Dear Global Christian Warriors,
The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, still operates as a holy day, to get right with the Living God. To those of us who now know Yeshua as Messiah, Jesus the Christ, His Holy Spirit is very close to us to lead us this holy day into more purification.
Take time this holy day to repent, to purify, including asking yourself what is your motive for serving Him. Here is a portion of a word from Dr. Jurgen Buhler, ICEJ President:
The Significance of Yom Kippur
By: Dr. Jürgen Bühler, ICEJ President
Yom Kippur is the most sacred day on the Jewish calendar, and we can read about it in a number of passages in the Bible, but I want to refer to two particular passages. One is Leviticus chapter 23, which speaks about all the autumn holidays and all the holidays during the year. It starts with the Shabbat, the spring holidays, and then the fall holidays that start with the Feast of Trumpets, or Rosh HaShana.
Then in Leviticus 23:26 it says that the tenth day of the seventh month “shall be for you a time of holy convocation”, and “you shall afflict yourself” and present a food offering to the Lord, and you shall not do any work on this day. “For it is Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), to make atonement for you before the Lord your God.” Whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from His people. Whoever does any work on that day, that person God will destroy among His people. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. It shall be to you a Shabbat Sabbath of “solemn rest”. You can translate this in Hebrew as a Sabbath of complete rest.
Now, Yom Kippur is still today a very solemn day here in Israel. If you live here, you will see that even among the secular people, even people who might be atheists, they still see this as a core part of Jewish tradition and they fast on this day. They estimate today that 80% or more of the population here in Israel are fasting on Yom Kippur. The Bible actually does not speak about fasting in particular, but it says to “afflict your soul”. So they are fasting, meeting in the synagogues, and they are praying. And the weeks before this are also a season of preparation. Every morning, you can hear the shofar blowing in the synagogues as the people get ready and prepare their hearts to meet with God. They ask the Lord for forgiveness, and they try to reconcile with neighbors and friends. So, it is a very unique time in the Hebrew calendar for Israel.
There is another passage that speaks about Yom Kippur. In Leviticus 16, the entire chapter is dedicated to this special day. It starts out: “And the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron…” What is happening here is a detailed description of what needs to take place on Yom Kippur. And just to give you a brief summary, we know this is the only day in the year when the High Priest went into the very Holy of Holies, when there was still a Temple here in Jerusalem. And he was meeting with God, asking for forgiveness for his people, and dedicating and sanctifying the whole Temple again for service.
There also were two goats, one of which was slaughtered and the blood was brought right into the presence of the Lord. The other one, the High Priest was laying his hands on that goat, confessing the sins of the entire nation of Israel over the goat, and this “scapegoat” was carrying the sins of the entire nation into the desert to a figure called Azazel – which I believe speaks of the devil himself. So, it was on that day that the Lord brought atonement to the entire people of Israel.
That is a short synopsis of what was taking place on Yom Kippur. And the interesting thing is that Leviticus chapter 16 says the Lord spoke to Moses about this day of atonement after the death of the two sons of Aaron. In a way, some rabbis describe it as an emergency plan that God set up after the death of these two priests. If you go to Leviticus 10, you will read that these two priests – the sons of Aaron – came into the very presence of the Lord and offered strange fire. They broke the commandment of the Lord regarding the Tabernacle and the way to bring sacrifices. And they both died instantly. So, in Leviticus 16, the Lord says He does not want these things to happen again, and He gives the proper way for the priests to enter His presence. There is a certain procedure to follow to be able to stand before the cloud of glory over the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies.
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So you and I today are seen by Him, once we repent and come into His Kingdom--- then receiving the Holy Spirit---as members already of His Royal Priesthood. If there is any "strange fire" in your life, any wrong purpose for serving Him, Yom Kippur is a key day, an exceptional day, to spend time alone with the Holy Spirit and check whether this applies to you. You can confess it; He will forgive you. You can then take the next step and repent, choosing instead His Word as your Way forward to serve Him in love and joyful obedience!
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Do you see repentance as vital for our times? To our knowledge National Day of Repentance is the only Christian ministry focusing solely on personal and national repentance in every nation and applying it in our lives.
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Would you please pray for us? And then give from a cheerful heart as the Lord leads? THANK YOU!--whatever amount you give, we pray that you'll receive a blessing--- 2 Corinthians 8: 2-4 and Luke 8:3--- and Fruit that will abound to your spiritual account, Philippians 4:17.
God bless you.
Pastor Jeff Daly
National Day of Repentance
pastorjeff@repentday.com
you tube channel: national day of repentance
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