Yom HaKippurim

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The Need for Yom Kippur

What is the purpose of the tabernacle or temple? The purpose is so that God might dwell in the midst of the people.
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Exodus 25:8 TLV
“Have them make a Sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them.
This is an extrememly important and profound concept that we must remember. The reason and purpose of the tabernacle is to provide a process and method that would allow the precense of a holy God to permanently live near His people. And the benefits of Him being near are the blessings of the covenant - guidance, direction, justice, victory in war, abundance of food, etc. You can see that this simple verse reveals a lot about God’s character and it sets the context for all that is to be found in the tabernacle and its rituals, particularly Yom Kippur. So, at the core, Yom Kippur is about enabling and facilitating the close relationship between God and His People. He is a God that redeemed Israel from Egypt with a purpose of dwelling amongst them. In His love and covenant faithfulness He provides Yom Kippur to continue the relationship and He makes provisions for the errors that will inevitably result.
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Atonement

A key part of the day is related to the concept of atonement. But what does the word atonement mean? Atonement comes from the english to be ‘at one’ with another. To be rejoined in unity and purpose, to have a relationship restored. I think this concept does have some merit in explaining the rituals of Yom Kippur because at the core, as mentioned, is the desire for God to have a relationship with His people which is the purpose of the tabernacle itself. And so atonement means removing the barriers and obstacles to this relationship, which is of course sin and uncleaness. Indeed we fast today because we want to express our remorse for the things we have done that diminish or hinder the relationship we as individuals and as a community have with God. Most importantly, as beleivers, the fast is a time to express our gratitude toward God for providing His son in our place.
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But to be more specific, in Hebrew, the concept of atonement is expressed with the root כפר (kpr). From this root comes the verb כָּפַר (kāpar, “to atone”), which is the most frequent word for atonement in the Tanakh, and the nouns כַּפֹּרֶת (kappōret, “mercy seat”) and כִּפֻּרִים (kippurîm, “atonement”).
Root כפר (kpr)
Verb כָּפַר (kāpar, “to atone”)
The nouns כַּפֹּרֶת (kappōret, “mercy seat”) and כִּפֻּרִים (kippurîm, “atonement”)
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Kafar

So, we now know that Kafar is the Hebrew word underlying our english word atonement.
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Leviticus 16:30 TLV
For on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. From all your sins you will be clean before Adonai.
So it seems reasonable to ask, how did this atonement actually work? Did the sacrifices cover sins or did they remove sins? This question utlimately arises from uncertainty of the meaning of the word kafar. Many have understood that the animal sacrifices only covered sins. This view is primiarly driven by a theology that views Yeshua as the only sacrifice that truly removes sin. And so the thinking goes, since Yeshua is the only one that can remove sin the blood of animals cannot accomplish that so they must have only covered sins, as a temporary solution, and it would take Yeshua’s death to ultimatley deal with all the sins that were previously covered under the ‘old testament’. But that is a lot of theology added to the word kafar.
Tim Hegg has written a paper where he cites other scholarship on the topic, and demonstates the best way to understsand Kafar is not as ‘atonement’ or ‘covering’ but as ‘a wiping’ or ‘wiped away’ or ‘purged’. If this is the best way to understand the word, and I beleive it is, then we would translate a verse like Lev 16.30 as “For on this day a wiping clean will be made for you, to cleanse you. From all your sins you will be clean before Adonai.”
So what are we to make of this? Are we to think that the blood of the animals actually cleansed sin and it is a misunderstanding to believe they only covered sin? Yes, this is exactly what we should understand from this. But the misunderstanding is rooted in the assumption that the animal sacrifices we read about on Yom Kippur are dealing with our eternal position before God. Many make the assumption that when we read the sacrifices will ‘atone for our sins’ that the text is referring to our access to eternal life.
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But this is not the case. The ritual of Yom Kippur related to the physical presence of a Holy God dwelling in the midst of a physical people. One of the main reasons for Yom Kippur relates to saving the people so that they would not die living in the very presence of God in an unholy state. This becomes clearer as we consider the context leading up to Leviticus 16. For example, we read in the previous chapter about the woman that has a discharge such as menstrual cycle and the means of purifying her from uncleaness;
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Leviticus 15:30 TLV
The kohen is to offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. So the kohen will make atonement for her before Adonai for the uncleanness of her discharge.
It says she is atoned for because of her menstrual cycle. But is her discharge a sin that we would think prevents her from being accepted into eternal life? Of course not. It is a natural occurence and not brought about by her personal disregard for God. Yet we can see that the text refers to atonement, kafar, a true wiping away, which is provided for her to make her clean. And why is this necessary? The very next verse tells us;
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Leviticus 15:31 TLV
“So you are to keep Bnei-Yisrael separate from their uncleanness, so they will not die in their uncleanness by defiling My Tabernacle that is in their midst.”
So, it is not simply a covering that takes place, but a true cleansing and removal of the unholiness. In fact, what this teaches us is that we need to transfer these passages in our mind from the realm of saved and not saved, where our theology has told us to keep them, to holy and unholy or to pure and impure where the context suggests they should be. Holiness is a concept that is broader than an internal heart position. Holiness indeed includes the heart, but is broader than that and also relates to the physical nature of us as humans and our world.
This concept becomes clearer as we consider the term Yom HaKippurim. Kippurim is actually the plural form - why does the Bible refer to it in the plural as Kippurim or ‘atonements or cleansings’? One plausible answer is because there are many things being cleansed on that day - the people, Aaron, the Tabernacle, the atlar, etc. As an example:
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Leviticus 16:16 TLV
So he is to make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of Bnei-Yisrael and because of their transgressions, all their sins. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their impurities.
Does the taberncale disobey God? Does the altar hate his brother in his heart? Then what is the need to cleanse them? It is because a holy God phsically dwells in the midst of an unholy people, and the lives of the people have stained their surroundings. So an actual wiping away, not simply a covering, does actually take place but this cleansing affects the physical relationship with God but doesn’t mean a person’s sins have been cleansed in an eternal relationship with God.
The ritual itself does not determine the heart status of an israelite, but it certaily was encouraged to point toward it. What had effect in a phsyical sense was meant to be an illustration of what was to take place in a spiritual sense. When Yeshua came, he was the fulfillment of the ultimate purificaiton, of the ultimate method of cleansing the heart before a holy God - and without such cleansing we won’t dwell with Adonai in the world to come.
As I’ve mentioned before, this is where many misunderstand the author of hebrews but it is worth stating again. The author of Hebrews is not saying that the sacrifices of animals Yom Kippur are or should be replaced. He is saying that Yeshua’s sacrifice is superior because it cleanses the heart, something the blood of animals could never and were never intended to do. The blood of animals and goats was for cleansing the flesh he says. Yehsua’s sacrifice is once for all, but that doesn’t mean animal sacrifices are no longer important or required. This is why after Yeshua had risen to the father, the diciples are still seen at the temple and still participating in the sacrificial system and it is why sacrifices will be resumed in the messianic kingdom. It is very important to see Yeshua’s sacrifice as the most importnat and superior to any sacrifie that can be offered, but it is also important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
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Stain of Sin

