Yom
Kippur begins tomorrow evening. In the Yom Kippur
ritual the Jewish people were instructed in the
proper way to approach God. The Torah explicitly
sets forth the way of worshipping God on this
day. It is very different from what is going on
in synagogues anywhere in the world today. Yom
Kippur is really about the Temple, the priests
and the sacrifices - not about rabbis and synagogues.
Let's see how Yom Kippur must be observed from
the Torah itself, and what lessons we can learn
and apply to ourselves and our service to the
Lord:
First,
the High Priest's Preparations for ministry
16:1
Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death
of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached
the presence of the Lord and died.
This
refers to the incident described six chapters
earlier, when Nadav and Avihu, two of the sons
of Aaron the Cohen HaGadol, the High Priest, offered
strange fire, and fire came from the presence
of the Lord and incinerated them. The first lesson
we must learn is that we must approach God on
His terms - His way, not our terms, not our way,
not with strange fire, false religion and philosophy.
You don't dare approach God with your own ideas,
your own offerings, like the two sons of Aaron,
and who were killed for it. God must be approached
His way. God must be worshipped His way. Sin must
be atoned for His way.
We can
only approach God on His terms, not on our terms
that we make up and we insist on. Since the Temple
was destroyed in 70 AD the non-Messianic Jewish
community has approached God on their own terms.
They have rejected the Messiah that He has sent,
and substituted repentance, prayer, good deeds
and fasting for the God-ordained sacrifices and
rituals of this day. However, without an innocent
substitute, without the shedding of blood, without
the exchange of life principle, there can be no
atonement, no cleansing, no new life. Authentic
Judaism today, therefore, only is found in Messianic
Judaism.
Verse
2 reminds us that before Messiah Yeshua came,
access to God was severely limited. 16:2 The
Lord said to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron that
he shall not enter at any time into the holy place
inside the veil, before the kapporet - the ark
covering which is on the ark, or he will die;
for I will appear in the cloud over the ark covering.
Sin has
severed our relationship with the holy God. Sin
the Fall, we no longer have direct access to the
presence of God. No one except the High Priest
of Israel could enter the Most Holy Place, that
special room within the Temple, where the Shechinah,
the dwelling presence of God, was manifested on
earth. Even the High Priest of Israel, the only
man on earth, who could enter this special room,
could only do so once a year, and only on Yom
Kippur. If anyone else attempted to do so, he
would die. Out of the perhaps one hundred million
people on earth at that time, only one man, one
millionth percent of humanity, could directly
approach the actual presence of God. How sad.
Yes,
the high priest could enter into the Most Holy
Place, into the presence of God on earth, but
he could only come with great caution, with ceremonies
and sacrifices. Next came the High Priest's atonement
for himself.
The High Priest's
Ministry for himself and his family
16:3
Aaron shall enter the holy place with this:
with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a
burnt offering.
16:6
Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin
offering which is for himself, that he may make
atonement for himself and for his household.
16:11-14
Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin
offering which is for himself and make atonement
for himself and for his household, and he shall
slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is
for himself. He shall take a firepan full of coals
of fire from upon the altar before Adonai and
two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and
bring it inside the veil. He shall put the incense
on the fire before Adonai, that the cloud of incense
may cover the ark covering that is on the ark
of the testimony, otherwise he will die. Moreover,
he shall take some of the blood of the bull and
sprinkle it with his finger on the ark covering
on the east side; also in front of the ark covering
he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger
seven times.
The high
priest killed a bull for a sin offering for himself.
He took some of the blood, a fire pan full of
coals from the altar, two handfuls of incense,
and went through the veil into the Most Holy Place.
You see,
the High Priest of Israel was himself a sinner.
Before he could atone for the nation, he first
had to deal with his own sins. The high priest
needed atonement both for his life and for his
ministry. He needed sacrifices in order to approach
the presence of the holy God.
Because
of God's mercy, He allowed the high priest, a
mere man, to go within the veil, to come into
His presence, to atone for himself and for the
nation. But even there the High Priest put the
incense on the fire so that the ensuing cloud
of incense covered the ark, and the whole area
of the Most Holy Place. This had to be do so that
he would not die. Even the High Priest of Israel
was not to gaze directly at the presence of God
on earth.
In the
Most Holy Place the priest took some of the blood
in his finger and sprinkled the Ark Cover. The
blood of the bull was the symbol of the new, innocent
and pure life provided for the priest and his
household. This gave him new life to stand in
a right relationship to God, and provided atonement
for the priest's offenses against God.
