YOM KIPPUR
Today is YOM KIPPUR on the Jewish calendar, a day of great significance to not only our Jewish friends for whom we need to pray, but for us, Christians, as this day points so clearly to the final sacrifice for sin made by our Savior, the Lord Jesus.

HISTORY
The history of Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, dates back to the earliest days of the Israelites. Revered as one of the holiest days of the Jewish calendar, Jewish believers celebrate the day with fasting and reflection on the past year. They repent for the past year’s sins and make atonement before moving forward into the next year with a fresh slate. It falls on the day when Moses returned from Mount Sinai with the second set of commandments. The giving and reading of the Law cleansed the Israelites from the sin of the Golden Calf and all that came before the giving of the Law.

GOD COMMANDS A DAY OF ATONEMENT
In Leviticus, Chapter 23, God creates a calendar of holy days to remind the Israelites of their relationship with God. Beginning in Leviticus, Chapter 23, Verse 27, God tells Moses to set the tenth day of the seventh month as the Day of Atonement. The people gather together with fasting and contrition to present an offering to God. Jews don’t work on this day, but spend the day in worship service and in contemplation of past sins until the blowing of the Shofar that signifies the end of the day.

THE SACRIFICE
The chronicle of the first time the Hebrews used a goat for atonement appears in Leviticus 16:1 to 34. Aaron, the High Priest, brings two male goats, a ram, and a bull, for the Atonement Day sacrifice. The bull provides a sin offering for the priests and removes Aaron’s sin so he can make the sacrifice for the nation. He casts lots to determine which goat to sacrifice and which will live. He sprinkles the blood of the bull and the sacrificed goat on the Mercy Seat. He confesses the sins of the people over the head of the live goat and another priest leads the goat out into the wilderness. The High Priest burns the goat and the bull as a sin offering for the people and the ram as a burnt offering for God.

NOTE
This is a day to pray for our Jewish friends that their eyes may be opened to recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah they seek, has come. That sin’s debt has been PAID IN FULL!!

TETELESTAI
(Paid in Full)

The severed veil, His body slain,
His blood upon the altar lain
Has given us the right to come
And bow before the heavenly throne.
Christ entered that most holy place
And once for all the Savior placed
His own spilt blood and this sufficed,
There would be no more sacrifice.

It’s finished, the debt’s been paid,
The final payment has been made.
The severed veil, His body slain,
TETELESTAI! oh praise His name.
The severed veil, His body slain,
He paid it all, oh praise His name.

We now can enter on our own,
we can ourselves approach the throne
and kneel by His eternal grace
and talk to God face to face.
Clothed in the righteousness of Him
whose blood has washed away our sin.
The earthly priesthood now has ceased,
and there remains but one high priest.
–RJO

HALLELUJAH!! The debt has been PAID IN FULL