Yom Kippur, by Tim Stewart

Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, is considered to be the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. It is the day that the High Priest (Cohen HaGadol) would enter into the Holy of Holies to pour out the blood of the goat sacrificed for the entirety of the nation of Israel. This is the day that the High Priest would also say the name of God, the name that He revealed to Moshe (Moses) in the wilderness when He called him to be the deliverer of His people out of Egypt. It is a day of affliction of the soul, a time to remember that man, born in sin, is separated from Adonai by that sin, but there is also a time of rejoicing because once again, God has provided the blood atonement for forgiveness. It was the
Lord’s reminder that He would keep His covenant with Israel.
I’ll try to keep this brief; but I know that it won’t be easy. There is so much to Yom Kippur and its meaning to those of us who, by the grace of God, have had our eyes opened to the truth. And that truth is that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Right Arm of God, the Living Word. We know that He became our Kipporah, our covering that did not just cover our sins, but completely removed them for all time.

Sacrifices and Man’s Covering
After rebelling against God and realizing that they were naked, Adam and Eve hid themselves, trying to cover their shame by sewing fig leaves together. It was a vain attempt at making a covering for themselves. (Gen. 3) Despite their efforts, it could not be good enough. God, in His mercy, made garments for them from the skins of animals. How shocking it must have been to Adam and Eve to see the price that had to be paid for their sin; how awful it must have been for them to realize what death was, that what they saw before them could well be their fate. But even worse, they would suffer separation from God’s presence, being banished from the Garden of Eden.
The sacrificial system had been established. The shedding of blood for a covering, and later for a means of approaching the Holy One, would be carried on for generations. The sacrifices of Cain, Abel, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, along with countless others, were sacrifices made on behalf of the one sacrificing. However, once Jacob and his descendents went into Egypt, the sacrifice would take on a new dimension. When God told the children of Israel to sacrifice a spotless lamb and spread its blood over the doorposts, the family inside would be protected. And when God gave directions for Yom Kippur (Leviticus 23), the sacrifice then would be for the entire nation of Israel. From individual, to family, and then to the nation, God had given blood sacrifices for the express purpose of bridging the gulf that sin had caused in separating man from his Creator.

The Day of Atonement
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the Lord by fire.”’
Yom Kippur follows nine days after Yom Teruah (Day of theTrumpet). The assembly had been declared by the blowing of the shofar, and Israel would begin a time of fasting and confession before the Lord. It was a grave time for the faithful, a time to recall that they all fell short of God’s glory. Yom Kippur is a solemn time. But mixed with the time of affliction was the knowledge that forgiveness was coming.
According to Leviticus 16, in preparation for the day, two goats would be chosen for the community of Israel, apart from the sacrifices for the High Priest. The High Priest, dressed in a special garment, would take the two goats and lay his hands on their heads and confess over them the sins of Israel. One of them would be handed over to a man who would lead it away into the wilderness to be released; it would be known as the scapegoat. The other goat would be slaughtered, its blood caught in a container, and taken by the High Priest into the Holy of Holies, where it would be poured out on the Kipporah, or the covering of the Ark of the Covenant commonly known as the Mercy Seat. It was the only day of the year the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and it was a day that the people of Israel would remain behind while God’s priesthood would intercede for the nation. There was nothing they could do on that day, no works that could earn them any favor: no animals they could offer up: nothing but to stay behind and wait for the forgiveness of God.

