The Fall Festivals, Part 2: Yom Kippur
Leviticus 23:1-2 1The LORD said to Moses, 2“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.
Leviticus 23:26-32 26The LORD said to Moses, 27“The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves and present a food offering to the LORD. 28Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. 29Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. 30I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. 31You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. 32It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”
On the heels of Yom Teruah comes Yom Kippur ten days later; usually between middle September to early October in our modern calendar. The period between the two are called the High Holy Days. The ancient Jews saw this time as the time of the heavenly trial begun at the sound of the Shofar on Yom Teruah. They also saw it in a very practical way as a summons by God to amend their lives in light of the judgment going on in Heaven. Those who successfully repented of the sins of the previous year received blessings and prosperity in the following year. Those who didn’t, didn’t.
This time was observed, and in many global communities continues to be observed, by a day-long fast and intensive prayer with the focus on repentance and atonement to be offered by the Messiah. According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into a book, the Book of Life, on Yom Teruah, and waits until Yom Kippur to "seal" the verdict. During the Days of Awe, a Jew tries to amend their behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God and against other human beings. The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt, and at the end of Yom Kippur, one hopes that they have been forgiven by God.
When in conversations with believers about Yom Kippur I occasionally hear the question, “Why should I observe the High Holy Days, especially Yom Kippur? Jesus is our full and complete Redeemer, I don’t need an outdated substitute.” My answer is yes that Jesus is indeed our full and complete Redeemer, that Yom Teruah is a foreshadow of the trumpet blast announcing His 2nd Coming, and that Yom Kippur is a foreshadow of the judgment over which Jesus will preside at the end of the age. And I also answer that the whole prospect of full and complete redemption of all of God’s children and of the world at the end of the age is so overwhelmingly wonderful that I want to be sure to be ready for it. I especially believe that for those of us on this side of the Cross the Fall Festivals function as an opportunity to engage in a dress rehearsal for the end of the age,
We human beings are fragile and frail and we have struggles dealing with the stresses and challenges of life. When we encounter difficult times we may have the tendency to withdraw and isolate. Those are dangerous times during which we may find ourselves sinning and assuming God will forgive us for it. It seems to me that believers occasionally are cavalier about God and take Him for granted.
This is no surprise to God who knows His kids intimately and I am grateful that he has provided the High Holy Days as an opportunity to empty our hearts of the unforgiveness, judgments and criticisms that separate us from Him. We should take advantage of that opportunity.
Romans 3:10 “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
Romans 3:23 …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,…
Matthew 6:14-15 14For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
These verses point out that none of us has the ability to do the most basic part of loving God. We can’t come to Him without He having first drawn us. We do not have the ability to live the holy and righteous life without He empowering us. But we do have personal choice. And the Matthew verse points out we will be responsible for the judgments and criticisms we hold on to. But we often do not have the ability to release others of their offenses toward us without Him giving us the strength to do so.
When we consider God wants us to live holy and righteous lives so the world will know about God’s love, but that it is difficult to do that without His strength and love already given us, then it seems wise to draw as close as possible to God as frequently as possible. The feasts were God’s way of reminding His people, first not to forget the special covenant relationship they have with Him, but also that within these feasts there’s something special they were to remember. This is what all the Festivals are about: to remind us of the things Jesus as already done (Spring Festivals) or to get us ready for the things on the horizon (Fall Festivals).
Yom Kippur foreshadows a massive and complete cleansing of the entire world at the End of the Age. In the meantime it provides an opportunity for each believer to empty his soul of those things that stand in the way of a close relationship with Jesus. It is both a foreshadow of then and necessary for now. So we would be wrong if we were to say that Yom Kippur has no present value. Anything that draws us closer to God is good. Anything that helps us recognize our person frailties and at the same time provides an avenue to heal those frailties is good.