Yom Kippur 2023
Feasts of the LORD • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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THE DAY
THE DAY
Leviticus 23:26–32 (ESV)
26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. 29 For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”
By the time we leave here today, my goal is to accomplish a few things with regards to this 6th Feast of the LORD, Yom Kippur.
We will understand what the Bible has to say about this
We will discuss a few of the traditions that have been attached to this day
We will see how this Feast, like all others points to Messiah
Most importantly, I hope that we can leave here today with an understanding of how and why we should celebrate this Feast today.
Now I recognize that many of us are new to the Feasts, and so I want to always keep that in mind, even as the LORD brings others into our community, we have to be very careful to meet everyone where they are and then help them to grow.
So let’s begin with the Seven Feasts.
Passover (Pesach) - Fulfilled
Biblical Significance: Commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, particularly when the Angel of Death "passed over" the homes with lamb's blood on their doorposts (Exodus 12).
Connection to Messiah: Jesus was crucified during Passover, and many Christians see Him as the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), drawing a parallel between the sacrificial lamb of Passover and Jesus' sacrificial death.
Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot) - Fulfilled
Biblical Significance: Celebrated right after Passover, this feast involves the removal of leaven (a symbol for sin) from homes and eating unleavened bread for seven days.
Connection to Messiah: Jesus' sinless life is seen in the unleavened bread, and some also connect His burial with this feast as leaven (sin) was removed.
Firstfruits (Reshit Katzir) - Fulfilled
Biblical Significance: Celebrated the Sunday after Passover, it involves offering the first grain of the barley harvest.
Connection to Messiah: As Paul writes, Jesus is the "firstfruits" of those who have died (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
Pentecost (Shavuot or Weeks) - Fulfilled
Biblical Significance: Occurs fifty days after Firstfruits. Originally a harvest festival, it also commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Connection to Messiah: The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus' disciples on Pentecost (Acts 2). This event is considered the "birth" of the Church.
Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah or Yom Teruah) -Eagerly Await
Biblical Significance: Known today as the Jewish New Year, it's marked by the blowing of trumpets (shofars). Shofars were blown as a call to war; to celebrate and worship (like as in the coronation of a king);
Biblical Significance: The holiest day of the Jewish calendar, it's a day of fasting, repentance, and seeking forgiveness.
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) - Eagerly Await
Biblical Significance: The holiest day of the Jewish calendar, it's a day of fasting, repentance, and seeking forgiveness.
Connection to Messiah: Jesus is seen as the ultimate high priest and sacrificial offering that atones for sin (Hebrews 4:14-16; 9:11-14).
Tabernacles (Sukkot or Booths) - Eagerly Await
Biblical Significance: A week-long festival that recalls the Israelites' wilderness journey and their dependence on God.
Connection to Messiah: Some see this as pointing to God dwelling among His people through Jesus' incarnation (John 1:14). Others believe it represents the future messianic kingdom when Jesus will reign on earth.
We do not celebrate the Feasts of the LORD because they are not Christmas or Easter, we don’t celebrate them just to be different, we don’t celebrate them because we are trying to become Jews. We celebrate these feasts of the LORD because in them we see God’s plan for redemption for mankind. We celebrate them because when we do, our hearts quicken and we live our lives eagerly awaiting the coming of our Bridegroom.
Let me pause right here.
Today, I believe that the LORD Yeshua is coming back, I believe in my heart that He is coming back soon. I also believe that the Scriptures show that Messiah will return on Feast of Yom Teruah/Feast of Trumpets/
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
How does this belief affect my life? Well this year is the first time I have ever considered this matter. As I reflected on the changes we have experienced here over the past few months, the changes I feel like we still need to make, I stopped and began to really think through some of this.
I want to begin to live my life in a two-fold though process.
We just completed Yom Teruah, and since as far as I can tell, the LORD did not return, I believe we have another year. At least another year.
But I am not telling you that the LORD is returning next. What I am saying is that this year the Feasts made me realize that I need to live my life as if this is the last year before the LORD returns and it might not be.
This means that anything I put my hand to, needs to be ready for the LORD to return for the LORD to return in the first week of October 2024, but it must also be done so well that should the LORD not return that it will stand, continue to do what it was intended to do until the LORD does return.
