Study Notes for Yom Kippur

Leviticus 23:26-32 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “However on the tenth day of this seventh new moon is a Day of the Atonements. It shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall afflict your souls and you shall offer an offering made by fire to YHWH. 28 You shall do no kind of work [in the bone of this day],^(MTT) for it is a Day of Atonements, to make atonement for you before YHWH your Elohim. 29 For every soul who shall not be afflicted [in the bone of this day]^(MTT) shall be cut off from his people. 30 Whoever does any kind of work [in the bone of this day],^(MTT) I will destroy that person from among his people. 31 You shall do no kind of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be a Sabbath of rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. In the ninth day of the new moon at evening, from evening to evening, you shall guard your Sabbath.”

Leviticus 16:29-31 It shall be a statute to you forever: in the seventh new moon, on the tenth day of the new moon, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no kind of work, whether native or a stranger who sojourns among you; 30 for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you. You shall be clean from all your sins before YHWH. 31 It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.

1. Did you notice Yom Kippur is called a “Sabbath”
   1. Leviticus 23:32 It shall be a Sabbath of rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. In the ninth day of the new moon at evening, from evening to evening, you shall guard your Sabbath.
   2. Leviticus 16:31 It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.
   3. The seventh day Shabbat as an appointed time is defined in Leviticus 23:3; Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no kind of work.
      1. On the weekly Shabbat and Yom Kippur, work in any capacity is forbidden; “you shall do no kind of work” (Leviticus 23:3)
         1. מְלֶאכֶת melekhet (H4399) comes from the root word הָלַךְ halakh (H1980) which means “to walk”, thus מְלֶאכֶת melekhet essentially means “to walk for another” in the sense of being “sent as a messenger to do another’s work”, since one of the shared words with is מַלְאָךְ malakh (H4397) which means to be a “messenger” or “angel.”
         2. Leviticus 23:28 You shall do no kind of work [in the bone of this day],^(MTT) for it is a Day of Atonements, to make atonement for you before YHWH your Elohim.
         3. Leviticus 16:29 It shall be a statute to you forever: in the seventh new moon, on the tenth day of the new moon, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no kind of work, whether native or a stranger who sojourns among you
   4. Outside of the seventh day, no other appointed time is called a Sabbath. All others are moedim (appointed times) are called שַׁבָּתוֹן shabbaton (H7677) and is a type of rest like the Sabbath, but instead of “you shall do no kind of work” like Shabbat, these days prohibit “work of service”.
      1. מְלֶאכֶת עֲבֹדָה melekhet avodah (H5656 +H4399) literally means “work of service” as in servile work where one serves for hire.
         1. Matsah (Unleavened Bread): Leviticus 23:7-8 In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no work of service. 8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to YHWH seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation. You shall do no work of service.’ ”
            1. Exodus 12:16 In the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no kind of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, only that may be done by you.
         2. Shavuot (Pentecost) Leviticus 23:21 You shall make proclamation on the [bone of that day]^(MTT) there shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall do no work of service. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
         3. Yom Teruah (Trumpets) Leviticus 23:24-25 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, there shall be a rest for you, a remembrance of shouting, a holy convocation. 25 You shall do no work of service. You shall bring an offering made by fire to YHWH.’ ”
         4. Sukkot (Tabernacles) Leviticus 23:34-36 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the festival of booths for seven days to YHWH. 35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no work of service. 36 Seven days you shall bring an offering made by fire to YHWH. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall bring an offering made by fire to YHWH. It is a closing assembly; you shall do no work of service.
            1. Allowed to “take on the first day the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook” which would not be allowed on Shabbat according to Exodus 16:29.
               1. Exodus 16:25-30 Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to YHWH. Today you shall not find him in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather him, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. He will not exist in him.” 27 On the seventh day, [certain ones]^(LXX) of the people went out to gather, and they found none. 28 YHWH said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to guard my commandments and my Torot? 29 Behold, because YHWH has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone sit in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people ceased on the seventh day.
               2. Place = Hebrew מָקוֹם maqom (H4725) and Greek τόπος topos (G5117) which is any portion or space marked off, as it were from surrounding space or an inhabited place, as a city, village, district
               3. This is where the term “Sabbath Day’s journey” comes from:
                  1. Acts 1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
                  2. Matthew 24:20 Pray that your flight will not be in the winter nor on a Sabbath
2. What does it mean to “afflict your soul”?
   1. עָנִי aniy (H6041) means “afflicted” (cf. Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 19:10; Leviticus 23:22; Deuteronomy 15:11; Deuteronomy 24:12-15) and is a person who is oppressed or depressed by affliction. עָנִי aniy comes from a root word which means “to watch” and is concretely represented as an eye in the sense that one who is oppressed or depressed forms a furrow between their eyes. עָנִי aniy is used 80 times in the Hebrew Bible and is most often translated as poor (58x), afflicted (15x), lowly (1x), man (1x), or as a variant (3x).
      1. Exodus 22:25 “If you lend silver to any of my people with you who is afflicted, you shall not be to him [like a deceiver].^(MTT)
      2. Leviticus 19:10 Do not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the afflicted and for the foreigner. I am YHWH your Elohim.
