Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement 2019

Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement in Jesus
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe



 "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: "Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath" (Lev 23:26-32).
 
In Biblical times, Yom Kippur was the one day in the year when the High Priest, and only the High Priest, could go beyond the veil and into the Holy of Holies.  He went first to make atonement for himself and again to make atonement for the nation of Israel. 
Yom Kippur was for the atonement of priesthood, of the people, and even of the tabernacle itself, which, as God had said, 'is among them in the midst of their uncleanness:' 

"So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness” (Lev 16:16).
 
For Jews, Yom Kippur is considered the most Holy Day.  For Christians is a time to once again consider the atoning sacrifice of our High Priest, Yeshua Hamacsiach, Jesus Christ.

Part of the temple ritual of Yom Kippur involved two goats.  The first goat was sacrificed for the sins of the people.  

The second goat was the scapegoat. This goat was not sacrificed.  It was to "be sent away into the wilderness."
Lev 16:20-22 "And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. 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."
It was a dramatic picture of God’s removal of sin.  David sang later, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us" (Ps 103:12).

Yom Kippur pictures the finished work of the Cross.  The author of the book of Hebrews declares, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15).
 
“Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25).
 
“O the blood of Jesus,
O the blood of Jesus;
O the blood of Jesus,
It washes white as snow.”

Neither the Tabernacle in the Wilderness nor the Temple in Jerusalem exists today.  Instead, the Word of God tells us that believers are the temple of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 3:16)
Father God, on this Yom Kippur, I thank You for the atonement of Jesus Christ.  Only through Him can I be a worthy temple of the Holy Spirit.  

“Sanctuary”  by John W. Thompson and Randy Scruggs

Lord, prepare me

To be a sanctuary,

Pure and holy,

Tried and true.

With thanksgiving,

I’ll be a living

Sanctuary for You.

Feast of Trumpets—Rosh Hashanah 2014

Feast of Trumpets—Rosh Hashanah 2014

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Leviticus 23:23-24 "Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, "In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation."

Psalm 81:1-3 (NKJV) “Sing aloud to God our strength; Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob. Raise a song and strike the timbrel, The pleasant harp with the lute. Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.”

  The Jewish name for this holy convocation is Rosh Hashanah which is usually translated "the beginning or head of the year." Actually the Hebrew word “shana” means to change.  Rosh Hashanah implies that something in the spiritual is changing. It is the beginning of a new season in our walk with the Lord.  God works in seasons. “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)

Ten days after Rosh Hashanah is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  Five days later, Sukkoth, the Feast of Tabernacles begins. 

According to Jewish tradition, Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of Adam and Eve and the fall into sin.  It is a reminder of the covenant relationship between God and mankind.  It is a time of new beginnings.

             Rosh Hashanah is observed with the sounding of the trumpet.  The traditional trumpet is the shofar, the ram’s horn, which also represents the trumpet blast of the coronation of the king. The sounding of the shofar is a call to repentance because Rosh Hashanah is also a reminder of man’s first sin and repentance for that sin.  As Christians, we should also be reminded of God’s provision for our sin. Rosh Hashanah begins the "Days of Awe" which end with Yom Kippur.  

            The shofar also commemorates the sacrifice of Isaac which occurred on the day that God later established as Rosh Hashanah. The sounding of the shofar reminds us that a ram took Isaac’s place as an offering to God.  Abraham named the place, "Jehovah-Jirah", God is our provision.  Abraham understood that in ages to come God would provide the means of our salvation, His Son, Jesus Christ.  

             Because Rosh Hashanah is the Feast of Trumpets, we should remember the importance of trumpets in our relationship with God.  In Exodus 19, people were to wait for the sounding of trumpet before going near Mt. Sinai where God spoke to Moses. (Exodus 19:3b) "When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain."  (Exodus 20:18) "Now all the people witnessed the thundering, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off."  God was beginning a new season as He molded a band of ex-slaves into a mighty army.

            It was with the shouting of the people and the sound of the trumpets that God brought down the walls of Jericho and gave the Israelites their first victory in the Promised Land.  The defeat of Jericho was a new beginning for the people of God.

