The Day of Atonement

Leviticus 16

Leviticus 16 explains the details of what is referred to as the Day of Atonement (see Leviticus 23:27-28). Write a definition for the primary purpose of this special day.

The primary purpose of this special day is to offer and offering to the Lord for that it was the only fast ordered by the law. It was a day to come to the Lord in humility asking for forgiveness. 

 Read Leviticus 16:1-28 as well as the Institute Student Manual commentary for Leviticus 16, “The Day of Atonement and Israel’s Forgiveness” (pgs. 176-77; see also Bible Dictionary, “Fasts,” 671, which describes the Day of Atonement). Then answer the following questions:

Why do you think Aaron needed to make atonement for himself before making atonement for the people?

So that he could be clean to make an atonement for the people.

Why did Aaron need two goats?

He needs one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering.

How could both goats represent Jesus Christ and His Atonement?

Sin offering was for him and the burnt offering was for the people. For Jesus Christ, He took upon himself our sins and suffered because of that and He bled out of every poor.

What do Aaron’s responsibilities and the responsibilities of the man who led the scapegoat into the wilderness symbolize?

They symbolize forgiveness and guidance of the Lord, getting rid of the sins of the mortal man.

Read the Institute Student Manual commentary by Elder James E. Talmage (1862-1933), a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (pg. 177). Define the word vicarious as it applied to the ancient Day of Atonement. Include in your statement the personal factor necessary for an individual’s sins to be forgiven. Explain in writing how the Savior’s work of the Atonement was a vicarious work.

Vicarious: to experience similar feelings indirectly through the imagination. By giving an offering to the Lord they were vicariously being forgiven of their sins. We are vicariously being forgiven of our sins when we come to the Lord in complete humility willing to do whatever He asks of us to be clean again. The Savior’s work of the Atonement was vicarious because the sins of men were forgiven when He performed the Atonement.