YOM KIPPUR
YOM KIPPUR
Today
is the Day of Atonement. It was the only day of the year when Israel’s High
Priest could enter the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle. To do this the High
Priest spent 7 days in isolation within the temple confines, purifying his
thoughts and generally separating from the world and its ways, in preparation
for his encounter with the presence of God.
He was
physically washed clean with clean garments and with the blood of a sacrifice
offered on his behalf which he sprinkled on the mercy seat. Then two goats were
chosen by lot. One goat (The Lord’s goat) was sacrificed as a sin offering for the
nation of Israel. Then the other goat, (a scape goat) was laden with the sins
of Israel as the High Priest laid both hands on the goat’s head and confessed
all of the sins of Israel upon it.
Then the
goat was led into the wilderness by a fit man (since they wanted the goat taken
to a place where the goat was sure to never return to camp) and there the goat
was abandoned. In later years they actually resorted to shoving the goat off a
cliff thus killing it so that it was sure not to return.
I would
rather imagine that it would have been a bad omen for Israel if the scape goat had
come wandering back into town.
As we
ponder the meaning of these things today, the first thing we want to remember
is that everything Israel did was physical. The High Priest’s separation, inner
cleansing, washing and clean garments all represent our own lives as we are
similarly called to separation from the world, to have clean hands and pure
hearts. We wear the robe of Christ’s righteousness and we rely upon His sacrifice
for the remission of our sins.
It is
important to understand that Israel is God’s time piece as well as a physical model
demonstrating physically God’s plan of salvation.
It is
interesting that from A.D. 70 until 1948, Israel had ceased to be a model of
God’s eternal plans and they also ceased to be God’s time piece. But in 1948 God
brought them back into their own land and ever since that day, Israel has begun
to function as God’s time piece once again. We look at events in Jerusalem to
determine right where we are in time.
Even in
the things they do wrong, they serve as a lesson. Israel’s seeking to build up
Zion and to restore the temple without the real Messiah, signals that the
church has done similarly. We build our big religious empires on money and
false doctrines and even as Israel seeks to build its third temple with the
help of the antichrist and the false prophet, so large portions of the church
are seeking unity and security under the same false prophet and many Christians
will join forces with the antichrist when he arrives as well.
The parallels
between Israel’s physical agenda and our spiritual agenda are disturbingly
similar. What they are preparing to do physically, the church is doing
spiritually.
This is
exactly why we must go through a period of tribulation. There are many who are
holding out one last hope that the pre-trib rapture will happen today.
Everything is pointing so directly to this exact time that there seems to be no
escaping this date… that is unless our understanding is wrong. And while I have
no problem with the concept of a pre-trib rapture for those who have already
separated from the world and who are actually ready, (as in the case of the wise
virgins) I do, nevertheless have a problem with all of the unclean, unwashed,
unprepared people who call themselves “Christian” just launching off into heaven.
There
is, however, an example of first fruits, where in the Jewish economy if the
first fruit of the harvest was proven ripe, then the entire crop was declared ripe
and if the piece of dough be holy, so also the whole lump. This is hinted at in
Heb. 11:39, 40 where it is said that apart from us, they cannot be made
perfect. This tells us that there is yet a first fruits company to be made in the
last days, even though we know that the resurrected Christ and those
resurrected with Him made up the first fruits of the harvest back then. So what
is it that God is looking for in us that would make us a first fruits company
in the last days?
That
being said, there is a strong and consistent throughout the Bible that we must
come out of Babylon, overcome by the blood of the Lamb, separate from sin, be
conformed to the image of Christ, be transformed by the renewing of our minds,
taking up our cross and following Jesus, denying self and walking in obedience
and the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible everywhere calls for holiness and
even though the blood of Jesus covers our sins, it was predicated upon the fact
that we would walk in the same manner as He walked.
Salvation
is a program. It calls for repentance and turning from sin. It calls for our
entering into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ whereby we die to
Satan’s Kingdom and come alive in God’s kingdom, henceforth to live by the power
of His resurrection. The very presence of Yeshua is brought into our hearts by the
Holy Spirit whose only purpose from now to eternity is to be the actual
presence of Jesus in our hearts. He does not testify of Himself. He testifies
of Yeshua and He imparts the character of Yeshua into our lives as we feed upon
His Word and pray and walk by faith in His promises.
