What exactly is atonement? Despite its centrality to Christianity, this question often receives oversimplified answers that miss the biblical text’s own logic.
In chapter 4 of The Cross in Context, I examine the Hebrew term kipper and related concepts to discover what atonement actually accomplishes according to Scripture itself. The results challenge common assumptions while also revealing a richer, more biblically grounded understanding of how God removes barriers between himself and his people.
Atonement as Seeking Divine Favor
The Hebrew verb kpr (often translated “atone”) doesn’t primarily mean “cover,” “wipe away,” or “punish,” as commonly assumed. Following James Greenberg’s careful analysis, I argue that kpr means “to repair or create a new protective connection” between the worshipper and the Lord. It reflects God’s acceptance of the priestly offering and fundamentally involves seeking divine favor.
This becomes clear when we examine how biblical writers use kpr alongside related terms. The Septuagint consistently translates kpr with exilaskomai, which simply means “entreat” or “seek favor.” When Jacob prepares to meet Esau, he hopes to “atone his face” (kpr) through gifts, meaning he seeks Esau’s favor and acceptance. The same dynamic applies to our relationship with God.
Malachi 1:9 provides a telling example: “And now implore the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us.” The prophet uses exilaskomai—if we followed conventional translation patterns, he’d be telling people to “atone” God’s face! Rather, this passage evokes the imagery of someone bowing before an authority, hoping that authority will “lift their face” in acceptance.
Atonement, therefore, involves entreating God’s favor. While this may include appeasing wrath in some contexts, seeking favor is the broader concept that encompasses various situations where barriers to relationship exist.
The Centrality of Burning, Not Bleeding
One often missed but significant observation challenges a widespread assumption about sacrifice: forgiveness and atonement consistently follow the burning of offerings, not the shedding of blood. The pattern appears repeatedly: after fat is burned on the altar, creating “a pleasing aroma to the Lord,” the text declares, “the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.”
This timing proves crucial. In Numbers 16, Aaron stops a deadly plague by burning incense— no blood involved, yet atonement is accomplished and God’s wrath appeased. The burning rite, which produces the pleasing aroma, serves as the climactic moment when God accepts the offering and grants atonement.
This doesn’t diminish blood’s importance but clarifies its role. Blood matters not primarily because of death but because of life—Leviticus 17:11 explicitly states that “the life of the flesh is in the blood.” Offering blood represents giving one’s entire life to God, which is why it must be burned to create the aroma that signals divine acceptance.
Atonement’s Transformative Power
Atonement accomplishes two types of transformation, depending on the initial state of its object:
- From unclean to clean: Atonement purifies those defiled by sin or ritual impurity
- From clean to holy: Atonement consecrates or sanctifies what is already clean
This explains why atonement is necessary even for the altar and priests during consecration ceremonies. They weren’t defiled or sinful; they were simply common rather than holy. Atonement transforms their status, setting them apart for sacred service.
Numbers 8 beautifully illustrates this process with the Levites. They need atonement not because of sin but because God has chosen to consecrate them for special service. The atonement ritual transforms them from common Israelites to holy servants of the sanctuary.
The Primary Objects of Atonement
Contrary to popular belief, the primary objects receiving atonement aren’t people but sacred objects and spaces— the Holy Place, the tent of meeting, and the altar. While atonement is certainly made on behalf of people, the priests make atonement for sacred objects and space.
This reveals atonement’s fundamental purpose: removing uncleanness that threatens to defile the sanctuary where God dwells among his people.
When impurity threatens God’s dwelling place, atonement cleanses the sacred space by removing the uncleanness belonging to people. This protects unclean people from God’s anger while maintaining the purity necessary for his continued presence among them.
Atonement Without Death
Perhaps most challenging to conventional thinking, I demonstrate that atonement doesn’t inherently require death or punishment. Multiple passages prove this point:
- Priests made atonement by eating the reconciliation offering, yet they weren’t executed as substitutes
- Fine flour could serve as a reconciliation offering for the poor, providing atonement without any death
- Incense alone brought atonement during the plague in Numbers 16
- Gold jewelry brought atonement in Numbers 31
- Moses sought atonement through prayer in Exodus 32
These examples prove that while death may sometimes accompany atonement, it’s not the essential mechanism. Atonement fundamentally removes barriers to a relationship with God, whether through cleansing, consecration, or honor-giving gifts.
Life in the Blood
My analysis of Leviticus 17:11 emphasizes that blood makes atonement precisely because it contains life, not because it represents punitive death. The passage’s logic focuses on life: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar; for, as life, it is the blood that makes atonement.”
This connects to my earlier discussion of devoted gifts. A devoted thing belongs exclusively to God and cannot be redeemed for ordinary use. If the devoted thing is alive, it must die— not as punishment but as the means of giving its entire life to God. The shedding of blood represents the complete offering of life to the divine King.
The prohibition against eating blood stems from this same logic. Blood is reserved exclusively for God because it represents life given to him. Like the fat that must be burned rather than eaten, blood belongs to God alone as part of the symbolic meal that creates fellowship between the divine King and his people.
Cleansing the Levites: A Case Study
Numbers 8 provides a comprehensive example of how these concepts work together. God consecrates Israel’s firstborn, making them his possession. The Levites serve as substitutes for the firstborn, requiring their own consecration through atonement. Reconciliation and burnt offerings bind the Levites to God, transforming them from common Israelites to holy servants.
This process protects both the firstborn (through substitution) and the community (by providing properly consecrated mediators who can approach God safely). The entire system demonstrates how atonement creates the proper connections necessary for God to dwell among his people without destroying them.
Implications for Understanding Christ
These insights prove essential for understanding Christ’s atoning work. Jesus serves as the ultimate devoted substitute— one who gives his entire life to God and therefore can redeem those who belong to God. His perfect offering creates the ultimate “pleasing aroma” that enables us to draw near to God with confidence.
Rather than focusing primarily on punishment and wrath, this framework emphasizes atonement’s positive purpose: removing every barrier that prevents intimate fellowship between God and his people. Christ doesn’t merely satisfy legal requirements but accomplishes the cosmic goal of enabling redeemed humanity to dwell with God in sacred space.
Understanding atonement as seeking divine favor through offerings that create protective connections reveals the relational heart of this doctrine. God desires fellowship with his people and has provided the means for that fellowship to be maintained despite the reality of human sin and cosmic defilement.
In Christ, we find the perfect fulfillment of every sacrificial type— the devoted offering whose life creates the ultimate bond between heaven and earth.
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