What does Yom Kippur (this day) mean to a follower of Messiah?

Posted on Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 10:19

 

Even if your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow (Isaiah 1:18).

Do followers of Jesus really understand this day? I think we have missed some really key components of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when we have inadvertently dismissed what the foundations of God’s Grace and foreshadowing’s of His Messiah are in the Old Testament. The Hebrew Festivals and Holy Days show such amazing glimpses into the Love of the Father and Sacrifice of The Son,   Today (yesterday from sundown to today at sundown) is Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). It is the most holy day on the Jewish calendar since Moses. The focus of today is the most important issue facing humanity- atonement and forgiveness for our sins.   In Temple times, Yom Kippur centered on the sacrifice of the two goats described in Leviticus 16. After the priest had confessed the sins of the nation over one goat -  the chatat (sin goat) - it was to be sacrificed for those sins. The second goat - the azazel (scapegoat) - was also to have the sins of the people confessed over it. But instead of being slain, this goat was set free into the wilderness.. By so doing, the people of Israel were to realize that their sins were taken away from them as they trusted in God's way of atonement. These were God’s instructions.   History also reveals a very extraordinary part of the Day of Atonement’s goat ceremony. The Talmud (Yoma 39b) tells us about a crimson red thread that was attached to the scapegoat and, each year, the thread would miraculously turn white. For the rabbis, this revealed the truth of Isaiah 1:18, that God had cleansed the people of their sin. Then it is recorded that astonishingly, around the year 30 C. E. about forty years before the destruction of the Second Temple, something changed. The thread stopped turning white! Do we in the church today even KNOW that time table and what happened?   The Messiah came at that time and fulfilled what those two goats had foreshadowed. The thread, no longer turning white, was a sign to the world and His People that God sent his Son to be the propitiation and atonement for our sins (Romans 3:23-25).   It is fascinating how ALL of Scripture points to our Messiah! All of the history of God’s People point to the Messiah.   In closing – This Chapter, also in Romans, really conveys what I believe is God’s Heart for how we approach the wholeness of Scripture, His Chosen People (through whom He sent our Messiah) and the History they exhibit through following His Appointed Times ( what some would call Jewish Holidays).  We are grafted into THAT root. How much more ‘RICH’ we are when we realize where we get our nourishment!   Sorry folks, but I am a ‘context’ kinda gal – so you’re gonna get the whole chapter…   New International Version    Romans 11 11:1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 11:2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah--how he appealed to God against Israel: 11:3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"? 11:4 And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 11:5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. 11:7 What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, 11:8 as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day." 11:9 And David says: "May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. 11:10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever." 11:11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 11:12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring! 11:13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry 11:14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 11:15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 11:16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches. 11:17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 11:18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 11:19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." 11:20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. 11:22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 11:23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 11:24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! 11:25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 11:26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 11:27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins." 11:28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 11:29 for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. 11:30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 11:31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. 11:32 For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

And again – in another translation…..

The Complete Jewish Bible

Romans 11

11:1 "In that case, I say, isn't it that God has repudiated his people?" Heaven forbid! For I myself am a son of Isra'el, from the seed of Avraham, u of the tribe of Binyamin.

11:2 God has not repudiated his people, v whom he chose in advance. Or don't you know what the Tanakh says about Eliyahu? He pleads with God against Isra'el,

11:3 "ADONAI, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I'm the only one left, and now they want to kill me too!"w

11:4 But what is God's answer to him? "I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not knelt down to Ba'al."

11:5 It's the same way in the present age: there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

11:6 (Now if it is by grace, it is accordingly not based on legalistic works; if it were otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.)

11:7 What follows is that Isra'el has not attained the goal for which she is striving. The ones chosen have obtained it, but the rest have been made stonelike,

11:8 just as the Tanakh says, "God has given them a spirit of dullness eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear, right down to the present day."

11:9 And David says, "Let their dining table become for them a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a punishment.

11:10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can't see, with their backs bent continually."

11:11 "In that case, I say, isn't it that they have stumbled with the result that they have permanently fallen away?" Heaven forbid! Quite the contrary, it is by means of their stumbling that the deliverance has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy. a

11:12 Moreover, if their stumbling is bringing riches to the world - that is, if Isra'el's being placed temporarily in a condition less favored than that of the Gentiles is bringing riches to the latter - how much greater riches will Isra'el in its fullness bring them!

11:13 However, to those of you who are Gentiles I say this: since I myself am an emissary sent to the Gentiles, I make known the importance of my work

11:14 in the hope that somehow I may provoke some of my own people to jealousy and save some of them!

11:15 For if their casting Yeshua aside means reconciliation for the world, what will their accepting him mean? It will be life from the dead!

11:16 Now if the hallah offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole loaf. And if the root is holy, so are the branches.

11:17  But if some of the branches were broken off, and you - a wild olive - were grafted in among them and have become equal sharers in the rich root of the olive tree,

11:18 then don't boast as if you were better than the branches! However, if you do boast, remember that you are not supporting the root, the root is supporting you.

11:19 So you will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."

11:20 True, but so what? They were broken off because of their lack of trust. However, you keep your place only because of your trust. So don't be arrogant; on the contrary, be terrified!

11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he certainly won't spare you!

11:22 So take a good look at God's kindness and his severity: on the one hand, severity toward those who fell off; but, on the other hand, God's kindness toward you - provided you maintain yourself in that kindness! Otherwise, you too will be cut off!

11:23 Moreover, the others, if they do not persist in their lack of trust, will be grafted in; because God is able to graft them back in.

11:24 For if you were cut out of what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree!

11:25 For, brothers, I want you to understand this truth which God formerly concealed but has now revealed, so that you won't imagine you know more than you actually do. It is that stoniness, to a degree, has come upon Isra'el, until the Gentile world enters in its fullness;

11:26 and that it is in this way that all Isra'el will be saved. As the Tanakh says, "Out of Tziyon will come the Redeemer; he will turn away ungodliness from Ya'akov

11:27 and this will be my covenant with them, . . . when I take away their sins."

11:28 With respect to the Good News they are hated for your sake. But with respect to being chosen they are loved for the Patriarchs' sake,

11:29 for God's free gifts and his calling are irrevocable.

11:30 Just as you yourselves were disobedient to God before but have received mercy now because of Isra'el's disobedience;

11:31 so also Isra'el has been disobedient now, so that by your showing them the same mercy that God has shown you, they too may now receive God's mercy.

11:32 For God has shut up all mankind together in disobedience, in order that he might show mercy to all!

This is interesting

Posted by safords on Friday, October 10, 2008 at 09:45 - Link

in light of the fact that we are living in the anti-typical day of antonement and Christ is in the most Holy place about to cleanse the sanctuary for once and for all. The whole great controversy scene between Christ and Satan is about over.. It's quite a solemn thought really when we seek to understand what the day of atonement really means.
Blessings,
Angela