rimary scriptural references: Lev. 16:1-34; Lev. 23:26-32; Num. 29:7-11; Heb. chapters 8 & 10.
Jewish people fasting and praying on Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement is the most awesome day in the life of Israel. The sages of Israel have come to regard this day as the supreme convocation and the greatest day of the year. In many ancient Jewish writings it was simply referred to as “The Day,” or “The Great Day.” Several other important events of Israel’s history have become attached to this day. According to Jewish tradition, it was on this special day that Abraham was circumcised, that Isaac was bound, and that the second tablets of Law were given. There are many other traditions associated with this special day.
SOME YOM KIPPUR CUSTOMS
The eve of the Day of Atonement (9th of Tishri), at least until sunset, has come to be a day of feasting. The evening meal preceding the convocation is usually lavish and joyous as participants prepare their hearts for the fast ahead. At sunset the synagogue prayers are chanted, beginning with the Kol Nidrei (all vows). At the start of this convocation there also begins a total fast of both food and water for the next full day. All work is forbidden according to the stern commandments found in Leviticus 16:29-31. In Jewish tradition other restrictions are in place. These include washing oneself (for pleasure), anointing the body, wearing leather shoes, and cohabitation are also prohibited.
In Israel, Yom Kippur witnesses an almost total absence of traffic on the roads. Those who dare defy the driving ban on this great day may well pay with stones through their auto windshields. It is common to see great throngs of people walking up and down the usually busy thoroughfares of Jerusalem. Many of these are headed for the ancient Western Wall. It is also common for people to dress in white as a symbol of this holy day. For the children, it is an opportunity to play safely in the streets.
The focus of the Day of Atonement continues as in ancient times to be upon the forgiveness of sins. In the Days of Awe, prior to Atonement, the custom of Tashlik is carried out. Jewish people can often be seen by bodies of water as they seek to cast their sins away (Micah 7:19). There is also the custom of asking forgiveness of one another prior to the Day of Atonement.
The theme of this whole period is one of Teshuvah (repentance or returning). The sages hold that the fate of every person that has been pending from Rosh ha-Shana, is finally determined on the Day of Atonement. The greeting most often heard during this time is “Gemar Hatimah Tovah” (May you be finally sealed in the Book of Life).
YOM KIPPUR IN THE BIBLE
The awesome nature of the Day of Atonement is fully substantiated in the Bible. In Leviticus 16:31, we see that the commands concerning this day are to be “statutes for ever” (v.29). In other words, the decrees and commandments concerning this day will never pass away. For instance, the command of refraining from all work is an eternal command (v.29), applying both to Jews and strangers in the land.
We can see in Leviticus 16:31 that the mood of this great day is one of affliction. Each person had to deny his own soul. In biblical times any person who did not afflict his soul, or who did not refrain from work, could be cut off or destroyed from among the people (Lev. 23:29-30).
In Bible times the order of the Day of Atonement was thus: the High Priest washed himself in water, put on his holy attire, and began to offer a sin offering before the Lord for himself and for his house (Lev. 16:6). Later he took two goats, one for the Lord, and one for the scapegoat (Azazel), and presented them alive before the Lord (Lev. 16:7). A lot was then cast over the goats, and one goat was chosen to be offered up to God. The other was chosen to be the scapegoat. The scapegoat was afterward led away into the wilderness, symbolically bearing away Israel’s sins.
On this great and awesome day, the High Priest then went before the Lord into the Holy of Holies. He went with a great sense of awe while “all feared for his life” (Talmud – Yoma 5:1). There he first covered the Mercy Seat with a cloud of incense. Then by sprinkling the blood of the sin offering and of the slain goat he made atonement for himself and the priesthood, for the whole sanctuary, and for the people (Lev. 16:33).
We can imagine the relief and delight as the people of Israel watched the High Priest emerge from the sanctuary, knowing that for at least one more year the burden of sin was lifted and forgiven. We can thus understand why Yom Kippur has come to be the most important day in the life of Israel; a great and awesome convocation.
WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM YOM KIPPUR
One thing we can learn from the Bible and from Jewish traditions regarding this day, is that atonement for sin is not to be taken lightly. It is a most serious matter – in fact, it is the most serious thing in all our human experience.
Atonement is also a costly business (Psa. 49:8; Mk. 8:37). As Christians, we believe that God has pictured for us that blood must be shed, that life must be offered up for transgressions (Lev. 17:11). The old Temple must have had the appearance and even the smell of a slaughterhouse. Thousands of animals were constantly being offered upon the altar, and their blood sprinkled to make atonement for Israel’s sins.
Today the Tabernacle and Temple are no more. The offering up of animals has been suspended now for over 1900 years. In Jewish tradition, the concepts of atonement have come to be centered upon penitential prayers and upon acts of mercy based upon passages like Hosea 6:6. In this passage God says, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” The only remaining Jewish custom that involves the shedding of blood to my knowledge is that of Kapparot, where some orthodox groups offer up chickens as a part of their rites.
For Christians, the concept of atonement continues to be deeply rooted in the idea of shedding of blood. It is not that we continue to offer up sheep and goats, but we now feel that all this activity was simply a picture of a greater offering that would be made for all humanity in the fullness of times. The writer of Hebrews tells us that the offering up of animals was not the ultimate solution to the sin problem. The proof of its incomplete nature was the fact that the rite of atonement had to be repeated year after
year (Heb. 10:1-4).
We feel that the sin problem was so costly and so complex that it could not be adequately solved without the direct intervention of God. We believe that the Son of God, Yeshua, who was slain in God’s mind from the foundation of the world, was always God’s plan of redemption (Rev. 13:8). In other words, the price of sin was paid by God even before the world began.
We believe that this one was prefigured in all the offerings of Israel and especially in the offerings of the Day of Atonement. In Psalm 40:6-8, we have a beautiful picture of this offering. He says, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire…Then I said, ‘Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll…’” Amazingly, in this passage we have a Lamb who talks. Our Lamb is in fact a person. We believe him to be the Son of God.
We believe that the preexistent Son of God, being in the very nature of God (Phil. 2:6), came as a perfect and eternal High Priest (Heb. 7:17; Psa. 110:4). He came to offer himself as the atoning sacrifice (Rom. 5:11), a once-for-all offering for the sin of mankind (Heb. 9:12; Eph. 1:7). With his own blood he brought about an eternal cleansing, not only for all mankind, but for the earthly Tabernacle, and even for the heavenly one as well (Heb. 9:23-24). Having offered up his own life for sin, he is now risen and sits at the right hand of God to serve as a mediating priest between God and his people (1 Tim.2:5).
This, in short, is the Christian position on the atonement. The whole subject should now hopefully take on a new glory and splendor for us in light of the deep biblical teachings about it, and in light of the thousands of years of Jewish traditions regarding this holy event. Unfortunately, it seems that many of us Christians tend to regard the whole matter of atonement rather lightly and sometimes even shabbily. We often display a familiarity that can breed a form of contempt for the whole subject.
The Jewish people can teach us a great deal with their thousands of years experience in dealing with holy matters. There are laws for holy things just as there are laws for dealing with radioactive materials. The person who violates these holy things will surely pay the price. Since the Day of Atonement is an eternal rite, we should pay much more attention to the celebration of this day, and use it an opportunity to reflect upon and to celebrate the great salvation that God has purchased for us.
In biblical times the shofar (ram’s horn) was sounded on Yom Kippur every fifty years as the Year of Jubilee began (Lev. 25:9). In that special year, liberty was proclaimed to slaves and family property was restored. The Jubilee was a picture of the true and final results of atonement. Atonement brings freedom and restoration.
Today in the synagogue, Yom Kippur services end with the sounding of the shofar. This final shofar sound should fill us with delight and rejoicing just as it does the Jewish people. The Bible says in Psalm 89:15 (NKJV): “Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! (shofar blast): they walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance.”
– Jim Gerrish
This updated article presented courtesy of Bridges For Peace, Jerusalem. Original publication, 1992.
Picture credit Wikimedia Commons (1878 painting by Maurycy Gottlieb).