What is Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)

The Day of Atonement runs from sunset on the ninth day of the seventh month of Israel’s calendar (September–October) to sunset on the 10th day.

It is a time of total repentance, total forgiveness, total reconciliation, total faith. The ceremony described in the Bible (Leviticus 16) underscores the trust-based relationship between humanity and Heaven:  

• Trust that Heaven’s way is the best way to live and why it’s such a big deal for the world to stray from that path (sin).
• Trust that when we stray, we can return to the path (repentance) if we’re honest with ourselves and Heaven about it (humility).
• Trust that Heaven’s representative to heal the breach from the straying (the high priest) also has returned to the way before the ceremony, all of which is seen by no one outside the Tabernacle/Temple.
• Trust that Heaven will accept a perfect substitute (goat for the LORD) to cover over the stain on ourselves and the world from our straying and accept a perfect substitute (scapegoat) to remove our stain.
• Trust that when the stain is removed, Heaven “deletes” it from memory (forgiveness) and considers us guiltless (reconciliation).
• The patterns (primers) that Heaven provided through the Tabernacle and though the annual Day of Atonement reveal the awesome mystery that the Son of God lives out out the lessons of the high priest and the two goats.

Many Christians think that Yom Kippur is a Jewish festival that was abolished with the death and resurrection of the Christ. But here are four reasons why Christians should care about Yom Kippur:

1. Messiah Yeshua¹Hebrew: Christ Jesus said the words of God wouldn’t be abolished.
2. Yeshua rebuffed the Adversary with the trustworthiness of God’s words.
3. Yom Kippur is a memorial to the saving work of the Messiah.
4. Yom Kippur is a memorial of the new covenant.

Readings

• Leviticus 16
• Leviticus 23:26–32; Numbers 29:7–11
• Isaiah 57:14–58:14
• Jonah 1–4
• Hebrews 9–10

What does the name mean?

In Lev. 23:27, the name of the annual appointment with the LORD in Hebrew is יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים Yom haKippurim, literally, “day of coverings.” That emphasizes multiple “coverings” (Lev. 16:21):

• חַטָּאת chatta’t (Strong’s lexicon No. H2403b): sin (“missing the mark” or unintentional mistakes).
• פֶּשַׁע pesha’ (H6588): transgression (willful disobedience).
• עָווֹן ’awon (H5771): iniquity (rebellion against God).

Original meaning

After Aharon’s sons burned up when they offered “foreign fire” on the altar (Lev. 10:1–2; cp. Num 3:4; 26:61), God told Aharon not come at just any time into the Most Holy Place — inside the veil between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, where the Ark of the Testimony is (Lev. 16:1).

The meticulous eight-day dedication of the priesthood to serve in the newly completed Tabernacle (Leviticus 8–9) ended with fire coming out from the Lord and consuming the offerings (Lev. 9:24).

Aharon’s sons Nadab (name means “freewill offering”) and Abihu (“he is my father”) offered strange/foreign/alien fire with incense before the Lord, different from what God had instructed (Ex. 30:7–9). The issue could have been that Aharon was to be the one presenting incense or that the fire came from a source other than the altar, but the key issue was treating God with respect (Lev. 10:3). Another issue could have been that the sons were drunk before going into God’s presence, based on the strong warning for working priests in the same passage (Lev. 10:9).

This matter of treating with set-apartness the One Who sets things apart, God instructed that the the high priest could go through the veil to stand before God’s presence only once a year and in a highly specific manner (Leviticus 16):

• Offer for himself: With a sin offering (bull) and a burnt offering (ram).
• Wear special linen clothing after bathing himself.
• Shroud the Ark with a cloud of incense.
• Offer for the congregation: Sin offering (two male goats) and a burnt offering (bull).

The goats were selected by lot for one to be for YHWH and the other for Azazel (“separation” or “El of the wilderness,” commonly translated as scapegoat). The high priest put his hands on the Azazel goat, confessed iniquities, transgressions and sins of the congregation on it, and instructed for it to be taken into the wilderness.

The blood of the goat that was killed for the house of Israel covers all three. It covered both the east and west sides mercy seat, a massive golden cover on the Ark of the Covenant (Testimony).

