| 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!
http://feastsofthelord.com/ss/live/index.php?action=getpage&sid=204&pid=2192
.png)
