Leviticus 23:27 "... on the tenth day of
this seventh month there shall be a Day of Atonement: it shall be an
holy convocation unto you; and you shall afflict your souls..."
The Torah teaches, in Leviticus, the high priest must go inside the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur to make atonement for the sins of the whole nation of Israel. According to the Torah, this is an everlasting statute. Since there is no temple at which to make the sacrifice, how can atonement be made? In traditional Judaism, prayers are said and forgiveness is sought and offerings of money are made to the local synagogue.
Messianic Judaism is different in that we believe our sin
debt has already been paid by Yeshua the Messiah. He is
the High Priest now and He has paid the sacrifice – His perfect, blameless
life, and His death and blood on the cross. We believe this Scripture:
Messiah Yeshua came as High Priest of the good things to
come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that
is, not of this creation. Not with the
blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy
Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:11-12)
In Messianic Judaism, we wear white clothing. We also dress the ark and the Torah in white These are to remind us that Adonai is holy, and He requires pure, holy lives. Adonai takes sin very seriously, and requires us to do the same.
As Messianic Jews, we
use this time of reflection to examine ourselves, and we repent of any sins in
our lives. Afterward, we acknowledge the
sacrifice of Yeshua for our sins and thank Him for that payment. We also ask forgiveness of others and attempt
to make amends in any unresolved conflicts.
We rejoice that Yeshua is the Anointed One
promised by G-d in Isaiah. We read in
Luke 4:18-21: “ Now when He went to Natzeret, where He had
been brought up, on Shabbat He went to the synagogue as usual. He stood
up to read, and He was given the scroll of the
prophet Yesha‘yahu. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was
written,
“The
Spirit of Adonai is upon me;
therefore He has anointed me to announce Good News to the poor; He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the imprisoned and renewed sight for the blind, to release those who have been crushed, to proclaim a year of the favor of Adonai.” (Isaiah 61:1-3)
After closing the scroll
and returning it to the shammash, he sat down; and the eyes of everyone
in the synagogue were fixed on him. He started to
speak to them: “Today, as you heard it read, this passage of the Tanakh
was fulfilled!” (Luke 4:18-21)
Yes, friends, Yeshua is the final, atonement
for sin – forever. No more blood of
goats and calves. His blood alone can
atone. Only His blood can pay the
price. I pray you will believe and
receive this truth and accept Him as the promised Messiah who takes away the sins of the world. (John 1:29)
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Scripture references are from The Complete Jewish Bible.
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Read more about Yom Kippur by clicking on the label on the left side of my blog.
Thank you for sharing how you celebrate Yom Kippur. I am far too ignorant!
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