Yom Kippur - starts sundown Sept. 13, 2013 (Jewish New Year 5774)

Yom Kippur - 2013 

(It's the Jewish Year 5774)

Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur, 

by Maurycy Gottlieb (1878)

(The following is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, followed by a piece from Feasts of The Lord website, with a Messianic understanding.) Steve Martin, Editor

    

Yom Kippur
Official name	Hebrew: יוֹם כִּפּוּר or יום הכיפורים
Observed by	Jews
Type	Jewish
Significance	Soul-searching and repentance
Date	10th day of Tishrei
2012 date	sunset, September 25 – nightfall, September 26
2013 date	sunset, September 13 – nightfall, September 14
Observances	Fasting, prayer, abstaining from physical pleasures, refraining from work

Yom Kippur (Hebrew: יוֹם כִּפּוּר‎‎, IPA: [ˈjom kiˈpuʁ], or יום הכיפורים), also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im ("Days of Awe").

Yom Kippur is the tenth day of the month of Tishrei. According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into a book, the Book of Life, on Rosh Hashanah, and waits until Yom Kippur to "seal" the verdict. During the Days of Awe, a Jew tries to amend his or her behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God (bein adam leMakom) and against other human beings (bein adam lechavero). The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt (Vidui). At the end of Yom Kippur, one considers oneself absolved by God.

The Yom Kippur prayer service includes several unique aspects. One is the actual number of prayer services. Unlike a regular day, which has three prayer services (Ma'ariv, the evening prayer; Shacharit, the morning prayer; and Mincha, the afternoon prayer), or a Shabbat or Yom Tov, which have four prayer services (Ma'ariv; Shacharit; Mussaf, the additional prayer; and Mincha), Yom Kippur has five prayer services (Ma'ariv; Shacharit; Musaf; Mincha; and Ne'ilah, the closing prayer). The prayer services also include private and public confessions of sins (Vidui) and a unique prayer dedicated to the special Yom Kippur avodah (service) of the Kohen Gadol in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

As one of the most culturally significant Jewish holidays, Yom Kippur is observed by many secular Jews who may not observe other holidays. Many secular Jews attend synagogue on Yom Kippur—for many secular Jews the High Holy Days are the only recurring times of the year in which they attend synagogue^[1]—causing synagogue attendance to soar.

(The following is from the website: http://feastsofthelord.com)

Messianic Understanding

G-d gave this ceremony of the casting of lots during Yom Kippur to teach us how He will judge the nations of the world prior to the Messianic age known as the Millennium. The nations of the world will be judged according to how they treated the Jewish people. Those nations who mistreated the Jews will be goat nations and they will go into the left hand. Those nations that stood beside the Jewish people will be sheep nations and will enter into the Messianic kingdom or the Millennium. Yeshua taught us about this in Matthew 25:31-46.

Yeshua during His first coming was a type of the goat marked La Adonai. Yeshua was a sin offering to us as G-d laid upon Him the sins of the whole world (Isaiah [Yeshayahu] 53:1-6; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Galatians 1:3-4; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John [Yochanan] 2:2; 4:10).

In the ceremony of the two goats, the two goats were considered as one offering. A crimson sash was tied around the horns of the goat marked azazel. At the appropriate time, the goat was led to a steep cliff in the wilderness and shoved off the cliff. In connection with this ceremony, an interesting tradition arose that is mentioned in the Mishnah. A portion of the crimson sash was attached to the door of the temple (Beit HaMikdash) before the goat was sent into the wilderness. The sash would turn from red to white as the goat met its end, signaling to the people that G-d had accepted their sacrifices and their sins were forgiven. This was based upon Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 1:18. As stated earlier, the Mishnah tells us that 40 years before the destruction of the temple (Beit HaMikdash), the sash stopped turning white. This, of course, was when Yeshua was slain on.