Yom Kippur and the Messiah
Leviticus 17:11 says, “…the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” The theme of atonement is found throughout the entire cycle of the Feasts Adonai gave to Israel: Shabbat, the day of rest, reminds us of creation and our purpose for being—namely, to worship our Creator: Unleavened Bread reminds us of our call to holy living: First Fruits reminds us of God’s provision and acceptance, and tells us of a harvest of the faithful into the Kingdom: Shav’uot is the giving of the Law and Holy Spirit: Yom Teruah is the blowing of the shofar to gather the dispersed into the presence of the Lord: following is Yom Kippur, and afterward is Sukkot, the final gathering and tikkun olam, or restoration of the world unto God. Every one of these has its fullest meaning found in Yeshua the Messiah.
He is the perfect fulfillment of Yom Kippur. Lets go back to the very first sacrifice. Adam and Eve tried to cover their own sin, but it was a futile attempt. God, in His mercy, made the sacrifice needed. He would make the first sacrifice and the final sacrifice—that of Himself for the covering of all mankind. Isaiah and Daniel prophesied that the sinless one, Yeshua, would be made a sacrifice for the atonement of mankind. Please read Isaiah 53.
Daniel chapter 9 speaks of the death of the Messiah before the destruction of the Temple. Indeed Yeshua was crucified, or pierced as Isaiah, David, and Zechariah all foretold. It all fit into God’s plan, to redeem Israel and the world. The Right Arm of God, Yeshua, sealed with his own blood the New Covenant spoken of by Jeremiah in chapter 31. This blood, shed for the remission—not just covering—of sin, brings about the restoration of man to God for all those who believe and trust in Yeshua.
Consider the whole picture: the high priest entered into the Holy of Holies with the blood of a goat. It would be poured out on the Mercy Seat (Kipporah—cover) where the two angels had their wings spread out. The process was bloody and messy, and the High Priest would come out from the Holy of Holies with his garments stained with the blood he poured out. Upon seeing him, the multitude would let out with a shout, knowing that the sacrifice had been accepted and their sins had been forgiven for another year. As well, a member of the priesthood would place a red thread on the door of the Temple. The Talmud records that God would perform a miracle at Yom Kippur, that the red thread would turn white after the offering, indicating that their sin had been forgiven. This is a reflection of the words of Isaiah, where in chapter 1 he said, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be white as snow.” It was yet another sign from God. And wondrously enough, after the death of Yeshua, records the Talmud, the thread never turned white again.
The years would pass, and in the fall of the year (sometime around Yom Kippur or Sukkot) Yeshua was born. The shepherds who were watching their flocks (Luke), who were visited by the angels, had been watching over the animals to be used in the Temple. These shepherds who were trained in knowing what a truly kosher lamb or goat would look like left their flocks to go and see the Perfect Lamb of God, Yeshua the Messiah. When He was crucified, the Curtain in the Temple was rent from top to bottom. This was the sacrifice God accepted for all time, and no more would man be prevented from entering into the Holiest Place because of sin. Through Yeshua’s blood, by which the New Covenant was sealed and in which the Torah was written on the hearts of them who believe, we can now enter in boldly to the presence of Almighty God. Yeshua became our High Priest (Hebrews 5 & 9) who offered up His blood in the truest Holy of Holies, before the throne of Adonai.
But what of the rest? the scapegoat? the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat? the emergence of the High Priest?
You recall that Luke wrote of the trial and of Pilate’s desire to release Yeshua, declaring that he found “no fault” in Him—in other words, He was “spotless” before the law, just as the goat for sacrifice on Yom Kippur had to be spotless, or faultless. You also recall that the crowd would not have Yeshua released, but instead demanded Barabbas. Barabbas had been released while Yeshua became the sacrifice. Barabbas left Jerusalem and went into the wilderness, just as the scapegoat from the very first Yom Kippur.
You also recall that in Luke it is recorded that when the women went to the tomb (Hb aron—or box like the aron containing the Covenant and covered by the Mercy Seat) to care for the body of Yeshua that they saw not the body of Yeshua, but two angels where the body had been laid. This was a picture of the Mercy Seat!
And of course there is the High Priest, Yeshua himself, who, when the great Shofar of the Lord sounds, will step down out of Heaven, the true Holy of Holies, and return to His chosen people, Israel. (I Thess. 5) That will be the great Yom Teruah, day of Trumpets. And as Zechariah records, they will look upon Him whom they pierced and mourn. They will see His garment stained with blood, His own (Rev 19). Revelation 21:3-5, says, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling (mishkan—tabernacle) of God is with men. They will be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning, or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” They will shout for joy because they will know that their sin is forgiven! He will gather them to Himself in Jerusalem, where the Word of the Lord will go forth, and the great Sukkot, the dwelling of the Lord with His people, and the greatest act of mercy will be known to all Israel (Romans 7). All things will be restored unto God, and we will be in his presence forever, made possible by the covering, that Yom Kippur granted by Adonai almost 2000 years ago.