The scapegoat ritual associated with Yom Kippur is detailed in Leviticus 16 – two goats are chosen to represent Israel and lots are cast (comparable to throwing dice – the festival honoring Esther is called Purim [lots] because lots were cast by Haman to determine the date when the Israelites should be slaughtered) to designate which of the goats would be “for Yahweh” and the other “for Azazel (departure)”. The High Priest was to pray over the scapegoat, “confessing the sins of the children of Israel, transferring them upon the head of the goat, and [sending it] into the wilderness.”
Over and over again, the Torah speaks of the doctrine of personal responsibility. We are each responsible for our own actions, good or bad. Atonement for our sins can only be effected through a wrenching process of tshuva (return) which entails recognition of past transgressions, remorse over those transgressions, and a commitment to future change. To suggest that the tshuva process can somehow be short-circuited through a magical act of transference of sins seems to fly in the face of all that [Torah teaches].
Schmuel Goldin; Unlocking the Torah Text – Acharei – the Sent Goat
The ritual, though done literally (until the destruction of the second Temple in 70AD), is a metaphor (figure of speech synecdoché – of the part) that points to how we are each to repent of our sins and become a better version of ourselves:
Recognition: How does one recognize sin? A universal standard for sin is the Torah. “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (1John 3:4). If one believes the Law does not apply to them, then what is there to atone for?
Remorse: The sinner that has regret over their actions believes they did something wrong and does not want to continue to act wrongly in the future. The High Priest transferred that which the society condemned to the Azazel goat – we approach Christ and ask for forgiveness of the Passover lamb (1John 1:9; 2:1-7). The sinner who knows their actions are sin yet continues (and plan to continue) in their knowing sin is not remorseful and therefore does not seek atonement.
Commitment: No believer is sinless, but the penitent sinner recognizes their sin, feels regret over having sinned, and makes a commitment to change their behavior to not continue living in sin – driving it away from themselves like the Azazel goat.
The Christian church, today, teaches that the Old Testament doctrines no longer apply to believers – this leaves them unsure of what is right and wrong, and that understanding continually changes as the culture changes. It is difficult to feel remorse when one’s definition of sin is fluid. Since modern Christians believe Christ died for all sins (which is true) then sin committed by a believer does not tarnish them (which is not true). This leads to sinners hardening their heart to sin which is the opposite of atonement.
“Christ loves me as I am” is not doctrinal – he loves you, but he wants you to strive to be a better person. One does not love the drug addict by letting them indulge in their addiction – if we love them, we seek to help them overcome their addiction. In the same way, one does not love the sinner by celebrating their sin and/or telling them they are courageous for living in sin.
Christ will one day judge mankind (the Day of the Lord – 2Peter 3:10) – which standard do you think he will use, yours or his Father’s?
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Matthew 7:13-14
Few because many do not recognize sin and/or repent of their sin.
The choice is to accept Christ as your Savior (see Born Again? and Born Again, Part 2) and live life everlasting, or to face Christ as your judge and possibly die in the Lake of Fire.
29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: 30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. 31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. 32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments: 33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation. 34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Leviticus 16:29-34
What is Yahweh telling us about this holiday:
It is a permanent regulation (mentioned twice)
We are to afflict ourselves.
It is for the Israelite and the Gentile believer.
The priest makes an atonement through a blood sacrifice.
It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest.
I mentioned it in my blog about Yom Teruah, but it bares repeating. The spring holidays proscribed by Yahweh pointed to the coming messiah and were fulfilled by Yeshua Ha’mashiach (Joshua, the Redeemer) the Passover lamb that was killed to take away the sins of the world, rose again, and gave us holy spirit. The Fall holidays point to the return of Yeshua in glory as ruler of heaven and earth and judge of mankind.
The instructions to observe Yom Kippur are repeated later in Leviticus:
26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. 29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. 30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. 31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.