      3. Leviticus 23:22 When you reap the harvest of your land, you must not finish the corner of your field. You must not gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the afflicted and for the foreigner. I am YHWH your Elohim.
      4. Deuteronomy 15:11 For the needy will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your afflicted, and to your needy, in your land.
      5. Deuteronomy 24:12 If he is an afflicted man, you shall not sleep with his pledge. 13 You shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment and bless you. It shall be righteousness to you before YHWH your Elohim. 14 You shall not oppress a hired-servant who is afflicted and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your gates. 15 In his day you shall give him his wages, neither shall the sun go down on it, for he is afflicted and sets his heart on it, lest he cry against you to YHWH, and it be sin to you.
   2. נַפְשֹׁ nephesh (H5315) means “being” and is the whole of a person or animal; the unity of the body, organs, and breath. This is demonstrated in Job 38:39 where the word commonly translated “appetite” is נַפְשֹׁ nephesh: “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite (H5315) of the young lions?”
      1. Job 38:39 Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the soul of the young lions?”
      2. Numbers 11:4 The rabble that was among them will lust a lusting; and the sons of Israel also will turn back and weep, and they will say, “Who will give us flesh to eat? 5 We remember the fish, which we freely ate in Egypt; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; 6 now our souls are dry, without anything except for the manna before our eyes.”
      3. Proverbs 16:26 The appetite of the laboring man labors for him, for his mouth urges him on.
      4. Proverbs 23:1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you; 2 put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.
      5. Ecclesiastes 6:7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
      6. Hosea 9:4 They won’t pour out wine offerings to YHWH, neither will they be pleasing to him. Their slaughters will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat of it will be polluted; for their bread will be for their soul. It will not come into the house of YHWH.
      7. Isaiah 29:7 The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, will be like a dream, a vision of the night. 8 It will be like when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he eats; but he awakes, and his hunger isn’t satisfied; or like when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and behold, he is faint, and he is soul is longing. The multitude of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion will be like that.
   3. Thus, Leviticus 23:26-32 could very accurately be translated as “You shall afflict your appetite…For every appetite who shall not be afflicted shall be cut off from his people…you shall afflict your appetite.”
3. But, does Scripture actually say affliction of the soul is fasting?
   1. Isaiah 58:1-14 “Cry aloud! Don’t spare! Lift up your voice like a shofar! Declare to my people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways. As a nation that did righteousness, and didn’t forsake the judgment of their Elohim, they ask of me righteous judgments. They delight to draw near to Elohim. 3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you don’t see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’ “Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and press all your laborers. 4 Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You don’t fast today so as to make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under himself? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to YHWH? 6 “Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the crushed go free, and that you break every yoke? 7 Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the afflicted who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh? 8 Then your light will break out as the morning, and your healing will appear quickly; then your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of YHWH will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and YHWH will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away from among you the yoke, finger pointing, and speaking wickedly; 10 and if you pour out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise in darkness, and your obscurity will be as the noonday; 11 and YHWH will guide you continually, satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong. You will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters don’t fail. 12 Those who will be of you will build the old waste places. You will raise up the foundations of many generations. You will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Paths with Dwellings. “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of YHWH, honorable, and honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure and speaking words [in anger out of your mouth],^(LXX) 14 then you will delight yourself in YHWH, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the land, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father;” for the mouth of YHWH has spoken it.
      1. Parallelism, also known as parallel structure or parallel construction, is used to show similar elements of meaning within a sentence or among sentences.
      2. Parallelism of Isaiah 58:3 shows us that “afflicting soul” and “fasting” have similar meanings even though different words are used.
         • ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you don’t see?
           Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’
   2. The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs was most likely written during the Maccabean (or Hasmonean) period between 109 and 106 B.C., with later Christian editing and additions occurring into the second century A.D. This provides us with the way terms were understood prior to modern interpretations.
      1. The Testament of Shimon 1:18 Two years therefore I afflicted my soul with fasting in the fear of the Lord, and I learnt that deliverance from envy cometh by the fear of God.
   3. Acts 27:9-12 When much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous because the Fasting had now already gone by, Paul admonished them 10 and said to them, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion gave more heed to the master and to the owner of the ark than to those things which were spoken by Paul. 12 Because the haven was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised going to sea from there, if by any means they could reach Phoenix and winter there, which is a port of Crete, looking southwest and northwest.

