The Day of Atonement represents a critical step in God's purpose, depicting the spiritual cleansing and availability of salvation for those emerging from the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord, starting with the remnant of Israel. This holy day, broader in scope than Christ's sacrificial work on Passover, ultimately encompasses all humanity and stands as the most solemn of the seven festivals. On this day, Christians fast to afflict their souls, recognizing their dependence on God's providence and cultivating the humble attitude necessary to submit to Him. Fasting on the Day of Atonement is a tool of godly love, used to intercede for others, to help provide for their needs, and to implore God for the greatest blessing of unity and oneness with Him. God emphasizes the solemnity of this day by commanding a true spiritual fast, during which nothing is eaten or drunk for twenty-four hours, to foster a proper attitude of humility and harmony with Him. The early church observed this holy day, as evidenced by references to the Fast long after Christ's death. The ritual performed by the Aaronic high priest on the Day of Atonement illustrates the steps required for mankind to be truly at one with God. This includes the high priest being pure and sinless to mediate between God and man, entering God's presence with blood to open the way, covering human sin with the offering of an innocent victim, and removing sin entirely. Jesus Christ, as the eternal High Priest, fulfills these requirements through His sinless life and sacrifice, covering and bearing away all sin. Immediately after returning from heaven, Christ fulfills the Day of Atonement by calling the survivors of Israel and Judah back to their ancestral land. They return with a humble attitude, ready to receive His teaching. He offers them redemption and forgives their sins, initiating the salvation of all Israel as typified in the Atonement offering and prophesied in scripture.

The Day of Atonement held a unique significance in the removal of sins, distinct from the typical sin offerings. On this day, a special ceremony involving two goats was conducted. One goat, designated for the LORD through the casting of lots, was sacrificed without hands being laid on it, ensuring its blood did not carry a record of sin but instead cleansed the objects nearest to the Lord. The second goat, the live one, had all the iniquities, transgressions, and sins of Israel confessed over it, symbolically taking them away. Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled both aspects of this Day of Atonement offering. His blood, shed as the first goat, entered the Most Holy Place once for all, obtaining eternal redemption and cleansing consciences. Additionally, as the fulfillment of the second goat, He bore the iniquity of all, taking away sins through His sacrifice, satisfying the ultimate purpose that the blood of bulls and goats could never achieve.

The Day of Atonement stands as the most unusual holy day, marked by distinctive rituals and profound spiritual lessons. Central to its observance is the ritual involving two goats, as described in Leviticus 16. One goat, chosen for the Lord, is sacrificed, its blood sprinkled by the high priest on the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies, a place entered only once a year on this day. The other, the azazel goat, remains alive, bearing the sins of the people on its head before being led into the wilderness and abandoned. This ritual embodies the core meaning of the day: the necessity and method of atonement for sin, opening the possibility of unity with God, which is His ultimate goal. The Day of Atonement is also deeply solemn, rivaled only by Passover in its gravity, as both days center on the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ, essential for covering sin and atoning for humanity's wickedness. Observing this day should evoke feelings of humility, grief, neediness, and powerlessness, yet also a sense of joy and gratitude, knowing that God has provided a powerful means of atonement through His Son. Our Savior endured suffering and death so that we might be cleared of sin, gain access to the Father, and eventually be united with God forever. Another striking aspect of this day is the emphatic prohibition against any work, stressed repeatedly in Leviticus 23:26-32 and Numbers 29:7. God insists on complete rest, using unique language to underscore that no manner of work is permitted, even threatening severe consequences for disobedience. Described as a sabbath of solemn rest, or a sabbath of sabbaths in Hebrew, it signifies the ultimate Sabbath-rest among all yearly Sabbaths. This total cessation of work reflects the truth that humans cannot atone for their own sins through any effort; only God's grace and the sacrifice of Christ achieve forgiveness and reconciliation. These peculiarities of the Day of Atonement are deliberately designed to capture attention and encourage a deeper exploration of their meanings, ensuring the full benefit of God's instruction is received.

