X-Delivery-Notice:  SMTP MAIL FROM does not correspond to sender.
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.christia
Date:         Mon, 5 Oct 1992 20:11:52 EDT
From:         Lon Mendelsohn <LMENDELS@CMS.CC.WAYNE.EDU>
Subject:      Yom Kippur

Wednesday is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  It is the Holiest
day of the Jewish year, corresponding quite closely to Good Friday
on the Christian calendar.  Below is a description of some of the
events of the day and their significance from a Messianic
perspective.

Yom Kippur is a day of total fasting.  One consumes no food or
drink for the duration (about 26 hours from the opening service on
the night before to the blowing of the shofar (a trumpet made from
a ram's horn) at the close of the final service), and one does not
wash for the sake of comfort.  Additionally, it is customary to
wear nothing made of leather, e.g., canvas shoes are usually
substituted for leather.  The primary activity of the day is
repentance and prayer, the focus (as with Rosh haShanah) is on God
as King and Judge.  The Book of Life is opened on Rosh haShanah
and God's judgements are written down. Yom Kippur is the last
chance to change God's judgements before the book is sealed at the
close of the day.

The service for the day has, in addition to the standard service,
the following sections inserted:

 - A memorial service for the departed.

 - The Avodah Service, or the Service of the High Priest.

 - The Martyrology

 - The Closing of the Gates (concluding service).

From a Messianic perspective, the Day of Atonement is considered
to be a type of the substitutionary death of Jesus, as is
described in detail in Heb. 7-10.  Since the destruction of the
Temple in 70 C.E., the rabbinical tradition has sought a
substitute for the sacrificial system.  This is apparent in the
current form of the Yom Kippur service.  In the absence of the
Temple, the rabbinical tradition has substituted repentance,
prayer, and righteousness for the blood sacrifice as the vehicle
for obtaining pardon for sin, and has substituted reading and
studying the biblical passages describing the sacrifice for the
actual performance of the sacrifice.

The problem with this approach is that the bible clearly states in
both the Tanakh (Old Testament) and the Brit Hadashah (New
Testament) that the shedding of blood is absolutely required in
order for atonement to be made:

  For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it
  for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it
  is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life.
     -- Lev. 17:11

  Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood,
  and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of
  sins.
     -- Heb. 9:22.

Thus, it is only in the sacrificial death of Jesus and the
shedding of His blood that one can find pardon for sin.

One could ask, therefore, why a Jewish believer (such as myself)
would observe Yom Kippur when there is no longer any need for
sacrifice.  To me, Yom Kippur is a memorial of Jesus' act as High
Priest when He brought "...his own blood <into the holy place>,
thus securing an eternal redemption" - Heb. 9:12b.  It is a time
of repentance, both personal and on behalf of my people.  It is a
time of prayer, especially that my fellow Jews, as they draw near
to God in fasting, prayer, and repentance, would get in right
relationship with Yeshua haMashiach, the Great High Priest.

          A Messianic Midrash for Yom Kippur

The Rabbis teach that of all the lands in the earth, the holiest
is Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel.  Within the land of Israel,
the holiest city is Jerusalem.  Within Jerusalem, the holiest
place is the Temple Mount.  Within the Temple Mount, the holiest
place is the Temple itself, and within the Temple the holiest
place is the Holy of Holies.  Further, they teach that of all the
peoples of the earth, the holiest are the people of Israel.  Of
the people of Israel, the holiest tribe is the Levites, who serve
in the Temple.  Of the Levites, the holiest family is the family
of Aaron, the Kohanim or priests, and of the priests, the holiest
priest is the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest.  Finally, they teach
that of all the times, the holiest are the festivals.  Of all the
festivals, the holiest are the Sabbaths.  Of all the Sabbaths, the
holiest is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the Sabbath of
Sabbaths.  On this holiest of days, the holiest person enters the
holiest place with the blood of the sacrifice and makes atonement
for the people of Israel.  Likewise, of all the places that exist,
the holiest is the  "greater and more perfect tent (not made with
hands, that is, not part of creation)" (Heb.9:11).  The holiest
person is Jesus, the Great High Priest, who is "holy, blameless,
unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens"
(Heb. 7:26).  The holiest time is that Day on which Jesus hung
suspended between heaven and earth, and died, shedding His own
precious blood for our sins.  And on that holiest of days, Jesus,
the holiest person, entered the holiest place, and, with his own
blood, made atonement for us all.

  Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the
  sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which
  he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his
  flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
  let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,
  with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our
  bodies washed with pure water.
    -- Heb. 10:19-22.

Shalom,

Lon Mendelsohn
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU