I think this is definitely a good question. Somewhere along the line, we as non-Jews have been convinced that Yom Kippur along with the other 6 holy days are Jewish feast alone. Under this false ideology, we have disassociated ourselves from all of them, and self justified them as irrelevant without really doing due diligence. They have become so insignificant to us as a “Western society” that I would even dare to say that the average believer has no idea what it even means. The interesting part is that, this Bible that we read, and pride ourselves on understanding, actually states numerous times that these so-called Jewish feast are actually “Feasts of the Lord”. For you readers that would like to fact check me, and I hope that would be all of you, this can be found in Leviticus 23. I recommend reading the entire chapter to get the full perspective on this. Here, you can see that YHVH, Himself, makes it clear that not only are these His days, but demands that they be observed in the way he has outlined, as well as the time frame He specifies. So, this being said, the “Jews” did not just jump up and make up these days.
Technically, there is only ONE holy day grouped with the 7 God-given holy days that was made up by the people, and that’s Chanukkah. So what’s so hot about this day, one might ask. I’m so glad you asked. Well, as it would seem, we have once again stumbled on another one of those “insignificant” Jewish holidays that we as Christians know absolutely nothing about. All we know is that it’s “Jewish”, and therefore irrelevant. We do not even bother delving into it’s origins to find out why they came up with it. What if I were to tell you that Yeshua/Jesus, Himself observed Chanukkah? Would your response be that, He too, was also “Jewish”? You are right, He was, BUT, if YHVH had no respect for that day, what is the probability that the Son of God would have observed it? In any case, in John 10:23, we find that Our Lord was in the Temple with everyone else on this day. I find it interesting that the Apostle John felt the need to point this out to us. So what is it about this day, that makes it so special? For this we need to look into the historical archives for an answer. There are many extra biblical sources on this topic, but we are going to look into the Apocrypha for answers. In the Book of Maccabees, we find that there was a Greek occupation going on. This was during the 400 year period of time between the last book of the “Old Testament” and the first book of the “New Testament”. There were no prophets, nor any kind “Moses” type leader for the people. There was a famine for prophecy and guidance from the Creator. The Greeks were the dominating power at the time, and had assumed control of most of the known world. In addition to taking over, they felt the need to force their culture on the those countries conquered. The Jews however, refused to accept these strange ways. which enraged the Greeks. They were then forced on the pangs of death to eat pork, which, they knew was against Jewish culture. They also desecrated the Temple of God by bringing in a statue of Zeus, their god, and sacrificing a pig on the alter of YHVH, thus defiling the altar. From this, a band of men rose up to fight against the Greeks, and after a period of time expelled them from their land. The people then began to cleanse and rededicate the Temple back to YHVH, thus the name “Feast of Dedication”. Had these handful of men not rebelled against the Greeks, but instead submitted to them, everything we know today would have been different. The Jewish people would have not been fit to be the people from whom the Messiah could have come through because they would have all been “unclean” by means of no longer being Torah observant. For this reason, I believe that Yeshua had no problem with observing this day. All that to say, this was the ONLY holiday that be called a “Jewish” feast, in the sense that they themselves made it.
But lets get back to the lecture at hand. What about Yom Kippur, should we as Christians observe it? Well, let’s examine what exactly is this day all about? From Scripture, we see that on this day, it is one time of the year that the High Priest is allowed to go into the holy of holies into the presence of YHVH. At this time, he, the High Priest, is to go before YHVH, to make atonement for the sins of ALL of the people. There is a whole lot that goes into this ceremony, starting off with the High Priest himself cleansing himself, and making sure he is fit to stand before the Most High, as a representative for the people. The sins of the entire nation must be atoned for. As we draw near to Yom Kippur, we understand that the 10 days leading up to it, beginning at Rosh Hashannah are known as the Days of Awe. During these 10 days, the people would begin to focus on fixing damaged relationships, righting wrongs done, in preparation for the day of Atonement. Just before Yom Kippur, the people would do a “mikveh”, or a baptism as we know it today. However, unlike our “baptism”, a mikveh is quite different. For us, a baptism is a thing you day after accepting Messiah. The idea is that we are being buried with Yeshua and coming up anew, but in Hebrew thought, which is in accordance to Torah, it is more to it. A mikveh in biblical thought is done quite often. It is symbolic for going from one station of life to another. For example, a woman would do one monthly, after her cycle, expressing that she is going from unclean to clean. A young boy would do one at his bar mitzvah, showing that he is going from being a child to a young man. Likewise, the same for a married couple, a mikveh is done, expressing the change from single to married. So, in the case of drawing near to Yom Kippur, a mikveh is done, to express the change from being spotted by sin, to purified from sin.
