For “Scripture Sunday”
Why Should Christians Celebrate the Day of Atonement (Also Known as Yom Kippur)?
“Long after Jesus Christ’s death, the Day of Atonement continued as an important Holy Day for the New Testament Church of God. What does the Day of Atonement mean for Christians today?
Chris Sardegna/Unsplash
When the meaning of the Day of Atonement is fulfilled in the future, it will set the stage for the sixth festival of God, the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Day of Atonement is the fifth of God’s annual Holy Days (Leviticus 23:26-32), following shortly after the Feast of Trumpets. Observed by fasting (verse 27; compare Isaiah 58:3), which means not eating or drinking (Esther 4:16), this day portrays the human race finally becoming at one with God.
At the return of Jesus Christ, Satan the devil, who now leads all of mankind astray (Ephesians 2:2; Revelation 12:9), will be bound (Revelation 20:1-3) so all humans of all nations can be reconciled to God.
In the New Testament Luke referred to this Holy Day as “the fast” in Acts 27:9.
When the meaning of the Day of Atonement is fulfilled in the future, it will set the stage for the sixth festival of God, the Feast of Tabernacles.” From: https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/bible-questions-and-answers/why-should-christians-celebrate-the-day-of-atonement
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The Symbolism of the Day of Atonement
Leviticus 16:21-22
“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 Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel … and shall send him away by the hand of an appointed man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land which is cut off; and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness…
“‘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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THE MEANING OF THE FESTIVAL
“The Day of Atonement depicts the binding and removal of Satan the devil and his influence on the earth.
The fifth annual holy day, the Day of Atonement, reveals Satan’s fate in God’s master plan. This holy day symbolizes the removal of the instigator of all sin—Satan the devil. The removal of Satan is something to celebrate! It is a day to celebrate because all of humanity will finally be able to be at one with God the Father through Christ’s sacrifice.
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Masquerading as an angel of light, Satan has been able to masterfully deceive the whole world.
Satan, who is called the god of this present world, constantly tries to influence people to disobey God and His law (2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2). Masquerading as an angel of light, Satan has been able to masterfully deceive the whole world (2 Corinthians 11:14; Revelation 12:9). God and humans can never be fully at one until Satan is completely banished and the whole world has repented.
Jesus has already overcome Satan and qualified to replace him as ruler of the earth (John 16:33). Jesus Christ will return soon as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to oust Satan and rule the earth. Satan will be restrained and forbidden from deceiving the nations throughout the Millennium (Revelation 20:1-3).” From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/learning-center/youth-development/the-word-of-god/day-of-atonement/?
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What Is the Day of Atonement?
“One of God’s fall Holy Days is called the Day of Atonement. What does this day picture?
Transcript of YouTube: https://youtu.be/Cu3BwQ8pyGs
[Darris McNeely] Of all God’s festivals, the Day of Atonement has a very special meaning and I’ve always kind of been attached to it. It’s the hardest because it is a day of fasting, and fasting is not a natural human condition. But on the Day of Atonement, we see some of the most beautiful teaching and meaning of the word of God regarding the hope that we can look…have in this life.
In Leviticus 16, there’s an entire chapter that talks about what happened on the Day of Atonement in the Old Testament when the high priest would go in several times into the temple sanctuary, into the Holy of Holies with the blood of sacrifice. He only did that once a year, and he was the only one who could do that. Now, we don’t have a temple, we don’t do animal sacrifices, but God does command the Day of Atonement like all of His other festivals and His weekly Sabbath to be something that He would…His people would keep throughout their generations forever. And those two words throughout the generations and forever, they do mean what they say.
So how do we apply this today? Well, let’s turn over to the book of Hebrews 9 and there’s a couple of verses here, six and seven, that we should read that tell us exactly why the Day of Atonement has an ongoing meaning, application and observance for the people of God, for the saints of God, for the church of God. “Now, when these sayings had been thus prepared,” the writer says, “the priests have always went into the first part of the tabernacle performing the services, but into the second part, the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, that once a year was on the Day of Atonement. With that blood he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance.”
It was an offering to remove the penalty of sin off of the nation in the Old Testament, but with Christ’s sacrifice today, it removes the penalty of sin off of all mankind, and we have the opportunity to take advantage of that today in our life when we accept Christ as our savior and are baptized and receive God’s spirit. Verse eight, “The Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the tabernacle was still standing.”
Christ is our high priest today and He is in God’s throne. He is in God’s presence making sacrifice or applying that sacrifice for us today. It was one sacrifice for all time. When we keep the Day of Atonement, when we fast, when we worship God on His appointed times, we remember that we have that pointed out in our attention, and we have ourselves pointed to one of the most important lessons for us in the world today. A time when the evil of this world will finally be removed and when sin will be removed from mankind’s presence and true atonement with God will be realized.” From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-daily/what-is-the-day-of-atonement
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Update.
Finally, my immigration status was confirmed so I can now have a gold star on my drivers license. So I went to College Station, met my daughter and we went on into Bryan to get our licenses. She ran into the same thing because I had brought her over here from England when she was 20 months old,and hadn’t taken out American citizenship either. I got my license, but she has to wait to be confirmed now, too.
One of the phone reps of my internet/ cable/ phone company said that I could take the modem that wasn’t lighting up properly into their office in Bryan and they would give me another one. Oh! Yea! Not so! The office said an installer still had to come out on Friday. While we were in Bryan, I also went to the Social Security office but still have to go back on the 29th with more paperwork to hopefully do what I have to do. Red tape, as usual!
It was The Feast of Atonement last Wednesday, that is why that is spotlighted here. A solemn occasion.
I found a body shop that did a great job of heating my bumper and pushing out the dent in my back bumper and screwing the back panel back up. It took them half an hour to do it. Later that day, the cable company repair man came and it took him half an hour to determine that the installer hadn’t screwed all the connections tight for my internet and phone. Everything is fixed and working right, for now.
So many savory dishes are brought for the Sabbath potluck that I made a dessert. Usually there are just the brownies that my neighbor makes, so this time I made a Crustless Pumpkin Pie, and it was very popular. This week’s theme is Walk In Love, Eph. 5:2, the Bible study was more about Nehemiah, and the Message was about “Who Is My Neighbor” , Luke 10:25-37: Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
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Then the weather turned cold and went down into the 50’s on Saturday.
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