Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur is also called the Day of Atonement.

In 2015 Yom Kippur is celebrated on September 24 (if the moon is sighted on September 14, according to Karaite Jews).

it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

In the bible in Leviticus 23 it is written that,

The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.

The Lord says, ‘these are my feasts.’

Feasts of the LORD

Concerning the feasts of the Lord.

Scripture states that Yom Kippur is concerning the feasts of the Lord. It does not say, ‘the feasts of the Jewish people’ and it does not say, ‘the feasts of the Christian people’ and it does not say, ‘the feast for followers of the bible.’ No, it clearly says, ‘Concerning the feasts of the Lord … these are my feasts.’

This means that anyone following the Lord, be they Jewish or Christian or followers of the bible are invited to celebrate these feasts. In fact even ‘strangers’ such as any people of any culture are invited to celebrate Yom Kippur as follows,

And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: 

Most Jewish people celebrate Yom Kippur on the 3rd of October this year but the Karaite Jews, who follow the biblical calendar, have calculated that the Day of Atonement falls on the 5th of October in 2014. Keith and Nehemia were on an interesting trip where they didn’t quite reinstate the calculating of the biblical feasts according to the moon calendar, but they certainly reminded all of us how it is supposed to be done.

A statute for ever throughout your generation

Yom Kippur is considered one of the most important, if not the most important and holiest feast day of the year and is mentioned by the LORD as ‘a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.’

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God … Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

On the 10th day of the Seventh Month (Tishrei) is the holiday known as Yom Ha-Kipurim (or Yom Kippur), “The Day of Atonement”. This is a day dedicated to fasting and prayer on which we ask Yehovah to atone for our sins. You can read more about Yom Kippur when you visit Nehemia’s wall and Hebrew4Christians.

A statute for ever

Note the words: ‘it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.’

If you chose not to be part of this feast, according to scripture, you chose not to be part of God’s posse.

For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.

Christians seem to argue that the feast days ‘have been done away with’ when Jesus was crucified. However none of my Christian friends have been able to point out where in the bible Jesus or his Father specifically mention that the feast days ‘have been done away with.’

What we do know is that the feast days are called the feast days of the Lord,  and were instigated ‘for ever’ throughout all dwellings and this includes the dwellings of the stranger. From this it follows that anyone choosing to be part of God’s posse keeps the feast days as proclaimed. By not keeping the feast days one automatically chooses not to be part of God’s posse.

FEASTS of the LORD

The other thing we know is that Jesus himself kept the feast days and we are supposed to follow him and walk as he walked.

Live for ever .. feasts for ever

On this blog we examine who is invited to live for ever. Yom Kippur is another one of Yehovah’s feasts to be ‘kept for ever’ and we are invited to attend. You can click here for a guide on how to celebrate Yom Kippur. Each follower can decide for themselves if they want to be part of this feast, or not.

all rights reserved copyright myemmanuel 2014

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