“Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.”

There is a beautiful story in the gospels where Jesus saves a woman caught in adultery from being stoned to death. In those days, stoning was a just and lawful punishment for this sin. Jesus defuses the situation with tact and style when He quietly reminds the woman’s accusers of their sinfulness before God. Then, Jesus turns His attention to the woman and graciously says to her, “Neither will I accuse you.” What is Jesus doing in these two interactions? He is covering her sins. Jesus does not condemn the woman for her sins; rather, He covers her with forgiveness and love. It is important to note that while He does not condemn her actions, He also does not condone her actions. After He releases her from her sin, He tells the woman to “go and sin no more.” In covering her with forgiveness, Jesus conceals her sin, not for the purpose of enabling, but rather for the purpose of correcting.

This idea of covering comes from the Hebrew teaching on Atonement. The English word atonement means: “to reconcile two separate parties by means of making reparations for a loss or injury.” The word focuses on the idea of unification through reconciliation by means of paying penalty for the offense. The goal is for two parties, who have been separated, to be at one with each other. However, the meaning of the English word atonement misses the mark of the Hebrew word, from which it is translated. The Hebrew word for atonement is Kippur (Kip-poor). Kippur means: “to cover over” or “to make hidden.” It concerns the action of covering over an error, as if it didn’t exist or as if to remove it completely.

Our traditional use of the word atonement primarily focuses on the offender by placing the responsibility to make things right on the shoulders of the offender. This turns atonement into a type of transaction. For example, if you stole a piece of candy from me, to make atonement, you would need to either replace the candy you stole or pay the offended the value the candy that was taken. Thus, the transaction completes the atonement process. What is missing in this transaction is a restoration of the relationship through the act of forgiveness.

What sets “kippur” apart from our traditional use of the word atonement is that “kippur” primarily concerns the actions of the offended, not the offender. This focus is opposite of the traditional focus of atonement, as it places the responsibility of atonement with the offended, rather than the offender. I am convinced that “to Kippur” is less about a transaction and more about a relationship, because “to Kippur” is to both cover over an offense and to reconcile. “To Kippur” is to not an act of requiring restitution; instead, it is the removal of the penalty.

In Leviticus 16:1-3, we find the first teaching in the bible on the word “kippur.” God offers instructions to Aaron, the high priest, on how he should enter the Holy of Holies. “Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died. The Lord said to Moses: ‘Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the atoning cover which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the atoning cover. Aaron shall enter the Holy Place with this: with a bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering…’” (NASB).

The NASB translates the word “kippur” as “atoning cover.” Other translations call it the mercy seat. In this scripture, the “atoning cover” refers to the lid on the Ark of the Covenant. The lid (the mercy seat or atoning cover) is regarded as a place of divine access to God, and of communion with God. It is the place where God’s righteous demands for sin could be satisfied. It is the symbol of God’s active presence with His people.

Leviticus 16 provides God’s instructions on how the high priest is to atone for Israel’s sins, thus satisfying the righteousness of God. There are several elements involved in the atonement process. One element involves the High Priest sprinkling of the blood of the bull on “the Kippur” (the mercy seat). God directs the Israelites to do this once a year, on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. 

Another element of Kippur found in Leviticus 16 is the idea of a scapegoat. The scapegoat is a visible representation of God’s complete removal of their sins, as represented by the confession of all their wrongdoings upon a substitution, an innocent scapegoat, which is then led away into the wilderness, never to be seen again – forgotten, as if it no longer existed – indicating there is no longer any condemnation.

This is exactly what God did in the death of His Son. God “kippur” our sin. He covered it over. He hid it under the blood of Christ. God did not require us to pay compensation for our offense.   

Jesus as the Atoning Cover: John 1:14 says, “So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son” (NLT). The Mercy Seat is the place where God dwells among His people.  In the person of Jesus, God now lives among His people, not just in spirit as in the Old Testament, but now in the flesh Himself.

Jesus as the Sin Offering: Romans 3:25 says, “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood—to be received by faith…” (NIV). The cross becomes the physical manifestation of the penalty of sin, as Jesus became the physical bull sacrificed to appease God’s demand for righteousness.

Jesus as the Scapegoat: 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (ESV). By becoming the scapegoat, God placed our sins upon Christ, never to be used against us again.

By these acts of covering that Jesus did for us, we are now able to have a right relationship with God. God did this because He knew we needed it. Scripture teaches us that we are helpless to correct our situation and wholly unable to hide sin from God.  We stand condemned by our sin. And sin, has turned us against God – we have become His enemies. As Colossians 1:21 reminds us, “you were once far away and alienated from God. You were His enemies, separated from Him by your evil thoughts and actions.”

Scripture teaches that God, in His kindness and love, sought to make reconciliation with His enemies. Rather than demanding the offender (us) to pay restitution, to satisfy the transaction of atonement, God (the offended) offered us a gift by becoming the transaction He required. He took our restitution price and paid it in full. The offended covered over the offense of the offender by paying the price the offender owned.

God’s reconciliation with us is a completed act that happened before any human action of confession, repentance, and restitution. Did you get that? The offended party offered reconciliation before we, the offenders, even thought to seek it. By this action of divine love, God covered over our sins, with the blood of Christ. Our response, as the offenders in this story, should be one of complete gratitude. And the way we show that gratitude is through our confession (acknowledging our need for Him and our alignment with sin); our repentance (turning away from sin); and acceptance (turning towards God’s gift of mercy). 

1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.” If we are to understand the idea of atonement correctly, we must flip the script as Jesus did. As Christians, we are not to demand restitution when we are offended and hurt. God already paid those restitutions, and they cannot be paid for again. Rather, like Christ, we are to offer ourselves as a covering to those who have offended us, by demonstrating our love and forgiveness towards the offender. This means we may have to ignore our feelings, which may be telling us to hold on to hate, to hold onto the pain, or to forgive later. This means we must let go of any idea of pay back or punishment. This means we will have to trust God to deal both justly and rightly with those who have hurt us. But we are not to, for any reason, seek restitution or demand it. We are to offer reconciliation before restitution is offered to us. And we are to offer reconciliation, even if restitution is never offered.

Why Kippur? We are to be agents of covering. Because by and through our covering, we are showing Christ’s love. We are canceling a transaction and entering into a relationship. Our covering is not for the purpose of enabling another’s sin to continue, but rather is a means to keep them protected, while God’s love is able to break through to bring correction. When we partner with God, by being agents of covering, we are investing in them a love from God, which can bring everlasting change.