Yom Kippur Service - September 13-14
“It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves." Leviticus 23:32
Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement, is THE Highest Holy Day of the year. Prophetically, it is the Day of Judgment.
We are called to humble and afflict ourselves through prayer and fasting as we mourn those that do not know Messiah,
those that have been scattered throughout the world and those that are not in covenant. If this were to be the year of the Messiah,
it would be a bitter-sweet day, as although we would have made it in the resurrection of the just,
there would be many that we love that would not.
This is a commanded holy gathering, and there is great power in coming together in repentance.
Friday, Sept. 13 - 7:00pm CST
Join the rest of your Mishpacha tomorrow, September 13th at 7:00pm for a special service
and an evening of prayer. If you are not able to join us in person, we will be streaming LIVE
at 7:00pm CST. A cooperate fast will begin Friday night and end at sunset on Saturday.
Saturday, Sept. 14 - 5:00pm CST
We will start at our normal time on Saturday with worship and a message from Pastor Jim
as this solemn feast draws to a close.
http://www.passionfortruth.com/location.aspx?parentnavigationid=18844
http://www.passionfortruth.com/
Shabbat Shalom -Yom Kippur begins sunset 9/13/13 !!!
Today is Erev Yom Kippur, the eve of the Day of
Atonement, which is, Biblically speaking, the
holiest day of the year.
Blowing the shofar
By mid-afternoon, all the businesses and shops will be
closed, not even one gas station will be open.
By nightfall, there will not be a car on the street.
All that will be playing on the television
tonight will be a still photo of a shofar calling the
people of Israel to fast and pray. Even Jewish
radio stations will be shut down.
If Christians unfamiliar
with Yom Kippur were here in Israel for the first
time, they might think that the Rapture had
taken place and that they were left behind.
The streets of Tel Aviv, the city that never sleeps, are deserted on Yom
Kippur. Throughout Israel the streets are empty of cars.
Tonight as the
sun sets, the Jewish People here in Israel and all
around the world will attend their local synagogue.
With its themes of atonement and repentance,
the tenth of Tishri is so significant that it’s
observed by many secular Jews who don’t observe other
Jewish holidays.
“It shall be a
statute to you forever: in the seventh
month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall
afflict your souls, and shall do no kind of work, the
native-born, or the stranger who lives as a foreigner
among you.” (Leviticus
16:29)
The month of Tishri is the seventh month on the
Jewish calendar—the month we add another number to the
year (we are now in the year 5774) and the month we make
atonement for sin.
Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur,
by Maurycy Gottlieb, 1878.
Yom Kippur (Day
of Atonement)
Leviticus 16:1–34; Isaiah 57:14–58:14
Yom
Kippur is a solemn fast day.
Because of that, all kinds of preparations are
underway during the day in order to keep Yom Kippur
properly, including two festive meals today.
On Yom Kippur, for nearly 26 hours, we
“afflict our souls” in the following five ways:
- We don’t eat or drink;
- We don’t wash;
- We don’t use lotions or perfumes;
- We don’t wear leather footwear; and
- We abstain from marital relations.
Despite this afflicting of ourselves, the observance
of Yom Kippur is characterized by a sense of peace
because of our
confidence in our relationship with God and His
provision for atonement.
The beautiful Hebrew calligraphy of Kol Nidre in the Machzor
Worms, which is one of the oldest ritual festival prayer books
in existence. It was used by the Jewish community of Worms,
Germany from 1272 until the synagogue’s destruction on
Kristallnacht, November 1938.
Before the sun sets tonight, the Jewish
People will gather in their synagogues to hear the
cantor chant Kol Nidre
(All Vows) and recite penitential
prayers from a special prayer book called the Machzor.
Tomorrow morning, we will return to our synagogues
for the Shabbat service.
During the afternoon service, the entire Book
of Jonah will be read.
