Yom Kippur and Calvary

Yom Kippur is the Jewish Day of Atonement. It’s the highest of holy days in the Jewish Faith. It’s the day when observant – and even non-observant Jews – call to mind their sins; A day when Jews humble themselves with fasting and prayer, and appeal to God for forgiveness.

 

The holy day has its roots in the Jewish Scriptures, specifically Leviticus chapters 16 and 17. On this day the high priest received two sacrificial animals from the congregation. One he slaughtered, catching its blood in a basin, and then sprinkled it on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant – a gold-lined box kept in the special room in the Tabernacle – and later in the Temple. The special room in both the Tabernacle and the Temple was called the Holy of Holies. Only the High Priest could enter that room, and only once a year with the blood of the sacrificial animal.

 

It's important that we know the name of the lid of the Ark was called the “Mercy Seat.” The Hebrew word for Mercy Seat translates to the Greek word used by the New Testament writers – propitiation. The Hebrew and Greek words mean, “to a make atonement for, to remove sins and the associated judgment for those sins.” The word carries the idea of appeasing God’s wrath against the sinner because of his or her sins.

 

On Yom Kippur the high priest also took to himself a second sacrificial animal. He placed both his hands on its head and transferred to it all the sins of the people. The ‘scapegoat’ (as it was called) was then led out into the desert, never to be seen again. 

 

In other words, God was not only covering the people’s sins with the blood sprinkled on the Mercy Seat, but He was also showing them He was removing their sins from their midst by the sacrificial animal sent out to the wilderness – or as the Psalmist tells us in psalm 103, God removed the penitent’s sins “as far as the east is from the west.”

 

We who are familiar with Yom Kippur AND the scriptures of the New Covenant – I’ll get to that New Covenant in a moment – those who know of Yom Kippur and the New Covenant understand the Day of Atonement was a picture of what God would do on Good Friday, when He placed the sins of the world on the body of Messiah Jesus, who filled the role of the sacrificed animal when He spilled His blood on the cross to cover our sins – AND Messiah filled the role of the scapegoat who took our sins as far from us as east is from the west.

To those of you who remember that wondrous prophetic passage in Isaiah 53, written 700 years before Jesus was born, you will immediately recognize the connection: “(Isaiah 53:5-6) “But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (21^st Century KJV)

And those of you familiar with the Bible will also recognize the connection between Yom Kippur in Leviticus, along with the promise of atonement in Isaiah’s prophecy – you’ll see the connection with God's promise of a New Covenant – a New ‘Testament’ – that Jeremiah told us about in the 31^st chapter of his Biblical book:

 

(Jeremiah 31:31-34) “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

 

Focus a moment on that last clause: “I will remember their sin no more.” 

 

That means YOUR sin. My sin. EVERONE’S sin whose sins are atoned through the bloody sacrifice of the Lamb of God – Messiah Jesus.

 

Yom Kippur is all about sin, isn’t it?  Well, not completely. Yom Kippur and Good Friday are all about God's incomprehensible love for us and His understanding that our sin-nature makes it utterly impossible for us to free ourselves from our sins. Yom Kippur is all about God's forgiveness of the penitent’s sins and about FREEDOM from the penalty our sins so richly deserve.

 

Let me give you a personal illustration of how sin is so entwined with our nature that only God Himself can free us:

 

I go back in my memory to Yom Kippur in 1972. The holy day fell on September 18 of that year. I was sitting in my navy barracks, thinking about my Jewishness, and my relationship with God. And the thought suddenly dropped into my mind of what I had done exactly one year earlier, on Yom Kippur 1971.

 

I’d awaked on that day feeling badly that I was not a good Jew. And so, since it was Yom Kippur, I decided to change my life. And to prove to God I was earnest about my decision, I would fast and pray – and start living a holy lifestyle.

 

And I did fine all morning. But then my girlfriend unexpectedly rang the doorbell. It wasn’t long before we ended up in bed.

 

That memory of Yom Kippur 1971 now haunted me on Yom Kippur 1972. How could I be unable to live a holy life devoted to God for even a few hours?

 

Just a few HOURS?

 

When God opens our eyes to our sins, we do one of three things. We ignore what He shows us. Or we make excuses for ourselves. Or we acknowledge our sins and beg His forgiveness.

 

What I did on that day in 1972 was to pray a very simple – but very heart-felt prayer. I even wrote the prayer in my journal: “Oh, God. Please, God, “Forgive me my past sins, and look with tolerance on my future sins.”

 

Yom Kippur 1971 convinced me I could not consistently live a godly lifestyle, not even for 24 hours. In 1972, the memory of bedding my girlfriend on the most holy day of my Jewish faith convinced me I was undeniably trapped by sin. I could only hope when I prayed that simple Yom Kippur prayer in my navy barracks that God would be kind enough to forgive me.

