Yom Kippur The Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur - The Day of Covering
On the Biblical calendar, the 10th day of the 7th month is the appointment known as Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur means Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement is the Holiest day of the Biblical year. It is a day of intense prayer, fasting and calling out to God for mercy and grace. It is a day for doing business with God. It is a day for coming face to face with God.

Judgment Day

Yom Kippur comes just ten days after Rosh Hashanah. Ten days prior to Yom Kippur, the Torah commands us to blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. One of the reasons for blowing the shofar is as a warning that a period of judgment has begun. According to Jewish tradition, the Gates of heaven swing open on Rosh Hashanah. The Heavenly Court is convened on Rosh Hashanah. The Books of Judgement opened on Rosh Hashanah. The heavenly ledgers are scrutinized on Rosh Hashanah.

Rosh Hashanah begins a period of ten days of judgment. The ten days end with the conclusion of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On Yom Kippur, the judgment is sealed. The books are closed. The gavel falls. Every human being is inscribed either in the book of life or the book of death. One last, long shofar sounds at the end of the day as the gates of heaven swing shut and close.

The weight and solemnity of the High Holiday judgment is well expressed in the following Medieval prayer:

"Let us now relate the power of this day's holiness, for it is awesome and frightening. On it Your Kingship will be exalted; Your throne will be firmed with lovingkindness and You will sit upon it in truth. You alone are the One Who judges, proves, knows, and bears witness; Who writes and seals, counts and calculates; Who remembers all that was forgotten. You will open the Book of Records - it will read itself, and everyone's signature is in it.

"The great shofar will be sounded and a still, thin sound will be heard. Angels will hasten, a trembling and terror will seize them - and they will say, 'Behold, it is the Day of Judgment, to muster the heavenly host for judgment!' - for they cannot be vindicated in Your eyes in judgment.

"All mankind will pass before You like members of the flock. Like a shepherd pasturing his flock, making sheep pass under his staff, so shall You cause to pass, count, calculate, and consider the soul of all the living; and You shall apportion the fixed needs of all Your creatures and inscribe their verdict.

"On the Feast of Trumpets will be inscribed and on the Day of Atonement will be sealed how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created, who will rest and who will wander, who will live and who will die . . ." (Rosh Hashanah Machzor).

Clearly, the Day of Atonement is regarded as a day for doing serious business with heaven. It is a day of fasting and pouring out entreaty, a day of prayer and cry for forgiveness. It is a day of judgment, but it is also a day of atonement.

What is Atonement?

In discussing the Day of Atonement it is helpful to accurately define the word "Atonement." Contrary to popular Christian teaching, atonement does not mean forgiveness of sin (though forgiveness may be an aspect of atonement). It is from the Hebrew word kaphar which means, "covering".

The sense in which the word is used is as a covering-protection from danger. The idea is that God is dangerous. If common, mortal, finite and sinful man is to enter the presence of the Holy, Immortal, Infinite and Righteous God, the man must be covered (i.e. atoned for) or he will be consumed and destroyed by the presence of God.

Adam and Eve

For example, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden enjoyed the presence of God. They walked with him daily in the garden. Then they sinned. Their eyes were opened and they immediately realized that they were naked. They immediately realized that they were without covering. Instinctively they began to try to sew fig leaves together to cover themselves because they knew God was coming, and they knew they could no longer withstand his presence. They could not enter his presence without covering.

Their effort to cover themselves, however, was futile; so when they heard God's voice and knew that he was entering the garden, they hid themselves. They could not come face to face with him.

After judging them, the book of Genesis tells us, that God made garments of skin to cover them. Thus the story of the fall of man leaves us with our first glimpse of atonement. God kills an animal to cover Adam and Eve. It is the first record of death in the creation, and it is a sacrifice meant to accomplish covering.

Perhaps this was the very first Yom Kippur. According to tradition, Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of their creation. Is it possible that 10 days later was the day they sinned?

More on this subject to come...........