The biblical festival – the Day of Atonement – the day we’re observing today – is located on the calendar in the fall ten days after the Feast of Trumpets and four days before the Feast of Tabernacles. So, it’s between two holy day book ends. 

The Feast of Trumpets represents Christ’s return and the battle of Armageddon and the resurrection of the saints. And the Feast of Tabernacles – a scant fourteen days after Trumpets – represents the thousand-year rule of Christ of the earth. It’s a harvest festival traditionally, and it still is, but now the target is the harvest of souls. So, it makes sense: Christ returns on Trumpets, and then He sets up His new Kingdom – the Feast of Tabernacles. But then, in between, is the Day of Atonement. What does that picture? Well, it represents the time when humankind will, after 6,000 years of rebellion, come to God and be at one with Him. It’s about a worldwide repentance of all people as they draw close to God. 

We know that, to Jews – even today – this is the most important festival of the year. In our minds, we might think of the Feast of Tabernacles as the high point. I think mostly, in our church, we do that because it’s the most elaborate. But that, lately, has made me a bit uneasy. I think the Jews may be right about which day is the most important. Why is that? 

Well, God has punctuated the Day of Atonement with a fast. No other holy day – not even Passover – the one that pictures the death of Christ – is honored with that designation. Secondly, Paul uses the Day of Atonement in Hebrews to explain to Jewish Christians the entire plan of salvation. I mean, he was aware of and observed all the holy days, but he picked Atonement as a picture of the entire salvation plan of God. And thirdly, the salvation plan of God is what it’s all about – all of us becoming at one with Him. He’s after a relationship. Even Jesus’ death points forward to something else – that time, when Jesus Himself said while alive on the earth, He would draw all men to Himself – to when we all become at one with Him. All holy days before Atonement point forward to that day. Passover, the Festival of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost all point to Atonement, when everyone will give up and finally accept Christ’s atonement for their sins and surrender to God. 

Now, we know that Passover and, let’s say, the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and also, Pentecost, are about the church in the present day. But Atonement is about what happens when the entire world is the church. And also, all holy days after Atonement point back to it. There could not be a millennial reign of Christ if there was no one over which to reign – no one who wanted to be at one with God. 

So, it’s always been about a relationship. God wants our heart. He wants us all to be at one with Him. And all the holy days are about how that’s going to happen. And that is the focus of the Day of Atonement. 

Now, Atonement is about the greatest, most secret, most profound mystery of all time. Let’s read what Peter said about it in 1 Peter 1, beginning in verse 10.

1 Peter 1:10-12 – Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. 

So, not only the prophets, but even the angels were curious about it – could not understand how God was going to save us, change us, sanctify us, turn us from what we are to what He says we will eventually be. It was a mystery – not just to the prophets, but to angels even. And Paul amplifies what Peter said if we look in Ephesians 3:8. I’m not going to read all of it, but just a few verses. Verse 8 says:

Ephesians 3:8-10 – To me – says Paul – though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ – so he feels like he’s the least – we see this in other places – because he persecuted the church, but grace was given to him – a blessing, an honor to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light – to reveal, in other words – to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 

So, what did he just say? Well, until Christ started the church, and the results of that act began to become visible in the world, how God was going to change us was an utter mystery, even to angels. There are a number of parts of this mystery – Christ’s death, grace and forgiveness by His life and the inclusion of everyone – not just Israel – and the church, which is the most mysterious part of the mystery that happens – what happens inside the church to people – the millennial reign of Christ on earth, the resurrections from the dead, a change from physical to immortal – these are all elements of His great plan. 

As we talk about these things, they can only be approached with superlatives. There is no way with our language and our minds to wrap our minds around any of them, really. I am reminded every time I go through this of the heavenly elders who, when faced with the plan of salvation – once they understood it, threw their magnificent crowns to the floor of the heavenly sanctuary, and cast themselves face down on the sea of glass in abject, speechless wonder in the presence of God’s glory, wisdom and justice and power. It was mind boggling to them! 

But there’s this one big thing that eclipses all these. And that is the most profound mystery that is found in the Day of Atonement. It wasn’t that angels didn’t know about God’s plan. They heard words like gospel, and salvation, and resurrection, and sanctification and grace. It was that they could not see how it could happen until the Holy Spirit was given to people in the church, and they started to respond to God and Christ living in them. So, even to the angels, this was mind blowing. It’s pretty humiliating, isn’t it, to realize that the biggest impediment to understanding was how God could change us from what we are – our beggarly human elements – into something spiritual and God-like. It’s pretty humbling to realize that that leap was hard for them to understand because of what we’re like now. 

Now, there’s something else here. Every time I speak on this topic – how salvation will happen – I come away frustrated at my inability to make it real. So, I’m going to have another run at it today – come at it from another direction. We are going, today, to take a look behind the scenes to see something in the background. It’s not just God the Father and Jesus Christ involved in this plan. There’s an entire huge backstage crew, feverishly working on God’s salvation plan – and working with each one of us. 