 

And – He was.

 

A few months later, on December 25, 1972, He showed me Jesus had become my atonement, my sacrificial Lamb. He was the One on whom the Father placed ALL my iniquities. Jesus was – and IS – my Jewish Messiah. It was in Jesus that God would forgive my moral failures – not only the one on Yom Kippur 1971, but He would forgive ALL my sins. Every last one of them. The small ones and the monstrous ones. In Messiah Jesus, who died as the atonement for my sins – I could be eternally forgiven, cleansed, and made right with God.

 

But I really do not want this message to be about me. It needs to be about YOU. It needs to be about anyone willing to admit to God that they’re trapped in sin, that they need a Savior, an Atonement for their sins.

 

God did not turn me away when I came to Him in humility. Neither will He turn away anyone who comes to Him for forgiveness.

 

Jesus came for sinners. He did not come for those who think they do not need His forgiveness. You might remember the story Jesus told of the self-righteous Pharisee and the humble sinner.

 

Luke 18:10-14 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

 

Jesus came for those who recognize their utter insufficiency to live an abundant and full life apart from God. Many of you might remember Simon and Garfunkel’s song, “I Am a Rock.” Here are some of the lyrics:

“I've built walls; A fortress deep and mighty; that none may penetrate . . .

I am a rock. I am an island. “I am shielded in my armor, hiding in my room, safe within my womb. I touch no one and no one touches me. I am a rock. I am an island. And a rock feels no pain. And an island never cries.”

 

Jesus came for people who LIVE songs like that, but who do not WANT to live like that any longer. Jesus says to all of us, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

 

Listen! If you haven’t recognized it yet, I pray God will open your eyes before it is too late. It was St. Augustine who said what every humble soul recognizes: “God has made us for Himself, and our hearts are RESTLESS until they find their rest in HIM.”

 

Now let me also say this. Jesus said His yoke is easy – but it is still a yoke. He said His burden is light – but it is still a burden. Why is it a yoke and a burden? Because following Messiah Jesus as LORD of our life was never meant to be easy. And I’m here to tell you that radio, television, and pulpit preachers who say – or even HINT that it is easy – they’re liars, false teachers, blind shepherds leading blind congregations.

 

The faithful Christian life is NOT easy. Jesus warned, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.  (Matthew 7:13-14)

 

He said again in John 16:33 “In the world you have tribulation but take courage; I have overcome the world.”  And St. Paul told the Christians he won to the Lord during his missionary journeys: (Acts 14:22) “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” 

 

You and I do not have to look any further than our own lives to know what the Bible says is true about living faithfully for Almighty God. It’s been hard for us over these many years to walk the narrow way and to bend low through that small gate. And don’t expect it to get easier as we get older. That’s also why the Lord Jesus told us repeatedly that only those who persevere will receive the crown of life. (See Revelation chapter 2-3),

 

Listen! Jesus is our Yom Kippur atonement, given to us by the Father, so that those who walk in darkness, who are confused, who are unsure of the correct path toward the Celestial City may find IN HIM, and ONLY in Him, that path.

St. Matthew tells us that when Jesus settled in Capernaum He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, “The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, and those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a Light dawned.”

And what did Jesus, the Light of the world do when He settled in Capernaum? How did He direct the people OUT of their darkness and into His light? Matthew tells us: From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:16-17)

The New Covenant Sacrificial Lamb of Moses, of Isaiah, of Jeremiah and of all the other prophets I didn’t now mention only for the sake of time – Messiah Jesus came for those who search for TRUTH, for those who are unsatisfied with self-deceptions and ‘feel good’ messages in books and from social media.

 

Listen! God's Truth is both hard in its reality and sharp in its clarity. The Holy Spirit warns us against listening to teachers and preachers who tickle the ears of their listeners with words they want to hear instead of words they NEED to hear:

 

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

 

I came across this word of warning by a mid-20th century preacher, A W Pink (d.1952). What he said reads like something any of the New Testament writers said:

 

“To turn away from the lifeless preachers and publishers of the day may involve a real cross. Your motives will be misconstrued, your words perverted, and your actions misinterpreted. The sharp arrows of false report will be directed against you. You will be called proud and self- righteous, because you refuse to fellowship empty professors (i.e. false Christians). You will be termed censorious and bitter if you condemn in plain speech the subtle delusions of Satan. You will be dubbed narrowminded and uncharitable, because you refuse to join in singing the praises of the ‘great’ and ‘popular men’ of the day.”

