The second chapter of the book takes you into an understanding of the Yom Kippur or the day of atonement. Doing this post has also been a lesson for me as it led me to meditate on the book of Leviticus ( a book I conveniently tend to skip)
Yom Kippur was an important day for worship and national repentance. A day filled with so many mysterious allusions to the work our lord would take up in fulfilling the laws of the Old covenant.
My prayer for all who read this Blog is that :- May the healing power of our lord Jesus Christ fill you with such an infusion of faith and love for the Self less Atoning work taken up by our lord and may this faith and love overflow in all your interactions with his children all around you.
Carrying what you do not need to carry
Did you know that the first book that Jewish children studied in the synagogue was the book of Leviticus?
Leviticus 20:26 declares that God knows all about human brokenness and hurt. And his love reaches out and says to us, "You shall be whole; for I am whole. That is my purpose," he declares to his people.
We long to be whole people with all parts of our personality integrated and expressed.
"If I had my choice of all the blessings I can conceive of I would choose perfect conformity to the Lord Jesus, or, in one word, holiness." -Charles Spurgeon
Isaiah 53:3-4
Once every year, on the tenth day of the seventh month the high priest stood before god on the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur.
The word Yom means "day" in Hebrew and Kippur comes from a root that means "to cover or hide". Yom Kippur was to be the Sabbath of Sabbaths. “It (Yom Kippur) is to be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statue” (Lev. 16:31).
On this day the high priest stood before god. It was designed as a time of national fasting and repentance.
1. The HIGH PRIEST alone performed all the rituals within the tabernacle. He was entirely responsible for the Day of Atonement. He prepared for it a week in advance by studying the laws of the Day of Atonement. He stayed in the high priest chamber in the temple court.
2. Only on the Day of Atonement, the High priest was permitted to pass beyond the veil into the Holy of Holies.
And the Lord said to Moses, "Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat." (Leviticus 16:2).
3. The High priest would be would be clothed in simple linen. (Lev. 8:7; Ex. 28:33-35).
The burnt offerings were: seven male lambs, each a year old, one young bull, and one ram. The sin offering was one male goat. Every step the priest took was precisely scripted. According to the Talmud he made forty-three trips between the court and sanctuary on this respected day.
5. Two identical goats in size, shape and color were then to be taken and presented before the Lord. Lots would be cast.
And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a sin offering.
But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat. (Leviticus 16:8-10).
An eighteen inch red thread was then tied to the neck of the goat designated for the lord. This goat would be slain and offered as a burnt offering before the lord while the second goat would play an important role in carrying the sins of the nation.
Aaron was to take this goat and place BOTH his hands upon it as he confessed all of the sins of Israel.
Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. (Leviticus 16:21).
After the ceremony a chosen man led the goat into the wilderness where it was eventually abandoned. A red thread was tied to the horns of the scapegoat in case it would later appear in a community in the wilderness. Anyone who saw the red thread on the goat’s head knew that they were to avoid contact with it.
Later a system developed wherein an appointed man led the goat with a rope around its neck outside the eastern gate across the mountains and into the wilderness. He eventually transferred the goat to another man who would run with the goat to a distant mountain and hand the goat to a third person. Miles outside the city of Jerusalem on a mountain called the mount of Azazel; the scapegoat carrying the sins of the nation was pushed off a cliff where it tumbled to a violent death hundreds of feet below. When this goat met its death, a crimson colored thread that had been nailed to the outside of the temple door supernaturally turned white. This was visible evidence to the priests, Levites, and Israelites that god had forgiven their sins. Isaiah may have been referring to this crimson thread when he wrote.
Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.The death of the scapegoat assured the people that their sins were wiped clean.
This is why Isaiah penned these words being inspired from the lord.
Isaiah 43:25
"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
TWO GOATS AND THREE RED THREADS
The author draws a connection between the two goats and the three red threads.
The scarlet threads were placed in three locations:
the neck of one goat,
the right horn of another goat and
the temple door.
The three red threads are a visual image of the three persons on three crosses on the day of Christ’s crucifixion (John 19:18).
Unrepentant
The thief on one side died unrepentant thus carrying his sins to the grave. (Luke 23: 39-40). He represents the scapegoat that carried the sins into the wilderness where it met its death.
Christ
Jesus hung in the middle thus representing the goat for the lord which was slaughtered on the altar.
Conversion
The other thief was converted on the cross therefore his scarlet sins became white as snow. This thief’s conversion is represented by the red thread nailed to the wooden door of the temple that changed colors in the midst of the Yom Kippur ceremony.
The two goats had to be identical in size, color and shape. Christ was condemned to die but Barabbas a man who was guilty of a crime was released and set free (Matthew 27: 16-26). The Hebrew name of Jesus is Y’shuah.
According to an early church father, the actual name of Barabbas was Y’shuah. Both he and Christ had identical first names.
The name Barabbas comes from two words: Bar meaning son and Abbas meaning the exalted or high father. Jesus Christ was the exalted son of the heavenly father (Acts 2:33)
Numbers 4:2
"Take a census of the Kohathite branch of the Levites by their clans and families.--
Yom Kippur was an important day for worship and national repentance. A day filled with so many mysterious allusions to the work our lord would take up in fulfilling the laws of the Old covenant.