Blood of the sin offering goat was also used, along with the bull, to cover everything in the outer Tabernacle.

Does the scapegoat symbolize Satan?

Tradition and some modern commentators hold that the “scapegoat” is a symbol for haSatan, the Devil. Tradition calls for the goat to be killed to prevent it from returning to the camp.

Commentators point to the prophecy that on the Day of the LORD the Dragon will be chained — exiled — for 1,000 years as the fulfillment of the exile of the Azazel goat (Rev. 20:1–3).

But because the Torah instructions for the goats of Yom haKippurim (choosing by lot) point to either goat’s potential of being the sin offering, both goats had to be “unblemished” — perfect.

That’s because the high priest was to kill the goat for YHWH, put its blood on the “mercy seat” lid on the Ark of the Testimony and in front of it, then put more of its blood on the horns at the corners of the altar. Could this have been a role for the Adversary of Heaven?

Is fasting on Yom Kippur biblical?

The congregation of Israel was to stop all they were doing and “humble your souls” on the 10^th day of the seventh month (Lev. 16:29; 23:27; Num. 29:7).

Yom haKippurim is a שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן shabbat shabbaton (H7676 + H7677): complete rest, special rest.²Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner, and M.E.J. Richardon, eds. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT). Leiden: Brill, 2000. This puts it in the same no-work category as the weekly Shabbat (Sabbath), which also is described as a shabbat shabbaton.

Some have asserted that fasting on this day is based in tradition not the Bible. Humble in Lev. 16:29, 31 is translated from עָנָה anah (H6031a), which means to be crouched, hunched up, wretched, suffering.³HALOT The root verb with the same Hebrew spelling also means to reply, answer.⁴HALOT

“Afflicting the soul” repeatedly is connected to fasting in the Bible (Ezra 8:21; Isa. 58:3, 5; Dan. 10:12).

Also, Jews in the first century A.D. already had customary annual and weekly fast days.

After the Babylonian exile four other yearly fasts were observed by the Jews (see the notes on Zec 7:5; 8:19). In Jesus’ time the Pharisees fasted twice a week—on Mondays and Thursdays.

John H. Walton, eds. “Mark 2:18.” Archaeological Study Bible. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), paragraph 13486.

The fast of the fifth month commemorated the burning of the temple and the other important buildings (2Ki 25:8–10), while that of the seventh month marked the anniversary of Gedaliah’s assassination (2Ki 25:22–25; Jer 39:14; 40:5–16; 41:1–18; 43:6 …).

“Zech. 7:5.” Archaeological Study Bible, paragraph 12440.

The fast of the fourth month lamented the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (2Ki 25:3–4; Jer 39:2), while that of the tenth month mourned the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem (2Ki 25:1; Jer 39:1; Eze 24:1–2).

“Zech. 8:19.” Archaeological Study Bible, paragraph 12452.

But there was one particular day known as “the Fast” — Yom haKippurim. Yeshua’s apostle Paul referred to “the Fast” as being just before the winter storm season (Acts 27:9).

“The Fast” was the Jewish Day of Atonement. It fell in the latter part of September or in October. The usual sailing season by Jewish calculation lasted from Pentecost (May-June) to Tabernacles, which fell five days after the Fast. The Romans considered the prospect of sailing after September 15 doubtful and after November 11 suicidal.

“Acts 27:9.” Archaeological Study Bible, paragraph 15822.

Enduring lessons from Yom haKippurim

Layer of meaning: Listen up!

Based on our study of shofars’ and trumpets’ being symbols for the voice of God and of God’s prophets and teachers, the command to blow a shofar on the Yom haKippurim (Lev. 25:9) suggests there is an important message to hear on that day.

Layer of meaning: Purge the urges

The fast of Yom haKippurim is more than just denying “natural” urges, it’s about the natural urges God wants to purge out of His people (Isa. 58:5–7). We fast because this is a little token, it’s a reply in response to the immeasurable sufferings of the Messiah Yeshua. It’s not a day of darkness, but of hope, not just for me but for all mankind. We become at one with the Creator, the Father Himself. 