“More and more, you’ll be made to painfully realize that the path which leads to eternal life is narrow and that few there are who find it. May the Lord be pleased to grant to each of us a hearing ear and an obedient heart [and] take heed to what [we] hear and read.” (Bible teacher and evangelist, A W Pink, d. 1952)

 

Yom Kippur is a good day – as good as any day of the year – to confess your sins to God and to ask His forgiveness through and by and with the sacrificial blood of Jesus.

 

And even if you’ve asked those things of God in the past, today is still a good day to do it again. I repeatedly ask God to forgive me and to cleanse me of my many daily sins. And I hope you are actively doing the same.

 

And this is His promise to all who humbly ask His forgiveness: (1 John 1:8-9) “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

 

Thanks alone to our God our Savior, Jesus the Messiah.

Death is Defeated

 

Today is the last in our series about worldviews, of which there are only two possible choices. One is pagan wherein people convince themselves and others there is no absolute truth or absolute authority. The other is Biblically based, wherein people know they must live in accordance with God’s inerrant and timeless truths as revealed in the pages of Scripture.

It is from either of these worldviews that men and women examine and interpret everything pertaining to life, such as morality, politics, education, entertainment, relationships, and so on.

Both worldviews ask and answer three basic questions: 1) Who are we? 2) How did we get here? and 3) Where are we going? And I want to again be clear about this: ONLY a Biblical worldview can save us from our own personal, family, and national social disasters.

 

The first element of a Biblical worldview we briefly examined is this: The God of the first chapter of Genesis is the ONLY true God. He has revealed Himself to humanity as a triune Being: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person is coeternal, coequal, and coexistent with each other: Three Persons, three Natures within the One God and Creator.

 

The second element of a Biblical worldview we briefly examined is this: The same God who created everything and everyone has also given us a series of love letters that describe His passionate affection for each of us. We call those letters the ‘Bible.’

The THIRD element of a Biblical worldview is the recognition that God's love letters are framed by His commandments. The God who loves us wants to protect us from self-destruction and, ultimately, eternal agony in the Lake of Fire.

The FOURTH essential element of a Biblical worldview is this: The Creator of the universe identified Himself to Moses as the Great ‘I AM’ – which is precisely how Jesus identified Himself to the religious leaders of His day.

Today we will look at the fifth essential element of a Biblical worldview which is this: DEATH IS DEFEATED

I know you feel about death as I do. You hate it. Don’t you wish life was like it was in the Genesis Garden? No death. No loss. No separation.

 

As most of you now know, we lost yet another member of our little congregation last week. Merlyn went to her Lord Jesus last Monday morning – He who was her God, her Savior, her Redeemer, her Friend.

 

I know He was all those things to her because she told me so at different times and in many ways – most recently three weeks ago when I visited her and asked if she knew Jesus is almighty God in the flesh, and that He died in her place. She smiled at me and said, “Of course.” I then asked how often she confesses her sins to Christ. She looked at me as if it was a silly question. “Every day,” she said.

 

Don’t you think Merlyn’s family hates death? But do you also know that Jesus hates death?

 

Yes, of course, He does. He knows what it’s like to lose someone He loves. He lost a beloved father. He also lost His beloved cousin, whom we know as John the Baptizer. And I’m glad for the report in the 11^th chapter of John’s gospel. It’s the record of His beloved friend’s death. Many of you know the story.

 

When the Lord learned of Lazarus’ illness, He stayed a few more days with His disciples where they were before leaving for Bethany to visit Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha. John tells us that when Jesus and His disciples arrived, Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. And when Jesus witnessed the grief of Mary, Martha, and the other mourners, John tells us in two simple but profound words what happened next: (John 11:35) “Jesus wept.”

We must never gloss over those two words. They overflow with evidence of God’s passion and compassion for you and for me – “Jesus wept.”

 

But there is so much more in this vignette at Lazarus’ tomb. John also tells us in verse 33 of that chapter: “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled.”  

 

The Greek word John used here for ‘deeply moved’ can also be translated as ‘very angry. The New Living Translation of the Bible renders the verse this way: “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within Him, and He was deeply troubled.”

 

Why was Jesus, the Lord of Life, so angry? Perhaps these texts from the intertestamental Jewish book of Wisdom will help answer that question:

 

Wisdom 1:13 “For God did not make death, nor does He delight in the death of the living. (NCB); And in the next chapter of that book, the writer continues: (Wisdom 2:23-24) “For God created us to be immortal and formed us in the image of his own nature. But as a result of the devil’s envy, death entered the world . . . .”

