Prayer – Holy Spirit—thank you for showing me the importance of repentance—and Yom Kippur. God, You are worthy of my repentance—and I give up to You my sins—my shortcomings—my attitudes that are not pleasing to You. Renew a right spirit within me…Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10). I long to obey your commandments! Renew my life with your goodness. (Psalm 119:40).
The LORD said to Moses, "Warn your brother,
Aaron, not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain whenever he
chooses; if he does, he will die. For the Ark's cover--the place of
atonement--is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement
cover. ... Aaron must take from the community of Israel two male goats for a
sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. "Aaron will present his own
bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with
the LORD. Then he must take the two male goats and present them to the LORD at
the entrance of the Tabernacle. He is to cast sacred lots to determine which
goat will be reserved as an offering to the LORD and which will carry the sins
of the people to the wilderness of Azazel. Aaron will then present as a sin
offering the goat chosen by lot for the LORD. The other goat, the scapegoat
chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the LORD.
When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified
and made right with the LORD. Leviticus 16:2, 5-10
Is this a scapegoat?
Meditate. Consider God’s plan for atonement.
What is next in the Jewish Calendar…the Feasts that God
ordained?
Rosh
Hashanah – Jewish New Year (September 15-17)
Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur (September
24-25)
Feast
of Tabernacles – Sukkot (September 29- October 6)
Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah– Happy Days (October 6-8)
Chanukah –
Festival of Lights (December 7-15)
For the Day of Atonement specific instruction were given to Moses for the priests who entered the Holy of
Holies once a year. To begin with that priest was Aaron and later it was a
priest, always in the tribe of Levi, chosen for that particular duty. More
instructions were given in Leviticus, particularly chapter 16, for the duties
and responsibilities of the priests. Yom Kippur, which this year will be September
24-24, is that Day of Atonement that is described in Leviticus 16:29-34. It is
the Day of Atonement for the people—but they didn’t have to do anything. The
priest alone went into the Holy of Holies, before God, and atoned for all the
people’s sins for that past year. The people were just to rest—no work on the
Sabbath—nothing to do.
This
was to be an annual event—a permanent statute. Yom Kippur is the holiest day of
the year. It is still a holy day that Jews today observe. One of the
similarities is that it is still a day of fasting. It is a day of repentance.
Unlike the Israelites in the day of Moses, no longer is it just to watch while
a priest makes atonement for their sins in the past year. Today
everyone takes part in the repentance observation. Person and public prayers of
repentance are important. As Christians we are called to repentance continually—not
on just one day of the year. Every day is a Day of Atonement.
Verse of Salvation ~ Help us, O God of our salvation!
Help us for the glory of your name. Save us and forgive our sins for the honor
of your name. Psalm 79:9
Celebrate the Prosser Balloon Festival
© 2023 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
Revised from September 26, 2015 “Banquet With The King” blog.
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.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M.
Hunacek
Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com
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