Day of Atonement, or Yom haKippurim in Hebrew for “Day of Coverings”
Most Christians interpret Rom. 7:6 to mean that the Torah has been cast aside and that we don’t have to live by the rules of the Torah anymore. Life does not come from the letter of the Law — and it never did.
We deserve death under God’s holy law, but Yeshuah the Messiah gives us life to live the law with a new “heart.” That’s the message of יום כיפרים Yom Kippurim, the Day of Atonement.
Daniel explores foreshadowing of all seven ‘feasts to the LORD’ in Genesis 2–5. For example, hints of Passover are seen in Adam and Eve’s hiding from God in the garden; Firstfruits, in Eve’s dedicating her firstborn; Atonement, in God’s marking Cain to wander with vengeance taken against him.
How would you explain the “feasts to the Lord” to someone who asked you why you observe them (1Tim. 3:15)? What is so important about observing Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) for believers in Yeshua as the Messiah?
This month is referred to as the “ingathering” at the end of the year or the end of the cycle of seven appointments with God, the “feasts to the Lord.” What do these times mean? How do we give an answer to someone when they have questions?
Leviticus 16 provides us an “insider’s view” of the Day of Atonement. We can know what the High Priest is doing on that day, even though the common person was not allowed to witness most of of the tasks required of the High Priest on that day. Most of the priests activities are “covered” away from the general public. The people of Israel had to believe by faith that the High Priest was doing his job on their behalf properly and that God would accept the High Priest’s offerings on their behalf.
Yom Kippur, also called the Day of Covering or the Day of Atonement, has two meanings to the people of God. When God “reasons” with mankind, it is not a conversation of compromise and obfuscation. God judges the sin of each man, woman and child and no one has a defense against God’s judgement, except the defense provided by Yeshua.
The fall appointed times of God are called the “feasts of ingathering” and are associated with the apocalyptic Day of the LORD. What are the lessons of these festivals that point toward our preparation for what Messiah is going to do?
In part two of a discussion of the seventh month of God’s calendar, Richard looks into the parallel between the construction of Solomon’s Temple in time for one Sukkot (Tabernacles) and the preparation of God’s people for the final Sukkot. Like the stones for the first temple that were cut to size elsewhere then moved into location, the people of God will be “trimmed” to the right “size” before being moved to the final site of the LORD’s dwelling place on Earth.