Hebraic Musing - Should Christians Observe
Yom Kippur?
At
sunset this evening, the tenth day of Tishri
on the Jewish calendar, starts the highest
holy day the Jews observe. Even the casual Jew will acknowledge
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) just like a nominal
Christian will celebrate Christmas or go to church on Easter. Why is Yom Kippur so important?
This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must
deny yourselves [fast] and not do any work [observe a Sabbath rest]—whether native-born or an alien living among you (That’s us!)—because
on this day atonement will be made
for you, to cleanse you.
Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a
sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance . . . This is to be a
lasting ordinance for you: Atonement
is to be made once a
year for all the sins of the
Israelites (Lev 16: 29-34 NIV).
These are my ponderings while
my stomach churns from the mandated twenty-five hour fast and other deprivations
while praying and searching my soul:
1. Why do I do this? A - Because Adonai, Father God, told me to do
it. Or
because “Daddy said so.”
2. Symbolically, there will be no eating or drinking or sex or finery in death, and Yom Kippur is about sampling
a form of death,
the wages of sin, so that
when we are allowed to live life again,
it will taste even sweeter. Fasting does produce a mental clarity, despite
the headache and rumblings in the stomach.
3. Erev Yom Kippur, sunset the evening before, starts with a prayer of
confession. Although
Yeshua has atoned for my sins, there are some things for me to consider. This is akin to the confessions I did in my younger days on Saturday before receiving Jesus during Communion at
Sunday Mass. I am sensing a need for more confession time and a renewal of something I once had in my younger days.
What kind of sins do the Jews confess in their Yom Kippur
liturgy? They go through the same ones covered by the sacrificial
offerings made for sin and guilt and trespass as prescribed in Leviticus
4-6:
1. Sins against God—intentional and unintentional; guilt
of the people; done private or communally. These were atoned
by the slaughter of innocent, unblemished animals by the high priest.
2. Thoughtless
sins against fellow man or community—atoned by sacrifice of a lamb and so forth.
3. Unintentional violations or sins against God’s holy things—atoned
by
giving an animal of like value to the priest, plus making restitution, plus paying twenty
percent.
4. Unintentional violations or sins against God’s commands—even if I don’t
know I am responsible. What
transgressions are we responsible for?
5. Intentional sins against others or the Lord’s holy tithe—
Atonement for “Intentional” sins required four steps: (1) confession; (2) restitution; (3) plus one-fifth (a double
tithe!); (4) provide an animal or silver offering
to the priest. Note, there is no blood sacrifice required - Leviticus 5. Does Yeshua’s sacrificial
death and blood
atone for intentional sins for which restitution has not been made? Heavy theological question!?!?
Jews and Christians are often thought
to be on opposing sides of the question of grace and good works. At the end of Yom Kippur, having prayed for mercy and forgiveness, Jews finally
throw themselves totally on the mercy of the Judge. Martin Luther ignited
the Reformation movement with his sola gratia,
by grace alone. In the end, Jews are
trusting on that same hope.
Point to Ponder
Do Christians tend to ignore the importance of
good works,
while Jews are not giving adequate recognition to their dependence on grace?
while Jews are not giving adequate recognition to their dependence on grace?
L'Shanah Tovah
y’all September
22, 2015
Yosef a.k.a. Joe Brusherd, Author:
