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Today, because of national unbelief, Israel has been
sidetracked from its service. Nevertheless, the time will come for
Israel to be gathered back to God as a nation. During the coming
Tribulation, Israel will be brought back to the forefront of service. At
the end of that Tribulation period, a nation shall be born in a day, and
“all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26).
Tradition or Scripture?
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are referred to as the High Holy Days in
Judaism. Both are traditionally celebrated as days of solemn personal
evaluation of one’s soul before God. In the traditional Jewish
community, Rosh Hashanah is seen as The Day of Judgment: when God
evaluates an individual’s deeds to determine whether He will write that
person’s name in the Book of Life for the coming year. According to
tradition, on Rosh Hashanah three books are opened before God in Heaven.
One book is for the absolutely wicked; another book is for the perfectly
righteous, and finally, the third book is opened for those not in either
of the first two books, those ordinary people who are neither perfectly
evil nor perfectly good. On Rosh Hashanah, people then have ten days to
do good deeds to merit being placed in the Book of Life for the coming
year. These are called The Days of Awe, which end on Yom Kippur. On Yom
Kippur, people return to synagogue to repent of their sins with the hope
that they have been forgiven by God and their names are written into the
Book of Life for the coming year. Therefore on Yom Kippur, to be made
right with God is the desire of every religious Jew. It is believed that
repentance with fasting, charity, and good deeds produces forgiveness.
Though fasting on Yom Kippur is not the specific scriptural command, the
day is so commonly identified with the practice that it is even called
“the fast” in Acts 27:9.
Who Needs a Sacrifice?
Other than fasting for a day, the need for an actual, physical sacrifice
is not recognized by most Jewish people today. The concept of a
vicarious blood sacrifice is considered archaic by most people,
including traditional Judaism. Besides this, traditional rabbis contend
that the Bible provides atonement without a bloody sacrifice, even in
biblical times. Thus the Messianic faith is called into question,
particularly over this issue. With the destruction of the Temple by the
Romans in AD 70 there has been no acceptable place for blood sacrifice.
The rabbis concluded from this that God no longer required blood
sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, notwithstanding what the
Scriptures say on the subject. But the Scripture is clear: For the life
of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to
make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life
that makes atonement (Lev. 17:11). The rabbis assumed that since there
were bloodless sacrifices made, such as the flour offering for the poor,
then God would accept bloodless sacrifices, and that God would accept us
without bloody sacrifice as well. This simply is not the case as
Leviticus 5:11,12 confirms. When we look carefully at the text, we see
that the flour was only acceptable when laid upon and identified with
the bloody offerings. In so doing the flour offering became bloody
itself. There was never a sacrifice that expiated sin that was not
bloody.
The Prayers of Daniel &
Solomon
In another era of history we Jewish people found ourselves captive in
Babylon, outside our homeland of Israel. To make things worse, there no
longer was a Temple where we could make sacrifices, since Nebuchadnezzar
had destroyed it. One man who found himself in Babylon was Daniel. Since
Daniel was unable to make sacrifice, yet was forgiven, it is assumed
that we also can be forgiven without sacrifice. However, it is a false
assumption that Daniel did not trust in the blood sacrifice of the
Temple. Daniel constantly prayed three times a day with his face towards
Jerusalem. Daniel “…entered his house (now in his roof chamber he
had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his
knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he
had been doing previously” (Daniel 6:10). Why? To understand the
need to pray toward Jerusalem more fully, please note Solomon’s prayer
when he consecrated the Temple in Jerusalem: "When they (Israel) sin
against You…and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so
that they take them away captive… if they return to You with all their
heart and with all their soul…and pray to You toward their land which
You have given to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the
house (the temple)...then hear their prayer and their supplication in
heaven Your dwelling place" (1 Kings 8:46-49). Solomon asks God to
hear the prayers of His people even when they are in exile due to sin,
and forgive them when they pray toward the House of the Lord. For this
reason when Daniel was in exile he had confidence to pray toward
Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, the place of blood sacrifice. Daniel
identified with the sacrifices and found forgiveness. Even today
synagogues are built facing Jerusalem and the Temple area. Similarly, we
pray from wherever we are in Yeshua’s name: He is the sacrifice we look
to, identify with, and depend on.
In light of this the question can be raised,
“Doesn’t a substitutionary sacrifice demean a person’s responsibility to
account for their own offences?” Biblical substitutionary atonement has
never removed personal responsibility of the offender, and restitution
to the offended party. However, the reality is that sin against God is
so heinous and costly that no personal sacrifice can satisfactorily pay
for the offence.
Has God changed His view of sacrifice, or have we
merely changed our view of sin? Perhaps people view sin as a minor
infraction, where a day of fasting is sufficient to get right with God.
Is it acceptable to God, the offended party? He states that sin is awful
and catastrophic to His honor, our well-being, and our relationship with
Him. Since His view on sin has not changed, neither should our view of
sacrifice. To offend an Eternal God’s holiness is an eternal offense,
and requires an atonement of life. Only this loss of life through blood
atonement would demonstrate the awfulness of sin and its dire
consequences which the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel warned Israel of: the
wages of sin is death.
Looking to Yeshua
When we pray “looking unto Yeshua the
author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2), we identify with the
final blood sacrifice that was made for our atonement, and find
forgiveness for our sins. Just as Daniel had to look to the Temple, we
must realize One has come who is “greater than the Temple” (Mat.
12:6). Messiah has come and has made final and effective atonement for
all who will believe (Heb. 10:1-14). The rabbis drew the wrong
conclusion from the destruction of the Temple. It was not that God was
removing the need for blood atonement for forgiveness of sins, but
rather, the Messiah of Israel had come and made final and eternal
atonement: thus the Temple sacrifices were no longer needed. That is why
Yeshua declared from the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30).
God wants restored relationships between Him and His people. For that,
there has to be redemption by blood, and repentance by the believer. Do
you have this? If not, trust in Yeshua. By faith in Him, the New Year
greeting “L’shana tova tikatevu--May you be inscribed (in the Book of
Life) for a good year”can be fulfilled in your life! May your name be
“written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world” (Rev. 13:8).
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