Leviticus 23:26–32
Once again, Yahweh is telling the believers:
It is a special (“high day”) Sabbath that is to be observed no matter the day of the week it falls on.
We are to afflict ourselves (mentioned twice).
The priest makes an atonement through the sacrifice.
It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest.
If we don’t afflict ourselves, we are to be destroyed.
If we don’t rest, we are to be destroyed
It is a permanent regulation.
It is to be a complete day, from sunset to sunset.
Yahweh commands us to “afflict” (ânâh / aw-naw’ [H6031] – abase self, chasten, or submit) ourselves and to do no work. During the Days of Awe, we are to reflect upon our lives, but on the Day of Atonement, we are to thoroughly examine ourselves and ask forgiveness for our shortcomings. This introspection is our last chance to change our outcome.
This is not to be equated with a New Year resolution (as many do) – NYRs seek an earthly benefit (e.g, weight loss). On Yom Kippur we seek change that will align us in the Father’s Will. Failure to maintain a NYR is not seen as a tragedy – “I’ll try again next year.” There may not be another chance to atone a year later.
On the Judgment Day, Christ will judge us – the judgment entered in these books is sealed. On Yom Kippur, this day is, essentially, one’s last appeal, one’s last chance to change the judgment, to express your repentance and make amends. Another Yom Kippur may not avail itself.
The Day of Atonement is a foreshadowing of a future event (as all the holy days were / are) and we, as believers, are to prepare ourselves. This life is not the only existence we have to look forward to, but failure to live it according to the dictates of Yahweh could mean your second life could end very quickly in a lake of fire. Yom Kippur is a yearly reminder that judgment is coming, and we want to prepare ourselves.
Yom Kippur is the only day that a priest could enter the holy of holies and submit a burnt offering for the sins of the people. It is a foreshadowing of the Day of Judgment when Christ will judge all.
The life blood of the sacrificial animal was required in exchange for the life blood of the worshiper (the symbolic expression of innocent life given for guilty life). Yeshua, however, as our High Priest (in heaven – he is not of the family of Aaron, nor a Levite), shed his innocent blood once for an atonement for all people (Hebrews 9:23–25). Unfortunately, few accept his sacrifice.
The choice is to accept Christ as your Savior (i.e., do as he commands) and live life everlasting, or to face Christ as your judge and possibly die in the Lake of Fire. I believe that those who never knew Christ can be judged as honorable based on whatever standard he chooses, in their cases. Ultimately, Yeshua will be just in whatever manner he adjudicates.
The “once saved, always saved” theology must reckon with Christ’s proclamation that few will enter into the kingdom (Matthew 7:13-14, see also 1Peter 4:17-19). A doctrine that is almost universally accepted amongst Christians sounds more like the “broad way that leadeth to destruction” than the “narrow way which leadeth unto life”.
When you examine (afflict) yourself, you will, no doubt, come up lacking (if you don’t, then you are not serious about chastening yourself) – welcome to the club. We are not trying to achieve perfection; we are trying to make commitments to being better. Failure to do so questions your confession of Yeshua as “Lord” in your life (see my blog, Born Again?). When one hires on as a servant, they do not get to choose how they want to serve their Lord; they agree to serve as the Lord wants and endeavor to do the best they can.
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
Yeshua will not be mocked. He knows what we don’t confess, so we might as well deal with sin in our lives before we are judged for those sins.
Traditionally, Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on that day. Orthodox Jews refrain from eating and drinking (even water) on Yom Kippur (one of the meanings of afflict is “ravish”). It is a complete, twenty-five-hour fast beginning before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ending after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur. These restrictions, however, can be lifted where a threat to life or health is involved.
Do not mistake a fasting as the affliction. Fasting is a form of affliction, but Yahweh desires that we afflict our souls, not our bodies – to get honest with yourself and truly repent unto life. Fasting is okay if you want, at any time, but it is neither a substitute for, nor a heightening of your taking an assessment of your walk with Yahweh.