Apostolic Summary
Context and coherence (Nehemiah 8:8)

1. Early in my Messianic journey, I was taught that Messiah fulfilled the Spring festivals at His first coming and will fulfill the Fall Festivals at His second coming.
   1. This understanding flows from two things:
      1. Fulfilment of the Spring feasts seems pretty clear and obvious.
         1. Passover (Calvary), the resurrection (First Fruits), unleavened bread and the Omer (counting from the resurrection to the ascension), and Pentecost (Shavuot). 
      2. The Greco-Roman perspective of history is linear with time progressing from point A to point B.

1. However, my understanding has changed over the years.
   1. First, we need to remember that God exists outside of time and decides in His sovereignty when to reveal (#5319) or manifest that which is olam (“timeless; eternal”)
      1. From the BibleHub Lexicon for G5319. phaneroó:  
         1. The righteousness long embedded in Torah is now “revealed apart from the Torah” (Romans 3:21).
         2. The mystery “hidden for ages and generations” is “now revealed to His saints” (Colossians 1:26; compare Romans 16:26).
         3. Grace, previously veiled, is “now revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:10).
2. The Apostolic scriptures are the documented record of what God revealed at the coming of His Son and Savior, Yeshua the Messiah. 
   1. “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life – and the life was manifested (#5319), and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested (#5319) to us- what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete” (1 John 1:1-4).
3. Yeshua and later His disciples gave us their testimony that we might the know the truth so that we would repent, enter into covenant with God and serve Him with our whole lives.
   1. “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Messiah. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but has appeared (#5319) in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (1 Pet. 1:17-21).

KEY POINT:

Yom Kippur is the day to commemorate what has been revealed and reexamine what it means for how you are going to live the rest of your life.