23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Now with that clarified, Let’s get back to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Please open up your Bibles to Leviticus 16. (Have people read aloud the first 28 verses.)
Leviticus 16:1–3 (ESV)
1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, 2 and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 3 But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
Verse 1 refers to an earlier event in Leviticus 10, where Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, offered "unauthorized fire" before the LORD, which was not commanded by Him. As a consequence, fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
Again, a picture of what I like to as, “God works in patterns.” Because our God is unchanging and perfect, we know that how God has revealed Himself to man in the past is not going to change and this helps us to know God because He is recognizable and consistent. Here the pattern is about right and wrong of approaching God.. The sons of Aaron went about the wrong way of approaching God. They brought an unauthorized fire before the LORD and they were put to death. The method they were worshipping God was not in line with the instruction of how God wanted to be worshipped and this was the offense, the result was death.
This is important for us to understand, because it has tremendous application to our own lives. We cannot assume that God will just accept any sacrifice, or that it will please Him we say some prayer, for repentance, for salvation, for forgiveness, if it is not with a pure heart and clean hands. We are going to learn that today for sure.
What we are learning here is that there is a right and a wrong way to worship God, a right and a wrong way to approach God, and a right and a wrong way to bring a sacrifice. All of these have consequences.
Leviticus 16:4 (ESV)
4 He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on.
The first thing the High Priest is to do is to bath himself. When we read God’s Word He wants us to think through every word.
This Day of Atonement was so important, so Sacred so Solemn, that the priest would be stowed away in a special place for two weeks leading up to this event. Israel recognized how important it was for the the High Priest to perform his duties and the consequences of not performing his duties. They were so aware that they created a “back-up” plan, a second priest would be just as ready, just as clean, just as prepared in case something catastrophic would occur and the High Priest was not able to do his job, the second priest could fill in.
During this two week window, the priest would study Scripture, pray, keep himself from being defiled in any way. He would not handle his normal duties, because those duties would bring him into contact with unclean matters, like touching the dead, so he would be kept from that too.
When we read this, verse, what we are seeing is about becoming clean. The priest would be naked before the LORD. Nothing between him and God, exposing everything to the LORD, only then could he be clothed in Holy Garments.
Now throughout the year, the High Priest looked like a bit of a peacock. He wore colorful garments, the way he dressed was intended to grab attention. But not on this day. The clothes he was to dress in were plain linen garments. This was to reflect the humility that comes with being naked before the LORD and in being God’s servant.
Revelation 19:8 (ESV)
8 it was granted her to clothe herself , with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
This is how God’s people are to be clothed. It isn’t as much about fine line, bright and pure as much as it is about humility that comes from being in the presence of God.
Exodus 34:33–35 (ESV)
33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.
34 Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, 35 the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Though Jesus is God incarnate, during the Transfiguration, He showed His divine glory to Peter, James, and John. His appearance changed dramatically in their presence.
2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
In verse 6 we learn that before the High Priest could make an offering for the people of Israel, he first had to make one for himself and his own family.
Men, I want you to hold onto this passage. This is an important one for us to cling to. We know for a fact that statistically speaking, the salvation of your family depends on you. It hinges on each of us. Our wives and children are directly affected by our faith in Messiah. A home where a father does not believe in Christ or live their life as if they do is negatively affected in many ways the greatest of which is the wife and the children do not believe.
God’s judgment begins in our homes and we have a responsibility and a calling to lead them His way.
This is not to say that the wives and children aren’t responsible on their own either. God is pretty clear about this matter too. But men, we do have a greater influence than we recognize.
Leviticus 16:7–12 (ESV)
7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
11 “Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. 12 And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil
Casting lots was and remains today for many, a way to determine God’s will. Usually with the High Priest involved, he would be wearing this breastplate called the ephod, with the stones on it, each stone representing a tribe of Israel. Inside the breastplate was tucked away the Urim (light) and Thummim (perfection).
What is being determined here is the matter of the two goats.
One goat would be for the LORD and the other for Azazel.
The goat for the LORD would be sacrificed for the purification of the people and Israel. The goat for Azazel (demon, Satan) would not be slaughtered. This goat is where we get the term, Scapegoat. Instead this goat would be driven into the wilderness.
Later tradition would include that a Gentile would take this goat deep into the wilderness, high up a mountain where there would be a ledge of some sort, and the Gentile would then push this goat over the ledge to its death. This way the sins put upon the goat would never accidentally return to Israel.
