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Propitiation & Atonement Study Notes Propitiation & Atonement November 2, 2014 28 It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a perpetual due from the people of Israel, for it is a contribution. It shall be a contribution from the people of Israel from their peace offerings, their contribution to the LORD. 29 "The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them. 30 The son who succeeds him as priest, who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, shall wear them seven days. 31 "You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place. 32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 33 They shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration, but an outsider shall not eat of them, because they are holy. 34 And if any of the flesh for the ordination or of the bread remain until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy. 35 "Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through seven days shall you ordain them, 36 and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it to consecrate it. 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy. 38 "Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly. (Exodus 29:28-38) Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (Romans 3:25) Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17) He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2) In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10) 3:25a. God presented Him, Christ, as a Sacrifice of atonement. The Greek word for “Sacrifice of atonement” is hilastērion, rendered “propitiation” in the KJV and the NASB. This noun is used elsewhere in the New Testament only in Hebrews 9:5 for the mercy seat (NIV, “the place of atonement”) of the tabernacle’s ark of the covenant. There a goat’s 1 More study helps at www.daretoventure.org Study Notes blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement to cover (atone) Israel’s sins (Lev. 16:15), and satisfy God for another year. Jesus’ death is the final sacrifice which completely satisfied God’s demands against sinful people, thus averting His wrath from those who believe. (The verb hilaskomai, “to satisfy by a sacrifice, to propitiate,” is used in Luke 18:13 [“have mercy”] and Heb. 2:17 [“make atonement”]. And the related noun, hilasmos, “propitiation,” appears in 1 John 2:2; 4:10.) Christ, God’s propitiatory Sacrifice for sin, was “presented” (lit., “set forth”), in contrast with the tabernacle’s mercy seat which was hidden from view. This work of Christ is through faith in His blood (cf. Rom. 5:9). It is appropriated by faith (cf. 3:22). By the death of Jesus and the shedding of His blood the penalty for sin has been paid and God has been satisfied or propitiated. The phrase “in (or by) His blood” probably should go with “a sacrifice of atonement,” not with “through faith.” A believer places His faith in 1 Christ, not in His blood as such. (b) A PROPITIATION Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2; Heb. 2:17 (R. V.). Christ is the propitiation for our sins; He is set forth by God to be a propitiation through His blood. Propitiation means mercy-seat, or covering. The mercy-seat covering the ark of the covenant was called a propitiation (Exod. 25:22; Heb. 9:5). It is that by which God covers, overlooks, and pardons the penitent and believing sinner because of Christ’s death. Propitiation furnishes a ground on the basis of which God could set forth His righteousness, and yet pardon sinful men, Rom. 3:25, 26; Heb. 9:15. Christ Himself is the propitiatory sacrifice, 1 John 2:2. The death of Jesus Christ is set forth as the ground on which a righteous God can pardon a guilty and sinful race without in any way 2 compromising His righteousness. PROPITIATION—that by which God is rendered propitious, i.e., by which it becomes consistent with his character and government to pardon and bless the sinner. The propitiation does not procure his love or make him loving; it only renders it consistent for him to exercise his love towards sinners. In Rom. 3:25 and Heb. 9:5 (A.V., “mercy-seat”) the Greek word hilasterion is used. It is the word employed by the LXX. translators in Ex. 25:17 and elsewhere as the equivalent for the Hebrew kapporeth, which means “covering,” and is used of the lid of the ark of the 1 Witmer, J. A. (1985). Romans. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck, Ed.) (Ro 3:25a). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. 2 Evans, W., & Coder, S. M. (1974). The great doctrines of the Bible (Enl. ed.) (72). Chicago: Moody Press. 2 More study helps at www.daretoventure.org Study Notes covenant (Ex. 25:21; 30:6). This Greek word (hilasterion) came to denote not only the mercy-seat or lid of the ark, but also propitiation or reconciliation by blood. On the great day of atonement the high priest carried the blood of the sacrifice he offered for all the people within the veil and sprinkled with it the “mercy-seat,” and so made propitiation. In 1 John 2:2; 4:10, Christ is called the “propitiation for our sins.” Here a different Greek word is used (hilasmos). Christ is “the propitiation,” because by his becoming our substitute and assuming our obligations he expiated our guilt, covered it, by the vicarious punishment which he endured. (Comp. Heb. 2:17, where the expression “make 3 reconciliation” of the A.V. is more correctly in the R.V. “make propitiation.”) Propitiation Propitiation means that the death of Christ fully satisfied all the righteous demands of God toward the sinner. Because God is holy and righteous He cannot overlook sin; through the work of Jesus Christ God is fully satisfied that His righteous standard has been met. Through union with Christ the believer can now be accepted by God and be spared from the wrath of God. The Old Testament word kaphar means “to cover”; it involved a ritual covering for sin (Lev. 4:35; 10:17). The Greek verb hilaskomai, meaning “to propitiate,” occurs twice in the New Testament. In Luke 18:13 the repentant tax collector prayed for God to be propitiated, or that God would provide a covering for sin. In Hebrews 2:17 it declares that Christ has made propitiation for sin. The word also occurs three times in the noun form (hilasmos—1 John 2:2; 4:10; and hilasterion—Rom. 3:25). Propitiation is related to several concepts. (1) The wrath of God. Because God is holy, His wrath is directed toward sin and must be assuaged to spare man from eternal destruction. (2) God provides the remedy. God provides the solution to sin by sending Christ as a satisfaction for sin. (3) Christ’s death assuages the wrath of God. The gift of Christ satisfied the holiness of God and averted His wrath. Propitiation is Godward; God is propitiated—His holiness is vindicated and satisfied 4 by the death of Christ. Atonement The English word atone means to make reconciliation. It is based on the English phrase at one. Generally the word atone refers to the condition “at-one-ness” or 3 Easton, M. G. (1893). Easton’s Bible dictionary. New York: Harper & Brothers. 4 Enns, P. P. (1989). The Moody handbook of theology (325). Chicago, IL: Moody Press. 3 More study helps at www.daretoventure.org Study Notes “reconciliation.” Specifically the word is used to refer to the process by which obstacles to such reconciliation are removed. The entire Bible demonstrates that outside of some atoning action, humankind is estranged from God. This alienation, brought on by sin, must be remedied. In the OT atone and atonement are based on the Hebrew kpr, which means to cover or, as some have suggested, to wipe clean. Words based on kpr are found primarily in the Pentateuch with a few references elsewhere. The Septuagint translated kpr and its derivatives primarily by the word family containing exilaskomai, exilasmos, and hilasterion. The word atonement is not found in most translations of the NT. (However, the NIV has “atone,” “sacrifice of atonement,” “place of atonement,” and “atoning sacrifice.” Also note that Romans 5:11 in the KJV has “atonement,” but it renders katallage and is properly translated “reconciliation,” as seen in all modern translations.) The concept of atonement pervades the fabric of NT thought.
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