The Day of Atonement, as outlined in Leviticus 23:26-32, is a Sabbath of solemn rest, marked by the requirement to afflict one's soul and abstain from all work. Central to its observance is the unique ritual of the two goats described in Leviticus 16, which forms part of a larger annual cleansing ceremony performed by the high priest. These two goats, taken together as a single sin offering, are essential to accomplish the atonement for sin, with each fulfilling a distinct yet complementary role. The first goat, designated for the Lord, serves to satisfy His justice by being sacrificed for the cleansing of His house and people. This role underscores the necessity of a payment for sin, reflecting the broader biblical principle of a sin offering where an unblemished animal symbolically bears the guilt of the guilty party. The second goat, often associated with the Hebrew term azazel, meaning "goat of departure" or "complete removal," fulfills an additional purpose. It is tasked with bearing the sins away to an uninhabited land, ensuring their complete removal from view and consciousness, thus complementing the payment made by the first goat. The casting of lots, as seen in Leviticus 16:8, ensures that the roles of the goats are determined by God, not by human judgment, highlighting His sovereign choice in the atonement process. The second goat, presented alive before the Lord, undergoes a sanctification to prepare it for its role of carrying away sin, paralleling a similar ritual in Leviticus 14 with two birds used for cleansing from leprosy. This dual aspect of the sin offering—payment through sacrifice and removal from awareness—demonstrates a comprehensive solution to the problem of sin, addressing both justice and the lingering effects of guilt.

In Matthew's account of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, the incident with Barabbas appears to incorporate elements of the Day of Atonement ritual, where two goats were presented before the high priest, one to be sacrificed and the other to be released. However, these elements are portrayed as profoundly misaligned with God's instructions, demonstrating a leadership and populace out of harmony with His will. Unlike the ritual where the Aaronic high priest, under God's guidance, determined the roles of the goats, a Gentile governor, Pontius Pilate, who did not fear God, presided over the event and left the choice to the people. The people and leaders chose Jesus for crucifixion and Barabbas for release, not in recognition of Jesus' role before God, but out of contempt, desiring to continue their lives undisturbed. Barabbas, pardoned by Pilate, bore no sins that day, nor was he led outside the camp to symbolize the bearing away of the nation's sins under a divine curse, as required in the ritual. His unworthiness as a substitute further underscores the misalignment with God's sacrificial system, which demanded an unblemished offering. In contrast, Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the roles of both goats on that Passover day, embodying the true essence of the Day of Atonement through His sacrifice and the bearing away of sins. Barabbas' role in the events, though significant in the narrative, remains entirely unrelated to the fulfillment of this sacred ritual.

The Day of Atonement, as described in Leviticus 16, encompasses multiple atonements, reflected in the Hebrew term "kippurim," which is plural, indicating a Day of Atonements. This holy day involved four sacrificial animals, each serving a specific purpose in tutoring Israel and pointing to the Messiah. Christ's singular sacrifice fulfilled all the cleansing sacrifices, providing purification through His blood, opening access to the Holiest of All, and establishing Him as the Mediator of a New Covenant. In the ritual, the first goat cleansed the holy place, while the second goat, the azazel, bore the iniquities of the children of Israel away to an uninhabited land, completely removing them from view. Leviticus 16:21-22 details the high priest laying both hands on the azazel's head, confessing all the iniquities, transgressions, and sins of Israel, symbolically transferring them to the goat for removal. Scripture clearly states that our iniquity was laid on Christ, that He bore our sins, and took them away, fulfilling the actions of the live goat with no need for another being to accomplish this. The dual purpose of the two goats illustrates the comprehensive nature of atonement through Christ. Without access to God, forgiveness of sins would be short-lived as sins would separate us from Him. Conversely, without forgiveness, access to God would not allow us to grow into the fullness of Christ. Through Christ's sacrifice, the New Covenant provides both access to God and forgiveness of sins, enabling us to grow in His image and have true atonement.

The relationship of fasting during the Day of Atonement to the symbol of azazel goat as Christ is examined and shown to likely be a way to experience empathy towards the sacrifice of both Jesus and His symbolic representation of the goat. There has been much confusion towards the azazel goat as previous incarnations of the Church of God has often skirted by the issue. Jesus fulfills both the sin offering and the entity bearing the sin. Showing with the example of the foreshadowing of Abraham and the prophecy in Isaiah- Jesus bears the sins and it can't be Satan as thought previously by the interpretations of the azazel goat symbolism. We fast to learn humility, sacrifice, and empathy towards our Savior.