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The Importance Of the Typology of the Day Of Atonement In Relation To The Second Coming Of Christ And The Resurrection
All Futurists and Partial Preterists... I challenge you to read this article. 1 Thessalonians 5:21
The fall of Jerusalem and demise of the Old Covenant Temple system in A.D. 70 was no localized judgment event as some suggest, just as the cross was no localized execution event. Yet fewer people knew of Jesus' crucifixion than the destruction of the city. Jesus coming in judgment in A.D. 70 was his appearing "a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him" (Heb. 9:28) and "the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Pet. 1:5)." If He did not appear "a second time," we have a major problem on our hands.
Curiously; the Bible records that Jesus had already come and appeared many times following both his resurrection and ascension. Then what did this phrase appearing "a second time" mean? To understand this terminology, we must refer to the typology of the Jewish high priest, a figure central to Israel's existence. He was their connection to and mediator with God. Once each year on the Day of Atonement (the annual, sixth Jewish feast as prescribed by the Law), the high priest performed his most sacred duty (Lev. 16). He put on his finery, sacrificed a bull, put its blood in a bowl, tied a rope around his leg, entered into the Holy of Holies, sprinkled the blood on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant, and made atonement for himself and his house. Then he came out and appeared before the crowd gathered in front of the Tabernacle (later the Temple), killed a goat, took its blood into the Holy of Holies, made atonement for the congregation. Lastly, a second goat - the scapegoat - was released into the wilderness. Time spent by the high priest inside the Holy of Holies was a fearful time for the assembled crowd. But his second reappearance, alive, was the most-awaited and joyful part of the whole ritual. It completed the atonement process and revealed that both sacrifices had been accepted by God and that Israel's sins were forgiven for another year.
Jesus Christ, as our new and superior High Priest of the New Covenant (Heb. 4-10), had to perfectly follow and fulfill this typology (Heb. 8:5; 10:1). The Bible tells us that the earthly Jewish Temple was only a copy of the heavenly one (Heb. 9,10, especially 9:23ff.). That's why Jesus had to depart and go prepare the heavenly place for his saints to occupy; He did this by going through these same atonement steps (Jn. 14:1-4). Therefore, after Jesus ascended to the Father; He entered the true Holy of Holies and offered up the perfect sacrifice of his spilled blood. But just as the atonement ritual of the Old Covenant was never considered complete with only the slaying of the sacrifice, neither was Jesus' atonement work finished at the cross, or even when He entered into the Holy of Holies. Partway through is not the place to abandon this atonement typology, as most do. In order for Jesus to perfectly fulfill the final, inseparable, and essential act of atonement: to appear "a second time" to show that his sacrificed had been accepted, and to fulfill the role of both goats - one dead, one alive.
If this final step has yet to occur, as all futurist schemes claim, we are faced with some big problems! If Jesus did not appear a second time, we must live with the following unpalatable facts:
1. 1st-century believers watched, waited and eagerly expected in vain (1 Pet. 1:5-9; 2:12; Heb. 9:28; 10:25; Lk. 21:28; Php. 3:20; Gal. 5:5; Ro. 13:11-13; 1 Cor. 1:7; Tit. 2:11-13).
2. Their salvation and ours is still incomplete. If no final sign or proof of atonement has been manifested from heaven, we cannot know if Jesus' sacrifice has yet been accepted by God.
3. We can't know for sure if our sins are fully forgiven, if we are totally reconciled to God, if we are back in His presence (where no one had been since Adam), or were we to die tonight, if we would immediately go to heaven (Jn. 3:13; 13:33,36; 14:1-4).
Jesus appearing "a second time" is essential for complete salvation. This is the climax of the whole salvation event. It's where salvation and end-time prophecy (soteriology and eschatology) are inseparably intertwined. It's why eschatology is the story of one salvation in Christ. If this "salvation that is [was] ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Pet. 1:5) hasn't occurred in almost 2,000 years, all we can be sure of is that we have the promise of salvation. But if that's all we have, how is the New Covenant any better than the Old in this important regard? If it doesn't supply what the Old could not provide, where are we? How much salvation do we presently have? How much of Christ's mission to "put away sin" is accomplished? Are we still in limbo (an intermediate state) and not yet in God's Presence?
