Tag Archives: Day of Atonement

The Messiah in Yom Kippur

Did you know that the Messiah’s sacrifice on the cross was for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement? Hebrews says so.

Hebrews chapters 7 and 8 speak of Yeshua being the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek prophesied about in Psalm 110:4 and why He is a High Preist of a better covenant. Hebrews 9 speaks of the sacrifice made once a year in the Most Holy Place where only the High Priest could enter. The writer of Hebrews is speaking of the Day of Atonement sacrifice. And this is what Yeshua did.

Hebrews 9:11-15 “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. 15 Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”

Yeshua offered His sacrifice in the perfect tent that is in heaven. He is the Passover Lamb, but His sacrifice is for the Day of Atonement. Hallelujah!

Is This the New Year?

Exodus 12:2 “This month will mark the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you.”

In the Exodus story, God tells Moses that THIS MONTH will be the first month of the year. That would seem to indicate that they were keeping a different calendar before this time. Of course, all of the Israelites alive then would have been born and raised as a slave in Egypt, so it would make sense that they followed the Egyptian calendar. And the Egyptian calendar is an interesting one with only three seasons. Actually, they had three calendars each based on the sun, moon, and agricultural seasons, but the beginning of the year may not be what you would expect.

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To Feast, Or Not To Feast.

The general consensus today is that the feasts of God are not for the New Testament church. The most common reasons cited are that they are Jewish feasts and that Jesus fulfilled the feasts so we don’t have to observe them. But are either of those reasons true? Scripture has the answer.

Leviticus 23:37 “These are the appointed feasts of YHWH, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to YHWH food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day.”

God declared that they are HIS FEASTS. To call them Jewish feasts is to dishonor God and His declaration. And if they are God’s feasts, then that begs the question of who are the feasts for? The answer is simple. God gave them as gifts for His people. Notice that He called them the APPOINTED feasts of YHWH. An appointment is an arrangement to meet someone at a particular time and place. In this case, it’s a time to meet with God. Why wouldn’t His people want to meet with God at the appointed times?

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To Lent or Teshuva, That is the Question

The Days of Teshuva, Part 3

So far, we’ve learned that the Days of Teshuva have begun and vaguely why they are at this time of year, and we’ve also learned what teshuva means. You may be able to see how Teshuva is similar to Lent. What I haven’t mentioned yet is that the days of teshuva are forty in number, just like Lent. One has to wonder, if the Days of Teshuva already exist, then why do most people celebrate Lent? I’ll get to that in a moment, but first I want to tell you about some observations and traditions about the 40 Days of Teshuva.

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