The Torah
allowed priests to serve that were themselves
sinful and in need of atonement. They were required
to bring sacrifices for themselves. By contrast
the High Priest of the New Covenant, Messiah Yeshua,
did not need to atone for His sins because His
Person and Work were flawless. He did not have
to offer sacrifices for Himself before He could
serve us. Our High Priest was holy, pure and undefiled.
During His whole life He demonstrated perfect
love and obedience to God, and conformity with
His will. He was tempted in all ways like we are,
yet never once did He yield to sin. Though living
in a world of sin and temptation, He remained
undefiled.
The High
Priest had to be atoned for before he could serve
others. The same holds true for us. If we are
to serve God, we need atonement and dedication.
You really can't help others with their deepest
needs, unless you are right with God and walking
close to Him. We need to keep ourselves far from
sin if we are going to effective servants for
the Lord.
Let's
go back to verse 4. Verse 4 tells us that before
he could take care of his own needs for atonement,
the high priest first bathed in water, as an act
of physical and spiritual cleansing.
16:4
He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the
linen undergarments shall be next to his body,
and he shall be girded with the linen sash and
attired with the linen turban (these are holy
garments). Then he shall bathe his body in water
and put them on.
After
bathing, the high priest put on his garments:
the linen undergarments, the linen tunic, the
linen sash and turban. No ephod or breastplate
was worn on this occasion because the high priest
appeared as the head of the people in a simple
humble manner. Likewise, Messiah Yeshua, our high
priest, made atonement for us, not in the glorious
robes of His divine glory, but the linen garments
of humanity, clean indeed, but also ordinary and
humble.
Like
the High Priest that came from Aaron, and like
Messiah Yeshua, we need to be right with God before
we can really meet the deepest needs of others.
We must be washed by the waters of baptism, and
have atonement through faith and commitment to
the Messiah, be dedicated to Him, and walk humbly
before our God. Is that you?
Next,
we come to the High Priest's Ministry for the
Aydah - the Holy Congregation
Having
taken care of his own sin problem, the high priest
then went out, cast lots for one of the goats
for the sin offering, slaughtered it, took some
of its blood back into the Most Holy Place and
sprinkled it, as he had done with the blood of
the bull. Through this atonement the nation received
a new lease on life for one more year. Verse 5
says:
16:5-10
He shall take from the congregation of the
sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering
and one ram for a burnt offering.
(skip
verse 6) Then Aaron shall offer the bull
for the sin offering which is for himself, that
he may make atonement for himself and for his
household.
16:7
And he shall take the two goats and present
them before Adonai at the doorway of the Communion
Tent. Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats,
one lot for Adonai and the other lot for the Azazel
- the scapegoat. Then Aaron shall offer the goat
on which the lot for Adonai fell, and make it
a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot
for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive
before Adonai, to make atonement upon it, to send
it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
Let's
continue with verse 15:
16:15
Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin
offering which is for the people, and bring its
blood inside the veil and do with its blood as
he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle
it on the ark covering and in front of the ark
covering.
There
was one way in which God could cover man's sin
of breaking His laws so He could be merciful to
us. God did that when the High Priest sprinkled
the blood on the kaporet, the Ark Covering, once
a year. Until the blood of the Yom Kippur goat
was sprinkled on the Ark Covering, the Ark was
a place of judgement.
By covering
the ark with a lid that was sprinkled with blood,
God showed that He could cover the ark containing
the 10 commandments which all of us violated,
and grant us atonement. God could now sit on His
throne and show mercy, because His righteousness
and justice were completely satisfied. The sprinkled
blood made it possible for a holy God to dwell
among a sinful people. Now sinful man could meet
with God, because of the atonement of the sacrifice.
God could
say, "I am no longer offended because the
evidence of man's sin has been covered from My
eyes, and I see only the blood of an innocent
substitute who paid the required penalty of death.
What
was all this pointing to? The Ark Covering and
the blood that was sprinkled on it pointed us
to the Messiah. Because of what Yeshua did, because
of the blood that He shed, God is completely satisfied
with His work of atonement. The Lord is able to
forgive mankind, and is able to dwell in and among
His people. Messiah is where atonement is made,
where God dwells, where God and man meet. Have
you come to the blood sprinkled ark covering?
Not only
did Yeshua provide His blood, and become the final
sacrifice, but He is also our great High Priest.
