I’ve been putting together a series of videos on the fall feasts as laid out in our Bible in Leviticus 23. If you haven’t seen the video on Rosh Hashanah you may want to check that video out first.
As described in that video, there are 7 mandated feasts, Yom Kippur is one of the feasts that occurs in the fall. So why is it called the Most Holy Day? As discussed in the last video, these three fall feasts have a mystery to them and many believe are a foreshadow of Jesus’ return as the first four festivals have already been fulfilled. These last three remain – Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot.
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for Your name’s sake!
Psalm 79:9
To Atone
As we learned in the last video, Rosh Hashanah is all about reflection and repentance and Yom Kippur is about atonement. Yom Kippur literally means ‘to atone’. Atonement is the act of correcting a wrong, making amends and reconciling with God and others. In more simple terms, it is saying sorry and asking for forgiveness. We will go deeper into atonement in a minute.
A Celebration
The evening before the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is known as Erev Yom Kippur. Erev means evening in Hebrew (Strongs 6153). On this night, there is a celebration meal with a variety of foods such as chicken, rice, potatoes, soup, dumplings and my favorite – challah bread.
Yom Kippur is known as the Sabbath of Sabbaths, or Shabbat Shabbaton and it is considered to be the most holy day, a Sabbath of solemn rest. Solemn means formal, dignified or deep sincerity.
And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments.
Leviticus 16:29-32
A Meal, then A Fast
A fast follows the celebration meal that kicks off Yom Kippur. Let’s pause for a minute and talk about fasting. Types of fasting can vary. Fasting is typically when a person eats little to no food, sometimes with or without water. Only healthy adults and sometimes, older children should participate. Fasting is a way to draw closer to God, a reminder of how much our heavenly Father provides for us on a daily basis and how much we depend on Him.
Yom Kippur, however, has some unique fasting rules:
No eating or drinking
No washing or bathing
No makeup, lotion or perfume
No leather shoes
Why not leather shoes? From the research, I saw it was mostly because they were considered a luxury (or fancy) and the goal is to be humble and in a state of affliction.
If we remember, Jesus fasted before He began His ministry, right after He was baptized by John.
The Spirit immediately drove Him out into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And He was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to Him.
Mark 1:12-13
Atonement
The Jewish people practice the 10 Days of Repentance, as a time to ‘afflict the soul’, right before Yom Kippur begins. During this time, many ask for forgiveness as discussed in the Rosh Hashanah video. But in order to truly understand Yom Kippur, it’s imperative to understand atonement.
For a deeper understanding of atonement, let’s go back too the beginning – remember Adam and Eve? Well, as you know, they messed up (Genesis 3). God told them NOT to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil or they would die. Satan lied to Eve and made her believe that what God said wasn’t true, so she ate from the tree. Then, Adam ate too! Because they messed up, they were kicked out of the beautiful garden and were separated from God.
God Made A Way
Not only were Adam and Eve separated from God but they risked death because of their sin. Since God LOVES us so much, He made a way for us to be close to Him again. Unfortunately, an innocent life had to take the place of our life. God allowed an animal sacrifice to be made (instead of a human). When an innocent animal took the place of the sins of Adam and Eve, God could once again draw near to them. The same ceremony was continued for generations, until Jesus came. The animal sacrifice acted as a temporary solution to restore ‘at-one-ment’ or atonement with God.
How precious are our animals? They became a sacrifice for us. I heard a quote one time about animals that said – blessed are those that have no words for they speak no evil. Animals quietly and innocently took our place. How blessed are we to have animals?
Purification
Atonement and purification kind of go hand in hand. Another ritual done during Yom Kippur is mikvah. A mikvah is a bath used for immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. In the Old Testament, in order to be close to God, the high priest would perform this ritual cleansing. Afterward, the priest would put on white garments as a symbol of being clean. This cleansing was required before the high priest could go into the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle. Through generations, this tradition has continued among the people. Before Yom Kippur, many men and women go through mikvah. This cleansing is a symbol of returning to purity and returning to God. It is customary to wear a white kittel after mikvah. The kittel is a special kind of white garment that is typically worn by a groom, but also at burial.
For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins.
Leviticus 16:30
Holy of Holies
What’s super interesting is that the arc of the covenant was placed in what is called the holiest place or the Holy of Holies. The high priest was only allowed to enter this extremely holy place ONE time per year. Yom Kippur is THE DAY. On Yom Kippur the high priest would perform a special ceremony that made the tabernacle and the people of Israel clean from sin. The special offering was a bull – for the priest and his household, and two goats – for Israel.
Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
Leviticus 16:6-7
The two goats were selected, and one goat was for the sacrifice but the other was the scapegoat (Leviticus 16). The high priest would lay both his hands upon the head of the scapegoat while confessing all the sins of the people. Sound familiar? This is where the term scapegoat came from. Jesus took all our sins upon himself, He is our scapegoat.
The Veil
When the high priest entered the tabernacle, the first area was called the Holy Place. The veil inside the tabernacle, and later the temple, divided the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place and was essential as it protected those in the Holy Place from DEATH. The glory of God is SO GREAT that special steps had to be taken to enter the Holy of Holies. This veil could be understood as a symbol of God’s holiness and protection.
And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy.
Exodus 26:31-33
Jesus Fulfills the Way
When Jesus came, He told His disciples that He was the way the truth and the life and that no one can come to the Father, except through Him (John 14:6). Jesus took the place of the yearly sacrifice and, in a sense, represented the veil between the people and God. Jesus is forgiving and intercedes for us.
This is one reason why I think it is so crucial to understand the fall festivals. It helps us understand the New Testament better. For example, before I knew these scriptures, I did not realize how profound the tearing of the veil was, when Jesus died on the cross.
And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
Mark 15:37-38
Jesus’ death tore the dividing veil. This is not a typical curtain. This veil was a finely woven, layered wall of fabric. It was 4” thick! The width of my palm. Can you imagine going to the temple and seeing this wall of fabric torn all the way from top to bottom? It’s a big deal. Jesus said –
No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6
The Bridge
Jesus is like a bridge, a go-between, the one who stands in the midst between us and the Father. The one who can reach through the heavenly veil to forgive, strengthen, protect and save us.
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 2:2
Propitiation means the act of gaining or regaining the favor or goodwill of someone or something.
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10:19-22
After knowing more about the most holy day, can you see why many believe it could be the season for the Lord’s return? The last festival is Sukkot. In that video I will do my best to tie these festivals together. I pray we use this season to reflect, repent and be in awe of what our Lord Jesus has done for us in relations to these festivals.
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