Layer of meaning: ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’

Prophet Yochanan (John the Baptizer) described Yeshua in blended language of Pesakh and Yom haKippurim (John 1:28–29).

“Lamb of God” suggests the Pesakh (Passover) lamb. The blood of the Pesakh blocked the wrath of God upon Mitsraim (Egypt) from harming those inside a home with the blood at the door.

“Takes away the sins of the world” points to the Yom haKippurim “goat for Azazel,” aka the scapegoat. The goat was banished from the congregation with all the sins, transgressions and iniquities of the assembly put on it. Likewise, Yeshua was crucified outside the walls of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem).

Yom haKippurim also has parallels Pesakh in calendar timing and themes. In line with Yochanan’s connecting of the Pesakh lamb and sin removal of Yom Kippur, the day for selecting the lambs is the same day of the first month as the Day of Atonement is in the seventh month. And Pesakh’s timing just before the seven days of Matzot (Unleavened Bread) is a mirror to the timing of Shemini Atzeret (Eighth Day) just after the seven days of Sukkot (Tabernacles).

Layer of meaning: Yeshua is our High Priest

Much of the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb. 4:14–10:18) in the Apostolic Writings⁵Also called the New Testament gives one of the best inside looks at the significance of Yom haKippurim and the role of the high priest in it. And it makes the case for why the memorial is important for believers in Yeshua as Heaven’s Mashiakh (Annointed, Messiah, Christ) and the ultimate High Priest for the dwelling place of God, after which the Tabernacle and Temple were patterned.

Hebrews 7 uses גְזַרָה שָוָה g’zarah shawah (“similar verdict”) and קל וחומר kol va-khomer (“light and heavy”) methods of Scripture interpretation to assert that just as Melchizedek in Abraham’s time had enduring attributes of high priest and king of righteousness and of peace, how much more did Yeshua as the Son of God and the Messiah carry on that enduring priest-king legacy.

Seven rules of interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures were attributed to Hillel the Elder (50 B.C.–circa A.D. 20)⁶“Talmudic Hermeneutics.” Wikipedia. Accessed Sept. 1, 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmudical_hermeneutics> and codified in the Mishna (early rabbinical law) in A.D. 200–400. The first two rules seem to be used in this chapter.

‘How much more’ method of Bible instruction

The rule of קל וחומר kol va-khomer, or “light and heavy” has these variations:

• kal va-khomer meforash = meaning in the text itself (explicit)
• kal va-khomer satum = meaning infered from the text (implicit) 

This is an a fortiari (“from a stronger position”) argument. Really, it’s a minori ad majus (“minor then major”) or a majori ad minus (“major then minor”) reasoning: If an example of teaching holds in a minor situation, it will hold in a major situation, and vice versa.

If Melchizedek, who was “made like the Son of God” (Heb. 7:3), is priest of the most High God, how much more is the Son of God so?

The phrase made like is translated from ἀφομοιόω aphomoioō (G871), to copy; to produce a facsimile.⁷Joseph H. Thayer. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.

The teaching is that Melchizedek is a pattern — “shadow” — of the coming Messiah, as hinted in the Messianic prophecy of Psa. 110:4, quoted in Heb. 7:17. 

Heb. 7:1–4 uses another form of Bible interpretation credited to Hillel the Elder. Silence in Scripture about a significant person or event is taken as significant. So Melchizedek’s station — “order” — as “priest of the Most High God” is everlasting because the Bible doesn’t explain Melchizedek’s ancestry or his death.⁸J.K. McKee. Hebrews for the Practical Messianic. TNN Press, Kissimmee, Fla.: 2006. p. 95.

If Mechizedek was a king — ruler — of peace and righteousness, how much more was Yeshua?

If Abraham, who God picked to be the father of a kingdom of priests, brought tithes to Melchizedek, how much more should the descendants of Abraham’s trust in God bestow honor on Yeshua.

This is behind the great honor Yeshua said the woman who anointed Him for His burial did and the memorial for her deed that was deserved.