The High Priest had to atone for the people within
the Most Holy Place all by himself. It was a one
man job. One man atoned for the sins of all Israel.
In the same way there is only one way to approach
God - through Messiah Yeshua our High Priest and
our Sacrifice. No other approach to God will work.
After
the atonement for the nation of Israel, the came
the High priest's service for the Temple. Even
the Bayt HaMik-dash, God's Holy Temple, needed
atonement, showing us the exceeding sinfulness
of sin.
16:16-19
He shall make atonement for the holy place,
because of the impurities of the sons of Israel
and because of their transgressions in regard
to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the
Communion Tent which abides with them in the midst
of their impurities. When he goes in to make atonement
in the holy place, no one shall be in the Communion
Tent until he comes out, that he may make atonement
for himself and for his household and for all
the assembly of Israel. Then he shall go out to
the altar that is before Adonai and make atonement
for it, and shall take some of the blood of the
bull and of the blood of the goat and put it on
the horns of the altar on all sides. With his
finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on
it seven times and cleanse it, and from the impurities
of the sons of Israel consecrate it.
Not only
did the High Priest himself, and his family, and
the nation of Israel, need atonement, but there
was also a need to cleanse the Temple, God's Holy
House, because of the impurities of the Chosen
People.
Having
finished his duties within the Temple, the high
priest then went out to make atonement for the
mizbeach - the bronze altar. Talking blood of
the bull and of the goat, the high priest put
it on the horns of the altar. The blood was sprinkled
seven more times on the altar so that it was completely
consecrated for another year of service.
Even
though this was where the sacrifices of Israel
were offered up, where the high priest and the
other priests continually served, since we were
an imperfect people, with an imperfect priesthood,
the altar itself had to be purified.
Israel
was chosen to be the nation that was closest to
the presence of God on earth. But every year on
Yom Kippur, the holy people, the chosen nation
were reminded that the holy Temple had to be cleansed
because of our impurities. The lesson is that
sin is exceedingly sinful, and that we are a sinful
nation, much in need of atonement. If we were
the chosen nation that was closest to God, what
does that tell us about the rest of the world,
and about the nature of mankind in general?
Isn't
it wonderful that our High Priest, Messiah Yeshua,
is now in the true Temple in Heaven, which can
never be defiled, where sin can never reach? From
that perfectly pure Temple He can save completely
(in a perfect, all-comprehensive manner) all who
come to God through Him.
From
that perfect and pure Temple in heaven, Messiah
continually applies the blessings of eternal redemption.
From that holy Temple, our High Prist is continually
presenting us to God, interceding for us, and
bestowing upon us all the blessings which He has
purchased for us with His precious blood.
The Scapegoat
16:20-22
Next the high priest took the live goat, and on
behalf of the entire nation of Israel he laid
his hands on the head of the goat and confessed
all the sins of Israel onto the goat.
When
he finishes atoning for the holy place and the
Communion Tent and the altar, he shall offer the
live goat. Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands
on the head of the live goat, and confess over
it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and
all their transgressions in regard to all their
sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the
goat and send it away into the wilderness by the
hand of a man who stands in readiness. The goat
shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a
solitary land; and he shall release the goat in
the wilderness.
When
the High Priest confessed the sins of the entire
nation onto the head of the Azazel, the scapegoat,
it enabled this innocent life to bear sins. The
goat took on the sins of the nation. It was led
out into the wilderness, pushed over a cliff,
never to return again. We didn't want our sins
coming back to haunt us!
The important
lesson God wanted His people to learn was that
after the sacrifice of the bull as the sin offering
for the high priest, and the goat of the sin offering
for the nation, the people could have full, complete
and total assurance that their sins had been taken
away from them. They would never be confronted
by these sins again. God wanted the Jewish people
to know that if they were faithful to God, and
offered righteous sacrifices, they could know
that they were atoned for, that they were right
with God, that they were forgiven, that they were
saved, that they would live.
The Yom
Kippur rituals were meant to impress upon the
entire nation the spiritual redemption that God
wanted for them. But God never intended that Israel
would go through the rituals as mere formality,
but that every individual would find in the experience
their own personal salvation. Each individual
had to personally repent and seek the face of
God.
In the
New Covenant, we also need a personal salvation
experience for each individual. God has given
us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
He who has the Son has the life; he who does not
have the Son does not have the life. These things
I have written to you who believe in the name
of the Son of God, that you may know that you
have eternal life. Is that you? Do you know
that you have eternal life because you have the
Son of God, and He has you?
