Yom Kippur by Brock and Bodie Thoene

 

 

 

YOM KIPPUR—2009
by
Bodie and Brock Thoene

    “If I have offended you in the past year, I humbly ask your forgiveness.”

    Sunset tonight marks the beginning of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is the culmination of the Ten Days of Awe that began with Rosh Hashanah. Of all Jewish holy days, this is the most significant. There are only a handful of fasts in the Jewish religious calendar, but from sunset to sunset Yom Kippur is one. It represents a recognition of past failings and a opportunity to repent and atone for them…to ‘wipe the slate clean’….in preparation for the year ahead.

    This is the one day of the year when the High Priest, the ‘Cohen Hagadol,’ entered behind the veil of the Holy of Holies to sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat. The blood of the goat represented a ‘substitutionary sacrifice,’ and foreshadowed the atoning death of Jesus on the cross.

This is a holiday Yeshua knew well. Part of the Yom Kippur liturgy was and is the entire book of the Prophet Jonah. Read the scriptures for today aloud, and keep that fact in mind as you as picture the ceremony in the Temple of Jesus’ day.

Reading 1
Isaiah 53:4-9 (speaking of the Messiah who was to come)
"Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, While we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins. Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; But the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all.
Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth.
Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away, and who would have thought any more of his destiny? When he was cut off from the land of the living, and smitten for the sin of his people, a grave was assigned him among the wicked and a burial place with evildoers, though he had done no wrong nor spoken any falsehood."

Reading 2
I John 2:1,2
"My children, I am writing this to you so that you may not commit sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. He is expiation (ATONEMENT) for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world."

Reading 3
Hebrews 4:14-16 (not just through the Temple veil, but ‘through the heavens’)
"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help."

Reading 4
Jonah 3:4-10
"Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day's walk announcing, 'Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,' when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his nobles: 'Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep, shall taste anything; they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water. Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God; every man shall turn from his evil way and from the violence he has in hand. Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath, so that we shall not perish.' When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out."

Reading 5
Matthew 12:38-41 (See how the Pharisees tried to change the subject from their hypocrisy and how Jesus brought the message back again to the absolute need for repentance and a rejection of self-righteousness)
(Jesus said:) "'Either declare the tree good and its fruit is good, or declare the tree rotten and its fruit is rotten, for a tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you say good things when you are evil? For from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks. A good person brings forth good out of a store of goodness, but an evil person brings forth evil out of a store of evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will render an account for every careless word they speak. By your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.' Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, 'Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.' He said to them in reply, 'An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here.'"

Reading 6
II Chronicles 7:14
“and if my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my presence and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and revive their land.”    

To Sum Up:
Jesus is both High Priest and Sacrifice. He carried His own atoning blood through the veil! He is the final, full and complete atonement for our sin, and the means of our reconciliation with God. On this Day of Atonement, recognize both that we need pardon, but also that, because of Jesus, we have that pardon as soon as we ask.

Pray with us:
“Lord Jesus, I admit my failings for the year just past and I humbly ask your forgiveness. I recognize that, despite my best intentions, I will fail in the year ahead. I acknowledge that I am a sinner saved by grace, eager to ‘humble myself and pray and seek Your face,’ and in that spirit and by Your invitation, I ask healing for myself, my family, my friends, and my nation.”
In the Almighty Name of Yeshua haMashiach, Amen.

Blessings in Jesus’ Name.
Bodie and Brock
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

What Wise Men See... by Brock and Bodie Thoene

Shanah tovah!

Tonight (Friday, September 18) at sunset is the start of the Jewish New Year---Rosh Hashanah. Tonight inaugurates the Year of Creation, 5770.

It is also the beginning of the Ten Days of Awe which culminate in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

It is a time for reflecting on the choices…victories and short-comings…of the past year. It is a time of recommitment to the Lord for the year ahead. It is a time to acknowledge our need of repentance, to be more constant in prayer, and to regard the needs of others as superior to our own.

In Jewish tradition this is a time when the Lord inscribes His assessment of your year just past and the expectation of your year ahead. (Hence the traditional greeting: “May you be inscribed for a GOOD year!”)

In looking to the skies we note two significant sights in the heavens on this New Year—
Rising in the east at sunset is Jupiter, Tzaddik, the Righteous King. As always, Jupiter is a reminder that Jesus is the One who is wholly righteous. Jesus presided over creation (at its beginning) and continues as the Lord of Creation forever. As the wholly righteous king He is the only one worthy to be the Lord of your life…but can be so ONLY if you LET Him take control of your life.
On this New Year, what part of your life are you still trying to keep in YOUR control instead of surrendering it to Jesus?

Mirroring the sunset image is what we see in the pre-dawn sky: Venus, Nogah, Splendor, rising in the paw of the Leo the Lion. There is a day coming…and closer now than ever before…when the Lion of Judah will return to claim His people (Us!) and to assert His sovereignty.

What a brilliant and encouraging two-part picture this is! This Rosh Hashanah we see Jesus portrayed from being the One Who created all things….right the way through to His coming revelation to the universe when He arrives IN SPLENDOR to rule and to reign!

As you read today’s scripture, observe and reflect on references to Splendor, Creation, Righteousness and Kingship! Marvel with us at how the writer of the letter to the Hebrews anticipated these High Holy Days almost 2000 years ago!
Hebrews 1:1-3, 8-12
In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets. In these last days, He spoke to us through a Son, whom He made heir of all things and through whom He CREATED the universe, who is the refulgence of His glory (SPLENDOR!), the very imprint of His being, and who sustains all things by His mighty word. When He had accomplished purification from sins, He took His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
******
of the Son He said: "Your throne, O God, stands forever and ever; and a righteous scepter is the scepter of Your KINGDOM You loved RIGHTEOUSNESS and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, anointed You with the oil of gladness above your companions" and: "At the beginning, O Lord, You established the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment. You will roll them up like a cloak, and like a garment they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end."
The word of the Lord!
To sum up:
Confirming the scriptures, the heavens declare splendor and the soon return of our Righteous King, just as prophets and the heavens pointed the way to His birth 2000 years ago! Stand in awe before your Redeemer! This Rosh Hashanah prepare your heart for the coming of the Lord!

Happy New Year 5770!
Shalom!
Bodie and Brock

Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua