While exploring the book “Treasures of the Talmud,” I encountered a question from one of Israel’s great sages: “Rabbi Yohanan says, ‘Woe to the Gentiles! for they are losers and know not what they have lost! As long as the Temple was in existence, the altar made atonement for them; but now who atones for them?” (Sukkah, fol. 55B)[1]
The Talmud, written in the 4th and 5th centuries AD, records the words of Rabbi Yohanan, who lived in the third century, after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. Since Solomon’s time, Temple sacrifices had been offered for both Israel and the nations. Truly, the destruction of the Second Temple was a tragedy for all of humanity.
Before addressing Rabbi Yohanan’s poignant question, “But now, who atones for them?” it’s important to understand how Rabbinic Judaism dealt with the lack of an altar for sacrifices. They replaced the blood of bulls with the calves of their lips, meaning prayer, repentance, and acts of “loving kindness.” (Berakhot 26b) The Jewish writer of the Book of Hebrews agrees that these are necessary. (Hebrews 13:15) But he also argues that true atonement still requires the blood sprinkled upon the altar. (Hebrews 9:22) As it also says in a different Talmudic passage, “There is no atonement, except with blood.” (Yoma 5a)
To answer Rabbi Yohanan’s sincere question, I will turn to the writings of a different stream of Judaism, one that emerged in the shadow of the Temple while it stood and witnessed its destruction. They found hope in One greater than the altar and looked to a High Priest from a different Biblical order.
Who Will Atone for Them?
In Numbers 29:12-34, we see that during the Feast of Tabernacles, seventy bulls were sacrificed on the altar. Jewish tradition has long connected these to the table of seventy nations in Genesis chapter 10. Rabbi Yohanan mourned for the Gentiles who now had no one to intercede at the Temple’s altar on their behalf.
One Greater than the Temple
To be fair, the destruction of the Temple is an immeasurable tragedy. But God has not left Israel or the Gentiles without hope. In the Jewish Gospel of Matthew Chapter 12, we read of One greater than Jonah, who was raised from the depths of Sheol on the third day to preach to the nations. And we see One greater than Solomon, to whom the Gentiles came for wisdom. And most importantly, in that same chapter, there is One greater than the Temple itself. He ever lives to make intercession before God the Father, for all who call upon His name. Who is this One greater than the Temple? Yeshua, the King Messiah!
A Greater Altar from Which to Eat
“We have an altar from which those serving in the tabernacle have no right to eat.” (Hebrews 13:10 TLV)
Yeshua is greater than both the Temple and its Altar. Only the Priests were permitted the (minchah) bread. But in Messiah, there is a greater altar, and a High Priest who transcends Aaron from the tribe of Levi. As the Psalmist says, “Adonai has sworn, and will not change His mind: You are a Kohen forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Ps. 110:4 TLV) Melchizedek transcended even Abraham as the King of the Most-High among the nations.
Like Melchizedek, the ancient King and Priest who presented the covenant meal of bread and wine, Yeshua invites both Jews and Gentiles to feast at the atonement meal of the Messiah.
To Those Outside the Camp
“For the bodies of those animals—whose blood is brought into the Holies by the kohen gadol as an offering for sin—are burned outside the camp. Therefore, to make the people holy through His own blood, Yeshua also suffered outside the gate. So let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing His disgrace.” (Hebrews 13:11-13 TLV)
The Bulls and Goats of the Day of Atonement, sin offerings, and even the Red Heifer were all burned outside the camp. I take Rabbi Yohanan’s words of concern for the Gentiles at face value. They certainly describe a group “outside the camp” and “beyond the gates” of Israel.
However, I know for certain that Rabbi Yeshua of Nazareth was moved by the suffering of both Israel and the nations. He saw, in His spirit, the tragic day the Temple and its altar were defiled and cast down. I also mourn its loss, seeing the massive stones lying exactly where they fell nearly two thousand years ago. But I also recognize that Someone greater than the altar, the Temple, and even its sacrifices bore our shame, suffering for all people outside the gates.
Have you ever felt like an outsider? Perhaps you have noticed that sometimes a celebrity or politician will hold a special meeting with a select group of VIPs. But how refreshing it is to see one of those powerful individuals leave the closed doors of their inner circle to spend time with the overflow crowd, hoping simply to catch a glimpse of the person they so admire. Such moments often make the news.
The truth is that we are all outsiders and in need of salvation. If the writer of the Book of Hebrews could sit down with Rabbi Yohanan, he would tell him that even the Temple’s altar, filled with seventy bulls, was insufficient to cover our sin. These were always pointing us to a higher priesthood and a more perfect sacrifice.
A Final Thought
Who will atone now for Israel and the Gentiles? The Good News is that Heaven’s High Priest, Yeshua from Nazareth, left His abode at the right hand of the Most-High in Heaven’s Holy of Holies. Through its gates of splendor, He brought atonement. As a perfect High Priest, He did not need to offer a sacrifice for His own sin. Nor does He need to continually offer His blood. Once and for all, He has paid our debt.
Now, whether Jew or Gentile, Yeshua beckons both sinner and saint to eat at His table. If you have felt separated from God, I hope that you feel the outstretched hands of the Messiah calling you out of the shadows to come home to the Father today.
[1] Paul Isaac Hershon, Treasures of the Talmud: Being a Series of Classified Subjects in Alphabetical Order from A to L Compiled from the Babylonian Talmud, ed. H. D. M. Spence (London: J. Nisbet, 1882).