Burnt Offering and
Dedication
16:23-25
the Yom Kippur ceremonies did not stop with atonement.
Once atonement had been made, the high priest,
the other priests and the people could then enter
into the blessedness of dedication to God.
Then
Aaron shall come into the Communion Tent and take
off the linen garments which he put on when he
went into the holy place, and shall leave them
there. He shall bathe his body with water in a
holy place and put on his clothes, and come forth
and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering
of the people and make atonement for himself and
for the people. Then he shall offer up in smoke
the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
The high
priest took off his humble linen clothes. Then
he would bathe in a special place, put back on
his entire high priestly clothing of beauty and
splendor, and sacrifice a ram for a burnt offering
of dedication for himself, and one for the entire
nation. Serving in his clothes of glory as the
official high priest after atonement had been
made, he could dedicate himself and the nation
to God for another year.
In a
similar way, after we are atoned for, we must
be dedicated to God's purposes. We must present
our bodies, our lives, our fortunes, as a living
a holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is our
spiritual service of worship.
The fat
of the sin offerings was burned on the altar.
But since the blood of these offerings had been
offered in the Most Holy Place, the remaining
portions of the bull and the goat were brought
outside the camp to a selected place and entirely
burned. None of it was eaten. Verse 26:
16:26-28
The one who released the goat as the scapegoat
shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with
water; then afterward he shall come into the camp.
But the bull of the sin offering and the goat
of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in
to make atonement in the holy place, shall be
taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their
hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire.
Then the one who burns them shall wash his clothes
and bathe his body with water, then afterward
he shall come into the camp.
Just
as the one who brought the scapegoat loaded with
the sins of Israel into the wilderness had to
wash his clothes and bathe with water, because
he had been in close proximity to the sins of
Israel, so also the one who burned the carcasses
of the sin offerings had to wash his clothes and
bathe before he was allowed back among the people.
Sin is so serious, so destructive, so deadly,
and so easily transmitted. So we need to always
be on alert not to get entangled with evil.
Other Yom Kippur
Instructions
16:29-31
This shall be a permanent statute for you:
in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the
month, you shall humble your souls and not do
any work, whether the native, or the alien who
sojourns among you; for it is on this day that
atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you;
you will be clean from all your sins before Adonai.
It is to be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you,
that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent
statute.
16:32-34
So the priest who is anointed and ordained
to serve as priest in his father's place shall
make atonement: he shall thus put on the linen
garments, the holy garments, and make atonement
for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement
for the Communion Tent and for the altar. He shall
also make atonement for the priests and for all
the people of the assembly. Now you shall have
this as a permanent statute, to make atonement
for the sons of Israel for all their sins once
every year. And just as Adonai had commanded Moses,
so he did.
It was
impressed upon Israel that this day was one of
the most important days of the year, occurring
in the seventh month, indicating that this month
was the most perfect time for atonement and final
redemption. The observance of this day is a permanent
statute for all Israel. Even the gentiles living
among the Jewish people were required to observe
this day. It is Shabbat Shabbaton, a Sabbath of
Sabbaths. It is the one day a year for intense
soul searching, to understand the awfulness of
sin, that sin leads to spiritual death. It is
a day for prayer, fasting and searching one's
soul, and knowing that God has provided His way
of atonement through Priest, Temple and Sacrifice.
It is
a day to remember how awful sin is, that the priests,
the sanctuary, and the chosen people of Israel,
were not perfect. Every year everyone in the nation,
even the Temple itself, was in need of atonement.
I'm sorry,
but Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Humanistic,
or Chasidic Judaism are all man-made religions
that approach God on their terms - not His terms.
They are offering strange fire at will not, that
can not, bring atonement.
May God
help us see that Yom Kippur in the Torah was meant
to be a temporary way of covering over the sins
of Israel until the final atonement provided by
the Messiah. He is the final and perfect Sacrifice.
He is our High Priest, who continually, eternally,
and perfectly, serves us and saves us from the
sinless heavenly Temple in which He dwells. Through
His incarnation, through all the experiences of
His life of sorrow and faith, through His death
upon the cross, through His resurrection and ascension,
Yeshua is our one and only High Priest, God and
Man in one Person, the perfect Mediator between
God and man. Is He your High Priest? Is He your
Sacrifice? Are you part of that glorious and eternal
Temple, the true Temple, that place where God
and man dwells together, that He is building?
hope so!
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