Yom Kippur & The Necessity of Sacrifice
| Written by Sam Nadler |
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'On exactly
the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement ...and you
shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the LORD.
Neither shall you do any work on this same day, for it is a day of
atonement...If there is any person who will not humble himself on this
same day, he shall be cut off from his people" Leviticus 23:26-30.
Each year Jewish people observe Yom Kippur, or The Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year, by reviewing their lives before God. Although Yom Kippur illustrates the opportunity for the individual to be restored to God, the Day of Atonement was the day for the nation of Israel to be restored to God as a holy people in service to the Lord.
Today, because of national unbelief, Israel has been sidetracked from its service. Nevertheless, the time will come for Israel to be gathered back to God as a nation. During the coming Tribulation, Israel will be brought back to the forefront of service. At the end of that Tribulation period, a nation shall be born in a day, and "all Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26).
Tradition or Scripture?Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur are referred to as the High Holy Days in Judaism. Both are traditionally celebrated as days of solemn personal evaluation of one's soul before God. In the traditional Jewish community, Yom Teruah is seen as The Day of Judgment: when God evaluates an individual's deeds to determine whether He will write that person's name in the Book of Life for the coming year. According to tradition, on Yom Teruah three books are opened before God in Heaven. One book is for the absolutely wicked; another book is for the perfectly righteous, and finally, the third book is opened for those not in either of the first two books, those ordinary people who are neither perfectly evil nor perfectly good. On Yom Teruah, people then have ten days to do good deeds to merit being placed in the Book of Life for the coming year. These are called The Days of Awe, which end on Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur, people return to synagogue to repent of their sins with the hope that they have been forgiven by God and their names are written into the Book of Life for the coming year. Therefore on Yom Kippur, to be made right with God is the desire of every religious Jew. It is believed that repentance with fasting, charity, and good deeds produces forgiveness. Though fasting on Yom Kippur is not the specific scriptural command, the day is so commonly identified with the practice that it is even called "the fast" in Acts 27:9.
Who Needs a Sacrifice?Other than fasting for a day, the need for an actual, physical sacrifice is not recognized by most Jewish people today. The concept of a vicarious blood sacrifice is considered archaic by most people, including traditional Judaism. Besides this, traditional rabbis contend that the Bible provides atonement without a bloody sacrifice, even in biblical times. Thus the Messianic faith is called into question, particularly over this issue. With the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in AD 70 there has been no acceptable place for blood sacrifice. The rabbis concluded from this that God no longer required blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, notwithstanding what the Scriptures say on the subject. But the Scripture is clear: For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement (Lev. 17:11). The rabbis assumed that since there were bloodless sacrifices made, such as the flour offering for the poor, then God would accept bloodless sacrifices, and that God would accept us without bloody sacrifice as well. This simply is not the case as Leviticus 5:11,12 confirms. When we look carefully at the text, we see that the flour was only acceptable when laid upon and identified with the bloody offerings. In so doing the flour offering became bloody itself. There was never a sacrifice that expiated sin that was not bloody.
The Prayers of Daniel & SolomonIn another era of history we Jewish people found ourselves captive in Babylon, outside our homeland of Israel. To make things worse, there no longer was a Temple where we could make sacrifices, since Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed it. One man who found himself in Babylon was Daniel. Since Daniel was unable to make sacrifice, yet was forgiven, it is assumed that we also can be forgiven without sacrifice. However, it is a false assumption that Daniel did not trust in the blood sacrifice of the Temple. Daniel constantly prayed three times a day with his face towards Jerusalem. Daniel "...entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously" (Daniel 6:10). Why? To understand the need to pray toward Jerusalem more fully, please note Solomon's prayer when he consecrated the Temple in Jerusalem: "When they (Israel) sin against You...and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive...if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul...and pray to You toward their land which You have given to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house (the temple)...then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Your dwelling place" (1 Kings 8:46-49). Solomon asks God to hear the prayers of His people even when they are in exile due to sin, and forgive them when they pray toward the House of the Lord. For this reason when Daniel was in exile he had confidence to pray toward Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, the place of blood sacrifice. Daniel identified with the sacrifices and found forgiveness. Even today synagogues are built facing Jerusalem and the Temple area. Similarly, we pray from wherever we are in Yeshua's name: He is the sacrifice we look to, identify with, and depend on.
In light of this the question can be raised, "Doesn't a substitutionary sacrifice demean a person's responsibility to account for their own offences?" Biblical substitutionary atonement has never removed personal responsibility of the offender, and restitution to the offended party. However, the reality is that sin against God is so heinous and costly that no personal sacrifice can satisfactorily pay for the offence.
Has God changed His view of sacrifice, or have we merely changed our view of sin? Perhaps people view sin as a minor infraction, where a day of fasting is sufficient to get right with God. Is it acceptable to God, the offended party? He states that sin is awful and catastrophic to His honor, our well-being, and our relationship with Him. Since His view on sin has not changed, neither should our view of sacrifice. To offend an Eternal God's holiness is an eternal offense, and requires an atonement of life. Only this loss of life through blood atonement would demonstrate the awfulness of sin and its dire consequences which the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel warned Israel of: the wages of sin is death.
Looking to YeshuaWhen we pray "looking unto Yeshua the author and finisher of our faith" (Heb. 12:2), we identify with the final blood sacrifice that was made for our atonement, and find forgiveness for our sins. Just as Daniel had to look to the Temple, we must realize One has come who is "greater than the Temple" (Mat. 12:6). Messiah has come and has made final and effective atonement for all who will believe (Heb. 10:1-14). The rabbis drew the wrong conclusion from the destruction of the Temple. It was not that God was removing the need for blood atonement for forgiveness of sins, but rather, the Messiah of Israel had come and made final and eternal atonement: thus the Temple sacrifices were no longer needed. That is why Yeshua declared from the cross, "It is finished" (John 19:30). God wants restored relationships between Him and His people. For that, there has to be redemption by blood, and repentance by the believer. Do you have this? If not, trust in Yeshua. By faith in Him, the New Year greeting "L'shana tova tikatevu---May you be inscribed (in the Book of Life) for a good year"can be fulfilled in your life! May your name be "written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8).
