My Thoughts On Yom Kippur

Tonight at sunset begins Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) on God's holy days calendar. This is one of the special appointed times that God has commanded for His children (see Lev. 16, esp vs 29-31, Lev. 23:26-32, Num. 29:7). This is NOT a holy day that belongs exclusively to the Jews; all of the special appointed times are called in scripture, "the feasts of the LORD" and God has said, "these are My feasts." (see Lev. 23:1-2) Because I have been adopted into His family, by the blood of the Messiah, I believe that I have a right and an obligation to observe His special appointed times.

Because I have not grown up in the Jewish culture where observing these appointed times is the norm rather than the exception, I am still learning the why's and how's of observing them. I do not desire to take on Jewishness and am not a Jewish wannabe, but I DO want to walk in all the ways that my Messiah Yeshua did, and He most certainly observed all of these appointed times. I also understand that the offerings that were commanded for the High Priest to make in the Tabernacle were fulfilled in the offering of the body & blood of the Messiah, that it's no longer necessary for the High Priest to enter into the Holy of Holies once a year with the blood of bulls and goats to obtain atonement for our sins. And yet, there is still great value in this special day.

The passages I have already shared from Lev. and Num. tell us that on this day we are to "afflict our souls." As I looked up this word 'afflict' in the Strong's Concordance, I find that it carries the thought of abasing ourselves, of chastening self, of humbling ourselves, of submitting ourselves. The word 'depress' is used in the definition as well. That reminds me of John the Baptist's words that He must increase, but I must decrease. More of Him, less of me; that seems to make good sense to me.

It also reminds me that we're to afflict our "souls," that this is something that reaches deeper than just a physical discomfort. Humility comes from our heart. Traditionally, those who observe this day will fast for the whole 24 hours. For some, this is a fast from all food & drink, as well as other physical comforts. Fasting is a good thing and I will be doing that also, but I am looking for something that goes deeper than the physical deprivation of my flesh.

Isaiah 58:1-14 gives me pause:

(Amplified) Isa 58:1 CRY ALOUD, spare not. Lift up your voice like a trumpet and declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins! Isa 58:2 Yet they seek, inquire for, and require Me daily and delight [externally] to know My ways, as [if they were in reality] a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God [in visible ways]. Isa 58:3 Why have we fasted, they say, and You do not see it? Why have we afflicted ourselves, and You take no knowledge [of it]? Behold [O Israel], on the day of your fast [when you should be grieving for your sins], you find profit in your business, and [instead of stopping all work, as the law implies you and your workmen should do] you extort from your hired servants a full amount of labor. [Lev. 16:29.] Isa 58:4 [The facts are that] you fast only for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness. Fasting as you do today will not cause your voice to be heard on high. Isa 58:5 Is such a fast as yours what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself with sorrow in his soul? [Is true fasting merely mechanical?] Is it only to bow down his head like a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him [to indicate a condition of heart that he does not have]? Will you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord? Isa 58:6 [Rather] is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every [enslaving] yoke? [Acts 8:23.] Isa 58:7 Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house--when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood? Isa 58:8 Then shall your light break forth like the morning, and your healing (your restoration and the power of a new life) shall spring forth speedily; your righteousness (your rightness, your justice, and your right relationship with God) shall go before you [conducting you to peace and prosperity], and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. [Exod. 14:19, 20; Isa. 52:12.] Isa 58:9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away from your midst yokes of oppression [wherever you find them], the finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and every form of false, harsh, unjust, and wicked speaking, [Exod. 3:14.] Isa 58:10 And if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity and gloom become like the noonday. Isa 58:11 And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not. Isa 58:12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of [buildings that have laid waste for] many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Dwell In. Isa 58:13 If you turn away your foot from [traveling unduly on] the Sabbath, from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a [spiritual] delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor Him and it, not going your own way or seeking or finding your own pleasure or speaking with your own [idle] words, Isa 58:14 Then will you delight yourself in the Lord, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage [promised for you] of Jacob your father; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. [Gen. 27:28, 29; 28:13-15.]

This passage reminds me that God is looking for something more than an outward appearance of devotion to Him; He desires my heart. The following verse says exactly what I believe God desires to see in me:

(Amplified) Psalm 51:17 My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.

In looking up verses for this study and looking at their definitions in Strong's, the words 'afflict' and 'humble' come together quite a bit. 'Humble' has basically the same meaning as 'afflict,' at least as it is used in these verses: Matt 18:4, Matt 23:12, James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6. It is also used in Phil 2:8 and Luke 14:11, Luke 18:14 in variations of the word. The passage from Luke 18 is especially appropriate here:

(Amplified) Luke 18:9 He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves and were confident that they were righteous [that they were upright and in right standing with God] and scorned and made nothing of all the rest of men: Luk 18:10 Two men went up into the temple [enclosure] to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. Luk 18:11 The Pharisee took his stand ostentatiously and began to pray thus before and with himself: God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men--extortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterers--or even like this tax collector here. Luk 18:12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I gain. Luk 18:13 But the tax collector, [merely] standing at a distance, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast, saying, O God, be favorable (be gracious, be merciful) to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am! Luk 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his home justified (forgiven and made upright and in right standing with God), rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.

I see this day as a time of introspection, of examining myself to see whether I am holding true to my first love (Rev 2:1-5), of checking my priorities to see if they are in line with God's Word and the goal of the upward call of God in the Messiah Yeshua, of laying aside every sin and the weight that does so easily beset me, confessing my sins that I might receive His forgiveness of them, and endeavoring to restore any broken relationships or make restitution to any I have wronged over the past year. Isn't that what 2 Chron 7:14 says we are to do?

"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." 2 Chron 7:14 NKJ

But I need to remember that humbling myself, praying and seeking His face is not enough. I have to also turn from my wicked ways. I have to be repentant. Repentance isn't just being sorry for our sin. The word means to turn away from our sin and to walk in right paths again, to follow hard after the righteousness that comes from walking in the Messiah Yeshua's footsteps.

As I humble myself, pray & seek His face, as I turn from my wicked ways, then will He hear from heaven and forgive my sin. Then I will truly know the reality of atonement: At-One-Ment with Him.