Like/comparison method of Bible instruction

The rule גְזַרָה שָוָה g’zarah shawah, or “similar verdict,” is argument from analogy. If Hebrew words with the same or close meaning (synonyms) or sounds (homonyms) appear in two passages, there likely is a connection of word definitions and applications.

The author of Hebrews emphasized the words peace and righteousness in this argument that Yeshua was “priest of the Most High,” like Melchizedek was, bringing peace — שלום shalom in Hebrew means completeness and not needing anything, rather than just absence of conflict — and righteousness.

The Messiah was predicted to do the same (Isa 9:6–7).

Did the priesthood change mean Yom Kippur was abolished?

A key to the understanding of Hebrews 7–10 is Heb. 7:11–12.

The word perfection (NASB) is translated from τελείωσις teleiōsis (G5050), to bring to a close, to finish, to end.⁹Joseph H. Thayer. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. A good definition is “the condition in which men are acceptable to God.”¹⁰Leon Morris, in Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 12:66. Cited in McKee, p. 98.

The goal of the Tabernacle and Temple was to bring people close to God (1^st Samuel 8). God established the priesthood through Aaron’s descendants to bring the offerings of the people to God continually to cover — atone for — sins, transgressions and iniquity, to express gratefulness to God and signify the reaching of a level of shalom with God.

The human priesthood was incomplete because it couldn’t fully bridge the gap between mankind and God. And the Law was only intended to point out when people veer away from God’s ways, not to make mankind acceptable to God (Rom. 3:19–20).

The phrase works of Law (ἔργων νόμου ergon nomou) and being justified before God is increasingly seen as a buzzphrase around the time of the first century for following certain elements of the Law in order to become justified, rather than trusting in God’s Messiah and Spirit to do the justifying. The phrase ἔργων νόμου parallels the Hebrew phrase מאשה התורה ma’aseh ha-torah in manuscript 4QMMT in the Dead Sea Scrolls:

Now, we have written to you some of the works of the Law, those which we determined would be beneficial for you and your people, because we have seen that you possess insight and knowledge of the Law. Understand all these things and beseech Him to set your counsel straight and so keep you away from evil thoughts and the counsel of Belial. Then you shall rejoice at the end time when you find the essence of our words to be true. And it will be reckoned to you as righteousness, in that you have done what is right and good before Him, to your own benefit and to that of Israel.

4QMMT 26–32, cited in N.T. Wright, “4QMMT and Paul: Justification, ‘Works,’ and Eschatology,” originally published in History and Exegesis: New Testament Essays in Honor of Dr E. Earle Ellis for His 80th Birthday, ed. Aang-Won (Aaron) Son (New York and London: T & T Clark 2006), 104–132.

N.T. Wright emphasizes that this manuscript is not talking about “doing elements of the Law” to join the Qumran community. Rather, it’s advocating how to know in the present God’s future verdict on one’s actions, based on faithfulness to certain of מאשה התורה. Paul points to the trust-in-God prescriptions in the Torah, Prophets and Writings as accomplishing that.

The “change of law” (Heb. 7:12) in view is not of the Torah as a whole, but of the priesthood and their role. God established Melchizedek and Aaron as priests, as God had established His house and called for it to be in Yerushalayim. At the writing of Hebrews, an “abomination of desolation” of the Temple was coming, as such had come to God’s house several times in the past (once in Shiloh and twice times in Yerushalayim under Babylon and Seleucid Greece).

Better than the Aharonic high priest, Yeshua doesn’t have to offer sacrifices for Himself. He has no sin to be covered. Rather, Yeshua covers sin, transgression and iniquity of the people of God (Heb. 7:26–28).

Yeshua, the point behind the Yom haKippurim blood ceremony

Hebrews 8 expounds on the first time the Israel rebelled, the holy of holies was taken away, when they continued to rebel, the entire temple was taken away (Heb. 1–13). 

The phrase “Now the main point of what we are saying is this” (NIV) in Heb. 8:1 alerts us that this passage is the focus of Hebrews.

