Yom Kippur

 Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement—it is considered the holiest day in the Jewish faith. This is the only day in the whole year when the High Priest entered the Sanctum Santorum, the Holiest of the Holy in the Temple. He took the blood of one goat and sprinkled it on the Ark of Covenant for his own sins and others. The other goat, the Scapegoat, took on the sins of Israel and was sent into the wilderness, where it perished. Yom Kippur marks the culmination of the 10 Days of Awe, a period of introspection and repentance that follows Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets, and the Jewish New Year. According to tradition, it is on Yom Kippur that God writes the names of his people in his Book of Life. So Jews stay away from all mundane work, fast for 25 hours and ask for forgiveness for sins committed during the past year.

According to Christian tradition, like the Scapegoat, they led Jesus outside Jerusalem to His crucifixion and death, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12). Jesus will return in the air with the blast of trumpets on Rosh Hashanah and take up both the dead and living believers with him. This will be followed by Ten Days of Awe, when perhaps 144,000 Jews will repent, accept Jesus as their Messiah, and be incorporated into the Kingdom. After this, the seven-year period of Tribulation will start for those who are left behind.  

Yom Kippur and the days leading up to it is a time for prayer, good deeds, reflecting on past mistakes and making amends with others. Having your name written in the Book of Lamb must remain the most important agenda of your life if you want to inherit God’s kingdom, “And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the Lake of Fire.” (Revelation 20:12,15). The surest way to have your name written in the Book of Life is to imitate Jesus. He came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Do that and inherit the Kingdom. Sadly, most Christians do not save a single soul in their entire Christian life. Yom Kippur is the best time for reflection and course correction.