Jesus reconciling us to God the Father.
Psalm 110: 4
YHWH has sworn and will not change His mind:
"Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek".
Yochanan the immerser (John the Baptist) was considered to be a Prophet by most Jews in his day. Before he met Yeshua, some inquired of him if he was the Messiah foretold by the Tanach. Luke 3:15-16
"And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of Yochanan, whether he was the Messiah, or not; Yochanan answered, saying unto them all, I indeed immerse you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latch of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: He shall immerse you with the Ruach haKodesh [the Holy Spirit] and with fire."
Upon meeting Yeshua, Yochanan responded: "Behold the Lamb of God, Behold Him who takes away the sins of the world". In so doing, Yochanan linked Yeshua to the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb (Exodus 12), and the Atoning sacrifice of the two rams (Leviticus 16).
The sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb, whose blood is to be painted by each household onto the head of the door and the lintels on each side of the door, caused God's judgement to 'pass-over' that household.
Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement.
To atone for the sins of all truly repenting Israelites, the high priest removes his expensive bejeweled garments- making himself of no reputation, as it were. After properly sacrificing a Bullock for the to have his own sins removed, He goes into the Holy of Holies, he comes out and takes two goats. The high priest then kills one goat, the giving up of one life that many may be saved. This is the atonement for sin, a ransoming by a substitute.
Then, at this time, the only time in the whole year he is allowed to do so, the high priests walks into the Holy of Holies, and puts the blood onto the lid of the ark of the covenant, under the cherubim, where the seat of God Himself dwells.
Inside the Ark are the commandments of stone, which God gave Moses. God, looking down, would see the blood, covering as it were, the commandments, the sins of His people.
The High Priest goes out and takes a second goat, he confesses all of Israel's sins over this second goat. Not all Israelites will be forgiven, only those who truly rended their hearts and repented are to be forgiven. Then the High Priest leads this goat away, this goat is the escape goat.
The above foreshadows the Messiah who will come. He will be the sinbearer who will shed His blood as the unblemished lamb, who will be a substitute for sin. He will mediate between G-d and man and will take away the sins of the world.
A Yom Kippur, 30 CE (?).
There stood the beautiful Herodian Temple, more than twice the size as the one built by Ezra and the faithful remnant from Babylon. The temple served as a public gathering place for Israelites and a place where Rabbis taught. Included on the premises were vendors who sold sacrificial animals. Many Jews, including Y'shua, were indignant over the commercialization of the Holy site.
Because the Israelites were already so widely dispersed throughout the known world, the territories of Israel and the diaspora were divided into 24 sections, each of which sent two representatives to officiate at the Temple for two weeks of each year. Worship in the Herodian Temple was conducted by 24 divisions of levitical priests. More than 500 priest were employed on the Day of Atonement to assist the High Priest.
The High Priest was the leading religious and political figure in Israel at this time. Herod had taken charge of 'appointing' the High Priest, accepting bribes for the appointment. After Herod, the appointing of the high priest passed on to the Roman governors who, in the final years, permitted Agrippa II to appoint the high priest. The honor of high priest went to leading members rich families (the highest bidder would become the high priest). The Boethus family, the Phiabi family, the family of Anan, a new high priest chosen each year, mostly Sadducees who were loyal to Rome. They formed a priestly aristocracy of wealthy families who tyrannized the people.
Still, on Yom Kippur, the High Priest took his responsibilities very seriously and proceeded very carefully to perform the rituals precisely as required by the Law.
When it came time for the High Priest to face the two goats readied for him, he drew golden lots from an urn; one lot was marked 'for the Lord' and the other was marked 'for azazel'. He placed one on the head of each goat, thus sealing their fate. It was considered a good omen if the lot marked 'for the Lord' appeared in the right hand of the High Priest, but this year, and every year afterward until the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD, it would always end up in the left hand of the High Priest. This omen filled the Israelites with the fear of impending doom.
The High Priest then tied a crimson sash around the horns of the goat that received the lot 'for azazael'.
Later, when the time came to enter the Holy of Holies, it was customary for the High Priest to proceed slowly, parting the heavy drape that separated him from the Holy of Holies, but this time that heavy drape had been ripped from top to bottom and folded back. The high priest proceeded north between this torn curtain, then turned south until he was at the place where the Ark of the Covenant use to rest. The Ark had been taken in the Babylonian captivity and had not been at the Temple ever since that time. All that was left was it's ancient foundation stone which stood three fingers breadths high. All that now glowed in the Holy of Holies were the glowing coals the High Priest brought in with him. Gone since the Babylonian captivity was the Shekinah presence of the LORD. So he continues, the elaborate ritual of atonement followed, in the hope that God forgives from afar. He returns to the Holy of Holies two more times, pouring the blood offerings on the stone directly above where the mercy seat use to be.
After the third visit to the Holy of Holies, He returns to the escape goat. Laying his hands on the goat's head, he confesses the sins of - "Thy people, the house of Israel". A portion of the crimson sash was taken from the escape goat and tied to the Temple door. Then through an elaborate procedure, the escape goat was led away into the wilderness, to a cliff, where the crimson sash was removed, cut in half, with half placed back on the goat's horn and the other half tied to the cliff. The attending priest would then send the goat flying backwards over the cliff, bearing Israel's sins as it fell to it's death. The crimson sash that was placed on the Temple's door had, in previous years, always turned from red to white, signaling to the people that G-d had accepted their sacrifice and their sins have been forgiven. This year it had remained crimson, and never again in the next 40 years did it turn white. It remained red.
It was also noted by the people that the western most candle on the candlelabra, the one used to light the other candles, would not light. It was also to be noted that the temple doors would open by themselves, and Rabbis saw this as an ominous fulfillment of Zechariah 11:1,
"open thy doors, oh Lebanon, that fire may devour thy cedars."
In the year 70 AD, the temple would be completely destroyed by fire.
In that year, 30 AD, about six months prior to the Day of Atonement, the perfect High Priest had made the perfect sacrifice.
"Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the Prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a Hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling."
Yeshua