My prayer for all who read this Blog is that :- May the healing power of our lord Jesus Christ fill you with such an infusion of faith and love for the Self less Atoning work taken up by our lord and may this faith and love overflow in all your interactions with his children all around you.
Carrying what you do not need to carry
Did you know that the first book that Jewish children studied in the synagogue was the book of Leviticus?
Leviticus 20:26 declares that God knows all about human brokenness and hurt. And his love reaches out and says to us, "You shall be whole; for I am whole. That is my purpose," he declares to his people.
We long to be whole people with all parts of our personality integrated and expressed.
"If I had my choice of all the blessings I can conceive of I would choose perfect conformity to the Lord Jesus, or, in one word, holiness." -Charles Spurgeon
Isaiah 53:3-4
Once every year, on the tenth day of the seventh month the high priest stood before god on the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur.
The word Yom means "day" in Hebrew and Kippur comes from a root that means "to cover or hide". Yom Kippur was to be the Sabbath of Sabbaths. “It (Yom Kippur) is to be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statue” (Lev. 16:31).
On this day the high priest stood before god. It was designed as a time of national fasting and repentance.
1. The HIGH PRIEST alone performed all the rituals within the tabernacle. He was entirely responsible for the Day of Atonement. He prepared for it a week in advance by studying the laws of the Day of Atonement. He stayed in the high priest chamber in the temple court.
2. Only on the Day of Atonement, the High priest was permitted to pass beyond the veil into the Holy of Holies.
And the Lord said to Moses, "Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat." (Leviticus 16:2).
3. The High priest would be would be clothed in simple linen. (Lev. 8:7; Ex. 28:33-35).
- The golden crown on his forehead.
- The breastplate on his heart.
- The outer robe decorated with pomegranates and bells (the people listened for the bells while the priest was in the Holy of Holies to be sure the priest was still alive).
- The apron or vest.
- Four white garments made from white flax.
- The belt.
- The turban.
- Pants
The burnt offerings were: seven male lambs, each a year old, one young bull, and one ram. The sin offering was one male goat. Every step the priest took was precisely scripted. According to the Talmud he made forty-three trips between the court and sanctuary on this respected day.
5. Two identical goats in size, shape and color were then to be taken and presented before the Lord. Lots would be cast.
And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a sin offering.
But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat. (Leviticus 16:8-10).
An eighteen inch red thread was then tied to the neck of the goat designated for the lord. This goat would be slain and offered as a burnt offering before the lord while the second goat would play an important role in carrying the sins of the nation.
Aaron was to take this goat and place BOTH his hands upon it as he confessed all of the sins of Israel.
Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. (Leviticus 16:21).
After the ceremony a chosen man led the goat into the wilderness where it was eventually abandoned. A red thread was tied to the horns of the scapegoat in case it would later appear in a community in the wilderness. Anyone who saw the red thread on the goat’s head knew that they were to avoid contact with it.
Later a system developed wherein an appointed man led the goat with a rope around its neck outside the eastern gate across the mountains and into the wilderness. He eventually transferred the goat to another man who would run with the goat to a distant mountain and hand the goat to a third person. Miles outside the city of Jerusalem on a mountain called the mount of Azazel; the scapegoat carrying the sins of the nation was pushed off a cliff where it tumbled to a violent death hundreds of feet below. When this goat met its death, a crimson colored thread that had been nailed to the outside of the temple door supernaturally turned white. This was visible evidence to the priests, Levites, and Israelites that god had forgiven their sins. Isaiah may have been referring to this crimson thread when he wrote.
Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.The death of the scapegoat assured the people that their sins were wiped clean.
This is why Isaiah penned these words being inspired from the lord.
Isaiah 43:25
"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
TWO GOATS AND THREE RED THREADS
The author draws a connection between the two goats and the three red threads.
The scarlet threads were placed in three locations:
the neck of one goat,
the right horn of another goat and
the temple door.
The three red threads are a visual image of the three persons on three crosses on the day of Christ’s crucifixion (John 19:18).
Unrepentant
The thief on one side died unrepentant thus carrying his sins to the grave. (Luke 23: 39-40). He represents the scapegoat that carried the sins into the wilderness where it met its death.
Christ
Jesus hung in the middle thus representing the goat for the lord which was slaughtered on the altar.
Conversion
The other thief was converted on the cross therefore his scarlet sins became white as snow. This thief’s conversion is represented by the red thread nailed to the wooden door of the temple that changed colors in the midst of the Yom Kippur ceremony.
The two goats had to be identical in size, color and shape. Christ was condemned to die but Barabbas a man who was guilty of a crime was released and set free (Matthew 27: 16-26). The Hebrew name of Jesus is Y’shuah.
According to an early church father, the actual name of Barabbas was Y’shuah. Both he and Christ had identical first names.
The name Barabbas comes from two words: Bar meaning son and Abbas meaning the exalted or high father. Jesus Christ was the exalted son of the heavenly father (Acts 2:33)
Numbers 4:2
"Take a census of the Kohathite branch of the Levites by their clans and families.--
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