What is Yom Kippur All About?
What is Yom Kippur all about?
Why should we care at all if we are Followers of Christ?
Well, It’s all about humbling ourselves and asking forgiveness from God!
Look at the prayer that is to be fervently and honestly prayed on this somber feast day!
“For the sin which we have committed before You under duress or willingly.
And for the sin which we have committed before You by hard-heartedness.
For the sin which we have committed before You inadvertently.
And for the sin which we have committed before You with an utterance of the lips. For the sin which we have committed before You with immorality….
For all of these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us.”
Confession is tremendously important for Messianic Jews and Christians, since it both reminds us of our great need for God’s intervention in our lives, and also helps us walk in the truth.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” 1 John 1:9.
“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye (plural) may be healed,” James 5:16.
Yom Kippur is the last and most important of the 10 High Holy Days, which begin on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
The New Year is a time to reflect on one’s life and to ask God and others for Forgiveness, asking God to help you to be a better person in the coming year.
On Yom Kippur, God (often referred to as HaShem, Hebrew for “The Name”) is said to take a look at the deeds of the Jewish people and to seal each person’s fate in the “Book of Life.”
More than anything, Yom Kippur is a day of seeking forgiveness and giving to charity.
A greeting that is often used during Yom Kippur is “Gmar Fatima Tova or Gmar Hatimah Tova”. This means, “may you be sealed for a good year [in the Book of Life]”.
Here are some confirming bible verses that talk about this! : Leviticus 16:29 and 23:27; Numbers 29:7-11.
The Sabbath of all Sabbaths: Saturday (“the sabbath”) is to Jews what Sunday is to Christians; it is the “day of rest” when synagogues hold their weekly worship services.
Yom Kippur is considered the “Sabbath of all Sabbaths” because, not only is it a day of complete rest (no work, no driving, etc.) but it’s a day of fasting and other restrictions.
Services run all day on Yom Kippur — from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. — with a break around 3 p.m. People wear white, and services generally end with a long blow from the shofar…
Yom Kippur is about saying you’re sorry. And that’s a skill adults and kids need to know! I suggest taking a bit of time as a family to think of three things you are sorry for — big things, tiny things, it doesn’t matter.
And then talk about the importance of saying you’re sorry when you hurt people’s feelings. “Sorry” is such a small word, and yet it’s one of the most powerful words we can say.
Think of all the little hurts you’ve suffered and carried around with you that could have been completely wiped away had the offending person simply said “I’m sorry.”
“This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you,” Leviticus 16:29.
“Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord,” Leviticus 23:27.
“On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall afflict your souls; you shall not do any work. You shall present a burnt offering to the Lord as a sweet aroma: one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year. Be sure they are without blemish. Their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, besides the sin offering for atonement, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings,” Numbers 29:7-11.
In His Shadow,
~ Mary Lindow ©
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” THE MESSENGER ” ~ Mary Lindow
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Mary Lindow has a passion for encouraging others – all generations, careers or vocations to live expressing excellence through personal integrity, healthy accountability, and wise management of talents and skills. She’s a sought after keynote, inspirational, humorous speaker and teacher across the USA and internationally in Ministers & Spiritual leaders Conferences, and training seminars for various organizations.
Incredible.
AMÉN…!