What is Yom Kippur, & Why Should Christians Care?

Yom Kippur is the highest holy day of the Jewish year. What is it and how is it relevant for Christians today?

Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement, is spoken by the Lord in Torah as one of the seven appointed times of the Lord. In Judaism, this is the highest holy day of the year as the people of God withdraw to Him in a day of prayer and fasting.  Three fall feasts happen as the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar opens. Yom Teruah, traditionally called the Feast of Trumpets or by its modern name, Rosh Hashana, signals that ten days of awe commence leading up to the Day, the Day of Atonement. Five days pass after that followed by the seven-day feast of Sukkot, or Tabernacles - a joyous time of families dwelling together remembering and enjoying the goodness of God looking forward to the days of dwelling with Messiah in His Kingdom to come.

Feasts of the Lord indicate who instituted them…whose idea they were, and who they are for. “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: the feasts of the Lord, which you proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts…In the seventh month on the first day of the month you shall have a sabbath rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. Do no work…also the tenth day of this month shall be the Day of Atonement, a holy convocation for you: you shall afflict your souls and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. Do no work on the same day for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God…” Lev 23:2, 24-27.  The passage also states that these instructions are law for all time, throughout the ages, in all your settlements (vs. 31).

For thirty days leading up this important time of the fall, believers have been preparing themselves with soul searching, examining one’s ways and relationships, consciously drawing closer to God through His Word, His instructions, taking time with Him and making heart adjustments. By the time thirty days have passed and the trumpets signal the Days of Awe, believers reach out to one another, confess sin and faults, seek forgiveness, mend spiritual fences. The humility this requires prepares the community even more for “The Day,” when intentional awe of God holds the entire body in self-denial mode of fasting to seek God’s presence, inviting His forgiveness, help, and mercy, turning from every unholy thing that separates His people from Him. Conviction has brought repentance which ignites awakening.

In the days of the Temple, the High Priest, sequestered to maintain purity for these critical hours, offered the required sacrifices and prayed for the people. National forgiveness hung in the balance. One anointed holy man entered the Place of the Holy God to atone for a people He called to be holy unto Him. The year ahead and its outcomes were to be determined. Historically, even in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, this fall season was and has been a time of vulnerability for Jewish communities and the nation of Israel. The High Priest’s prayer included:

“May it be Your will that the coming year be supplied with rain…blessed with dew…a year of favor, a year of blessing, a year of cheapness, a year of plenty, a year of trade wherein Your people Israel shall not be dependent on one another nor shall Israel lord it over one another…” Leviticus Rabbah, 256.

It’s interesting to note in the Torah passages about Yom Kippur the Hebrew is הכפרים – Ha kipurim, redemptions, atonements, plural.  The message is relevant today.

“Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain for three years and six months. He prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.” – James 5:16-17. 

Redemptions and atonements were/are personal, individual, and national for the people of God. Yom Kippur in its solemness was a reminder that without blood there was no remission; without the proper holy sacrifice, there could not be true forgiveness. 

I answer the question, what is Yom Kippur and Why Should Christians Care with more questions.

What if the entire Christian world observed the same day of prayer and fasting, avoidance of work inside and outside the home, as a day of self-denial, doing as our Jewish brethren and the nation of Israel at the same time?

What if the nation we live in observed a nationwide once-a-year prayer & fasting day, with everyone off work, homes in prayer and meditation, tending to the kids without television, no football games, entertainment or distractions - just for one day? Could we use a little more awe?

What if both our worlds, the Jewish and Judeo-Christian espoused-values communities all spent thirty days together in soul searching and repentance?  Preparing for the ten days…preparing for the 1 day…confessing our faults, asking forgiveness, loving and forgiving as we desire those things for ourselves?

What if we could all hear the High Priest’s prayers for us? What if our collective prayers are the incense of myrrh and frankincense the Heavenly Court smells now?

Christians believing the writer of Hebrews 13:8, that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, can take what the Father said to His people then, reverently mourn their own departure from His merit and goodness, and reset to live more like Him in the new year. This isn't a one-and-done commitment; it is a lifestyle of love and passion for The Beloved and learning to walk more intimately with Him. Learning to look through the lens He spoke and acted from opens depths of meaning, relevance, and reveals fresh steps of action in our personal lives and communities.

"Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities.

You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to our fathers from days of old."

- Micah 7:18-20