Chap. 3-Yom Kippur

At the end of Rosh Hashanah, at the ceremony of Tash Lich, we watch the breadcrumbs float away and our hearts rejoice to think of our sins cast away “into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19). In ten days will be Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and these ten days are spent in preparation.
As volunteers on the kibbutz, my husband and I had very little. Our room had 2 beds, a wardrobe, and one desk. We had brought only what we could carry in our backpacks so sleeping bags became our blankets and jackets, our pillows.
We were surprised and delighted when during these ten days of preparation, we became the recipients of many mitzvahs or good deeds. Tables, blankets, even, an old black and white T.V., were given to us by kindly kibbutzniks. It’s no coincidence that a telethon is held in this season.
Those crumbs may have sunk to the depths of the sea but now a real attempt is made to start off on the right foot and try to do good works. Of course, we’ve all made these attempts. Unfortunately, our resolutions are usually built upon human resolve and like New Year's resolutions through the ages, doomed to fail.
Actually I’d say ten days is just about enough time to realize that once again I won’t make it. These days of repentance, ‘turning around,’ making tishuvi, are pointless without Yom Kippur. When Yom Kippur arrives we are heartily ready for it!

Now I shall have to talk about two different Yom Kippurs, most of which isn’t practiced today. Leviticus gives directions to the priests on the sacrifices to take place on this most holy of days. The priests or Levites chose a special lot-selected goat called the scapegoat. This was the one-day during the year that a priest entered the Holy of Holies, a special veiled place within the tabernacle. He offered the blood from the sacrifice within this holy place. Then the priest would lay his bloodied hands upon the scapegoat and send it off into the wilderness. This scapegoat was selected by lot to bear the iniquities of the people. As it says in Leviticus 16:22;
And the goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land, released into the wilderness.
Well, today there is no sacrifice, no temple, no tabernacle… there are Levites but they aren’t priests. As one of my kibbutznik girlfriends explained it, because her father’s family name was Levi, he sometimes did special things in the synagogue. But when I tried to ask her about the blood sacrifice of Yom Kippur and about the scapegoat, she had no idea what I was talking about. “Oh blood sacrifices, that’s a Christian thing,” she said.
Yom Kippur of today is still a solemn ‘Sabbath’ or day of rest so solemn that my girlfriend dreaded it. Fasting from sundown to sundown, no TV, or other entertainment, a long synagogue service, there’s no animal sacrifice, but instead a personal sacrifice of humbling oneself. Fasting, prayer, and gifts of charity have replaced the blood sacrifice and the scapegoat. Much time is spent in the synagogue listening to the Torah (Bible) reading for the day and praying. Yom Kippur ends with the ‘Neilah’ or the 'closing of the gates' service. Some believe this is the last chance to make it into those gates of heaven for the coming year. Then the shofar (trumpet) blasts a long tekia gedolah (great blast) and the gates close, Yom Kippur has ended for another year.
But what about the Kippur, the Atonement? Atonement means reconciliation (forgiveness) for the guilty by divine sacrifice. Where is that scapegoat? An often-used symbol of Yom Kippur is the balancing scales. I know that if I were being judged, I would be like King Belshazzar in Daniel 5:27…
You have been weighed on the scales and been found wanting.
I have a suspicion that most people would agree with me about themselves and if they didn’t agree they would be even more ‘found wanting!’

So how can we hope to tip those scales with humbling ourselves, prayer, and charity? It’s not enough. That’s why there were the blood sacrifices and the scapegoat. The fasting just wasn’t enough to carry those iniquities into the wilderness. We need propitiation, a divine sacrifice, a scapegoat to bear our iniquities and remove them as far as the east is from the west.
Thankfully God has always known our need for atonement and has always provided a sacrifice. There were the animal skins covering Adam and Eve’s nakedness. The ram caught in the bushes given instead of Isaac for Abraham to offer on the altar. But as Abraham spoke prophetically to his son Isaac on the way to the mountain, “God will provide himself a sacrifice.” That Atonement, that scapegoat, that propitiation was yet to come. My kibbutznik friend was mistaken. Blood sacrifice was and is a very important part of Judaism and especially of Yom Kippur.
The scripture reading for Yom Kippur includes Isaiah 58. Isaiah was a prophet of amazing vision and insight. He spoke of things that would happen to his generation and of things that would come many generations later. His words in Chapter 58, verse 1., are perfect for Yom Kippur.
Cry loudly. Do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to my people their transgressions,
And to the house of Jacob their sins.The mention of the shofar reminds us of the repentance of the Feast of Trumpets, of returning to God and turning from our sins.
Then in verse 3-10, Isaiah speaks of the right way to fast, the right motives to have in your heart. This is a wonderful message for Yom Kippur.
But this fasting and humbling isn’t enough. As we read on in Isaiah 59:2…
But your iniquities have made a
Separation between you and your God.
And your sins have hidden His face
From you, so that He does not hear.There is a separation between God and us. A gap, a chasm, our sins keeps us from Him. No matter how hard we try this is not a river we can ford. God, himself must provide the solution, the Kippur, the atonement.
Then in Isaiah 59:16, God gives Isaiah a prophecy of that solution.
And He saw that there was no man,
And was astonished that there was no
one to intercede;
Then His own arm brought salvation to Him;
And His righteous upheld Him.His own arm would bring the solution. The one to intercede, the one to bring salvation, the one to be the scapegoat would be ‘God himself.’
As we continue to read Isaiah’s book, we come to chapter 61. In fact, Jesus was called up to read from Isaiah one Sabbath. He was home for the holiday as any good Jewish boy would be. Attending services in his hometown synagogue, waiting for the fast to end so he could have some of his mother's good cooking. He was becoming a famous prophet and rabbi so the community was delighted to have him read this Sabbath.
Luke 4:16-21 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.
17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach
The gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim re-
Lease to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are downtrodden,
19 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”He stops half way through a verse and closes the book as it says in verses 20 and 21.
20 And He closed the book and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him.
21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”Which scripture is he referring to?
He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he sent me to proclaim release to the captives recovery of sight to the blind… to set free those who are downtrodden…
He was here to set them free. It is finished. I am here. Heneni, which translates from Hebrew… ‘Here I am.’ I am the atonement, the Kippur. He was claiming to be the atonement. There was no more vengeance. That was over and done.
Jesus is our Kippur. Jesus is our atonement. These words that Jesus spoke about proclaiming liberty to captives, freeing prisoners and binding up the broken hearted. This mirrors the verse from Isaiah 58. These verses spoken on Yom Kippur from Isaiah 58:6
6 “is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free,
And break every yoke?
Today, this has been fulfilled by the Messiah himself!
8 “Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’Heneni! It is finished. It is ended. God provided Himself a sacrifice. Jesus is our scapegoat.
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.
Isaiah 59:16 And he saw that there was no man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His own arm brought salvation to Him;
And His righteousness upheld Him.Thank God that His own arm, his own Messiah has brought salvation.

Group Study Questions for Yom Kippur
1. Read Micah 7:19 and celebrate your own Tash Lich daily. Those sins are gone. How can we keep from fishing for them again? Do you think God ever goes fishing for them?
2. Think of some times when your resolutions have been ‘found wanting.’ Ask God to give you goals instead of setting goals from your own ego or desires. Share!
3. What’s the fast, which God desires? Hints…. Isaiah 58, Psalms 51, Matthew 6:16
4. Study the ‘Here I ams' of the Bible. Discuss their significance.