Isaiah warns against seeking attention by using a fast to advance your image as better than others because of your ‘affliction’:
3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. 4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Isaiah 58:3-7
Isaiah speaks of feeding and clothing the poor on Yom Kippur. As it is a complete Sabbath, prepare food and collect clothes beforehand to distribute. We can (and should) do good even as we take the time to assess our relationship with the Father and His Son.
I once gave blood on Yom Kippur – the timing and the imagery of the sacrificing of blood, yet giving of life shouted out to me.
Remember that Yeshua told us, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).
Today (Monday) is Yom Teruah (the Day of Trumpets). If you heard the blaring of something that sounded like a trumpet, then one of your neighbors was blowing a shofar (ram’s horn) as mentioned in Leviticus 23:23-25.
If you heard the sound of muffled raspberries, you are probably my neighbor. All the videos make using a shofar look easy which increased my consternation.
Yom Teruah also ushers in the ten days of repentance leading up to Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). These days are referred to as Yamim Nora’im (“Days of Awe”). This is a time for introspection and consideration of our sins of the previous year.
The number ten is significant in the Bible and stands for
Completeness of order, marking the entire round of anything, is, therefore, the ever-present signification of the number ten. It implies that nothing is wanting; that the number and order are perfect; that the whole cycle is complete.
Number in Scripture, E.W. Bullinger
The Ten Commandments are an example of this completeness . . . as are the ten plagues that completely eviscerated the Egyptian gods.
Just as one Commandment or one plague was not enough, one day of repentance and introspection is not enough to completely examine ourselves of the previous 365 days. When we mess up, we tend to justify or repress the memory of our bad behavior, making it more difficult to repent and ask forgiveness.
During the “Days of Awe” we are to reflect upon our lives, but on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the tenth day after Yom Teruah, is the final day to thoroughly examine ourselves and ask forgiveness for our short-comings. This introspection is our last chance to change our outcome.
On Yom Kippur, the judgment entered in these books is sealed. This day is, essentially, your last appeal, your last chance to change the judgment, to express your repentance and make amends.
Christ will officiate at the final judgment after he returns in glory (on Yom Teruah). Since we may not live to see his return (I’m convinced I will, but I am not a reliable prophet of future events), we ask forgiveness whenever we can and take steps to alter our behavior.
If the person that wrongs you, asks for your forgiveness, and then repeatedly wrongs you again is not really seeking forgiveness. Yahweh nor Yeshua will not be mocked in the same way.
Among the customs of this time, it is common to seek reconciliation with people you may have wronged during the course of the year. The Talmud maintains that Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and G-d. To atone for sins against another person, you must first seek reconciliation with that person, righting the wrongs you committed against them if possible.
The Days are not prescribed in the Word, but examples of the ten days for repentance exist in the Bible. One example is the arrogance of Nabal.
2 And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.
1Samuel 25:2-3
David was in exile because King Saul was jealous of him and was determined to kill David. Nevertheless, David’s men coexisted with Nabal’s shepherds – protecting the shepherds and the herds and they restrained themselves from taking from the flocks to fill their bellies.
At the time of shearing, David sent messengers to Nabal asking for a contribution from the rich man in return for the protection Nabal had received.
9 And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. 10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. 11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?
1Samuel 25:9-11
When David heard Nabal’s response, he ordered a large contingent of his men to arm themselves and join him in attacking Nabal’s home and killing all the men.
When Abigail later heard of the reproach given to David’s men, she loaded several asses with food and supplies and secretly left to ask David for forgiveness. She met David on the way to her home and he accepted the gifts and called off the raid.
She returned home during a celebration and decided to tell her husband what had happened after he sobered up
37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.
1Samuel 25:37-38
Nabal had ten days to repent of his words and actions. He did not.
Take time to be introspective and endeavor to amend your erring ways – your eternal life depends on it.