This service concludes shortly before sunset with
the Ne’ila (Closing
of the Gates) prayer, which is the last moment for
repenting before God seals His judgments in His
Book.
Yom Kippur will end at nightfall tomorrow with the
blowing of the shofar, and we will return home to enjoy
a festive meal. Tomorrow night, many of us will also
begin building our Sukkah for the holiday of Sukkot,
which begins next Wednesday night.
Orthodox Jewish man praying Selichot, Jewish penitential prayers
and poems, in preparation for Yom Kippur, at the Western
(Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem.
Making
Atonement During Temple Times
“Tell your brother
Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into
the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the
atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die.” (Leviticus
16:2)
Yom Kippur was the one day in the year that
the Cohen HaGadol (High Priest)
could enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for
the nation of Israel.
In order to minister before the Lord on this holy
day, the priest first bathed in water (immersed himself
in the mikvah) and then put on a special linen tunic.
In the Holy of
Holies, the high priest was not to
wear his usual golden garments, designed for splendor
and beauty; instead, he was to wear simple, white linen clothing
that represented purity and humility, which befits this most sacred of all
days.
Many Jewish men wear a kittel, a white robe-like
garment, for evening prayers on Yom Kippur. It is also
worn on their wedding day.
Wearing White
on Yom Kippur
Tonight and tomorrow, many religiously observant Jewish
men dress in simple, white linen when attending Yom
Kippur services. They also wear rubber soled
sneakers instead of leather shoes, in remembrance of Yom
Kippur’s animal sacrifice.
And women will wear elegant dresses while wearing
canvas running shoes.
The rabbis give another reason for wearing white on
this holy day. Israel comes before God, not in drab
clothing like a penitent sinner, but arrayed in white as if going to
a feast, confident that they will be pardoned as they
come in sincere repentance.
In the Book of Revelation, we see a
connection to the tradition of wearing white and the
Book of Life:
“He who overcomes
shall be clothed in white garments, and I
will not blot out his name from the Book of Life,
but I will confess his name before My Father and
before His angels.” (Revelation 3:5)
Kapparot is a ritual some Jews perform before Yom Kippur, where a
chicken is waved over the head three times in order to symbolically
transfer one's sins to the chicken. The chicken is then slaughtered
and donated to the poor.
Since the Holy Temple is no longer standing and no
sacrifices for sin can be offered, those who know Yeshua
(Jesus) can trust in the sacrifice that He made for our
atonement.
However, about 99% of the Jewish people
today do not believe that Yeshua is the Messiah.
With no Temple in Jerusalem for the past 2000 years,
they have replaced the animal blood sacrifice with prayer (tefilah),
repentance (teshuvah), and charity
or good
deeds (tzedakah).
Perhaps we have to give credit to the Ultra-Orthodox
Jews who perform a ceremony called kapparot where one's
sin is placed upon a sacrificial chicken before it gets
slaughtered. In this ritual, at least the need for a
blood sacrifice is still acknowledged, even though a
chicken is not the animal prescribed in the Torah for
sacrifice.
And as we are now in the End Times, maybe this
sacrifice will make it easier for these Ultra-Orthodox
Jews to recognize the atoning sacrifice Yeshua
accomplished on our behalf as the Messiah.
The Nubian ibex is a desert-dwelling goat species found in Israel.
The Azazel
"But the goat chosen
by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive
before the Lord to be used for making atonement by
sending it into the desert as a scapegoat." (Leviticus
16:10)
On Yom Kippur, the High Priests cast lots
for two goats.
One was offered as the sacrifice, but the other goat
was chosen as the Azazel (the scapegoat).
Azazel is
a very special Hebrew noun meaning dismissal or entire removal.
The entire removal
of the sin and guilt of Israel is symbolized by the
High Priest laying both his hands on the head of
this live goat, confessing over it
all the transgressions of the children of Israel.
The goat would then be released into the wilderness,
thus physically carrying the burden of Israel’s sin into
the wilderness.
