The following Scripture passages are offered to aid beginning fellowships. The readings and commentary for this week are more in line with what has become usual; for the following will most likely be familiar observations. The concept behind this Sabbath’s selection is Feast of Atonement.
For Yom Kipporim
October 8, 2011
The person conducting the High Sabbath service should open services with two or three hymns, or psalms, followed by an opening prayer acknowledging that two or three (or more) are gathered together in Christ Jesus’ name, and inviting the Lord to be with them.
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The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the LORD and died, and the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and use it as a sin offering, but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.
And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness. (Lev 16:1–22 emphasis added)
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Note, both goats are the single sin offering for Israel: the two goats do not represent two sin offerings, but one sin offering, with the goat sacrificed on the altar dying for Israel’s sins and the other goat, the Azazel, bearing Israel’s sins in the wilderness and across a precipice. Thus, the goat that represents the sin offering that atones for the people of Israel and the temple—the goat sacrificed on the altar—isn’t a sufficient offering of itself; for Israel is to be the nation circumcised of heart, not merely in the flesh:
And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good? Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. (Deut 10:12–16)
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Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh—Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart. (Jer 9:25–26)
Hearts were never circumcised in ancient Israel; for Israel’s sin in the matter of the gold calf at Sinai prevented Israel from having life in the presence of God, from receiving indwelling eternal life, with this prohibition of receiving indwelling eternal life seen in the command against kindling fires on the Sabbath (Ex 35:3). Thus, the only life that ancient Israel ever had was that received from the first Adam, the man of mud. And the only circumcision Israel had was that of foreskins.
There is always the question of whether the Lord would ask of Israel something that His people simply could not do; to wit, to circumcise the heart when Israel as a nation was not born of God (i.e., born of spirit) and did not have an indwelling second breath of life, the breath that brings the inner self to life … rabbinical Judaism insists that the Lord would never ask of His people what they cannot do. But the better question remains, was the Book of Deuteronomy—the Second Law, not the second giving of the Law—ever for the outwardly circumcised nation, or has Deuteronomy always been for the nation of Israel that comes to the Lord by faith when the nation is far from the Lord. And it is the latter question that is germane: the Book of Deuteronomy is for the children of Israel, circumcised and uncircumcised, that enter into the sworn covenant based on faith/belief when the nation is in a far land. For the blessing and the curse must first come upon the children of Israel in the Promised Land before Deuteronomy can take effect. Only then, when the Lord has expelled the people of Israel from the Promised Land because of their unrighteousness, are the conditional terms right for the people to enter into the Second Law, the Moab covenant, an eternal covenant ratified with a song and not with blood. For the Moab covenant (Deut chaps 29–32) is the Apostle Paul’s righteousness based on faith (Rom 10:6), a covenant [law] that the outwardly circumcised nation never reached because they sought to pursue righteousness through the work of their hands (Rom 9:30–32).
Because the Lord sent first the House of Israel then the House of Judah into captivity in far lands because of the unrighteousness of the people in both Samaria and Jerusalem, both Israel and Judah could have pursued righteousness based on faith. That neither house did is to the people of Israel’s shame. So, according to the terms of the Moab covenant, the people of Israel could—once they were taken into captivity—turn their hearts and their minds to the Lord and by faith begin to love the Lord and to keep His commandments and do all that Moses commanded the children of Israel on the plains of Moab (Deut 30:1–2). If the people of Israel had turned to the Lord when they were in a far land, they could have returned to the Promised Land with circumcised hearts (v. 6). The prohibition against kindling a fire on the Sabbath would have been understood for what it was, an acknowledgement that the people had sinned at Sinai and could not have life in the presence of the Lord until hearts were cleansed by faith. But the people, with jealousness and no understanding, continued not to kindle fires on the Sabbath, not even cooking fires, choosing instead to eat what had been kept warm overnight on the Sabbath. They continued their punishment with zeal that should have been employed at Sinai to have no other gods but the Lord.
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Neither Jew nor Muslim nor Christians within Arian Christendom or within Christian orthodoxy are circumcised of heart or are able to be circumcised of heart; for to be circumcised of heart, the human person, regardless of ethnicity, must be born of God as a son, and must then undertake a journey of faith that cleanses the person’s heart and leaves the person walking in this world as a Judean, a person who by faith chooses to keep the commandments of God, beginning with the least of the commandments, the Sabbath commandment.
The goat that is the sin offering for Israel and that is sacrificed on the altar to atone for the people and the temple represents Christ Jesus dying at Calvary as the Passover Lamb of God, a mingling of symbolism akin to the mingling that occurs in the Millennium:
Thus says the Lord GOD: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and purify the sanctuary. The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court.
You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple. (Ezek 45:18–20 emphasis added)
There is today a Feast on the 1st day of the seventh month and then the Fast on the 10th day, with the Feast of Ingathering beginning on the 15th day … in the Millennium, the following will be observed:
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. And on the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the LORD seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering. And he shall provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to each ephah.
In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the feast, he shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and for the oil. (Ezek 45:21–25 emphasis added)
Note. In the Millennium there is a separation between the Feast of the Passover and the seven days of Unleavened Bread, with this separation seen in the sacrifices offered: on the 14th day of the month, Israel shall celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and the prince shall sacrifice one young bull for a sin offering, this bull analogous to the bull that the high priest is to sacrifice on Yom Kipporim to make atonement for himself and his house—
For the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the prince shall provide seven young bulls and seven rams each day as a burnt offering, plus a male goat daily as a sin offering.