We’ve talked a lot about sin but we haven’t defined it. What is Sin? Missing the mark. OK, But what is the mark? Falling short of God’s Torah. OK, so what if someone is called to testify about something they have witnessed and refuse to testify, is that sin? Or, what if someone touches a dead animal and doesn’t realize they touched it until later, is that sin?
Lev 5:1-6 speaks about various situations persons may find themselves in and instructs the community how to atone for such matters.
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There are four situations grouped together in close succession;
Refusing to testify when material evidence is known.
Unknowingly touching dead unclean animal
Unknowingly touching human uncleanliness
Make a rash vow and later recognize it. (Lev 5.1-6)
In our modern thought we’d probably suggest that bullets 1 and 4 are clearly sin, but bullets 2 & 3 are not sin. But from what I can tell the Scripture seems to group them all together and offer the identical solution for each;
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Leviticus 5:5–6 TLV
“So it will be, when one becomes guilty of one of these things, he shall confess about what he has sinned. Then he is to bring his trespass offering to Adonai for his sin that he committed: a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, as a sin offering. So the kohen is to make atonement for him over his sin.
“Guilty of any one of those things”, “Confess what he has sinned”, “bring the sin offering” “atonement for the sin”. Seems consistent, at least in this context.
I’ve already spoken about Lev 15 which is the chapter right before Yom Kippur descriptions in lev 16. There atonement is made for a woman in her menstrual cycle and a man with a bodily discharge. Based on all of this, it seems that our definition of sin is too narrow depending on the context.
For those that don’t know, I work in the insurance industry. And right now an emerging risk is something called PFAS. PFAS is an acronym for certain chemicals that are very pervasive and are said to cause injury. They are in everything from packaging to clothing to cookware and we have all injested them at some point. They are also known as forever chemicals because they last forever. Insurers are starting to put PFAS exclusions on business policies to prevent them being responsible for lawsuits arising from bodily injury or clean up costs related to these chemicals. It is considered uninsurable because the magnitude of these chemicals in society is so great and costs unknown. For example, allegations could include chemicals entering a city’s water supply or land now needing to be cleaned up. It is very expensive to clean and scrub from the ground.
The point of the illustration here is that sin is akin to these forever chemicals. Sin pollutes and is costly to remove. We have all injested these pollutants just like sin has polluted each of us one way or another. It takes special individuals and special cleaning detergents to remove sin. The experts to remove sin are the priests, in their special pollution resistant clothing, and the special purifying cleaning solution is the blood of the animal. And in some cases, to really remove the pollution, it has to be packaged and put on a special goat carrier and taken away. Obviously these illustrations may not be perfect but I think they paint the overall picture well.
This language of purification is at the heart of Yom Kippur. Consider Psalm 51, which reflects David’s repentant attitude after being confronted by Nathan concerning the sin of Bathsheba and murder of Uriah.
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Psalm 51:1 TLV
Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your mercy. According to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
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Psalm 51:5 TLV
Behold, I was born in iniquity and in sin when my mother conceived me.
Through David’s example we first learn that we must appeal to God, not on the basis of our standing but on the basis of His character! His love is steadfast. And on the basis of His steadfast love, we admit our transgressions and appeal that He would erase them. We admit we have been polluted. And we admit not only our faults but the fault of the entire people of God amongst whom we have been born!
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Psalm 51:2 NASB95
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin.
Psalm 51:7 NASB95
Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psalm 51:10 NASB95
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Here we see the language of purification - washed, cleansed, purges, clean. An appeal to be washed from the pollutants that stain our lives, families and communities. David recognizes the pervasiveness of sin and it is something that only God can rectify.
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Psalm 51:16–19 TLV
For You would not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it, nor be pleased by burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. In Your favor do good to Zion. Build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will be offered on Your altar.
We should select note two important things from the last verses of the Pslam.
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Priority 1: recognize and admit pollution in one’s own heart.
Priority 2: seek to restore personal and communal worship.
First, David is aware of the priority of God. Have you ever met someone who doesn’t have their priorities straight? When priorities are out of order any goal becomes difficult if not impossible to achieve. Here David speaks about godly priority of removing sin. First is a recognition in one’s own heart that sin has polluted it. Forever chemicals have contaminated us and they need to be dealt with in our hearts and minds of upmost priority. Confessing sin is the first step.
Second, it is only after our inner impurities have been dealt with that our external pollutants can be dealt with. As we have seen earlier, it is not that animal sacrifices are of no use or are unimportant, rather they are intended to be first and foremost a picture of what has already taken place on the inside of a citizen of the kingdom. The scarifies are meant to be an external picture of what has happened on the inside. Indeed, we bring the sacrifices because we first recognize the state of our pollution and repent of it. David longed for sacrificial worship to be restored at the temple and so that God would be praised in the congregation and so that the benefit of His presence would continue to bless His people.
Our master also reminded us of us the order of priroty. He rebuked the religious leaders telling them to first purify the inside of the cup and then purify the outside. They had it reversed. To men they loooked to be in the realm of holy but to God they lived in the realm of profane. They looked to be in the realm of the pure but to God they were in the realm of the polluted. TAKE NOTE PEOPLE OF GOD. Our master has provided his Halacha - prioritization is important. Examine your priority.
David recognizes that God has an order to repentance but it didn’t start with David. The Torah has always taught that we are to recognize our guilt first, confess our sins, and it is that internal recognition that should drive and motivate us to demonstrate our repentance by bringing an offering in His Temple courts. Only when we bring an offering in this way do we truly please God. Lev 5 spoke to this and Yom Kippur in Lev 16 certainly speaks to this confession.
Perhaps now we are in a better position to define sin - it is notoriously difficult to define and is dependant on the context, so this is Glenn’s attempt so take from it what you will, but it seems to me:
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Defining Sin: sin is defined as anything that moves us into the realm of the polluted instead of the realm of the pure.
Two levels:
Pollution intenernally within a person’s mind and heart (unclean thoughts)
Pollution externally affecting a persons body (uncleaness)
The significance:
The internal ultimately manifests outwardly.
The internal is pictured through the outward rituals.
Only the internal cleanliness determines entry into the heavenly presence of God.
Only the external cleanliness determines entry into the earthly presence of God.
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Our Representative

