What the Bible says about Kapar
(From Forerunner Commentary)
The word "atonement" is mentioned three times, once in verse 27 and twice in verse 28 (afflicting the soul and doing no work are also mentioned three times, but these are responses to the atonement). The first two mentions confirm "the Day of Atonement" as the proper name for this holy day. It is a special day, a day devoted to atonement.
The Hebrew word behind "atone" is kāpar, which means "to atone," "to propitiate," "to appease," "to pacify," or "to wipe clean." The root of this verb suggests the idea of covering. It is easy to see the link between kāpar and the name the Jews use for this day, Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement is a day of covering.
Most uses of kāpar in the Old Testament are theological, describing God covering or purging sin through sacrifice. In one instance, however, when God instructs Noah about building the ark, He commands him to cover the ark with pitch (Genesis 6:14). From this illustration, we can discern what the word implies. Obviously, Noah and his sons carefully coated the entire ark with pitch so no water could seep in. Their efforts were vital in saving their lives. A similar result occurs when sin is truly covered—it is hidden completely, and the sinner can continue living without guilt.
However, most of the Old Testament usages of kāpar possess the theological thought of covering over or atoning for sin by using the lifeblood of an animal sacrifice. A bull, goat, ram, or some other animal sanctified to be used as a sacrifice is killed, its blood drained out, and its body offered to cover the sin. Yet we know from reading the New Testament that this ritual practice was not truly effective. Notice Hebrews 10:4: "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins."
This is a crucial principle in terms of the difference between the Old Covenant and the New: It is impossible for the blood of animals to take away sin. The author of Hebrews, probably the apostle Paul, means that a sacrifice greater than a mere bull or goat is required to remove the sin of a human being. In the centuries under the Old Covenant, all that happened when an Israelite offered an animal to God for his sins was that the sins were "covered," hidden from sight. We could say that they were ceremonially smoothed over. Paul calls "those sacrifices . . . a reminder of sins every year" (Hebrews 10:3), which God "did not desire, nor had pleasure in them" (Hebrews 10:8).
One thing that did not happen was their complete removal; the sins were not paid for, not forgiven. The blood of bulls and goats does not have what it takes to purge sin, to cleanse the guilt, to erase them completely. Conversely, under the New Covenant, sins are not only forgiven but also forgotten. As Paul goes on to write in Hebrews 10:17, quoting Jeremiah 31:34, a prophecy of the New Covenant, ". . . then He adds, 'Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.'"
There is a simple reason why an animal sacrifice is ineffective: The life of a bull or goat is not worth as much as the life of a man. A person cannot pay or trade for an item with something of lesser value. Even though a person might slaughter many bulls and goats to cover his sins, such a costly sacrifice still does not approach the price of a human life.
In Genesis 2:17, God set the cost of sin: "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." When someone sins, he comes under the death penalty; the punishment is his life! We cannot expect God to forgive sins for anything less than this. Although bulls and goats have life and value, it is still well under the price of human redemption. It is a fact of life that a lesser thing cannot redeem a greater one.
To make eternal life possible for the sinner, the sacrifice must be worth at least as much or more than the sinner's life. A human, even if he gives his own life in payment for his sins in death, pays only for himself. There is no hope for anyone else or anything beyond his death. The person who would make such a payment makes a transaction: his life for his sins—and nothing remains.
So, a suitable, costly-enough sacrifice had to be offered so that the sins of mankind could not only be covered—as they were under the Old Covenant—but be completely paid for, forgiven, removed, and forgotten. The only worthy payment, of course, was the sinless life of the Creator God, who became flesh and dwelt among us—Jesus Christ (John 1:14). Only He has a value high enough to pay for everyone's sins and still have incalculable value to spare. So, because of who He is, our holy God, He could be raised again to life and become life for us (Romans 5:6-11).
That is the true price of atonement, which should be our focus on the Day of Atonement.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Price of AtonementRelated Topics: Afflict Our Souls | Animal Sacrifices | Atonement | Covering | Covering for Sin | Kapar | New Covenant | Old Covenant | Sacrifice of Christ | Sacrifice of Jesus Christ | Yom Kippur
In saying that He desires mercy and not sacrifice, Jesus is teaching that He prefers it when people practice mercy and not blindly follow ritual. He is not condemning the laws of sacrifice that He set up for Israel to practice until He fulfilled them, but explaining that He is more pleased with acts of forgiveness and kindness than strict external compliance to the law.
He is telling the Pharisees that, though they were exacting in keeping the letter of the law, they had completely missed its intent. In Matthew 23:23, He reminds them of this very point: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone."
It is good and right to tithe to God, even to be exacting in our accounting, but not at the expense of the far more important matters of justice, mercy, and faith! These weightier matters are a Christian's priorities, so if a question of "What do I do?" ever comes up between practicing them and keeping the strict letter of the law, our judgment should lean toward these Christian virtues. If we can do both, all the better!
Jesus Christ is the personification of mercy. Exodus 25:17-22 describes the Mercy Seat constructed in the wilderness. Essentially, it was the golden lid of the Ark of the Covenant, on which were figures of two cherubim facing each other with their wings stretched out, covering the Mercy Seat. God, the pre-incarnate Christ, says in verse 22, "And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony." The Mercy Seat represented God in His dealings with sinful humanity, and the chief element He employs is mercy.
Now notice Romans 3:23-25:
. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. . . .
This passage tells us that Jesus Christ is our Mercy Seat, but the translators have hidden it. "Propitiation" (Greek hilasterios) in verse 25 is literally "place of conciliation or expiation" or "Mercy Seat." The Septuagint used hilasterios to translate the Hebrew noun kapporeth ("Mercy Seat"). This Hebrew word's root is kapar meaning "to cover" or "to conceal." This illustrates that the nature of God is to be merciful.
The apostle Peter writes in I Peter 2:21 that we are to follow in Christ's steps, thus as Jesus Christ is merciful, we also are to show mercy in our judgments.
John O. Reid
Mercy: The Better OptionRelated Topics: Acts of Forgiveness | Christian Virtues | Cover | Death, Redemption from | Forgiveness | God's Forbearance | God's Mercy | Hilasterios | Jesus Christ's Mercy | Kapar | Kapporeth | Letter of the Law | Mercy | Mercy Seat | Mercy Seat Symbolizes God's Throne | Propitiation | Showing Mercy | Weightier Matters of the Law