Whatever
happens today, we need to trust that God has the best plan for our eternal
salvation. He knows what we need. He knows what the world needs. These are the days
of Elijah and I think that God wants to demonstrate His truth through fire and
with miracles that Satan can’t perform.
I was
talking to the Lord about this earlier this morning and He reminded me of
Jannes and Jambres who opposed Moses. The Lord reminded me that through Moses He
created a real serpent out of Moses’ rod, whereas Jannes and Jambes could only
create an illusion. In the end, the real serpent ate the fake ones.
Does not Israel’s journey out of Egypt provide a picture for
us of the last days? Is not Pharaoh a type of the antichrist? Was not
Nebuchadnezzar a type of the antichrist when he tried to force everyone’s
worship of the image? Did not Elijah make a stand against an antichrist system
as he faced down the gods of this world with fire from heaven? And if all of
these giants of biblical history stood their ground and conquered nations in the
name of the Lord, should we think that the last day’s antichrist will go
unchallenged as God’s “Triumphant, more than conquerors” people sort of
disappear and let the devil take over?
What
have we been preparing for and what does God mean in Hebrews 11:39, 40 when it
says:
“And
all of these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what
was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart
from us they should not be made perfect.” What does that mean?
And
Hebrews 11 is followed by Hebrews 12 where God tells us that we are surrounded
by this great cloud of witnesses. What witnesses? Are they not the people in
chapter 11. We have something that they didn’t have. We have the very Spirit of
Christ dwelling in our hearts. We have this treasure in earthen vessels. It was
the mystery hidden from past ages. God was with them, but He was not “in” them.
This is the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The Holy
Spirit was “with” them and could come “upon” them, but He could not dwell
inside of them until Jesus had dealt with the sin problem with His own blood
and righteousness.
This is
why the first Pentecost resulted in laws written on stone, while the last
Pentecost resulted in the law being written in their hearts by the Holy Spirit.
We have the very power and presence of Christ dwelling in us. We have something
for which all of creation waits with baited breath. “For the anxious longing of
the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” “For whom He
foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son that
we might be the first born among many brethren.
The last
phase in God’s redemption plan for us is the redemption, or glorification of
our bodies. This is also represented in the sending away of the scapegoat. The
first goat was sacrificed representing the forgiveness and the covering of our
sins, but the last goat represented the taking away of our sins forever, as in
giving us glorified bodies that no longer have a sin nature.
I’m not
sure what all of this means in terms of the timing of the rapture, but it seems
to me that we should stop trying to set dates and we should instead concentrate
on God’s program of redemption in which He is leading us by His Spirit to become
full-fledged sons of God. “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God,
these are the sons of God and as sons of God we are being conformed to the
image of Yeshua. Romans 8:14, 29. In some ways we have moved from true prophecy
which deals with the full spectrum of God’s
plan of salvation from Genesis to revelation) to predictive prophecy, which
relies heavily upon speculation and takes us away from the real purposes of
God.
God’s
way is in the sanctuary and the sanctuary shows a progression from the outer
court to the Holy Place to the Most Holy place, to the very presence of God. “This
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one
which enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us
having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Heb.
6:19, 20.
One
thing is certain; the entire world is heading for a showdown. It will be
Pharaoh, not wanting to let God’s people go. It will be Nebuchadnezzar forcing the
world to worship his image. It will be Nimrod Building his final global
kingdom. It will be a false church that has embraced pagan gods that Elijah
will have to face with the fire of the one true God of Abraham, Isaac and
Israel. It will be us, as the revealed sons of God standing against the hatred
of a world gone mad.
It is
time to gear up spiritually and to take our place on the battlefield.” If God
is for us… who is against us? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God
is the one who justifies. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through
Him who loved us.” Rom. 8:31, 33, 37.
“For I
am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any
other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom. 8:38, 39.
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