What many do not understand is that all 7 of these biblical feast days are connected to Messiah. There are 4 in the spring, and 3 in the fall. Messiah Yeshua/Jesus fulfilled the first 4 spring feast in His crucifixion, resurrection, and giving of the Holy Spirit. And just as He fulfilled them in His coming, it is understood that He will fulfill the rest in His return. Whats even more interesting is that the way Rosh Hashannah is observed is connected to the trumpet being blown as Messiah returns. This can be found in the book of Daniel, where the Gabriel explains to him the signs of the end. It can also be found in the book of Revelation, in Paul’s epistles, and finally in the gospels. When the disciples asked Yeshua/Jesus about the signs of His return, as He explained it, they automatically associated His return with Rosh Hashannah. It is a time of gathering for God’s people. Interestingly enough, when the Bible speaks of Rosh Hashannah, not much detail is giving beyond the fact that its about loud shouts, remembering, and shofars. A shofar was used to gather people together. When think about “remembering and shofars, what comes to mind is the gathering of Israel at Sinai, when God spoke to them. There was a deafening shofar like sound as He spoke to them. So, the Last Day, and Rosh Hashannah are connected. What about Yom Kippur? Yom Kipper, is connected with the day of Judgement, for this reason, when the shofar sounds, the people understand that it is time to gather, and prepare for Judgement. For this reason, the 10 days in between them are considered the time to fix things before the great day. So what about the 7th holy day, Sukkot? Sukkot is the about the start of Yeshua/Jesus’ kingdom reign beginning.
With all this in mind, these days really don’t seem that bad. In fact, they actually seem relevant from this perspective, especially when one can agree that both Jew and gentle alike share a hope for the return of the King, judgement day, and a millennial reign by the Messiah. whats more, the Apostles taught the gentile coverts about these days. Not only that, but when you understand that the church at that time was NOT divided but unified, EVERYONE was taught from Torah. The common people did NOT have a copy of Torah so EVERYONE had to go to synagogue to hear the word, and the day they all went was Sabbath, Saturday, the 7th day, not Sunday the 1st day. This only changed when the gentiles took over the church. The Romans expelled the Jews from their borders, and gradually the seeds of antisemitism sprang up. To do anything that was considered “Jewish” was not welcomed, and came with severe persecution. Needless to say, it didn’t take long for the change to come. Not even 400 years from the time of Yeshua, the church underwent a major face lift, and went from resembling something Jewish to something anything but Jewish. Ultimately, it was not Yeshua, or the Apostles, that redefined the church, but men, men who I add were “not inspired”. If God does not change, and Yeshua, by His own testimony did NOT come to do away with Torah, and the Apostles, taught everyone, what they themselves learned from Yeshua, how can we ascertain that those who taught contrary to Torah were led by the Spirit? Some would dare even accuse Paul of being the one, but the problem with that is that Paul was greatly misunderstood. Peter even teaches us that Pauls writing is hard to understand, and that the unlearned, being the ones who do not know Torah, twist his words to their own destruction.
When from this perspective, we seriously need to rethink some of our theology. In looking at a few of the Messianic prophecies, which refers to the prophecies relating to Yeshua that are yet to be fulfilled, ISAIAH 66:22-24 speaks about the Sabbath’s as well as new moons, and how on both times ALL flesh will come to worship Him. ALL flesh, not just Jews. Seeing that this is yet to happen, it must be understood that Sabbaths in the future are as important to Him as they were in the past, and if the past and future are important, can the present be any different? Zechariah 14:16-19 speaks about the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as Sukkot, and how ALL the surviving nations, NOT just the Jews, but all the surviving nations are required to come before Him in Jerusalem. Failure to do so results in punishments. Again, if this day, a day regarded as insignificant by gentiles today, were important to YHVH in the past, and also in the future, can we seriously believe it to be insignificant in the present? Thats just 2 to name a few. With all this in mind, I am not sure where you stand Yom Kippur now, but I would highly recommend some more personal studies on it. It isn’t about what your Bishop or Pastor says, or even what your church teaches, but rather, what you see from the Word when you read for yourself. Paul made it clear, that we are to study for ourselves, as opposed to allow some one to do it for us. I hope this has given you a morsel to think on.
