Yom Kippur (fwd)

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Date:         Mon, 2 Oct 1995 11:38:35 EDT
From: Lon Mendelsohn <LDMCC@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject:      Yom Kippur

Wednesday is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  It is the Holiest
day of the Jewish year, corresponding quite closely to Good Friday
on the Christian calendar.  Below is a description of some of the
events of the day and their significance from a Messianic
perspective.

Yom Kippur is a day of total fasting.  One consumes no food or
drink for the duration (about 26 hours from the opening service on
the night before to the blowing of the shofar (a trumpet made from
a ram's horn) at the close of the final service), and one does not
wash for the sake of comfort.  Additionally, it is customary to
wear nothing made of leather, e.g., canvas shoes are usually
substituted for leather.  Since the destruction of the Temple in 70
AD, the primary focus of the day has been on repentance and prayer,
focusing (as with Rosh haShanah) on God as King and Judge.
According to the rabbinical traditions, the Book of Life is opened
on Rosh haShanah and God's judgements are written down. Yom Kippur
is the last chance to change God's judgements before the book is
sealed at the close of the day.

The service for the day has, in addition to the standard Jewish
liturgy, the following sections inserted:

 - A memorial service for the departed.

 - The Avodah Service, or the Service of the High Priest.

 - The Martyrology

 - The Closing of the Gates (concluding service).

>From a Messianic perspective, the Day of Atonement is prophetic of
the substitutionary death of Jesus, as is described in detail in
Heb. 7-10.  Since the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., the
rabbinical tradition has sought a substitute for the sacrificial
system.  This is apparent in the current form of the Yom Kippur
service.  In the absence of the Temple, the rabbinical tradition
has substituted repentance, prayer, and righteousness for the blood
sacrifice as the means for obtaining pardon for sin, and has
substituted reading and studying the biblical passages describing
the sacrifice for the actual performance of the sacrifice.

The problem with this approach is that the Bible clearly states in
both the Tanakh (Old Testament) and the Brit Hadashah (New
Testament) that the shedding of blood is absolutely required in
order for atonement to be made:

     For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have
     given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for
     your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by
     reason of the life.
          -- Lev. 17:11

     Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with
     blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no
     forgiveness of sins.
          -- Heb. 9:22.

Thus, it is only in the sacrificial death of Jesus and the shedding
of His blood that one can find pardon for sin.

One could ask, therefore, why a Jewish believer (such as myself)
would observe Yom Kippur when there is no longer any need for
sacrifice.  Most of us observe Yom Kippur as a memorial of Jesus'
act as High Priest when He brought "...his own blood <into the holy
place>, thus securing an eternal redemption" - Heb. 9:12b).  It is
a time of repentance, both personal and on behalf of our people.
It is a time of prayer, especially that God would have mercy on our
fellow Jews as they draw near to Him in fasting, prayer, and
repentance; that He would bring them into right relationship with
Himself through the sacrifice Jesus the Messiah, our Great High
Priest.

               A Messianic Midrash for Yom Kippur

The Rabbis teach that of all the lands in the earth, the holiest is
Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel.  Within the land of Israel, the
holiest city is Jerusalem.  Within Jerusalem, the holiest place is
the Temple Mount.  Within the Temple Mount, the holiest place is
the Temple itself, and within the Temple the holiest place is the
Holy of Holies.  Further, they teach that of all the peoples of the
earth, the holiest are the people of Israel. Of the people of
Israel, the holiest tribe is the Levites, who serve in the Temple.
Of the Levites, the holiest family is the family of Aaron, the
Kohanim or priests, and of the priests, the holiest priest is the
Kohen Gadol, the High Priest.  Finally, they teach that of all the
times, the holiest are the festivals.  Of all the festivals, the
holiest are the Sabbaths.  Of all the Sabbaths, the holiest is Yom
Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the Sabbath of Sabbaths.  On this
holiest of days, the holiest person enters the holiest place with
the blood of the sacrifice and makes atonement for the people of
Israel.  Likewise, of all places, the holiest is the "greater and
more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not part of
creation)" (Heb.9:11).  The holiest person is Jesus, the Great High
Priest, who is "holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners,
exalted above the heavens" (Heb. 7:26).  The holiest time is that
Day on which Jesus hung suspended between heaven and earth, and
died, shedding His own precious blood for our sins.  And on that
holiest of days, Jesus, the holiest person, entered the holiest
place, and, with his own blood, made atonement for us all.

     Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter
     the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and
     living way which 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.
         -- Heb. 10:19-22.

Shalom,

Lon Mendelsohn

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