The Golden Gate, which is called Sha'ar Harachamim (Gate of Mercy)
in Hebrew, is located on the eastern side of the Temple Mount. It's
thought that the Azazel was led through this gate to the wilderness.
It's also thought that Messiah will come through this gate. Suleiman
wanted to prevent this and had the gate sealed in 1541. A Muslim
cemetery was placed in front of it to defile the area.
The Azazel and
Messiah Yeshua
“He is to lay
both hands on the head of the live goat and
confess over it all the wickedness and
rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put
them on the goat’s head. He shall send the
goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone
appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself
all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall
release it in the wilderness.” (Leviticus 16:21–22)
There are striking similarities between Leviticus
16:21–22 and Isaiah 53:
"And the Lord
has laid on Him the iniquity of us all… For
He shall bear their iniquities." (Isaiah 53:6,
11)
Rabbis of ancient times viewed Isaiah 53 as a Messianic
prophecy. Most agreed that it speaks of the
Messiah of Israel.
This Messianic
prophecy has been effectively hidden from most
Jewish people, even those who
faithfully attend synagogue services, by omitting the
entire chapter from the proscribed selection of Sabbath
readings.
Why? Because these verses so perfectly describe the
atonement Yeshua made for us through the sacrifice of
His own life as the Suffering
Servant.
This is why we so desperately need to make
the Messianic Prophecy Bible available to the Jewish
People!
The current rabbinical interpretation of Isaiah
53 proposes that this passage does not speak of the
Messiah but of the nation of Israel.
This interpretation seems to have gained serious
adherents only in the 13th century.
It is, in truth, a
complete lie that is promoted throughout
the Jewish community to blind Jewish people from
seeing that Isaiah 53 perfectly describes Yeshua who
suffered for our sins.
Not all rabbis have agreed with this willfully wrong
interpretation. In a strongly worded 14th century
commentary, Rabbi Moshe Kohen ibn Crispin responded to
this theory:
“[In contrast to those]
having inclined after the stubbornness of their own
hearts and their own opinion, I am pleased to interpret
the parasha [Isaiah 53] in accordance with the teachings
of our rabbis, of the King Messiah… and adhere to the
literal sense. Thus I shall be free from forced
and far-fetched interpretations of which others are
guilty.”
Moses Alshech, a 16th century rabbi, preacher, and
Bible commentator, ignores the possibility that Isaiah
53 refers to the nation of Israel.
He said, “Our
rabbis with one voice accept and affirm the opinion
that the prophet [Isaiah] is here [chapter 53]
speaking of the Messiah.”
This Siddur (Jewish Prayer Book) is resting on a table at the Western
Wall adorned with a velvet tablecloth that is embroidered with an image of
the Second Temple. The fringed garment is a folded tallit (prayer shawl).
Numerous Rabbinic commentators do, in fact,
take for granted that Isaiah 52:13–53:12 refers
to the Messiah.
The following quotes are gleaned from traditional
rabbinic sources, such as the Talmud (oral law):
“He, Messiah, shall intercede for man’s
sins, and the rebellious, for his sake, shall be
forgiven.” (Jerusalem
Targum on Isaiah 53:12)
“And when Israel is sinful, the Messiah seeks
for mercy upon them as it is written, ‘By his stripes
we were healed,’ and ‘he carried the sin of many and
made intercession for the transgressors.’” (Genesis Rabbah on Isaiah
53:5, 12).
In a limited sense, however, the claims that Israel
has suffered as an azazel or "scapegoat" for the nations
is true. Yet,
Israel is not able to justify and bear the
iniquities of its own people (Isaiah
53:11). The Messiah did that when the Lord
crushed Him and made Him an offering for sin (v.
10).