            The Lord will again bring a new thing with the sound of the trumpet when Jesus returns. (Matthew 24:29-31) “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 

(1 Corinthians 15:52)  "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

            Remember the Feasts of Trumpets by sounding the trumpet, blowing a horn, ringing a bell.  With joy in our hearts, we remember the trumpet soundings of the past and look forward to the sounding of the trumpet when Jesus returns.

            Rosh Hashanah is a time for speaking blessings for the season to come.  A simple blessing is "Shana Tovah", which literally means "Happy Change” or “Happy New Season " in Hebrew.

Celebrating the Feast Days is not required, but a powerful blessing can come to us when we more fully understand what has been accomplished in our lives and in the Kingdom of Heaven because of the atoning, redemptive ministry of Jesus, our Messiah. Whether our celebration is elaborate or simple, our remembrance should include thanksgiving, worship and joy. God is giving a party and He has invited us.

Shana Tovah! Shana Tovah! Because of Jesus, our new season is blessed.  Because of Jesus, we are changed; we are renewed.  Let us walk into this new season changed, renewed and recharged for the Kingdom of God.

Baruch HaShem Hamacsiach Yeshua;

Baruch HaShem Adonai.

Blessing in the name of Messiah Jesus. 

Blessing in the name of the Lord.

The Lord’s Appointed Feasts: Entering into the New Covenant--1

The Lord’s  Appointed Feasts: Entering into the New Covenant

By Rev. Lonnie C.  Crowe

We are entering into the God’s Appointed Feasts for the Fall, a time of both new beginning and gathering the harvest.  Read about the feasts in Levitius 23: 1-39.  In this season, we are awakened with the sound of the trumpet s on Rosh Hashanah, reminded of the atoning work of Christ on Yom Kippur, and encouraged for the future by the celebration of Sukkoth, the Feast of Tabernacles. 

This year, Rosh Hashanah, the head of the year, begins on September 18.

 What we often refer to as the “Jewish Holidays” are much more than that.  They are all about Jesus and the New Covenant we have in Him. 

When Adam entered into covenant with the serpent, every one of his descendants was immediately destined for the Lake of Fire.  Eternal damnation was all the devil had to offer. ^“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. “ (John 10:10 NKJV)  

Our propensity for damnation is fed by feasting on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That is by our desire to determine for ourselves what is good and what is evil. However, God has stepped in with a new covenant that restores all the enemy has stolen from mankind, a new covenant that redeems us and changes our destiny.  God does not send anyone to eternal damnation.  Instead, God has given us the way to eternal salvation. ^“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22 NKJV) 

The new covenant is foreshadowed in the animal the Lord sacrificed in order to cover Adam and the woman.  He clothed them in His righteousness.  He provided the way for them.  “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:10 NKJV)

 

The new covenant is also pictured in the events of God’s appointed times, the Levitical feasts.  It is all about Jesus.  

Although we no longer have the Tabernacle in the Wilderness nor the Temple in Jerusalem, it is important for us to look at the floor plan and the furnishings of those structures  to understand more deeply what God has for us both in the feasts and in the new covenant.

As worshipers entered into the courtyard, they passed the altar of burnt offerings.  It was only the priests who placed the offerings on the altar. Those offerings picture the agonizing sacrifice of Jesus as He took with Him to the cross not only our individual sins but also the spirit of sinfulness, the nature or essence of sin.  

It was only the priests who washed in the laver to picture the cleansing power of the “lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29)

It was only the priests who entered into the first room of the tabernacle, “The Holy Place.”  In John 10:9 the Lord said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” (NLJV).  Only the priests could walk through that door.

 In the Holy Place were three articles that represented our relationship with the Lord.  On the north stood the Table of Showbread.  Each Sabbath, the priests placed 12 new loaves of bread, representing the 12 tribes of Israel, on the table.  The loaves were sprinkled with frankincense indicating the presence of God over the tribes.  Only the priests consumed the twelve older loaves.  In the Table of Showbread, we are also reminded that Jesus is the bread of life.  (John 6:35)

Across from the Table of Showbread was the Menorah or lamp stand.  Its 7 branches represented the completeness, the perfection of God.  He is all we need.  The menorah was made from one piece of hammered gold, a graphic depiction of the suffering of Jesus on the cross.  The light from the lamp stand was the only light in the tabernacle.  In its light, we acknowledge that Jesus is the light of the world.  (John 8:12).  In like manner, He has called us to be light in our world. (Matthew 5:14)  He is the both light and the source of light.  The church is to be millions of points of light reflecting His glory in the world around us.

