ATONEMENT
at+one+ment

(a Study from Scripture)

1. Atonement, at+one+ment, is "reparation for an offense or injury: satisfaction." (Merriam-Webster.). The word "Atonement" appears 81 times in the Bible. It appears in various forms 16 times in Exodus, the Bible's second book. Atonement overcomes alienation between a holy God and unholy humans. Obviously, atonement mattered in scripture. Does it to you?

2. The first mention of it is in Exodus 25:17a: You will also make an atonement seat from purest gold.. A place for at+one+ment is made first and foremost at the Lord's Command.

In Exodus 25:22a, the Lord tells Moses, I will teach and speak to you from there, over the atonement seat. The Lord speaks to Moses at the atonement seat. Atonement is the state in which God speaks to His people.

In Exodus 26:34, God tells Moses, You will also put the atonement seat over the ark of testimony in the holy of holies.

Atonement resides in the holiest place on earth, the place where God speaks. Exodus 29:36-37 tells us establishing the place of atonement is costly: the life of one calf for each of seven days, according to the Torah. What has been atoned for becomes holy and, as later verses show, is able to convey holiness to others as well.

3. So, in Exodus atonement

A. is initiated by God;

B. has a seat in the Place where God speaks;

C. takes its place among the holiest things on earth, in the holiest place on earth;

D. is costly, requiring both offerings and determination; and

E. is intimately tied up with the forgiveness of sins.

4. In Jeremiah 31:33-34, the Lord Himself promised to make atonement: This will be the pact that I make with Israel's house after those days, the Lord says. I will place My law in their guts, and will write it on their heart. I will be to them as God, and they will be to Me as a people. They will no longer teach, a man to his neighbor and a man to his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all will know Me, from their least to their greatest, the Lord said, for I will atone for their iniquity, and will not remember their sin any longer.

5. The Lord told Ezekiel how to restore the place of atonement in the Temple to come. Daniel confessed that atonement belongs to the Lord (Daniel 9:8-10). Nehemiah recorded that the Lord allowed the place of atonement to be reestablished as a place of worship (Nehemiah 12:44-46).

6. The Psalmist pleads with the Lord for atonement in Vulgate Psalm 24:11. In Psalm 48:7-8, atonement is something that a lawless human cannot buy. Psalm 64:4 confesses that Liars' words have prevailed against us, yet You will atone for our lawlessness.

Psalm 77:38 tells us that, though God's people sin, Yet He is merciful and will make atonement for their sins. Psalm 129:4 tells us atonement is worth waiting for: Because atonement is with You, I waited for You, Lord.

7. Atonement appears in the New Testament for the first time in Romans 3:23-25: All have sinned and lack God's glory, justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as atonement through faith in His blood, to the demonstration of His righteousness, for the sake of the forgiveness of the preceding offenses.

8. Hebrews 2:17-18 reflecting on why Jesus chose to redeem His people, says, From which [Jesus] had to become like the brothers through all, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest, that He might atone for the people's offenses. For in Him, in that He suffered testing, He is mighty to help those who are tested.

9. If you find yourself alienated from God and you recognize the seriousness of your condition, atonement is still costly. It remains beyond the reach of the lawless. It is still intimately tied to praise and worship.

10. In our New Testament era, Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice. The Gathered community is the holy place where we receive atonement. The Bible is the Word the atoning Lord speaks to His beloved. The One who atones for us is near. He is "mighty to help those who are tested."

If you need Him, you may turn to Him today.

Amen.