The sacrifices the prince is to offer in the spring during the Feast of Unleavened Bread and in the fall of the year during the Feast of Ingathering and the single bull that the prince is to offer on the Feast of the Passover make evident the separation seen in Jesus taking the Passover sacraments on the dark portion of the 14th of Aviv, the Preparation Day for the High Sabbath beginning the Feast of Unleavened Bread … Judaism openly denies Christ, but also quietly denies Christ in its Seder services on the dark portion of the 15th of Aviv, and again on the 16th. Arian Christendom and Christian orthodoxy deny Christ by neglecting to observe the Passover on the 14th of Aviv, taking instead the sacraments of bread and wine whenever and however the Christian or the fellowship chooses in a classic case of the Woman ruling over her Husband, or attempting to do so.
Today, pre-Millennium, circumcised-of-heart Israel doesn’t make special the 1st day or the 7th day of the first month, but observes instead the 1st day and the 10th day of the seventh month; for there is no earthly temple beyond the Body of Christ in which to observe these additional occasions of atonement.
The righteousness of Christ Jesus—the mantle of Christ; the garment of grace—is the only covering that a holy one needs in this present era; however, the Christian who doesn’t take the Passover sacraments on the dark portion of the 14th of Aviv, and who doesn’t, in addition, fast on the Fast [Yom Kipporim], spurns the garment of Christ and has no covering for his or her lawlessness but his or her death or dead status. … To repeat the apparent, the Azazel represents Christ Jesus bearing but not paying the death penalty for the sins of circumcised-of-heart Israel in the heavenly realm; i.e., before God. Thus, the Christian that chooses not to fast on the Fast denies the Azazel and must necessarily bear his or her own sins before God until at least the following Passover when the Christian again has the opportunity to partake of the sacraments in a worthy manner.
Christ Jesus is, today, the High Priest of circumcised-of-heart Israel:
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb 4:14–16)
To receive mercy and find grace … “mercy” and “grace” are represented by the two goats that are the sin offering for Israel, mercy being the goat sacrificed on the altar to atone for the people of Israel and the temple, and with grace being the glorified Jesus as Israel’s high priest bearing the sins of circumcised-of-heart Israel in heaven.
It took Paul as a Pharisee a number of years to realize that mercy was not included in grace, but was separate from grace in the same way that the two goats that are the sin offering for Israel are one offering, but one offering in two goats, the first representing sins in this physical realm and the Azazel representing sins in the heavenly realm—and yes, a person born of God can sin in the heavenly realm without sinning with hands or body: “‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I [Jesus] say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart’” (Matt 5:27–28).
Before the gaze, before the act of looking with lustful intent at a woman, the man who would look has already committed adultery in the heavenly realm … even if the man never looks, there is adultery in his heart—and he has sinned before God and needs this transgression of the law to be covered by grace, Christ Jesus’ righteousness.
The coveting Paul found in his heart (Rom 7:7) produced all kinds of coveting, which might well have been responsible for the zealousness with which Paul [then Saul of Tarsus] persecuted Hebrew converts to Christianity. But assuming that Saul took no action ever based upon the coveting he had in his heart, he nevertheless transgressed the law in his heart and needed a covering for that transgression that was not physical. If Saul had ever acted upon his coveting, he would have needed a covering for his transgression of the law in this world—he would have needed two coverings, one in this world and one before God if he had indwelling heavenly life.
A person has only one physical breath of life, the breath had the first Adam initially received. This person with only one life needs only one covering for his or her lawlessness, the sacrifice of the goat on the altar.
For most of humankind—for the people of the nations—the one covering that they have is death, their death.
A person is humanly born with a dead inner self and never comes under the law. However, natural Israel, when circumcised on the eighth day comes under the law, with the expectation before God that the natural Israelite (even though he or she has only one breath of life) will cover his or her transgressions of the law by not committing them through walking uprightly before the Lord … if a person is without sin, the person needs no covering for sin. The law has no power over this person; for the law is toothless where there is no sin.
But the natural Israelite will sin and does sin and needs his or her sin covered by blood—
Because the natural Israelite rejects Christ Jesus, denying that Jesus is the paschal Lamb of God, the natural Israelite can only cover his or her transgression of the law by shedding his or her own blood, with the Lord bringing onto natural Israelites His punishment because they haven’t walked uprightly before Him.
Paul writes,
And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay." [Paul cites the passage from the Septuagint] And as Isaiah predicted, "If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah."
What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." (Rom 9:27–33 emphasis added)
Again, the law/covenant that Israel had that would have led to righteousness is the Moab covenant, the terms of which require Israel to, by faith, return to the Lord when the nation is in a far land, not something Israel ever did. Not even when the Lord sent the House of Judah into captivity in Babylon did the people of Israel turn in faith and begin to love the Lord with heart and mind, and to keep the commandments. Thus, a remnant of Israel returned to build a house of God for Cyrus, king of Babylon/Persia. This remnant returned via a decree from Cyrus, not the Lord to whom the nation didn’t return.
Let here those who have assembled for the high Sabbath and are fasting privately consider how a remnant of Israel returned from Babylon as a shadow and type of a remnant of the Christian Church, by faith, returning to the Lord from spiritual Babylon, the single kingdom of the Adversary. Consider how few Christians are this day fasting, and of those that are fasting, how few truly understand the significance of Israel killing the Azazel at the time of Herod's temple (i.e., the Second Temple).
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The person conducting the Sabbath service should close services with two hymns, or psalms, followed by a prayer asking God’s dismissal.
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"Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."