Also on the tenth of this seventh month is the day of the atonement a holy convocation shall it be unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and present an offering by fire to Jehovah.
The tenth day of the seventh month was the Day of Atonement, and God set it apart as a day of grief rather than celebration. Two questions follow. Why should a day about atonement call for mourning? And why does it fall so late in the year, long after the Passover?
The feasts of Leviticus 23 run in order, and the day of atonement sits near the end. One writer sets out what the whole chapter pictures, from the first feast to the last.
Atonement is the foundation, and glory is the stone at the top. Between these two points we have the resurrection of Christ (vv. 10-14), the gathering of the Church (vv. 15-21), the waking up of Israel to a sense of their long-lost glory (vv. 24-25), and their repentance and warm welcome of their Messiah (vv. 27-32).
Older translations read "afflict your souls" where the ESV has "afflict yourselves." Commentators tie this mourning to a repentance Israel has yet to feel.
Three things are joined together in Leviticus 23:27: a holy gathering, the afflicting of their souls, and an offering made by fire to Jehovah. God will gather Israel back and sift them under His government. Then they will afflict their souls, because they will see that the One who has saved them from the anger of the nations is none other than Jesus, whom they rejected, crucified and killed.
What will they grieve over?
There will be deep mourning, intense grief, and genuine repentance. Under the mighty working of the Holy Spirit, the conscience of the remnant will recall the sins of the past: the neglect of the Sabbath, the breaking of the law, the stoning of the prophets, the piercing of the Son, the resistance of the Spirit!
The verse pairs affliction of soul with an offering, and the next verse forbids all work. These two commands carry the whole message of the day.
Notice the solemn emphasis on two things: "you shall afflict your souls," and "you shall do no work at all." They set out God's way of blessing for His people then, and His way of blessing for sinners now. (1) A sense of their sinful condition, which means repentance. (2) Their complete dependence on the work of another to take their sins away.
Why does God ban all work on this one day?
God says, "whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people." There was plenty of work for other days, but on this day there must be none. Man has no part at all in the task. Only the Saviour can do that work, and He did it by suffering for us… Anyone who dares to rest on grace without judging himself for his sins before God is trifling with Him. And anyone who dares to work puts himself, in a manner of speaking, on a level with Christ and God Himself.
The Passover falls in the first month, this day in the seventh. Commentators read that gap as a gap in time, not a repeat of the sacrifice.
The Christian cannot need it a second time. To repeat the work for us would call its everlasting value into question, on the principle of the Epistle to the Hebrews. So it is really the work of Christ applied to Israel… The Day of Atonement comes in the seventh month, so long after the Passover. This does not mean the work must be done over again. It means that God will make a second and distinct application of that work to Israel, as He pledged by His oath.
The day looks ahead to Israel. But its two commands also describe the heart of anyone who rests on Christ's work.
Whether for Israel or for the believer now, no work of man must be added to the glorious work already done for sinners. On the other hand, we must not take up this rest, bought at such a cost, with light and careless hearts. Israel were to "afflict their souls" on the day of atonement, just as at the Passover they were to eat the bitter herbs with the lamb.
That grief is not a rival to faith but its companion.
Wherever there is genuine faith, there is genuine repentance; where souls do not feel their sins, it is vain to look for the forgiveness of them.
- Appointed. God fixed the day and the service. The tenth of the seventh month is no random date. It has a set place in a calendar that runs from the Passover to the glory of the kingdom.
- Afflicted. The command to afflict the soul points to a repentance still ahead. Israel will mourn when they see that their Deliverer is the One they rejected.
- Idle. "No work" means man contributes nothing; to work that day was to put oneself on a level with Christ.
- Applied. The long gap after the Passover does not mean a second atonement. It means a second application of the one work Christ finished long ago.
- Ours. The same two marks belong to every believer: no work added to His work, and no light heart about the sins that cost Him so much.