“The majority of remarks from the beginning, where he talks about Yeshua’s superiority over angels, His humanity and humbling, the penalties for rejecting Him and how He functions in the office of Melchizedek, now leads to him discussing what this priesthood has brought to us as Believers.”¹

J.K. McKee. Hebrews for the Practical Messianic. TNN Press, Kissimmee, Fla.: 2006. p. 109.

The point is that Yeshua as the ultimate high priest of God not only dwells in the Holy of Holies of original Tabernacle, the throne room of God, but sits at the right hand of the Father (cf. ch. 1:3–4).

An Aharonic high priest could go in for a short period one day a year after showing that he had been purified, but the priest couldn’t stay, no less take a seat as the ruling agent of God.

But the Aharonic high priest was a “copy” of the High Priest of Heaven, with the tasks for the earthly priest “shadowing” that of the Heavenly High Priest (Heb. 8:5; cf. Ex. 25:40).

Yeshua entered the Most Holy Place via the ultimate gift, the blood of the Son of God (Heb. 8:3; cf. 9:11–12). This is the key memorial for each Yom haKippurim.

Bringing the parallels between Pesakh and Yom haKippurim back around again, Yeshua said the wine of the Pesakh celebration represents His blood of a New Covenant (Luke 22:20; 1Cor. 11:25).

This uber-exalted role for the Mashiakh — the “Branch” — was foretold by the prophets (Psa. 110:1; Zech. 6:12–13).

Behold, a man, Shoot is his name, and he shall sprout from below him and shall build the house of the Lord. And it is he that shall receive virtue and shall sit and rule on his throne. And the priest shall be on his right, and peaceful counsel shall be between the two of them.

Albert Pietersma and Benjamin G. Wright, eds. “Zech. 6:12–13.” A New English Translation Of The Septuagint. International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, Inc. (Oxford University Press), 2007. Emphasis added.

Given the context of comparing and contrasting the Aharonic and Melchizedek priesthoods, the “first” and “second” compared and contrasted in Heb. 8:7, 13 relate to the covenants of the priesthoods, rather than whole Torah. This is seen in Heb. 8:8–12.

The most wonderful part of Heb. 8:6–13 is the large quotation from Jer. 31:31–34. That New Covenant (ברית חדשה b’rit chadashah) prophecy could not occur until after the death and resurrection of Yeshua.

Heb. 8:6 and Jer. 31:31–34 mirrors apostle Paul’s clarification in 2Cor. 3:4–11 about what seals this New Deal.

As we saw when discussing Hebrews 3–4 and Shabbat, the fault of the people (Heb. 8:8) was not God’s ways but the people’s way of trying to do it. The “better promise” is God’s promise of the Spirit, which leads us in God’s ways toward life (see Romans 8).

Yeshua modeled that relationship between God and mankind via the Spirit, as it was foretold of the Messiah (Psa. 40:6–8).

All of the Torah speaks about Yeshua. In remembering Yom haKippurim, we see Yeshua as the High Priest, the goat that was slain and the goat that was cast away.

Yeshua, the One Who takes us to the LORD’s Presence

Hebrews 9–10 reassures us that the evidence against us is gone, thanks to the continual, superior priesthood and one-time offering of the Son of God.

The writer in Hebrews 9 associates “covenant” not only with just a contract between two parties sealed with a “blood oath” but a “covenant” of promise for heirs upon death.

The purpose of the Law in general and the offerings of the “first covenant” specifically is to be a continual reminder of the inadequacy of “the flesh” — human efforts — to solve the problem of deviation from God’s “ways,” God’s plan for human conduct (Heb. 10:3; Gal. 3:19–22).

“Perfection” of the one bringing the offering to the Tabernacle involves clearing the conscience of record of the wrongdoing, both in memory and in inclination (Heb. 10:1–2).

The quotation from Psa. 40:6–8 in Heb. 10:5–7 points to the goal of the Tabernacle to clean the congregant on the inside.

This is emphasized in the last part of Psa. 40:8 not quoted: “Your Law is within my heart.” Yeshua modeled that God’s Law has to come from the heart, not from “the flesh.”

It echoes the New Covenant prophecy and Paul’s teaching in Romans 8 on the essential involvement of the Spirit in following God’s ways.

