Day of Atonement: A Christian Holy Day. God's Point of View. The Symbolism of the Day of Atonement. Update.

For “Scripture Sunday”:

Day of Atonement: A Christian Holy Day 

“What does the Day of Atonement (or Yom Kippur in Hebrew) have to do with Christianity?

Isn’t this just an Old Testament festival that was fulfilled by Jesus Christ?

If we take a look at some of the Old Testament entries regarding this Holy Day, we see that that High Priest was to enter the Holy of Holies once a year, and spread the sacrificial blood on the Ark of the Covenant (Leviticus 16).

In Hebrews chapter 9, we are told that Jesus Christ “entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (verse 12).

Does the sacrifice of Jesus Christ abolish the Day of Atonement? Rather than being forgiven of our sin based on our own merits, the Day of Atonement reminds us of our absolute dependence on God, not just as creator and sustainer, but also as Redeemer. We celebrate the Day of Atonement in remembrance Christ defeating Satan and overcoming sin an death. Discover how this Christian Holy Day is still relevant for the follower of Jesus Christ today…”  More at: http://www.christianholydays.info/day-of-atonement/

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Day of Atonement: God's Point of View

“To comprehend God’s plan, we must understand God’s point of view, a necessary element to a good story. God sees not only the physical events occurring in the world, but the invisible spiritual forces at work behind the scenes.

When Christ returns, He will remove Satan and his demons from their positions of influence. God will ultimately place the blame for the sins of the world on the head of Satan (symbolized by the Azazel goat sent away on the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16:10). From God’s point of view, man has sinned and is responsible for his sins, but Satan was the originator of sin and the deceiver of all mankind (Genesis 3:1-5; Revelation 12:9) and will face the consequences.

The Day of Atonement foreshadows the binding of Satan and his demons. For 1,000 years Satan will be unable to influence human beings. Revelation 20:1-3 describes his imprisonment shortly after the return of Christ. Satan is the impediment standing in the way of mankind’s being reconciled to God. This is the ultimate fulfillment of the Day of Atonement.”       Excerpt from: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/plan-of-salvation/greatest-story-never-told/

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The Symbolism of the Day of Atonement

Leviticus 16:21-22

Pictures from: https://www.slideshare.net/rxariel/the-day-of-atonement

“Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.”

The Day of Atonement is a special holy day with great meaning. The rituals described in Leviticus 16 help us understand its meaning in God’s plan. Here are excerpts from our article “The Day of Atonement: Removing the Enemy, Reconciling All to God.”

“The rituals God gave ancient Israel for the Day of Atonement included one involving two goats. The high priest was to present them before God, and God would show which one was ‘for the Lord’ to be sacrificed (representing Jesus Christ) and which was for Azazel (the Hebrew word translated as ‘scapegoat’ in the New King James Version). The goat for Azazel was left alive.

“‘And he that letteth go the goat for Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water’ (Leviticus 16:21-22, 26, Jewish Publication Society).

The connection between the goat for Azazel and the binding of Satan in Revelation 20 becomes more clear when you note that most scholars believe Azazel is the name of a demon inhabiting the wilderness (Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. 1, p. 326).”

For more about the symbolism of the Day of Atonement, see “Leviticus 16 and the Day of Atonement.”      From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/the-symbolism-of-the-day-of-atonement/

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Jesus and Yom Kippur

“The Tabernacle and the Temple gave a clear picture of how sin separates us from the holiness of God. In Bible times, only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies by passing through the heavy veil that hung from ceiling to floor, creating a barrier between the people and the presence of God.

Once a year on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would enter and offer a blood sacrifice to cover the sins of the people. However, at the very moment when Jesus died on the cross, Matthew 27:51 says, "the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split." (NKJV)

Hebrews chapters 8 and 9 beautifully explain how Jesus Christ became our High Priest and entered heaven (the Holy of Holies), once and for all, not by the blood of sacrificial animals, but by his own precious blood on the cross.

Christ himself was the atoning sacrifice for our sins; thus, he obtained for us eternal redemption. As believers we accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of Yom Kippur, the final atonement for sin.”

From: https://www.thoughtco.com/day-of-atonement-700180

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Update.

Well, that is a lot about this present Holy Day, The Day of Atonement.  It is different from the other Feasts as it is a Fasting Day.

My neighbor needed to earn some extra money so he helped me with some things this week.  So on Monday he trimmed the hedge and weed-eated the yard and made it look tidy.

Then, Blow Me Down! On Tuesday, the Property Owners Assoc. comes along and takes down the subdivision’s fence between my back yard and the busy road behind me.  Now anyone walking along the road can come up to the back doors of either of my houses, as I don’t even have fenced back yards any more.  I do have my hedge between me and the world at this main house though. 

So Wednesday we spent the day cleaning up the mess.  Thursday we sorted out the lumber pile on the side of the mini-house, just in case they came along and tore that fence down, too, as I am on a corner. They had told me years ago when they tore out a lot of the fences around the subdivision, that I could keep mine as long as I maintained it.  I have been painting, buying and replacing boards and keeping it up all this time.  But this new Board of Directors wants all the subdivision’s fences down. 

Now they say that they will pay for my boards and that I can put up my own fence, design approved by them, of course.  That’s fine and dandy, but it has to be on the property line which means my hedge, 100’ trough of aloe vera, and underground watering system would be outside the new fence!  Who knew that they would have some silly sod come up with the idea of tearing the fence down since it has been there since 1984.

Friday, I just took it easy and cooked most of the day.  Then I got tired of my long hair and chopped off about 10 inches.  I feel quite light-headed now !

Finding in my freezer, taking up a lot of space, a big package of ground turkey and the only thing I could think of to make it taste less like ground turkey was Hungarian Goulash.  I bought some red onions and Sweet Hungarian Paprika and made a big pot of it.  Also a pot of spiced cabbage and another of purple new potatoes.  These three dishes were packed in three crockpots and taken for the church potluck.  There was also a chicken, organic chicken nuggets, meat pie, rice, beans, greens, salad, lots of other things, plus pies, cookies, etc.  For The Day of Atonement one is supposed to start fasting at sundown, 7.00 pm here,  so we wanted to make sure everybody had enough to eat and have enough left-overs to take home for when they quit fasting.

The Bible readings were Isa. 56:1-8, 58:13,14 about the Sabbath, then Deut. 16:18-21:9, Isa. 51:12-52:12, 53:12, John 1:19-27.  The Teaching was, of course, about The Day of Atonement.  We all had a great time eating, chatting, and fellowshipping in the dining hall, and some stayed for the evening service and start the fast together.   I didn’t want to be driving home after dark, so I went home.  Another lady from our congregation who lives near me, came over and we watched the Day of Atonement service from The Church Of God, Tyler, TX on my computer.

The church we use on Saturdays belongs to a Sunday church, so we had to have The Day of Atonement service after our Saturday service, as the church buildings would be busy on Sunday.