Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Judgment Is Coming - Are We Ready ?

Now is the time to pray like never before for our country ! A time to be At One Ment
with God. A time to judge ourselves first and then God would not have to judge us. Time to check ourselves to see if we are really of the household of God. To pray and fast
to loosen the bonds of wickedness that grips this nation and world. A time of Redemption.

THE FALL FEASTS: YOM KIPPUR - (Print)

"Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God."
- Leviticus 23:27-28

Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, is perhaps the most important holiday of the Jewish year. Yom Kippur is observed on the 10th of Tishri. This year Yom Kippur will begin at sunset on October 8th and end at nightfall on October 9th. Yom Kippur is considered the holiest and most solemn day of the year. It is a day of repentance and reconciliation. Yom Kippur is a Sabbath day. Therefore most Jews refrain from working and will attend synagogue services. It is also traditionally a day of fasting.

It was on this day - the only day - that the High Priest was able to enter the Holy of Holies, and then only after elaborate ceremonial washings, offerings, and associated rituals. This was also the day that two goats were selected, one for an offering and one as the "scapegoat." As many aspects of the feasts were prophetic, the scapegoat is also Messianic. The ceremonial acts that were to be carried out by the High Priest on Yom Kippur are described in Leviticus 16 (see also Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 23:27-31, 25:9; Numbers 29:7-11). Since the loss of the Temple in 70 A.D., the God-centered observances of the Torah have tragically been replaced with a man-centered, good works system of appeasement through prayer, charity, and penitence.

Yom Kippur traditionally ends with one long note of the Shofar, a musical instrument usually made from a ram's horn. The significance of the ram's horn is traditionally rooted in Genesis 22. Here God commands Abraham "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Abraham is called upon by God to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, as a test of his faith. After God halts the sacrifice at the last minute, Abraham spies a ram trapped by his horns in a nearby thicket and offers the animal instead as a sacrifice.

It is interesting to note that this is the first instance in which the word "love" appears in Scripture. God commands Abraham to sacrifice "thine only son Issac, whom thou lovest." In this passage Issac is identified as Abraham's only son, but what about Ishmael? If you examine this passage of scripture in detail it becomes clear that Abraham was acting out prophecy. This strange event was a foreshadowing of Christ's death on the cross as a substitutionary offering for our sins. In fact, it may have even taken place at the very same spot where the "only begotten Son" of God was later crucified.

Woven throughout the Old Testament feasts is the foreshadowing of God’s plan for the redemption of mankind. Those of us who have placed our trust in Jesus Christ are able to enter behind the veil and stand in the Holy of Holies. We have forgiveness because of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Please take a moment during this most holy of days to reflect on all of these things and to repent of any unconfessed sin in your life.

[Editor's Note: This is the second installment of a three part series on the fall feasts of Israel. Next week’s article will cover Succoth, otherwise known as the Feast of Tabernacles.]

Related Links:

The Feasts of Israel - DVD - Special Offer!
The Fall Feasts: Rosh Hashanah - Part 1 of 3
Yom Kippur: Beyond Words - Jerusalem Post

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Negative Negative Negative
The people who have all their hope in this world, think people like me are pretty negative. I look forward to the end of the world as we know it, why? The kingdom I belong to is not of this world. The bible says we are aliens and strangers here, I believe it, I feel it. This world is not our home. Our king has'nt taken over this world yet, but we really really want him to. Do people ever listen to what they are praying when they pray the Lord's prayer? Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, remember? If we are praying for his kingdom to come, and his will to be done, it means we should be finished with the kingdoms of this world, turn your back on them.

Watching the world fall apart around us leads me to believe that our Fathers kingdom IS COMING. The world still has to go through the tribulation yet, so we have some time to wait, however, for some who are counted worthy, there is an escape promised (Luke 21:36). Yep, I'm an escapist, Jesus told me to pray that I may be one. The financial collapse we are seeing these days would make a dandy 'coming out' party for the anti-christ. That means the escape could be very near. Nothing needs to happen between today and when Jesus shows up for us. He could come today. Be watching, be ready. The hard times we see in the world should lift your chin up, not sink it down. Look up for your redemption draws nigh. Blessed will be the servants who are found watching when our master appears.
christianitynotchurchianity.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

"Today is Yom Kippur, the Holiest Day in Judaism !"



Shalom.

“May Your Name Be Inscribed In The Book of Life,” is the famous Jewish greeting on holiday cards during the Jewish fall holidays. But most Jewish people do not understand the meaning of the Book of Life, and the reality of eternal life!

Today is Yom Kippur, and Jewish people around the world will fast for 24 hours and go to synagogue to pray. Yom Kippur, is also known as the Day of Atonement, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Synagogue services last from morning throughout the afternoon, during which Jewish people will do soul searching and recite prayers to rid themselves of the sins they’ve committed over the past year.

This year most of the 14 million Jews around the world will attend these Yom Kippur synagogue services, and my heart cries out for them because they do not know Yeshua – the One whom the prophets speak about in their own Jewish Bible.

Teaching on Yom Kippur in the time of Yeshua

When the first and second Temples were standing in Jerusalem, the High Priest (Kohen Gadol) would remove his ordinary priestly robes and take a ritual bath, then he would put on special white clothes.

After offering the ordinary morning sacrifice, he would offer a young bullock to atone for his own sins, as he could not intercede for the people of Israel until his own sins were atoned for. He would then carry incense into the Holy of Holies, and then return to the altar to get blood from the sacrifice, which he would sprinkle on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant (Mercy Seat) and seven times on the ground in front of the ark.

After this he would sacrifice a goat for the sins of the people, and sprinkle its blood on the ark and in front of it, as he had done with the blood of the bullock. This made atonement for the Holy of Holies. Next, he provided atonement for the tabernacle by sprinkling the blood of both animals on the horns of the altar once, and seven times on the ground around it.

This is where it begins to get exciting. . .

The Azazel (Scapegoat) - After this, the high priest would go out into the Temple court and lay his hands over the head of the scapegoat, confessing over it the sins of the people of Israel.

Then the goat would be taken outside the city and released into the wilderness. This symbolized the removal (carrying away) of the sins from the people of Israel. According to the Talmud, a scarlet cord was tied around the neck of the scapegoat. This cord was reported to have turned white as the goat was led away from the city.

The Babylonian Talmud records that for the last forty years before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D. - that would have been just about the time Yeshua was offered up as the final sacrifice - the scarlet cord around the neck of the scapegoat failed to turn white.

In Yeshua, all our sins are carried away “as far as east is from west” (Psalm 103:12). Yeshua is not only our High Priest, but He is also the final sacrifice who has taken away our sins.

Because of that, Your Name, is Written in the Book of Life.

Imagine, if in all the synagogues around the world, the rabbis were discussing with their congregants the links between the scarlet cord, the scapegoat, and Yeshua.

And imagine if in all the synagogues during the fall holidays they were actually reading about how Yeshua fulfilled the Jewish festivals revealed in our Messianic Prophecy Bible.

do you know that 99% of all Jewish people do not know Yeshua simply because no one has ever taken the Gospel to them.

But there is a solution! Jewish Outreach/Evangelism and the Messianic Prophecy Bible.
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged
sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow;
it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrew 4:12