Yom Kippur
Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Leviticus 16:15 NASB
For the people – Soon Yom Kippur will begin. If you are curious about the Jewish orthodox preparations for this most important event, you can read the comments from Chabad here .
The critical element of this day of preparation is celebration! That’s right. Before the solemn day when we perform the ritual necessary to atone for sins, we feast. Why? Because God has provided a means of atonement. That is worth joyous celebration.
Imagine the world of the fourteenth century BCE. The gods were involved in every aspect of life. Human beings were subject to their every whim. Life was a great guessing game, trying to determine what to do and what not to do so that the gods would not take offense. Placating divine beings was a daily struggle, and more often than not, resulting in mistakes and catastrophes. Since the gods never quite said what they really wanted, and seemed to change their minds regularly, life was always in jeopardy.
Then Moses brought the word of YHVH. He was the God who revealed His true will, gave clear instructions and provided blessings for following them. At last human beings could know what was required and were assured that if they simply did what YHVH asked, He would honor their worship and not change His mind. This was (and is) a radical departure from everything else about the gods. This was freedom! So, let’s throw a party! Let’s eat, drink, sing and dance. Let’s rejoice in the fact that God told us what to do. Then, when we have celebrated His grace, we can enter into the acts of contrition, repentance and confession. Then we will know that He has forgiven us and we have a new lease on life. Yom Kippur is a day to look forward to, not a day to fear. It is the ultimate day of God’s care and concern. And we are reminded of His faithfulness every year!
We might ask, “Why don’t Christians celebrate such a wonderful day?” The answer seems to be connected not simply with a turn away from Jewish practices. The answer seems to also involve the idea that forgiveness was accomplished once and for all time on the cross (so there is no longer a need for some annual reminder of God’s goodness) and the idea that grace is uniquely a “New Testament” concept. This combination of anti-Judaism, cross-forgiveness and Lutheran grace keeps us from relishing a day when we are caught up in the festive emotion of God’s love for His people. It’s rather sad, don’t you think?
Topical Index: Yom Kippur, atonement, Leviticus 16:15, celebration
NOTE: Since tomorrow is the Day of Atonement, there will be no Today’s Word on the fast day.
I LOVE the correct pattern: know that I am already loved and that He is already faithful and forgiving, THEN, after I am convinced of all this – and only then – do I look at myself. You are so, sadly right, Skip: Christians, in their myopic self-absorption (it’s all about ME), have gotten the order out of order. But I think you forgot a group of self-starters in your list. While it is true that the easy, greasy grace crowd predominate today, there is still another hard-core contingent of self-focused people, and these are those who are attempting to work their way to heaven. They, too, put themselves first (which is idolatry in practice, too, in that unholy kingdom of Self). They, too, think it is now all about them, and that there is no room for God until AFTER they have done the essential movements necessary to close the gap (which is a natural corollary, I think, to the easy grace crowd, who also think it is all about them, but are believing that God has done all the work). But I think the belief system underlying the works crowd, which insists that God cannot forgive until they have toiled and sweated through THEIR definition of righteousness and repentance and gotten it right (all by themselves!), equally are missing the very good news that we cannot approach a God Who has not already approached us first. Now. Continually. Completely. Oh, no! That would take continual humility (it’s not about me) and continual gratitude (praise of Him, focus on Him).
I think of this narcissistic humanistic condition in its two flavors -both the works crowd as well as the grace crowd – as being the nuclear fallout of the successful attempt to split what should have never been split, which is the natural continuum of law and grace. All, all to avoid these cyclical feasts commanded by YHVH (specifically, of course, the Sabbath, which was their foremost aim, and which is the central gem) but which has also affected and corrupted the understanding of the rest of them too, including Yom Kippur. The whole sweater gets unraveled in the process of trying to avoid the truth.
Hi Laurita, I’m not so sure it’s been a successful split, ? But you’re correct. We walk a straight and narrow path, without grace we wouldn’t make it and with out Torah we wouldn’t know how, so we still wouldn’t succeed. Either way, it’s all about Him. I thank YHWH that He loves enough to bring us to these days, not just for correction and realignment, but because He cares enough about us that He wants us to see His face.
YHWH bless you and keep you…..