Yeshua is the High Priest (Cohen HaGadol) of G-d (Hebrews 3:1). In John (Yochanan) 20:17, Yeshua said, "Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father...." These were the same words that the priest spoke before he ascended the altar. Yeshua can be seen as Priest by looking at some other Scriptures. In Numbers (Bamidbar) 19:11, if you touched a dead body, you were unclean for seven days. After being unclean, purification took place on the eighth day. This is the meaning behind what happened in John (Yochanan) 20:24-27.

Rather than wearing his usual robe and colorful garments (described in Exodus [Shemot] 28 and Leviticus [Vayikra] 8:1-8), Aaron was commanded to wear special garments of linen (Leviticus [Vayikra] 16:4). Yeshua was seen wearing the same thing in Revelation 1:13-15. Daniel also saw this and described it in Daniel 10:5-6.

By slaying the animals at the altar and applying their blood to the altar, the garments of the high priest became very bloody and G-d instructed them to be washed (Leviticus [Vayikra] 6:27). However, on Yom Kippur G-d declared in Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 1:18, as it is written, "...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow...." Spiritually speaking, a white garment represents purity and the absence of sin (Revelation 7:9,13-14; 19:8).

In Numbers (Bamidbar) 15:37-41, fringes (tzi-tzit) were put on the hem of the garments to remind the people of the Torah or G-d's Word. Consider the woman with the issue of blood (she was unclean) coming to Yeshua (the High Priest of G-d) to touch the hem of His garment and be healed (Matthew [Mattityahu] 9:20-22). The children of Israel were instructed by G-d to wear the garments Yeshua had on in Matthew 9:20-22. These garments were instructed by G-d in the Torah to be worn as just stated in Numbers (Bamidbar) 15:37-41. When the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem (tzi-tzit) of Yeshua's garment in Matthew 9:20-22, it was a picture given to us by G-d to communicate to us that she believed Yeshua's word by faith (emunah) and was made well because of her faith.

Yeshua's Second Coming and Yom Kippur

If you examine the Scriptures concerning the second coming of Yeshua back to earth, when He will set His foot upon the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4), you will find that it uses Yom Kippur terminology. Here are a few examples.

The first example is in Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 52:13-15. First, let us examine Isaiah 52:13-14 so we can identify that this is referring to Yeshua the Messiah. Then, we will look at Isaiah 52:15.

In Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 52:13-14 it is written:

Behold, My servant shall deal prudently [the servant refers to the Messiah], He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. [The New Covenant (Brit Hadashah) references to this include Acts 2:32-35; 5:30-31; and Philippians 2:9-11.] As many were astonied at thee; His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men (Isaiah [Yeshayahu] 52:13-14).

This description of Yeshua, the suffering Messiah, is drastically different than how Yeshua is portrayed in Hollywood.

This description depicts a lamb going to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7). Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 52:14 depicts a man so marred that He did not resemble a man. Furthermore, Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 50:6 says that His beard was ripped out. Psalm (Tehillim) 22:14,17 says His bones were out of joint and that He was naked before the peering eyes of men. They even bit him (Psalm 22:13).

The Romans used a whip with nine strands, and each strand had bone, glass, and sharp metal in it. The purpose of the whip was to strip away the flesh so the organs would hang out of the body. Psalm 22:16 says they also pierced His hands and feet. Psalm 22:18 says they gambled for His garments. Recognizing that Isaiah 52:13-14 is speaking about Yeshua during His first coming to earth, Isaiah 52:15 will speak about His second coming.

In Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 52:15 it is written:

"So shall He sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at Him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider."

The phrase, "So shall He sprinkle many nations" is a reference to the sprinkling of the blood on the mercy seat of G-d by the high priest during Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16:14). This is also referred to in Leviticus 1:5,11; 3:2,8,13; 4:6,17; 7:2.

The garments of the high priest were covered with blood after he had performed this task (Leviticus 6:27). After this, G-d accepted the sacrifice, and as the high priest hung out his garments, a miracle took place. His garments turned from bloodstained red to white.