We can get a few peeks of this backstage crew in the Bible, but let’s focus on one of them today – one of the major breakout peeks of what’s going on in God’s timeline. Let’s go to Revelation 20.

Revelation 20:1 – Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven – this is John recording this –  a human being – one of Christ’s disciples. John said: I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 

When did this happen? Just before the battle of Armageddon is over. So how much later? Well, let’s look at what happened just before this angel shows up with this chain. I said it, now I’m going to prove it to you. Revelation 19, and verse 21 – that’s just before the verse we read about the angel with the chain. And it says in verse 21 of Revelation 19. 

Revelation 19:21 – And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse – okay, we know who that is, right? The rest were slain by the sword – so that’s the end of the battle. Everybody’s dead that needed to be – and all the birds were gorged with their flesh. 

So this is just after the battle of Armageddon that Jesus fights when He comes back. The clue is that the buzzards are still eating the dead. So, what comes immediately after this – just so that we know the timeline here? So, now we’re going to read the verse a little bit before that – Revelation 19:21. 

Revelation 20:4-5 – Then I saw thrones – John said – and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God – the souls means the lives – the beings – and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. So, these are people that gave up their lives to be faithful to Jesus Christ all through the history. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Then there is a parenthetical statement here: The rest of the dead – the people who have been resurrected are the people who have been faithful to God through the ages – and the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. So, since there’s a later resurrection, the one we’re talking about now is labeled the first resurrection. Did you know that – that there were more than one? The first resurrection is the church and it says that the dead are going to be resurrected later. So, it might be safe to say that this happens after the battle of Armageddon and before the Kingdom of God on earth is fully established. What is it that this angel does right after the battle is fought? Well, let’s go again to Revelation 20, verse 1, and just pick up right where we were reading.

V-1-3 – Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan – any doubt about who we’re talking about here right now? Four different ways identified – and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. 

So, all during the thousand-year reign of Christ, the devil is, you might say, defanged. He’s unable to do his work. So, after all the deception Satan has spread from Adam to Christ’s return – this second time – is now gone. Have you ever heard that song, I Can See Clearly Now – the rain is gone? It’s going to be like that. Now people will be able to understand what God will say to them, because all the lies that hide God’s true meaning will be not be a part of humanity’s thinking any longer. The devil will be restrained. People will understand what Jesus Christ did for them in dying for them to save them from their sins. That’s going to start right after the battle of Armageddon. And with all those buzzards circling above them, dying because of sin is going to take on an entirely new meaning. 

Without the removal of Satan, there could be no Day of Atonement. There could be no becoming at one with God, because the deception of the devil prevented it. So, this word picture of this angel coming down with a chain is important. There could be no Day of Atonement if the devil was still at work. 

Now, who is this angel? And how did he know to come at this time with this chain and do what he did? And where did this chain come from? And what else do we know about him? And how long has he been preparing for this task? What else has he done? Does he have a position, a responsibility in God’s heavenly scheme? How does what he did contribute to the world’s greatest mystery – the salvation of humanity? Well, that’s quite a few questions. Let’s start in Daniel 10 and see if we can find some answers. 

In Daniel 10, the beginning, we learn that Daniel had a vision from God that overwhelmed him. He was trying to figure out all this, and he was in the third week of a fast – the third week of a fast – where he ate very little. Suddenly, he saw a man in linen, wearing a great, wide, gold belt. He said this man’s skin was like nothing of this world and his face was as bright as lightning. He said his eyes were like fire and his legs like shining bronze. Daniel said his voice was like the sound of a large crowd. 

You know, since I’m a football player, I relate to that by thinking about the Seattle Seahawks’ stadium. That’s the loudest stadium in the country of all the football stadiums – mostly because of the crowd, I think. When they realize that the opposite team’s quarterback is starting to call signals, and that his team needs to hear what they’re doing, they start screaming out every sound. They can’t hear. They have to go using foot stomps and hand signals. Daniel said his voice was like that. 

The whole experience – seeing him and the sound of him and all that – he says, knocked him out cold. And when he came to, the being was still there waiting for him to revive. To Daniel’s great surprise, he told him that he was much loved and to not be afraid. This being told him that he had been sent by God to tell him why it took so long for him to come. From the time he started his fast, it was God’s desire to send someone to him, but for three weeks, this messenger had been blocked by an archdemon, the prince of Persia. And he said to him, soon another powerful spirit – the prince of Greece – would attack. Then he explains the reason he came. He came to tell him Michael was on the job now. That’s all. That’s all that he needed to know. Michael’s coming. Let’s read that in Daniel 10:21:

Daniel 10:21 – But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince. Your prince.

Michael is an archangel – a leader of angels. He is the angel to whom God has designated the care and defense of Israel and now the church. 

Notice this in Daniel 12:1:

Daniel 12:1 – At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. So, you could say that this archangel, Michael, is our angel. 

