The Ritual of Atonement & Redemption and Judgment in the Great Tribulation

III. The Ritual of Atonement

1. Offering a Bull as a Sin Offering

“Aaron shall koffer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.( Leviticus 16:6, ESV)

(a) Offering the Bull: Aaron (the high priest) shall slaughter the bull for himself and for his household.

(b) Entering the Holy of Holies: He (the high priest) shall take the bull's blood and the censer into the veil (the Holy of Holies), sprinkling the blood onto the mercy seat. This is the only time of the year that the high priest may enter the Holy of Holies to offer the bull for the sin offering, to atone for himself and for his household.

2. Two Male Goats:

Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel.( Leviticus 16:7-8, ESV)

(a) One Goat Given to the Lord (The Goat of Atonement): One goat is chosen by lot to serve as the goat of atonement, to be slaughtered as a sin offering, its blood to cleanse the sanctuary and the people. The high priest shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.(Leviticus 16:15, ESV).

This goat of atonement prefigures the slain lamb, Jesus Christ, who came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29, ESV)

 (2) A sheep given to Azazel (the scapegoat):

This was a scapegoat, to be given to Azazel.

Azazel refers to the devil, the leader of the rebellious angels. This is confirmed in the Book of Enoch, which connects Azazel with fallen angels. Azazel was the leader of the rebellious giants before the Great Flood. He revealed the secrets of witchcraft to people, leading them to evil and impurity; finally, he was cast into the pit of darkness by God until the day of judgment.

The high priest would lay his hands on the head of this sheep, confessing the sins of all Israel, and then send it to the wilderness, a place symbolizing the devil. The scapegoat ultimately lingers and starves to death, but sin still returns to Azazel (the devil); because he deceived Eve into eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam also ate it, and all mankind fell into sin, were dominated by sin, and became slaves to sin.

3. The church still has a chance of salvation after the Rapture, but serving God will require a higher price; this is also the day of God's vengeance.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him (The Goat of Atonement);

     as far as the east is from the west,

 so far does he remove our transgressions from us (The Goat of Atonement). (Psalm 103:11-12, ESV)

Salvation still exists on earth after the Rapture; the High Priest, the Lord Jesus, will enter the Holy of Holies in heaven to intercede and atone for the sins of people on earth; however, those who remain in the Great Tribulation will have to pay a higher price to serve the Lord. The Great Tribulation is also the day of Jehovah's vengeance; God's wrath will be poured out on the devil; however, sin will be far removed from those who believe in the Lord, and ultimately return to Azazel.

When the Great Tribulation arrives, the Lord Jesus, with His powerful angels, will appear from heaven in flames. God will punish those who do not know Him and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These people are the servants of the devil, and they will be punished—eternally destroyed, separated from the Lord's presence and the glory of His power.

IV. Redemption and Judgment in the Great Tribulation

1. Redemption in the Great Tribulation

(a) The Gospel Will Be Proclaimed to People on Earth

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. (Revelation 14:6, ESV) Even in the Great Tribulation, the gospel will still be proclaimed to people of every nation, tribe, language and people, because God is gracious and merciful.

(2) The Son of Man is Jesus, and the scythe represents the Word: Blood, Water, and the Holy Spirit

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. (Revelation 14:14, ESV) Seated upon the cloud was a man like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head (king) and a sharp sickle in his hand (the Word: blood, water, and the Holy Spirit). This man is the Lord Jesus.

For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. (1 John 5:7-8, ESV) The sharp sickle represents the Word: blood (repentance), water (baptism), and the Holy Spirit (speaking in tongues).

When we lead someone to faith in Jesus, we are leading them to receive the blood, water, and the Holy Spirit; these three witnesses are the Word, the testimony of God for His Son Jesus (the Word).

The blood, water, and the Holy Spirit are the Word, the eternal life God gives us, which is in his Son--Jesus Christ (1 John 5:9, 11).

 (3) Workers, Quickly Come Out to Harvest

So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. (Revelation 14:16, ESV)

the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. (Acts 20:32, ESV) The Lord Jesus swung the sickle on the ground; workers, quickly come out to harvest, proclaiming the true word—the blood, water, and Holy Spirit—to rescue souls on earth and deliver the harvest from the fields to the barns. In the great tribulation, there will be the greatest spiritual revival, surpassing all previous generations; one-third of the earth's population will believe in the Lord and be saved.

2. Judgment in the Great Tribulation

(1) This Word Will Judge the Unbelievers

So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. (Revelation 14:19, ESV) The sharp sickle represents the blood, water, and Holy Spirit, which will build up people and also judge those who oppose God. The scriptures say, “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.” (John 12:48, ESV). The day of the Lord’s wrath has come! The angels threw their sickles to the ground; these sickles are the sword of the Lord’s mouth, the Word, living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. In an instant, the sickles reaped like lightning, swiftly purging those who had rebelled against God, throwing them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. The winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia. (Revelation 14:19-20).

 (2) The Lord alone treads on the winepress, and the entire army of the devil is annihilated.

Who is this who comes from Edom,

    in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,

he who is splendid in his apparel,

    marching in the greatness of his strength?

“It is I, speaking in righteousness,

    mighty to save.”

Why is your apparel red,

    and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?

“I have trodden the winepress alone,

    and from the peoples no one was with me;

I trod them in my anger

    and trampled them in my wrath;

their lifeblood spattered on my garments,

    and stained all my apparel.

For the day of vengeance was in my heart,

    and my year of redemption[b] had come. (Isaiah 63:1-4, ESV)

In this bloody battle, the entire army of the devil wailed, corpses littered the fields, and blood gushed forth like springs, flowing like rivers. For this was the day of vengeance. Jesus executed a wrathful judgment upon the Antichrist, his kings, and all his armies, vowing to destroy this evil army.

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