Yom Kippur--the Day of Atonement
By
Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe
Religious Jews believe Yom Kippur is the
holiest day of the year. It is the day they feel the closest to God. It is the
Day of Atonement--"For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you
to cleanse you so you may be clean from all your sins before God"
(Leviticus 16:30).
This
is the day when the Jews hope that their sins have been covered and that their
names are written in the Book of Life for the coming Year.
As
Christians, we have just spent the past 10 days meditating on the atoning work
of Jesus Christ. We know that if we have received the His
blood’s atoning, our names are written in the Lamb's Book
of Life, not just for the coming year, but for all eternity. On
Yom Kippur, we can say in Hebrew, "Baruch HaShem Ha Maschiach Yeshua,
blessings in the Name of Messiah Jesus."
Yom
Kippur figures in End-Times prophecy as a picture of the final day of atonement
when the books are closed. Revelation 21:11-15, "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for
them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were
opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead
were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the
books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered
up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his
works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake
of fire."
We
receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior when we acknowledge to Him that we
have sinned and that our sin has separated us from God. We must confess that
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, both man and God, paid the price for our sin with
His death on the Cross and testify that He was buried and rose again in triumph
over sin and death. We wait in eagerness for His soon return as King of Kings
and Lord of Lords.
Isaiah
1:18 (NKJV)
"Come
now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins
are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like
crimson, They shall be as wool.
Celebrate Yom Kippur. Receive The Lord's Supper in communion with
Him. Praise Him for making it possible for your name to be written in the
Lamb's Book of Life. He is our "kippur", our atonement. His sacrifice on Calvary makes it possible
for us to live victoriously during our sojourn of earth and to dwell with Him
for all eternity.
"Oh, the blood of Jesus,
Oh, the blood of Jesus,
Oh, the blood of Jesus,
That washes white as snow."
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