CHRISTIANS OBSERVING THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)
and
I have given it for you on the altar to atone for your souls,
for
it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. (Lev. 17:11)
At sunset on Tuesday, October 11, 2016, we will come to the holiest day of the sacred
year, Yom Kippur, or The Day of Atonement.
One of the scriptures that compells me to observe this day is found in Leviticus 23:27-32.
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. For whatsoever soul it be
that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among
his people. And whatsoever soul it be
that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among
his people. Ye shall
do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your
generations in all your dwellings. It
shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the
ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.
As Christians and faithful followers of Jesus Christ, we serve a God
who was willing to give up His kingly status and become like us. He loved us so much that He was even willing to die for us. What other god out there in all of the religions
of mankind has ever done such a thing?
This is evidence that The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is The One
True God.
So how does this tie in with Yom Kippur traditions?
Isn’t the Passover more symbolic of Atonement?
In some ways, for the Christian, the answer is yes, Passover
is more about Atonement for sins, but Yom Kippur is more about realizing that
time is drawing short for everyone to receive that atonement.
Passover is more about our individual sins,
and Yom Kippur is more about the sins of our nation and the world as a
whole. Has there ever been a more urgent time for this?
Passover is more about mercy and
forgiveness, Yom Kippur is more of a statement that Judgment Day is coming, and
a warning sound to help us to get ready.
The Lord
is going to return soon!
There are many
out there who do not know Him. They do
not yet have atonement; not because it is not available and freely offered to
them, but simply because they have not believed that Jesus Christ is the
Messiah and repented of their sins. This
is especially true of our nation, America.
Satan has been very busy deceiving people because He too has a clue that
the time is short. He is on his usual
favorite subject; himself. He is worried
that his time is coming to be put away forever.
He enjoys being loose and wrecking havoc on our world. He has deceived the world with materialism,
false doctrine, churches that want to entertain instead of worship, and “buy”
their congregations, luke-warm worship, false worship, evil, death and
lust. His tools are always the
same. He rarely changes his techniques,
yet the world falls for his tricks constantly.
In the traditions of the Fall Holy Days it is said that on
Rosh Hashanah the doors of heaven are opened.
This is God communicating with mankind saying, “Come closer to me.”
In order to come closer to God you must be
clean. Those of us who have The Holy
Spirit working in us are continually being led to come before God and confess
our sins. We have long ago repented and
turned, trying to imitate Him more and more.
We have the good sense to realize and be constantly aware that we are
not perfect, and that Jesus must keep us covered with His righteousness. Yet, there are those who have not yet
repented. I am continuously shocked
these days to find those who have never been taught the basics of
repentance. God is listening for them,
waiting on them to begin a conversation, waiting on them to say “I repent of my
sins, please blot them out of your book.”
As a Christian I know my sins have been blotted out. I totally understand that Christ died on the
cross once for all. But this is a time period when I am praying more
for the souls of those who have not yet repented.
As the ordinary priests, ordained after the
Order of Melchizedek when we came to Christ, we Christians, as a holy nation
and a divine priesthood, have the opportunity, just as the Old Testament Levitical
priests did, to intercede for the sins of our people and our nation daily.
The ordinary priests took the sacrifices of
the people daily and offered them up to God.
Once a year the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies and offered up
the sacrifice for the sins of the whole nation.
Our High Priest, Jesus Christ STILL carries these intercessions into The Holy
of Holies for us and God hears and receives our prayers. Unlike the high priests of Levitical descent,
our High Priest, Jesus Christ, is perfect in every way.
So can you see how I have come to relate that Yom Kippur
should be a strong time of intercession by Christians for the souls of the
world?
Judgment Day is coming.
It is said that after Yom Kippur the doors of
heaven are closed. On Yom Kippur
whatever God has written for the year is sealed. It is finished. It is done.
You will either be a sheep or a goat when you enter into judgment after
the final seal is sealed.