Hi Skip,
I’m confused about the above article in regards to Yom Kippur being a celebration. Further on down in the passage of chapter 16 in regard to Yom Kippur, at verses 29 through 31, it reads: “And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.” KJV The Hebrew word for affliction is ‘anah found in Strong’s H6031. No where in the definition does it state “celebration. From the first use of ‘anah in Genesis 15:13 through to Psalm 90:15 I cannot find where ‘anah is a term for celebration. I look forward to your insight on this topic. Thank you.
It’s not Yom Kippur that is the day of celebration, as you have correctly noted. It is the day before. Sorry if this was confusing.
We might ask, “Why don’t Christians celebrate such a wonderful day?”
Many of them are ignorant of the truth. Yes, some are simply stubborn, but, many are completely unaware, just as I was at one time.
This TW fills me with joy and gratitude as I reflect on the day God brought someone (Skip) into my life to point me in the right direction and help me understand how far off course I had gone.
Now, we who “know” have the greater responsibility to share with our Christian friends. I understand it’s often met with resistance, but prayer and patience are necessary.
I attend a Messianic Synagogue (Adat Hatikvah) in Deerfield, Il and have been thrilled to see more and more people coming from churches to fill our seats. God is moving.
I would agree in the sense we have a responsibility to share but I don’t think it’s by words. We have a responsibility to live out Torah and if they ask then we can reply. I have gone down the road of telling everyone about Torah and how they need to keep it etc. I can only speak for myself, but there wasn’t much success. Truthfully I found out about Torah because I had a desire to search for more answers, it was not due to someone trying to convert me to their thinking. In the process of sharing I have probably done more damage then good and by ‘probably’ I mean definitely.
Again this is all in my humble opinion, I would just share by actions. I reflect back on the journey I’ve been on and the amount of pain I have caused with the intention of doing something very good is embarrassing and humbling. Also I reflect back and see that God’s voice generally seemed to validate my opinion at the time of what my heart desired – it’s almost comical.
I hope you enjoy your fast, I will be sharing it with you – I was just giving you my opinion. Not a sermon just a thought.
You’re absolutely right Derek. I think many of us have made similar mistakes and offended people…I know I have. But, hopefully, we learn from those blunders and move forward with a more subtle approach. God can still use us as we muddle along. And, yes…living out Torah by our lifestyles is usually the best way to open doors and have future opportunities to share.
Thanks for your comment.
May your fast be meaningful.
That is a good conviction, Derek. Some folks coming back excitedly to Torah ways having received that inner revelation, went around bashing other believers with their new revelations, offending even their closest friends, yet continue in that manner. Sad!
Hope you had a good fast too. Shalom!
It is sad that most of the Christian world thinks the celebration is “just Jewish.” I think all of us should keep this day. One of the reasons I’m grateful for Skip’s work is that I am exposed to some of our true history I never received in the church or was smart enough to dig up on my own.
I too am reflecting on this past year I was hoping to be with family this week but Hurricane Mathew said otherwise. So asking for forgiveness from family members. I have started
this process but will have to hope for another opportune time. No party for me to celebrate this day but plenty of sunshine.
I was listening to someone speak about the Day of Atobement.
He said that in the Talmud and Mishnah that it is recorded by the Rabbis that the red cord that was placed a the the Temple waves year stopped turning white around CE 30. I find that highly fascinating.
Anyone else read or heard of this?
Sorry. The red cord that was my placed at the Temple on the Day of Atonement stopped turning red around C.E. 30
I was wondering if you addressed Hebrews 10:11 in your book Crossword Puzzles or if you have addressed it in TWs. I did a search but did not turn up anything. Also how about Hebrews 9 as well.
Ok. I need to add this. According to the speaker the cord not turning from red to white but staying red signifies the end of the sacrificial system. This according to rabbinic sources occurred around 30CE
Our ABBA is so wonderful! HE sets boundaries and rules for us to follow, though giving us a free will to decide. HE sets annual appointed times (by His grace) like Yom Kippur, to remind us of these rules and boundaries, to reflect if we had sought His pleasure to walk in obedience, in His ways, in choosing life or death, blessings or cursings.
If not, through turning back to His Torah ways and through seeking Him on this specified day, graciously extended to us, we will be restored!
What an amazing YHWH we kneel to, to submit to!