G-d was saying in this that He had forgiven their sins and this forgiveness was shown by the garment (symbolic of man's life), being sprinkled upon by blood (the blood of Yeshua), Yeshua forgiving man's sins, and thus his garment turning white. Isaiah the prophet wrote, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18).

Yeshua's garment went from being stained from His blood when He died upon the tree to being pure white today. White garments represent righteousness before G-d (Revelation 3:4-5; 7:9,13-14). Yeshua is described this way in Revelation 1:13-14. Yeshua is our High Priest (Hebrews 2:17; 3:1; 4:14; 9:11). Yeshua sprinkled His blood for us (1 Peter [Kefa] 1:2).

Moses (Moshe) led the children of Israel out of Egypt by keeping the Passover and sprinkling the blood as found in the Torah and referenced in Hebrews 11:24-28. In fact, G-d promised to sprinkle Israel when they returned to the land of Israel from the Diaspora. This can be seen in Ezekiel 36:24-27.

In Isaiah 52:15, when it says that Yeshua would sprinkle the nations, it refers to what the high priest did on Yom Kippur on the mercy seat of G-d so G-d would forgive the sins of the people. Yeshua came as a prophet in His first coming; now He is the High Priest and is coming back as a King. Isaiah 63:1-3 describes the second coming of Yeshua, and verse 3 talks about His garments being sprinkled with blood. Once again this describes Yeshua, the High Priest coming back to earth on Yom Kippur.

In Joel (Yoel) 2:15-16 it is written:

Blow the trumpet in Zion [the trumpet (shofar) spoken of here refers to the trumpet ushering in the Messianic Kingdom, the last trump that is blown on Rosh HaShanah] sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly [this speaks of the fast associated with Yom Kippur]: gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet (Joel [Yoel] 2:15-16).

Please refer back to the previous chapter on the wedding that takes place on Rosh HaShanah and the honeymoon. In this passage in Joel, we can see that the seven years of the tribulation, known as the birthpangs of the Messiah or Chevlai shel Mashiach, are over and the Messiah is coming back with His followers to go to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

In Joel 2:17 it is written:

Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar [once again, this speaks of an event that took place annually, the priest ministering in the Holy of Holies], and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? (Joel [Yoel] 2:17)

What is being communicated here by the phrase "spare Thy people"? For the answer we must turn to Zechariah 12 and 14:1-9. In these passages, we can see Yeshua coming back after the birthpangs of the Messiah (tribulation), and Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) about to be under siege. Yeshua saves Jerusalem (Yerushalayim). His feet are placed on the Mount of Olives. There is a great earthquake, and the Messianic Kingdom comes in full power. There is no nighttime anymore, and the L-rd will rule the whole earth. At this time, the gates of Heaven are closed. The last Yom Kippur ceremony is called neilah, the closing of the gates, and is the concluding ceremony to Yom Kippur. However, this is not the rehearsal (miqra), but the real thing. At this point, it is too late to make a decision to accept Yeshua the Messiah into your life.

Yeshua spoke of this same event in Matthew (Mattityahu) 24:27-31. In Matthew 24:31, the trumpet that is being blown is called by Yeshua the great trumpet. This is the trumpet that is blown on Yom Kippur known as the Shofar HaGadol. This trumpet will usher the return of Yeshua to rule as Messiah ben David during the Messianic age.

The themes of the fall feasts are numerous and are especially meaningful to the believer in Yeshua. The festivals and the entire Tanach (Old Testament) are fulfilled and speak about the Messiah (Psalm [Tehillim] 40:7; Luke 24:44-47). Understanding the fall festivals will enrich our lives and walk (halacha) as believers in the Messiah. The final fall festival, Sukkot, is no different. The festivals of the L-rd are fulfilled in Yeshua the Messiah while at the same time revealing tremendous insight on how to live for Yeshua on a daily basis. Baruch Ha Shem! Blessed be His Name!

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