The third object in the Holy Place was the Altar of Incense which represented both Jesus’ intercessory prayer for us (Romans 8:34) and our prayers lifted before the throne of God (Psalm 141:2).  Revelation 8 describes the sweetness of believers’ prayers as they are mixed with the incense of heaven.  “Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand”(Revelation 8:3-4 NKJV).

When we understand that only the priests offered the sacrifices, only the priests washed at the laver, only the priests entered into the Holy Place, only the priests ate of the Table of Showbread, only the priests basked in the light of the Menorah, only the priests stood before the Altar of Incense, we will come into a greater understanding of the magnitude of the Apostle Peter’s words:  “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9 NKJV).

Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, because of the cross, believers are washed of sin, (Acts 22:16); enter into fellowship with God; walk in His light and become reflections of His glory and offer up the sacrifice of praise to our God.  Because of Jesus, we become priests of the Most High God.

God’s Ten Statements: Loving God, Loving Ourselves, Loving Others

God’s Ten Statements:  Loving God, Loving Ourselves, Loving Others

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

God’s Ten Statements are part of the Mosaic Covenant. Like all of God’s covenants, the Mosaic Covenant  is important because it pictures the ministry and sacrifice of Jesus and Israel’s role in bringing that message to the world.

What we have traditionally called The Ten Commandments should more appropriately be called God’s statements about the changes in our lives that will come when we are in relationship with Him.  The One New Man Bible comments, “These instructions were given in the future tense because all who commit to Him will change behavior and no longer do those things.”

From the One New Man Bible, Exodus 20:1-14:

“. . .You will have no other Gods before me. …. You will not make any graven image for yourself of any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or what is in the earth beneath, or what is in the water under the earth....You will not bow down yourself to them or serve them…You will not take the name of the Lord you God in vain…Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy….Honor your father and your mother….You will not murder.  You will not commit adultery.  You will not steal.  You will not bear false witness against your neighbor…You will not covet anything that is your neighbor’s.”

The first four statements deal with loving God; the last six concern human behavior and relationships. A key to understanding the development into the last six statements is Matthew 22:36-40 (NKJV):  "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." 

Notice the progression:  we are to love God, love ourselves, and then we will be able to love others.  The last six statements show God’s people overcoming behaviors that result from a lack of self esteem.

Unkindness to others results from not knowing our identity in Jesus Christ.  Simply put, when we are wounded, we wound others.  Knowing our identity in the Lord brings healing.  God is Jehovah Rapha, our healer spiritually, physically and emotionally.

Romans 13:8-10 (NKJV) “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Learning to love ourselves enables us to fulfill the law.  When we are walking in relationship with God, we will come to Him, love ourselves and love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

True humility is not thinking poorly of ourselves.  It is seeing ourselves as God sees us. If we insist on being defined as less than God has defined us, we have actually made an idol of ourselves.  We have declared that we know more than the Lord who created us.

 Below are some favorite scriptures that help us to see ourselves as God sees us.

▪Job 33:4—“The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

▪Psalm 8:3-5—“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.”

▪Psalm 139:13-14—“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. “

▪Jeremiah 29:11—“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

▪Zephaniah 3:17—“The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

▪Romans 8:38—“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 12:3 cautions us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought.  Grammatically speaking, that means that we are to think of ourselves highly, just not more highly that we ought.  We are radically loved by God, but we are not God. 

Accepting who we are in Jesus Christ, we fulfill His covenant and we can pray the Lord’s Prayer as a recognition of His covenant promises:

Our Father, You are in heaven.  Your name is holy.

In Jesus Christ, Your kingdom has come.  Your will is being done in my life on earth as Your will is done in heaven.

You give me my daily bread. 

You forgive my trespasses just as I forgive those who have trespassed against me.

You do not lead me into temptation, but you rescue me from evil.

I declare that You are King of Kings and Lord of Lords, that

You are all powerful and all glorious forever  and ever.

Amen