Jesus in Yom Kippur

One of the legends surrounding Yom Kippur is that it is on this day that God determines a person's fate for the coming year. Therefore, it is important, according to tradition, for Jewish people to spend the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur seeking forgiveness for sins committed against others and against God. But what does the Bible teach about this most holy of convocations?

Leviticus 23 commands that Yom Kippur be a day of complete rest and a time when a person humbles their soul before God. The Bible describes it as a day when the Jewish people were to present before the Lord an "offering by fire" for atonement of sins as a perpetual statute. In other words this was a sacrifice that would be repeated for all time.

So where can one find Jesus in Yom Kippur? One can see that He is the ultimate and perpetual sacrifice for our sins before God. Hebrews 10:11-13 calls the sacrifice Jesus performed on the cross as "once for all." And a sacrifice that is different from the high priest which was both repetitive (year after year) and ineffective. His gift of life and death and resurrection brought us a hope that enters with us behind the veil of the Holy of Holies (Heb. 6:19).

So where can find Jesus in Yom Kippur. One can only find Him when a person realizes that He IS our Yom Kippur sacrifice -- now and for always.

"Feasts of Trumpets" and "Jewish New Year" are two other ways of expressing the sacredness of Rosh Hashanah. But regardless of what it is called, Rosh Hashanah is one of the most sacred moments on the Jewish calendar. It is the beginning of a period of spiritual evaluation known as the "Days of Awe" that concludes with Yom Kippur ten days later.

Many Christians, and with some cause, expect Jesus to return one year during Rosh Hashanah due to the emphasis of the trumpets (1 Thess. 4). However, to focus on the Lord's return is to lose one of the most opportune times for witnessing that believers have. The ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is a period when a Jewish person is spiritually reflective and mindful of eternity, life and death.

This reality is most evident when one considers the passage read during a Rosh Hashanah service -- Genesis 22. This is the story of the binding of Isaac and one which a believer can use to draw parallels to the ultimate sacrifice of Messiah Jesus on the cross.
Isaac was the chosen son of Abraham. Jesus was the "begotten" son of God. Isaac did not attempt to fight his father who was probably between 120 and 140 years old. Jesus went willingly to the cross. The uniqueness of the comparision is that Jesus can be seen not only as representing Isaac but also the ram who became the substitution for Isaac on the altar.

I hope you will take advantage of the High Holidays and the ones immediately after to share the sacrificial and substitutionary life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Shalom and L'Shana Tovah!

Ministry on the World Wide Web

Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. -- Colossians 4:6

The internet is a marvelous tool for information as well as a place where depravity appears to reign. For every website which proclaims the love of Jesus, there are multitudes which promote hatred and evil.

Tzedakah Ministries wants to be a stop on the information superhighway where a Jewish person can find answers to their spiritual questions. The website (www.tzedakahministries.org) is also a resource center for Christians who are learning how to be more effective witnesses to their Jewish friends and family.

Tzedakah Ministries is listed on Christian search engines and the ministry can even be "googled." So a Jewish person who is searching for the truth could find www.tzedakahministries.org while they were surfing the web. But the most effective method is to refer your Jewish friends to a site where their questions about Jesus could be answered.

The web ministry of Tzedakah Ministries is a also a place for those who have encountered a difficult question from a Jewish friend or family member. If this is your story, visit www.tzedakahministries.org and click on the Questions Answered link to ask your question as well to read responses to commonly asked questions.

"Tzedakah Moment" is a regular column on the website which tries to provide a detailed explanation of Messianic prophecies such as Isaiah 53 or Psalm 22.
Please visit www.tzedakahministries.org to be better equipped to answer every question with grace that is seasoned with the salt of truth, hope and light.