David was king. As king, his sin affected the entire nation as the representative for the people. When he sinned the people suffered. This is why he first speaks to the sacrifice of his broken heart and follows it with an appeal to God for the Almighty to do good to Zion, for Him to build Jerusalem, so that true worship can come from the entire people of God. David longed for the people of God to worship by offering sacrifices and as their representative he was in a position to facilitate that.
You see, as a representative, David was required to be right with God in order for the people to have any hope of offering true worship. True worship is only facilitated by the right mediator. This is precisely what we learn in the ritual of Yom Kippur. The priests are the mediators between God and the people and without the priests there is no atonement. There is no hope of removing the pollution.
And if unblemished mediators are needed to remove pollutants here on earth as respects the earthly presence of God how much more is an unblemished mediator required to remove the pollutants before God’s throne in the heavens! Thankfully for us we have a king, the son of David, the true mediator and high priest, who has no sin and who knew sin on our behalf so that once and for all he can make an offering in our behalf. Yeshua is every Yom Kippur image wrapped up into one - he’s the priest, he’s the high priest, he’s the sacrifice, he’s the blood, he’s the king and to him every knee will bow and every tounge confess.
It is an inescapable and blessed truth is that God makes a way to be forgiven and wiped clean. Through the rituals of Yom Kippur we can see that purification and forgiveness is an essential part of God’s interaction with us as His people and through the Torah and subsequent events of hisotry we now know that there is no other name under heaven given to men through whom they can be saved other than the name Yeshua HaMashiach.
On this Yom Kippur, may we all enjoy being cleasned through him from every pollution.
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