The Day of Atonement is mentioned in Leviticus 23 along with the other feasts of the Lord.

Lev 23:27  “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.
Lev 23:28  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.

The Day of Atonement is a solemn day of affliction of souls on which no work is done.  To afflict one’s soul is generally understood to mean fasting, that is not eating or drinking anything.  See “What does it mean to ‘afflict your soul’?”.

Two different Hebrew words, kippor and kaphar, are both translated “atonement”.  Kippor means atonement and is derived from the Hebrew kaphar.  Kaphar means to reconcile, cover with pitch, make atonement, forgive.  Perhaps the best translation is to reconcile.  Verse 28 says that the Day of Atonement is to reconcile (make reconciliation for) the people before God.

The Ceremony on the Day of Atonement

The ceremony on the Day of Atonement involving two goats is covered in great detail in Leviticus 16.    See “What does the Azazel goat of the Day of Atonement represent?” for more information these two goats.  The purpose of the Day of Atonement is summarised in the last few verses.

Lev 16:29  “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you.
Lev 16:30  For on that day the priest shall make atonement [kaphar] for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
Lev 16:31  It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.
Lev 16:32  And the priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement [kaphar], and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments;
Lev 16:33  then he shall make atonement [kaphar] for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement [kaphar] for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement [kaphar] for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.
Lev 16:34  This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement [kaphar] for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.” And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.

Note that the purpose of the day was to make atonement for the people, that is to reconcile the people with God. 

The Day of Atonement and the Jubilee Year

The Day of Atonement is also mentioned in Leviticus 25 where the instruction for Jubilee Year is found.

Lev 25:9  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.
Lev 25:10  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.

Every fiftieth year was proclaimed a Jubilee year on the Day of Atonement.  On the Jubilee year, any land that had been sold was returned to the original owners. 

Lev 25:23  ‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.
Lev 25:24  And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land.
Lev 25:25  ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.
Lev 25:26  Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it,
Lev 25:27  then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession.

When Israel entered the Promised Land, the land was divided up and given to the tribes.  Families were given land which was handed down to their children from generation to generation.  If someone got into financial trouble and wer forced to sell their land, the redemption of property on the Jubilee year meant that the land was effectively leased, with the lease expiry set for the Jubilee year.

The redemption of the Jubilee year didn’t just apply to property, but also to people.

Lev 25:39  ‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave.
Lev 25:40  As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee.
Lev 25:41  And then he shall depart from you—he and his children with him—and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers.

If someone got into financial trouble and had to become a servant to his brother, then that servitude would end on the Jubilee year.

The link between the Day of Atonement and the Jubilee Year helps us understand the meaning of the Day of Atonement.

Seeing the Big Picture

We are now able to put the pieces of the puzzle together to see the big picture. 

In the beginning, when God created Adam and Eve, they had access to God.  But after they sinned, they were banished from the garden of Eden and more importantly from the tree of life.

Gen 3:22  Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—
Gen 3:23  therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
Gen 3:24  So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

The tree of life represented access to eternal life.  After Adam and Eve were banished from the garden of Eden, they, and their children (the rest of humanity) were cut off from God and access to eternal life, apart from those few whom God has called throughout the ages.

Humanity being cut off from God can be viewed both spiritually and physically.  Spiritually, most of humanity is cut off from inheriting eternal life and are burdened by their sins.  Physically, many are cut off from the land and have no inheritance on which to build a house and grow food, and many are impoverished or debt laden.

The Day of Atonement pictures a time when this will all change at the return of Jesus Christ, both spiritually and physically. 

When Jesus Christ returns to the earth as king of kings to reign for a thousand years, people will have access to God.

Isa 11:9  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.

Hab 2:14  For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.

People will learn about God and His ways.

Mic 4:1  Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And peoples shall flow to it.
Mic 4:2  Many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

There will at last be peace on the earth.

Mic 4:3  He shall judge between many peoples, And rebuke strong nations afar off; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.

Everyone will have their own land to grow food.

Mic 4:4  But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one shall make them afraid; For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.

There will be an abundance of food.

Amo 9:13  “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it.

Spiritually, mankind will no longer be cut off from access to eternal life and burdened by sin.  Physically, mankind will have a land inheritance and not be burdened with debt.

The Day of Atonement pictures that time when mankind will be reconciled to God, when the rift which happened when Adam and Eve sinned will be healed and mankind will once again have access to God.

Conclusion

The Day of Atonement pictures that wonderful time soon after the return of Jesus Christ when mankind will be reconciled to God and once again have access to God and learn His ways in preparation for eternal life.