 

Of course, the Jewish writer of Wisdom was likely very familiar with the Hebrew Prophet, Ezekiel, who wrote: (Ezekiell 33:11) ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”

 

And certainly, St Peter was likely aware of both the text in Ezekiel and in the Book of Wisdom when he wrote: (2 Peter 3:9) “But [God] is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

 

Yes, God HATES death. Death was never His plan when He created the heavens and the earth. But when sin entered the human race in that most tragic and mournful scene in the Genesis Garden, death has been with us ever since.

 

And it is BECAUSE death is ever with us that the Biblical worldview – which is the view God wants us all to have -- BECAUSE death is ever with us, the Biblical worldview provides great comfort because of its immutable promise of everlasting life. Forever life. Eternal, never ending life – which ONLY those who know and love and serve the AUTHOR of life will receive.

 

Isn’t that what Jesus promised a mourning Mary and Martha at that tomb of Lazarus? If you haven’t yet memorized this passage, I urge you to do so this week: (John 11:25-26) “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

 

In other words, the Biblical worldview tells us that those who are born once will die twice; But those who are born twice will die only once.

What does that mean? Well – and not considering the Rapture of the Church at this point, meaning the ‘Taking away’ of all true Christians in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at that last Trumpet – not considering the Rapture now, we know everyone who is born through the natural process of birth will eventually die. That’s a100% reality.

 

Those who are born only once will die when their heart stops, but they will ALSO die a second time in the eternal lake of fire. Here is only one of several Biblical texts that speak of that 100% reality:

Revelation 20:11-14 “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”

But those who are born twice – once through the natural birth process and once again through their faithful obedience to Messiah Jesus – those who are born twice will never, ever experience the second death. Here are some Biblical texts that speak of the 100% reality:

Jesus said to the Pharisee Nicodemus, (John 3:3) “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

 

Here also is 1 Peter 1:22-23: “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.”

 

And finally, for the sake of time, here is 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

 

And so, here it is once again, the Lord said to Mary and Martha at the tomb: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. (John 11:25-26)

Listen, please. THIS promise of God is ONLY and exclusively true for those who have put their faith in the atoning sacrifice of the incarnate God, whom Christians know as Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. The promise of escape from the second death is only true for those who have committed their lives, their lifestyles, their full obedience to Christ’s commandments.

 

The promise of escape from the second death is NOT applicable, it is NOT true for those who die without Christ’s precious and sacrificial blood covering their sins.

 

Paul wrote these words of encouragement to the Christians at Corinth – AND because God and His word are eternal, these words apply to all Christians today:

 

(1 Corinthians 15:50-57) – “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Christian, listen: “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through,
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue; The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.  O Lord, You know I have no friend like You, If heaven’s not my home, then, Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”

 

Five years ago, on August 1, 2018, my mother was dead from a ruptured brain aneurysm before she fell to the floor of her apartment. Six weeks earlier, mom was visiting my sister in Pennsylvania. A few days before she was to return to Georgia, she left a voice message. I still have it on my phone. Among the newsy things she told me in that voice message was this: “Before you know it, in the blink of an eye, I’ll be standing before you.”

 

Mom NEVER, ever used that expression, “In the blink of an eye.” I thought it odd at the time, but brushed it off as curious, but insignificant. It was not until we buried her that I thought about what she’d said. And to this day I believe God was telling me through her odd remark that He was going to soon take her to Himself.

 

But what of her remark, “In the blink of an eye”?

 

For me, it has been more than five years since she went to her savior. But for her – because she now exists in the eternal present – it has NOT been five years. It is irrational to even think in terms of days or months or years when we speak of those who were born twice, as my mother was, and not live in that eternal present with all the saints in glory – as my mother now does.

 

That means when my body dies and I immediately stand in the presence of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and He reunites me with my mother – for her it will have only been a ‘blink of the eye.’

 

And this is also the good news for you who are listening to my voice: When YOUR body dies and you immediately stand in the presence of YOUR Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, you also will be reunited with your loved ones who have gone before you to glory.

 

As St Paul wrote: (2 Corinthians 5:6-8) “Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”

 

Let me close this message, and this series of messages this way:

 

Christian, I beg you to hold tightly to the Biblical worldview. The worldview that tells us God is a triune and eternal Being who has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each Person within that Holy Trinity is co-eternal, co-equal, and co-existent. Three Persons, three natures, but only One God.

 

It is the worldview that assures us God has given us an inerrant, infallible, and fully inspired set of commandment-framed love-letters, we call the Bible. It is the worldview that assures us that the Great I AM of the Burning Bush of Exodus Three and Jesus the Christ are the same Being. And it is the same worldview that tells us those who are born once will die twice. But those who are born twice will die only once.

 

My brothers and sisters in Christ, the Biblical worldview is the ONLY worldview that will take you to heaven. It is the only worldview that will give you hope – a confident expectation – of good things to come and which will last forever and ever. Amen.