This is about transference. All of the priests uncleanness are being transferred upon the Bull and all of the uncleanness of Israel is being put on the Goat.
Leviticus 16:13 (ESV)
13 and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die.
The cloud adds a veil. It is a protective measure for the high priest. I think it reveals an even greater spiritual truth. By our hands, by our own labor, we will never be clean enough to see the LORD face to face.
21 The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”
In Leviticus 16:15
Leviticus 16:15 (ESV)
15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.
Sin is what makes us unclean. Yom Kippur is about cleaning the Temple and the people of sin so that God can be near to us.
Let’s think about that for just a moment today. I want you to be able to leave here and when someone asks you why you celebrate this Feast, or maybe if they should do it themselves, I would like you to be able to answer.
James 4:1–9 (ESV)
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
How do we draw near to God? This Feast of Yom Kippur, this holiest of Holy Days, so Holy, so solemn that is often referred to only as “The Day” is about drawing near to God.
Prayer: This is direct communication with God. Regular prayer—whether it's expressing gratitude, seeking guidance, or confessing sins—fosters a personal connection with Him.
Fasting: Going without food or other pleasures for a designated time can help focus the mind and spirit on God, leading to a deeper reliance on Him.
Obedience: Actively striving to live according to God's commandments and teachings in Scripture shows love and commitment to Him. This is not a time for us to choose which or His commands we want to follow and which ones we don’t. As Leviticus 16:1 shows, there is only one right way of doing things, that is God’s Way. All other ways lead to death.
Actively Repenting: This involves recognizing our sins, confessing them to God, and turning away from them. Repentance clears obstacles in our relationship with God.
While I absolutely believe today that the LORD won’t be returning for the next year, it doesn’t mean that I am right or that I will live the entire year. So if Yom Kippur teaches me anything it is that I am unclean, a sinner who is far from God. When I recognize this, then I have to repent. I have been teaching our kids that repentance isn’t only about acknowledging sin, but it includes turning from Sin to God, but making right where possible. Seeking forgiveness and committing to not sinning again.
We are not saved by our works.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Israel, the High Priest, they knew this as much on the Day of Atonement as we know this today. Do not be deceived by man’s doctrine that teaches you anything else. God’s people looked forward to Yom Kippur each year, it was a feast to celebrate God’s grace. Why?
Leviticus 16:21 (ESV)
21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.
Because God’s grace allowed a substitute for man’s sin.
Leviticus 16:22 (ESV)
22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
I want you to consider this all the days of your lives. God, in His perfect, loving, eternal will, that none should perish but all should have eternal life, allowed in His Torah a substitute on our behalf.
Yom Kippur never perfected man. The Law/Torah could never do that. It wasn’t the purpose of the Law. The Torah teaches us how to live, it convicts us when we violate it, it lets us know the consequences of our transgression....death. The Law of God does not make us perfect.
But it is an instrument of God’s grace. As Galatians 3:24-25 teaches us,
24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
I want you to keep this all in mind. The Torah is an instrument of God’s grace! I have often thought about this on my journey in faith these past few years. How can I have grace if I don’t believe that God has always been the Savior? How can I have a substitution for my sin if God, in His Torah, did not allow for it?
Leviticus 16:29 (ESV)
29 “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.
In Hebrew these numbers have meaning. Seven means perfection and Ten means completion and fulness.
It is no accident that God chose this day, the seventh month and the tenth day of the month to hold this solemn assembly.
It is this Yom Kippur Feast that point to Messiah, through His work we are perfected and made complete when we are cleansed by His blood. Let’s read together, please turn to Hebrews 9.
1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. 2 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, 4 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. 8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
How do we recognize this Feast, Yom Kippur?
31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever.
Beginning at Sundown on Sunday and going through one hour past sundown on Monday we are to have a “super sabbath” this means no work, and we are to afflict ourselves. Refrain from food and drink.
I would encourage you to consider doing this. Take the time to hydrate now, but to put your flesh to the test. Deny yourself food and drink. Let us fast together as one body.
On Monday, we will be holding a Tashlich ceremony to help us keep our minds focus on this feast.
Micah 7:19 (ESV)
19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Normally this is done at Rosh HaShannah, but we felt it fits nicely with Yom Kippur.