of reconciliation with God.
What I saw was a country eager to slow down, close shop, and gather with family and friends. It is a sweet, peaceful, and meaningful day. Some fast, pray, and attend services. They wear white clothes to signify forgiveness and purity.
The original Day included animal sacrifice. But the temple in Jerusalem no longer exists to host such rituals. Besides, Hebrew Scriptures clarify those sacrifices did not procure atonement. “Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required” (Psa. 40:6). Those practices foreshadowed a permanent, final sacrifice. They were an annual reminder of this truth: “Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22).
What sacrifice, then? The Bible explains we need no temple, priests, or animals to atone for our sins. We need no annual repetition of atoning rituals because “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10). We only need Christ’s sacrifice to “cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. For this reason, He is the mediator of a new covenant” (Heb. 9:14-15).
The prophet Jeremiah had insights into this new covenant featuring permanent forgiveness. “They will all know me,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jer. 31:34). This promise only makes sense in the light of Jesus’s death on the cross. His sacrifice was the actual atonement.
The Day of Atonement reminds you not only of God’s demand for justice, but that He loves you and wants you to be reconciled to Him. Only one sacrifice could have made that possible. Your response? “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean” (Heb. 10:22).
My travels take me around the world. But this trip to Israel was special. It made me want to wear white clothes every day, just because.