Three Transforming Experiences - Part 13
The Day of Atonement
The Day of Atonement on God’s calendar happens in autumn, near harvest time. In 2021, the Day of Atonement was September 16th.
The Day of Atonement is probably best known as the day when the Jewish high priest entered behind the veil into the Holies of Holies to offer the blood of the sin sacrifice on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant.
But there was something else that happened on the Day of Atonement.
On this day, there was an evaluation made of the people of God. Each person was evaluated to determine if he or she qualified to go forward and participate in the Feast of Tabernacles, or not.
This should put the holy fear of God into us because that evaluation that the Jewish people experienced once each year served as a symbolic representation of the ultimate evaluation that will take place in our age to determine which believers will qualify to enter into the New Testament fulfillment of the glorious Feast of Tabernacles, and which will not.
Many will not meet the qualifications to move on and take part in this last great move of God in the final days of the Church age.
I believe this evaluation is described in Revelation 11:1-2.
“Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.’”—Revelation 11:1-2 (NKJV)
This is a very sobering passage, because in this accounting, the command is given to include only the Holy Place believers and the Holy of Holies believers (“the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there”), but those in the Outer Court are left out. This is the moment when your destiny will be determined just before the glorious fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles.
The end-time destinies of these three groups of believers are described in Revelation 12. These Outer Court believers who do not qualify to participate in the Feast of Tabernacles are spoken of as a remnant who become targets of Satan’s wrath (Revelation 12:17). These are the gleanings that are left in the field at the time when the other believers are gathered in the great harvest (Leviticus 23:22).
For a more thorough discussion of the end-time destinies of these three groups of believers, please see my series on Simple Keys to Understanding the Book of Revelation.
The First Qualification
The first qualification that is required on the Day of Atonement is humility.
“If there is any person who does not humble himself on this very day, he shall be cut off from his people.”—Leviticus 23:29 (NASB)
Humility is required. Pride and arrogance will not enter into this last great move of God.
John Paul Jackson had an experience in which he was taken by a heavenly being on a guided tour of the Tabernacle of Moses. When John Paul came to the veil before entering the Holy of Holies, he was not allowed to lift the veil himself. The veil lifted of its own accord, but it did not rise high enough for John Paul to walk upright under it. He had to bow low to enter into the Holy of Holies.
No one gets into that place without humbling himself.
“… be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.’”—1 Peter 5:5 (NKJV)
As in the Time of Gideon
The qualifications to enter into this last great move of God are reminiscent of the qualifications to enter into the move of God in Gideon’s time. The purpose of God’s move at that time was to conquer the Midianites and put an end to their oppressive influence over Israel.
Just as there were qualifications to be a part of that move of God in Gideon’s time, there are qualifications to enter into the great fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles in our time. And just as in Gideon’s time, the first qualification has to do with a quality of character. In our time, pride will disqualify us and prevent us from passing the test of the Day of Atonement and entering into the Feast of Tabernacles. In Gideon’s day, the issue was fear.
“Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.”—Judges 7:3 (NKJV)
Anyone who was not free from fear was turned back and missed out on being a part of that great move of God in Gideon’s time that resulted in freedom for all of God’s people.
In our time, the issue will be pride. On that great Day of Atonement, an evaluation will be made, and any of God’s people who have not overcome the pride in their hearts will be turned back and not allowed to participate in that final great move of God when the Feast of Tabernacles is finally fulfilled for the entire Church. Those believers will only be allowed to watch from the sidelines as spectators.
These are the Outer Court believers. They are God’s children. They have experienced salvation by grace through faith, but they have not moved on into the Holy Place experience of sanctification to deal with their character issues. When the evaluation comes on the Day of Atonement, they will not qualify to enter into the Feast of Tabernacles experience and participate in the last great move of God before Jesus returns.
We don’t know if that great evaluation of the believers will happen on the Day of Atonement in this calendar year, or the next, or the next, but when it happens, we must be ready. We must have prepared ourselves for that day. There will be no second chances.
In 2022, the Day of Atonement falls on October 5th.
Three Transforming Experiences
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