n e w c h u r c h l i f e : j u ly / au g u s t 2 0 1 5
The Day of Atonement is also, in the internal sense, a picture of the
subordination of our external selves to our internal selves, (Ibid. 1947), a
state of self-compulsion described by the Heavenly Doctrines as the greatest
state of freedom. (Divine Providence 145) We should remember that all of this
must be done voluntarily, and that it represents only our part in the process;
regeneration is something accomplished by the Lord, and He asks us to
participate.
This ritual was the only time of the year the high priest could safely enter
the Holy of Holies. He would take off his official high-priest garb of breastplate,
crown and ephod and instead wear a simple linen smock with linen breeches.
He would then choose two goats, one for the Lord, one for evil.
He would then mix embers from a burnt offering of a bull with a handful
of incense in a firepan. Then, carefully, he would place the smoking firepan
past the veil of the Tabernacle into the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the
Covenant was kept. The smoke would fill the chamber and thus protect the
high priest from clearly seeing the Ark and therefore being struck dead when
he entered the chamber again.
He would then go back, collect the blood of the sacrifice, and ritually
cleanse the entire Tabernacle with the blood, sprinkling it by hand on the Ark
and the interior of the tabernacle. Then he would take the remaining blood
and p aint it on the corner posts or “horns” of the altar of burnt offering, thus
finishing the purification.
Having cleansed the Tabernacle, the high priest could then transfer the
sins of the entire people to the goat chosen for evil. This goat would then be
driven into the desert, carrying with it the sins of the Israelites.
We, too, must first put on simple
linen, the clothes a servant would
wear, symbolizing the simple, external
truths of humility we should adopt.
(Arcana Coelestia 9599) We realize
that we have no power and need help.
We practice the thought that we are
not masters of our fate, that we are
not the authors of our own happiness,
and that left to ourselves we would be
incapable of use, thought or life.
These are not thoughts in which
to spend all our time. We normally
try to shape our lives to be useful to
those around us, but this is when we
contemplate how powerless we are as
We should remember
that all of this must
be done voluntarily,
and that it represents
only our part in the
process; regeneration is
something accomplished
by the Lord, and He
asks us to participate.
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