On the execution stake, "His appearance was disfigured
beyond that of any human being and His form marred
beyond human likeness." (Isaiah 52:14)
And although the Jewish People have not seen that
Yeshua fulfilled the many prophecies of Isaiah and other
prophets, this blindness is only temporary, and
will soon come to an end:
"For I do not desire, brethren,
that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you
should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness
in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of
the Gentiles has come in… and so all Israel
shall be saved." (Romans 11:25–26)
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak comforts a bereaved mother at
a memorial service for soldiers who died in the Yom Kippur War, when
Israel's Arab neighbors invaded Israel on the holiest day of the Jewish
calendar, in 1973, while the nation was fasting and in prayer.
A Lasting
Atonement
"And the Lord has laid
on Him the iniquity
[avon] of us all." (Isaiah 53:6)
In Hebrew, the word iniquity is avon.
This word differs from the Hebrew word for sin which
means to fall
short and miss the mark as this word is rooted
in the Hebrew verb avah meaning to twist and to
distort.
It signifies an inner crookedness or spiritual state of being bent—in other
words perversity,
as well as a willful
departure from the law (Torah) of God.
Ordinarily, while the sacrifices were
limited to atoning for involuntary or
unintentional sins, this special sacrifice on Yom
Kippur atoned for willful sin.
The blood of bulls and goats can never fully remove
sin and iniquity; it can only cover it for a time.
Jewish men at the Wailing Wall praying for forgiveness.
A perfect, absolutely sinless sacrifice
was required to pay the price for our rebellion and
uncleanness. Only Yeshua the Messiah could fulfill this
role.
As the Divine Messiah, His body and blood are the Kapparah (atonement)
and Korban (sacrificial
offering) for our sins.
And when He
rose on the third day, He revealed the absolute
holiness of His life and the effectiveness of His
sacrifice on the execution stake for all mankind.
Rabbinic tradition states that on Yom Kippur the
Cohen (Jewish priest) would tie a scarlet cloth to the
horn of the Azazel and that when the
sacrifice was fully accepted, the scarlet cloth became
white.
This wonderfully symbolized God's gracious promise
in Isaiah 1:18: “Though
your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as
snow.”
Rabbi with two Torah scrolls in the Aron Kodesh
(Torah Ark) in the background.
Assurance of
Atonement for Sin
“Sins overwhelmed me,
but You atoned for our transgressions.” (Psalm
65:3)
The rabbis recognized that every man is in need of
atonement for his sins, for it is written, “There is not a righteous man
on earth who does what is right and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes
7:20)
A Talmudic story is recorded in which Yohanan ben
Zakkai's disciples gather around his deathbed and find
him weeping.
They ask, “Rabbi,
you are the light of Israel, the pillar on which we
lean, the hammer that crushes all heresy. Why
should you weep?”
In answer, the rabbi confesses that he is
afraid to die because he is not sure whether he will
end up in heaven or hell.
Although God has provided atonement for all of our
sins through the blood of the Messiah Yeshua, many
Jewish people today are completely unaware of God's Plan
of Salvation through the Jewish Messiah.
A Jewish man prays at the Western
(Wailing) Wall, which is at the base of the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where the
Holy Temple once stood and the High
Priest offered the atoning sacrifice on
Yom Kippur.
During this Holiest Day in Judaism the Jewish People
are prayerfully thinking about repentance, forgiveness
and atonement.
Could there be a better time to contemplate the
problem of iniquity and sin, or share how Yeshua (Jesus)
fulfilled the Messianic prophecies and became the
atoning sacrifice?
Today, please make a difference for
Eternity and help us reveal Yeshua as the
atonement (kapparah) for the Jew first, and also for the
non-Jew.
"I am not ashamed of the
Gospel, because it is the power of God for the
salvation of everyone who believes: first for the
Jew, then for the Gentile." (Romans 1:16)
All of us here at
Bibles For Israel
send heartfelt wishes to you for
a blessed Yom Kippur!
send heartfelt wishes to you for
a blessed Yom Kippur!
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