Please note that any doctrine which says that Jesus has not returned and fulfilled salvation promises to Israel is actually saying that we don't have full redemption (1 Pet. 1:9-13; Ac. 3:24; 26:6-8; Eph. 4:4). There's no way around it. As our High Priest, Jesus had to carefully follow and fulfill all aspects of the sacrificial and atonement typology of the high priesthood pattern on the Day of Atonement. This is the crucial factor and meaning behind his appearing "a second time," and that is what was being "eagerly awaited" by the early Church (Gal. 5:5), as they saw "the Day approaching" (Heb. 10:25).
The good news is that postponement traditions are wrong. There was no 19th-plus-centuries-and-counting delay. The atonement process was not interrupted. God's redemptive plan was fulfilled by Christ's appearing "a second time." As our High Priest, He did his atoning work during those "last days." He has been "revealed from heaven" (2 Th. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:7; Lk. 17:30,31). The sixth Jewish feast of the Day of Atonement is totally fulfilled. Jesus was and is "able to save completely" or "to the utmost" (Heb. 7:25, KJV). The next question is, how did He appear?
He appeared by "coming on the clouds" in A.D. 70. This invisible nature of that particular type of coming was why a "sign" was needed and was asked for by His disciples (Mt. 24:3,30). As we've seen, Jesus clearly and inseparably designated the destruction of Jerusaleme and its Temple as the sign of His coming. He said, "Immediately, after the distress [tribulation] of those days... the sign of the Son of Man will appear..." (Mat. 24:29-30). Immediately after the four sieges of A.D. 66 - 70, the sign appeared. In the final destructive event(s), His Presence was manifested and He was truly revealed as the Son of God. This sign also signaled God's acceptance of Christ's atonement (Heb. 7:25) and that the way into the Most Holy Place was now open (Heb. 9:8). By this sign we can be sure that Jesus completed everything for our salvation into the generation He named "this generation" (Mt. 24:34). Jesus said, "When you [His audience] see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near... When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near" (Lk. 21:20,28). No longer do we need to look for Jerusalem to be surrounded by armies. No longer are we living in that waiting period.
Confusion over this eschatological-soteriological issue only comes when we don't understand that the destruction of Jerusalem had redemptive/spiritual significance. If we lift the salvation process out of its "last-days" context at the end of the Jewish Age and shift it to an alleged end of a Christian Age, we have confused the very roots of our faith. No scriptural basis exists for removing Christ's appearing a second time from the end-time, last-days framework in history in which his sacrifice occurred - "once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin" (Heb. 1:2; 9:26). God fully dealt with man's sin problem; it is not incomplete. It has been fully resolved.
When Jesus said, "One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law until all is fulfilled," or "everything is accomplished" (Mt. 5:18, KJV-NIV), He meant exactly what He said. He came again to do just what He said He would (Mt. 5:17). Who among us would question that a large segment (not a mere jot or tittle) was passing and did pass away from the Law back in the 1st century (Heb. 8:13; 12:26-28; 1 Cor. 7:13)? The Temple, rituals, genealogies, feasts, the sacrificial system, priesthood, and all they typified are totally fulfilled. They were necessary; but only temporarily. Nothing failed to come to pass. That's why "salvation is of the Jews" and their Age (Jn. 4:22 KJV), not of the Gentiles or of an intervening Christian Age.
Why then are we still waiting for Jesus to be revealed after almost 2,000 years? Whom should we believe, Jesus, or our postponing, futurist brethren? I believe Jesus. How could He be any clearer? Everything is accomplished. The typology is complete. The destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple was the sign of the final event in the consummation of God's plan of redemption. Let us recognize and loudly proclaim that we have received the goal/end/telos of our faith, the ultimate and consummated realization of the promise of the salvation of our souls (1 Pet. 1:9). The message is one of fulfilled redemption and completed salvation. What more could we ask for?
John Noe, Beyond The End Times
All Futurists and Partial Preterists... I challenge you to read this article. 1 Thessalonians 5:21