Heb. 10:16–17 quotes again from Jer. 31:33–34, pointing to one atonement sacrifice — Yeshua’s — for all time.

When God decides to forget sins, they are gone for good (Heb. 10:18–22; Jer. 31:34). God eventually will wipe away all sorrow, fear, pain and death (Isa. 25:8; Rev. 21:3–5).

Forgetting that Yom haKippurim is all about the work of the High Priest and not the congregant leaves one with the impossible, “terrifying” task of being his own sin sacrifice (Heb. 10:26–27).

If one struggles with sin, is that the “sinning willfully” for which there is no forgiveness?

The “sinning willfully” of Heb. 10:26 is part of a warning against “forsaking our own assembling together” (Heb. 10:25), “trampl[ing] under foot the Son of God, and [regarding] as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified” (Heb. 10:29) and “of shrinking back” from trust in God (Heb. 10:39, after quoting Hab. 2:3–4).

That the “sinning” of Heb. 10:26 is referring to trust in Yeshua as God’s Messiah–High Priest and ultimate atonement, rather than sinning in general, is cemented by the reminder in Heb. 10:32 that the recipients of Hebrews “after being enlightened … endured a great conflict of sufferings.” This parallels “sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth” (Heb. 10:6).

To be sure, sinning in general leads one to destruction (Heb. 10:30, cited from Deut. 32:36).

That warning taken, Scripture also clearly notes that our High Priest is eager to save us from that (1John 2:1–2; Heb. 4:14–16).

One who is “carried away and enticed by his own lust” (James 1:12–15) but still trusts God’s promise to bring us out of that condition — guide us to “overcome” (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21) — is not “set[ting] aside the Law of Moses” (Heb. 10:28). The phrase set asideis translated from ἀθετέω atheteō (G114), which means to reject; to rebel against.

Yom Kippur teachings

From guilt to glory: Yom Kippur & the believer’s transformative journey

October 12, 2024

This study explores יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים Yom Kippurim, the Day of Atonement in the Bible, which stands as a pivotal moment in the redemptive story, bridging the gulf between Heaven and Earth. Rooted in Leviticus 16 and echoed in Hebrews 3–10, this sacred day reveals the Messiah’s eternal work of covering sins, transgressions and iniquities. From the Passover lamb’s blood on the doorpost to block the LORD’s destroyer to the high priest’s incense-shrouded entrance into the Holy of Holies, the themes of Yom Kippur point to the ultimate sacrifice of Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ), the Melchizedek priest who cleanses our…

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Cancel debts, free slaves: Radical teachings of Jubilee and Sabbatical Year for modern life (Leviticus 25; Isaiah 58; Matthew 6 and 18)

May 25, 2024

The Torah reading בְּהַר Behar (“on mount [Sinai],” Leviticus 25:1–26:2) teaches that debts are released after seven-year cycles (Shemitah, sabbatical year) and 49-year cycles (Yobel/Jubilee) to memorialize God’s forgiveness. This pattern is seen in Messiah Yeshua’s (Christ Jesus) teachings on forgiveness in Matthew 18 and manifest in his role as suffering servant who takes our debts (Isaiah 53). By forgiving others as we’ve been forgiven (Matthew 6:12), we reflect the Heavenly economy of releasing debts, underscored via receiving God’s mercy on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement; Leviticus 16; Isaiah 58:1–12).

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Heaven’s firewall: How Yom Kippur teaches us to filter thoughts through Yeshua (Leviticus 16–18; 1Corinthians 5–6)

May 4, 2024

This study of Torah reading אַחֲרֵי מוֹת Acharei Mot (“after the deaths,” Leviticus 16–18) with 1Corinthians 5–6 explores complex modern moral issues, including organ donation, gender identity and spiritual decay. The seemingly paradoxical dual character of God as “high and lifted up” and “God with us” helps us understand the Messiah’s role as high priest and the two covering-removing offerings of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). These passages emphasize the need for spiritual discernment. Like a firewall against cyberattacks, we must filter thoughts and experiences through God’s words and recognizing whose voice we are listening to as we navigate the…

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A memorial of Messiah: Heaven’s conscience cleaner (Leviticus 16; Hebrews 1–10)

September 25, 2023

The prophet Yokhanan (John the Baptizer) said of Yeshua (Jesus), “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”(John 1:29 NASB 1995). This study explores Hebrews 1–10, a thorough explanation of what Heaven is teaching and reminding us about in יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים Yom haKippurim (Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement), that it is an annual memorial of Yeshua as the ultimate high priest of Heaven to take away our guilt and allow us to go confidently to God.