And ye shall do no manner of work on that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before Jehovah your God.
On the tenth day of the seventh month, all Israel stopped: no work at all, and deep sorrow over sin. That raises a sharp question — what part does a sinner have in the work that covers his sin?
Israel's other feasts already banned ordinary labour. This day went further.
On that day the people were to rest from every kind of work, just as they did on the sabbath. At their other great feasts they stopped only the work of a servant; here they stopped everything. On the sabbath they rested in remembrance of God's rest after His six days' work in making the heavens and the earth. On the tenth day of the seventh month they rested, because another was doing a work for them — a work they could take no part in, yet one in which they had deep and urgent interests. Even so, they were not to sit at home, careless and unconcerned, while the High Priest was inside the sanctuary. They were to afflict their souls.
There were other days for working. This day belonged to the one Person who could deal with sin.
There was enough and to spare of work for other days; but for this day there must be none. Man has absolutely no part in the task. None but the Saviour can work for it, and He in suffering for us… the soul that dares to work puts itself, so to speak, on a level with Christ and God Himself. The work that alone can serve as a basis for atonement must be done before God by One who is God's own equal.
The ban on work never stood alone. It came paired with sorrow over sin, and grace produces both.
These are the two effects of grace. On one side, affliction of soul as they confess their sins. On the other, no mixing of anything of their own with what Christ suffered for them before God. Verses 29 and 30 repeat it with solemn emphasis: anyone who was not afflicted on that day would be cut off from his people, and anyone who did any work on that day God would destroy from among his people… The two moral realities, no work of man and true affliction of soul, mark the Day of Atonement for Israel.
The same writer warns against filling such a moment with cheerfulness:
God is showing the evil of sin, and His atonement by Christ for all who believe Him. To turn aside into merriness of heart at such a time is dangerous. The soul should be afflicted then, not carried away by music and singing, by a solo, a choir, or any other kind of excitement.
This word was spoken to one nation, a people known for boasting in their works.
Could this be said so fittingly and emphatically to any other people? For a nation is in question here, the one chosen people of Jehovah. Were they not, more than any other people, the ones who boasted of their works? Trying to set up a righteousness of their own, they "stumbled at the stumbling-stone."… For that time, the Day of Atonement shut out everything but Christ, their propitiation and substitute. Their self-loathing will be as complete as their giving up of their own works… nothing can mix with His work.
Another writer reads the sorrow of that day as repentance. He sees it reaching every rank in Israel.
Affliction of soul is clearly repentance… Here we see repentance at its widest, in the remnant who will be God's chosen by grace. David stands for the kingly line, Nathan for the prophets, Levi for the priests, and Shimei for the common people. All of them will be part of that day. No privileged position will keep anyone out of that repentance who wants the blessing of God.
What the day asked of Israel still marks every real believer.
Wherever there is genuine faith, there is genuine repentance: where souls do not feel their sins, it is vain to look for the remission of them. Instead of light talk about receiving the word with joy, there is deep self-judgment. It rests on that most solemn, humbling scene where the Lord Jesus died for us. And no one claimed the right to work on that day. It was to be a sabbath-day; the work was Another's.
- Cause. Sin made the day necessary. God would not let His people treat it lightly, so He commanded a sorrow that matched it.
- Gift. The ban on work stood because Another was doing the work for them. They could not share in it.
- Guard. To work on that day was to claim a place beside the only One who could make atonement, and God set a heavy penalty on it.
- Reach. Writers point the day forward to Israel's future repentance. It will reach every class — king, prophet, priest and common people alike.
- Result. The same two marks still show real faith: self-judgment over sin, and no adding of our own work to what Christ has done.
For every soul that is not afflicted on that same day, shall be cut off from among his peoples.
The Day of Atonement carried two commands: mourn, and do no work. This verse gives the penalty for ignoring the first — but why would God cut a person off for failing to grieve, when the day's work was being done for them by someone else?