In the tabernacle of old, there was a box. And on this box, there was a lid. The box was called the Ark of the Covenant and the lid was called the Mercy Seat. It represented God’s throne. The Mercy Seat is where God, figuratively, sat – where He ruled from. On this lid, there were fixed two archangels, their wings touching over the top of the lid forming an arch. And since we know of only two archangels – Gabriel and Michael – we can understand who these two angels on the Mercy Seat represented. Michael and Gabriel have a very powerful part to play in the history of God’s people. They are always before God – right there at His seat – and always close to us as well. 

And you might say, “Well, that’s all Jewish stuff,” but we can read that ancient Israel – Paul tells us this – has been eclipsed by the church. Paul calls the church the Israel of God. The things that happen to Israel are pictures of things that happen in the church. Paul tells us that when they went through the Red Sea, they were baptized in it. So, their going through the Red Sea pictures baptism for the church. So, ancient Israel was a picture of the church. 

This is about the end time – not to far ahead of our mystery angel who appears with a chain who binds Satan. Here, we see again Michael is our defender. We can read something else about him in Jude – in Jude 8 and 9 – or verse 9, I’m sorry, where:

Jude 1:9 – …the archangel, Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” 

So, what was he doing there? Well, he was disputing about the body of Moses, because it was his job to defend Israel against all forces physical and spiritual. So, here is again, back in time, contending with the devil, who wanted Moses body. Who knows what perverse purpose he had in mind, but God wasn’t going to allow him to have that, and He sent Michael to take care of it. 

Michael is a great warrior for God. It seems, that when things are tough for Israel, God sends Michael. Quite often, archangels and cherubs and other angels are pictured as effeminate men or babies. Michael probably looked more like the picture of an artist’s rendering of Michael that I put on my website on the page for this presentation – very masculine, very powerful, a mighty warrior for God. We could imagine he’s pretty busy right now in the Middle East, can’t we? 

But let’s learn yet more about him in Revelation 12:7 – and this is very close to the time we talked about, just before Michael comes down with a chain. It says in verse 7:

Revelation 12:7 – Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world – the deceiver of the whole world – he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Now, we come to a vitally important point related to the Day of Atonement. Next verse – 10 – And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. Notice the timing of it – now the salvation and power and the kingdom…. It’s not until Satan is bound and prevented from deceiving people that the Day of Atonement can happen. So, very important. 

So, we asked: How was it that Michael was on the site with the chain to bind Satan? Well, he was probably already there. Though he’s not called by name in this account, we know that his name is Michael because he has already been identified in Daniel as the one who resists the devil to protect Israel – the church. And that’s even more true when we realize the entire church is now Israel in God’s sight – church eclipsed Israel. 

So what does all this have to do with the Day of Atonement? Well, we’ve explained part of it. But Atonement pictures the time when all people will come to God. And the main reason that has never happened before is because the devil is the great deceiver, the great liar, the great accuser. Before anyone can come to God, Satan must first be restrained in their mind. Did you know that? Before you could come to God, God had to lift the devil’s deception so you could see it. Access to you was partially denied – restricted. 

So, once Michael showed up with the chain, all the deception was over. He used his key and locked him in the bottomless pit – bound him with that great spiritual chain. Did you know that the Jews call the few days between Trumpets and Atonement the Days of Awe? I don’t know if they say that for the reasons I’m mentioning today. Michael and what God sent him to do is one of the most awesome things to happen in all of human history. I mean, think about the devil talking to Adam and Eve. That’s been going on ever since – until Michael comes with the chain. That, among many other things, was how Michael contributed to, once again, God’s mysterious and amazing salvation plan. 

Here’s something else to think about. Strong’s Concordance tells us…. Strong’s Concordance – that’s a pretty mainstream dependable source, isn’t it? Strong’s Concordance tells us that, in ancient Hebrew, Michael, in a poetic sense, means who is like God? And the implication is that Michael is one of those beings who sees God the Father as God the Father really is. He’s the Ancient of Days, the Everlasting Father. And Michael is everyday astounded at what God can do, and is doing, and has done. I mean, “Who is like God? Well, the answer to his own question and his name is, “No one.” It could also be for Michael and everybody else in the entire universe – you and me included – “not me.” And his answer to the devil for that question might be “certainly not you!” 

So, you think about it. Humanity has never figured out that the devil has a blanket of deception over them. And that deception has kept humanity away from God rather than at one with him? So when God sends Michael with his chain and his name and his key, all the power of God behind him. the way will be paved straight and wide for all of us to believe and accept Christ. All people will be drawn to Him, just like Jesus said. God will be at one with humanity at last. The single greatest awareness of this great truth is the appearance of an angel with a chain. And not only will you and I be there, so will everyone else who loves God, and so also will be Michael and Gabriel, and an incredibly great host of other beings who are working now behind the scenes to bring all the people who ever lived into that wonderful state called at one with God. 

So, for my money, that’s why the Day of Atonement is the most powerful festival of the year. Think of it – a day dedicated to the entire creation at one at last with God.