If you know
Christ, you are covered by the blood of the atonement. You are separated into the fold of the sheep;
and you will be allowed to go into the Marriage Supper of The Lamb.
If you do not heed God's call and believe on
the name of Jesus and repent, you will be separated into the group called the
goats. You will not be allowed to go
into the marriage feast, because you are not “covered” by the blood atonement
of Jesus. You will be sentenced to
eternity in hell. The DOOR WILL BE SHUT,
and anyone without a wedding garment will not be allowed inside.
Do not let the doors of heaven close on
you.
Repent and be saved by the blood of
Jesus.
In the traditions of Yom Kippur the “books” of God are often
discussed. The tradition is that the destiny
of the righteous is written down into The Book of Life.
The destiny of the eternally wicked is
written down in The Book of Death.
If
you have come to Jesus Christ and accepted His blood atonement to cover your sins,
you are written in The Book of Life.
Every sin you have ever committed will be blotted out of the heavenly
records. It is His blood that covers the
sins.
It is ONLY all that Jesus did that
allows you to stand clean before God on The Last Day. It is nothing that you have done.
There is a period of 10 days during The Days
of Awe, from Rosh Hashanah until the end of Yom Kippur where you can be
reassured (by talking to God) that your sins have been covered and you can pray
for those that you love that do not have this blessing.
The tradition says that many people are not
yet written into either of the books of heaven. This is because God gives us free-will and many have not yet made a final decision.
You can
plead with God for them, to do whatever it is that will change their hearts,
open their eyes, help them to see the truth.
Our Jewish brothers and sisters fall into this category, but God has
promised that many of them will one day wake up and believe. There will come a day when their eyes will be
opened and they will mourn for the One they have pierced. This tells me they will repent and turn to
Christ as The Messiah.
Our prayers of intercession
are important for everyone who has not made a decision to follow Christ. This is an important time of intercession.
The 10 Days of Awe are comparable to the
period of grace that the church is living in today. There will come an end to these times. Judgement Day will arrive, whether the world
is ready or not. Yom Kippur is all about
getting ready for Judgement Day. It is a
time to be purchasing oil for your lamp.
Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, is returning to this
earth. When He does, there will be a
great battle. It is our place, as
Christians to be ready to join in with Him.
All Christians will be right there with Him, riding on white horses into
battle, riding by the side of our Groom.
We must be ready and prepared for that battle. Yom Kippur is a reminder of this fact.
When the last person that is going to repent
has done so, the doors of heaven will be closed. The writing in the books will be
finished. Christ will return for the
final battle that will destroy all evil and usher in His 1000 year reign on
earth.
Are you ready?
So many of my Christian friends are saying we MUST heed II
Chronicles 7:14: If my people, who are
called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn
from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin
and heal their land.
Isn’t it ironic that we speak these words continuously in
our congregations and sermons. We clearly
know the answers; yet many Christian churches still turn away from
acknowledging or observing Yom Kippur, the very holy day that God, Himself set
aside for all nations to do the very things that we are always so loudly proclaiming
should be done?
God doesn’t change. He is the same yesterday, today and
tomorrow. If He said it to the nation of
Israel, He meant it for everyone. He isn’t
just the God for the Israelites, He is God of ALL.
If every Christian church in America would
put aside their politics of the world for the period of time called The Day of
Atonement and devote that time to prayer and fasting and intercession, as is the
tradition for Yom Kippur, and begin praying for our nation and praying for
the deliverance of our brothers and sisters who are still living in sin; we
would fulfill the commandments of God.
God would hear us, for this is the time that He has proclaimed that
He will be listening with attention and deciding. He would save us from ourselves and heal our
land, just as He promised.
God says what He means and means what He says.
He always keeps His promises.
As fall brings it's beautiful red covering to the trees across our land, it is my earnest prayer that the people of our nation turn to Jesus and receive His precious atonement covering.
May God heal our land and bring peace to the earth.
G’mar Chatimah Tovah!