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Faith meets fullness of mercy in Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)

October 5, 2022

For everyone except Israel’s high priest, the Tabernacle/Temple service of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is all about faith — no one else is present there. It takes several layers of faith to believe that what the high priest is doing would heal the rift between Heaven and Earth. So it’s only that Yom Kippur finds its fullness and its enduring lessons-in-practice through faith in Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus). https://hallel.info/atonement-2022/

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Why Christians should still celebrate Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16)

April 30, 2022

The Torah reading מות Acharei Mot (“after the deaths,” Leviticus 16–18) takes us through the mysterious and somber rituals of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). Some may read the Letter to the Hebrews in the Apostolic writings and think that because Yeshua (Jesus) was offered once for all sins, transgressions and iniquities then Yom Kippur is a relic of the “old covenant” between Heaven and Israel. Instead, we learn throughout the Bible that this annual memorial is really an essential lived-out reminder of Yeshua’s “new covenant,” through which Heaven transforms the whole world into a land of peace. Let’s explore four reasons…

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Why fast on Yom Kippur?: How it’s essential to Messiah’s total restoration of us

September 16, 2021

If Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is merely a time to fast, and get your ticket punched with your messianic family and friends, you are wasting your time and theirs.  This time is not just a time to afflict one’s body by abstinence from food and water, but more importantly, a time to afflict one’s soul by facing up to your sins, transgressions and iniquities and giving them over to the Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus), so He can heal your heart and soul. 

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Yom Kippur: Messiah reveals righteousness above the Torah

October 14, 2019

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is unique among the appointed times of the LORD. It’s the only holy day in which the people do very little, while one man, the high priest, does everything. Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus), our high priest, sacrificed Himself for us and carried our sins away too, as the symbols of Yom Kippur memorialize. All the people are asked to do is humble themselves, do no work and bring an offering to the Tabernacle/Temple. Without a Temple, what can we bring to God? It’s not about following the Torah to the letter with a physically perfect abstinence…

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Leviticus 16: Acknowledge the shame, then let Messiah remove it

May 4, 2019

Life is a terminal condition. The only hope to live forever is to avoid rebellion against the Source of all life, to repent when we do rebel against the God of Israel and to put oneself in the hands of the LORD’s Messiah always. The Torah reading אחרי מות Acharei Mot (“after the death,” Leviticus 16–18) centers on Yom haKippurim, (“Day of Coverings,” or Day of Atonement). We learn from Isaiah 53 and Hebrews 10 that we can’t accept the offering of Yeshua (Jesus) for our sins, transgressions and iniquities and for our salvation without acknowledging that we had a hand in the…

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Yom Kippur: Afflict the former way of life to be reborn

September 19, 2018

Every mistake, goof up in our Torah walk can fall into one of three categories: sin, transgression or iniquity. Sin is missing the mark on accident. Transgression is doing something wrong when you know better. Iniquity is when you do something wrong as an act of rebellion. Discover in this study why God blots out our sins, transgressions and iniquities, and why we want the Messiah to present us to God free of our long list of shortcomings.

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Leviticus 16; Hebrews 1–10: Heaven’s High Priest is ‘exact representation of His nature’

April 28, 2018

Forgetting that the high point of God’s calendar — יום הכפרים Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement) — is all about the work of the High Priest and not of the congregant leaves one with the impossible, “terrifying” task of being his own sin sacrifice (Heb. 10:26–27). This study takes a whirlwind tour of the Letter to the Hebrews and what it tells us how Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) is the embodiment of the lessons and message of the “Day of Coverings.”

