Yom Kippur – Most Holy Day – Day of Atonement

Meditate. Are you fasting on this Day of Atonement?

“Be careful to celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month—nine days after the Festival of Trumpets. You must observe it as an official day for holy assembly, a day to deny yourselves and present special gifts to the LORD. Do no work during that entire day because it is the Day of Atonement, when offerings of purification are made for you, making you right with the LORD your God. All who do not deny themselves that day will be cut off from God's people. And I will destroy anyone among you who does any work on that day. You must not do any work at all! This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live. This will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and on that day you must deny yourselves. This day of rest will begin at sundown on the ninth day of the month and extend until sundown on the tenth day.” Leviticus 23:27-32

Is this a scapegoat?

No work. No food. This Day of Atonement is also described in Leviticus 16. God told Moses just how He wanted this Holy Day to be observed. Respect. Repent. Reverence. Rest. It is a day that ends the Days of Awe for the Jews in which they respectfully repent of their sins—offences towards others and towards God. They spend the day fasting and in attendance at their synagogues in prayerful reverence—hoping that with their actions their names will be written in the Book of Life for the next year. In the Tabernacle and Temple times the sins of the congregation were laid on a goat that was sacrificed to the Lord and on another goat that was released into the wilderness as a scapegoat an atonement sins.

Christians sins are forgiven and atoned for by the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. Once for all—for all those who believe in Jesus as their Savior. Jesus is the High Priest making the atonement for sin—as well as being the sacrificial lamb. No scapegoat involved in the Christian perspective.

For now, as always, it is important to remember the importance of Jesus as our Messiah. It doesn’t matter if this is considered the Holiest of Holy Days—Jesus is still the Holy One who took away the sins of the world. Do you believe that He has done this for you? How is your relationship with Him today?

Prayer ~ Jesus, I am in awe of You. I don’t need a special day or ritual to atone for my sins. You’ve already done that for me. Thank You. I look forward to Your return for the believers. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Verse of Salvation ~ For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There's no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. 2 Corinthians 7:10

© 2021 Text, photos and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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