The word points to an outward act with an inward meaning. Without it, the day did the person no good.
Israel kept the day on the tenth day of the seventh month. It was a Sabbath of rest, and on it they were to afflict their souls. What is called "afflict" was fasting, the outward sign of inward sorrow over sin. When this was left out, the atonement did not profit anything. Only true faith shown by repentance gives the sinner a share in the great work of atonement.
The same day also forbade all work. The two commands cut in different directions: one forbids self-confidence, the other self-effort.
The soul that dares to rest on grace without condemning itself for its sins before God is trifling with Him. It has not yet learned to hate its own unholiness as something completely at odds with God's character. And the soul that dares to work puts itself, so to speak, on a level with Christ and God Himself. The only work that can serve as the basis of atonement must be done before God by One who is God's own fellow.
Rest did not mean sitting back at ease. The day's mercy was itself the reason for their sorrow.
They rested from all work. But they were not to sit at home idle and unconcerned while the High Priest was inside the sanctuary. They were to afflict their souls. Atonement was God's gracious provision for His people who had sinned. The people were not therefore to think lightly of it. If the High Priest was actively engaged on their behalf, it was because they had sinned. So God required them to afflict their souls. Anyone who refused faced the penalty of being cut off from his people.
The sorrow reaches every level of the nation, and rank gives no exemption.
Affliction of soul is repentance. To see what that repentance will produce, we have only to turn to Zechariah 12:10-14. There the repentance in the remnant who will be the election of grace (Romans 11:5) is seen in its widest character. David — the kingly line; Nathan — the prophetic line; Levi — the priestly line; Shimei — the common people. All will be involved in that day. No privileged position will keep anyone who wants God's blessing out of that repentance.
Commentators read the mourning as personal as well as national.
It is true that Christ died for the nation, and the nation — that is, the remnant that comes into that place before God — will own its sin in rejecting the Messiah. But every individual must own his sin "apart," alone in the presence of God. That is how he is brought under the value and efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ. This was foreshadowed indeed in the directions for the Day of Atonement.
Writers read the whole ceremony forward, to a repentance Israel has not yet passed through.
The great public summons now given brings on the day of atonement for Israel — that is, their coming in personal humiliation under it — and this was separating in its character. It was a day for them to afflict their souls, stopping entirely from all worldly employment: "You shall do no work." Whatever soul was not afflicted was to be cut off, and so it will be. We find it in Joel 2; we find their character in Zephaniah 3:12; we find the affliction itself in Zechariah 12. Their acknowledgment, in words, of the value of that which made peace for the mourners is in Isaiah 53.
The warning looks forward to a day still coming. One writer names those it falls on.
There is a solemn warning in Leviticus 23:29. It seems to refer to the ungodly in the land of Israel, the followers of antichrist. Zechariah writes of them, "In the whole land, declares the LORD, two thirds shall be cut off and perish." God will not have among His people in that day any who have not truly repented.
The day required a state of heart that always goes with real faith.
First, his soul was to be afflicted in that day, not to be merry. Wherever there is genuine faith, there is genuine repentance. Where souls do not feel their sins, it is useless to expect forgiveness for them. Instead of light talk about receiving the word with joy, there is deep self-judgment. It rests on that most solemn, humbling scene where the Lord Jesus died for us. Secondly, there was no pretending to work on that day; it was to be a sabbath day, the work was Another's.
- Afflict — the word means fasting, the outward sign of inward sorrow over sin. Without it, the day did the person no good.
- Rest — the same day forbade all work, because the work belonged to Another. Sorrow without self-effort is the pattern.
- Refuse — to skip the mourning is to think lightly of sin while the High Priest works on your behalf. That is why removal follows.
- Reach — the mourning spreads to king, prophet, priest and common people alike. Each one owns his sin alone before God.
- Result — the picture points to a coming day when Israel will repent; and the test stands for anyone: real faith always carries real repentance.