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Yom Kippur: Confidence before God under Messiah’s covering

September 30, 2017

Some teach that the Day of Atonement (יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים Yom haKippurim, “Day of Coverings”) is a day when the people of God plead their case that their good will outweigh their bad on Heaven’s scale. Rather, God’s word teaches that we can have sober, humble, repentant confidence in what God’s Mashiakh (Christ) has done to cover and remove ours mistakes, disobedience and treason. One of the key themes of the Bible book of Leviticus is the Tabernacle as Heaven’s way to bring those “far off” from God’s presence near by the spilled life of the substitute, the sin offering. This also…

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Leviticus 16; Hebrews 4–10: ‘Because we have a great High Priest…’

May 6, 2017

Here’s the lesson of Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement): The LORD wants us to enter His “rest.” He wants our old way of life to be covered over and the guilt taken away, so we can enter His presence. This study of the combined Torah reading אחרי מות Acharei Mot (“after the death”) and קדושים Kedoshim (“holinesses”), covering Leviticus 16–20, will be focusing on Hebrews 4:14–10:39. This which dives deep into the role of Yeshua (Jesus) as our High Priest, so we can learn Heaven’s lessons in the parables of the Tabernacle and Yom haKippurim.

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Jonah 4: God does not desire the death of the wicked

March 28, 2015

The primary lesson of the book of Jonah is this: God is willing to hear to remove sin, even for people you don’t like. God doesn’t want to kill anyone: Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, whatever. God wants all these groups to be saved. When Yeshua (Jesus) said that the sign of His being the Messiah was the “sign of Jonah” (Matt. 12:39; 16:4; Luke 11:29), it was not only about the three days in the fish representing his three days in the grave. The entire book of Jonah is the “sign of Jonah” Yeshua references.

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Jonah 3: Contrasting contriteness of Nineveh and Israel

March 14, 2015

Jonah 3 is a short chapter, but there is a lot in there. We are shown how the individual Ninevites responded to the message of Jonah. The repentance of the people grabbed the attention of the king of Nineveh who encouraged their repentance. The people of Nineveh believed God, and “it was credited to them as righteousness” (cf. Gen. 15:6), just as it was for Abraham.

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Jonah 1: Beginning look at the ‘sign of Yonah’

February 14, 2015

The book of Jonah is the Haftarah reading during the Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur. The main theme of Jonah is how God deals with different kinds of sinners and brings them into His fold: repentance and sacrifice. We have been taught this idea that all sinners are equal and because all sinners are equal, all sinners require the same remedy, but it’s not that simple. As Yonah sets out to run away from God’s mission, we discover that the more we know, the more God requires. Although God saved both the mariners and the people of Nineveh from His wrath,…

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John 13:34-35: How new is Yeshua’s ‘new command’?

December 20, 2014

Is Yeshua’s “new commandment” in John 13:34-35 really new? An answer is taught through God’s appointed times of Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement), Shmittah (sabbatical year) and Yobel (Jubilee year).

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Day of Atonement foreshadows multiple roles for the Messiah (Leviticus 16:20-34)

December 13, 2014

Leviticus 16, describing Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement), is a beautiful picture of God’s making us clean and the multifaceted role of the Messiah in that cleansing.

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Leviticus 15:1-16:19: Uncleanness of mankind and cleansing on Yom haKippurim

December 6, 2014

Leviticus 10-16, which includes the teaching on Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement), teach God’s view of “holiness” and “cleanliness” before Him and how God makes us holy and clean. Lev. 15:1-15 discusses what to do if a person has a discharge, such a bout of diarrhea, this text tells us what to do to take care of the one with the discharge as well as how the caretaker(s) take care of themselves that they do not catch the uncleanness.

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Leviticus 14: Cleansing the ‘leprous’ houses of our souls

November 29, 2014

Apostle Peter wrote that we are “living stones” in the house of God (1Peter 2:5). As we study Leviticus 14, think of yourself as you read about how a “leprous” house is cleaned. Much of the imagery in this chapter matches the Day of Atonement. The theme of clean and unclean is repeated from Leviticus 13. Only the priest can decide what is clean or unclean, not a king, a governor or a individual person.

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