1. Our central text today is going to Hebrews 9 and we’re going to compare it to what we read on the Torah about Yom Kippur.
2. On the Day of Atonement, Aaron would enter the Holy Place with a bull which he would offer as the sin offering to make atonement for himself and for his household (Lev. 16:3,6). 
   1. This ritual was not unique to Yom Kippur but was prescribed for the priests in Leviticus 4:4-7.
3. Aaron would then address the sin of the congregation with two goats.
   1. Leviticus 4 already gives us the pattern and purpose for these goats.
      1. They are designated for “unintentional” sins for both the leaders and the “am eretz” (“people of the land”).
      2. Encompasses all sins not already accounted for with another sacrifice.
   2. The goats of Yom Kippur were separated by lots with one being designated to YHWH as a sacrificial sin offering and the other offered alive as the scapegoat (Lev. 16:5-10).
4. The blood of the sin offerings for both the bull and the goat was then sprinkled throughout the holy place to cleanse them of the people’s sin that had accumulated there, (Lev. 16:15-19) in order.
   1. Scripture tells us that Yeshua fulfilled this ritual with his death on the cross.
      1. “And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these” (Heb. 9:21-23).
5. The High Priest would enter inside the veil and stand in front of the ark in the presence of Elohim (Lev. 16:15-17).
   1. “[B]ut into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance (#” (Heb. 9:7).
      1. G51. agnoéma – “ignorance”.
         1. Lexicon: Denotes actions that violate God’s will without conscious rebellion. Although unintended, they remain genuine transgressions that alienate the sinner from God and call for atonement.
         2. Parallels the “unintentional” sins of Leviticus 4.
6. In fulfillment of this ritual of the goat for YHWH, Yeshua presented Himself before the Father on our behalf.
   1. “But when Messiah appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:11-12).
   2. “For Messiah did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world” (Heb. 9:24-26a).
7. Aaron then fulfilled the ritual with the live goat (i.e. scapegoat; “goat for Azazel”).
   1.  “When he finishes atoning for the Holy Place and the Appointed Tent and the altar, he shall offer the live goat. Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wrongdoings of the sons of Israel and all their unlawful acts regarding all their sins; and he shall place them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands ready. Then the goat shall carry on itself all their wrongdoings to an isolated territory; he shall release the goat in the wilderness” (Lev. 16:20-22).
      1. “Iniquities, transgressions, and sins” — this was comprehensive and complete.
      2. It was the “sin” (singular) of the people that was laid on the scapegoat.
8. Yeshua also fulfilled this ritual with His sacrificial death and atonement.
   1. “[B]ut now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested (#5319) to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. 9:26).
   2. The carrying away of “sin” was not just for Israel, but all mankind.
      1. “The next day, [John the Baptist] saw Yeshua coming to him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'” (John 1:29). 
      2. “You know that He appeared (#5319) to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5).

KEY POINT:

The testimony of both Yeshua and His Apostles is clear – the sin of the world has been put away, removed and carried off, permanently and for all the ages.

1. This teaching seems to run contrary to established church doctrine, but through the lens of Yom Kippur, we can see and understand clearly what Messiah has accomplished.
   1. “My flesh I give for the life of the world” (John 6:51).
   2. “He Himself is the propitiation for our sin, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
   3. “The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6).
   4. “So then, as through one offense the result was condemnation to all mankind, so also through one act of righteousness the result was justification of life to all mankind” (Rom. 5:18).
   5. “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died” (2 Cor. 5:14).
   6. “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven” (Col. 1:19-20).
   7. See the notes from Week 42 for a more complete study on this topic (https://thecord.life/notes/week42/)
2. So, what has yet to be fulfilled with regard to the festival of Yom Kippur?
   1. The manifestation of Messiah consummated the ages and started the clock for the next one.
3. At His first coming, Yeshua died to put away sin and then presented Himself before the Father as a representative of mankind — when He returns, the roles will be reversed.
   1. “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Messiah also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him” (Heb. 9:27-28).
4. All mankind will be resurrected to present themselves before Messiah for judgment.
   1. “Therefore also we make it our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be well pleasing to him. For we must all be revealed (#5319) before the judgment seat of Messiah that each one may receive the things in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are revealed (#5319) to God, and I hope that we are revealed (#5319) also in your consciences” (2 Cor. 5:9-11).
5. Our discipleship needs more emphasis on the coming judgment and the fact that each of us will have to give an account for our lives.
   1. “As for anyone who hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not receive My words: the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day” (John 12:47-48).
      1. Yeshua saved the world in His first coming and He laid out the standard by which He will judge it when He comes again.
   2. “For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of indecent behavior, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and wanton idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them in the same excesses of debauchery, and they slander you; but they will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead” (1 Pet. 4:20).

KEY POINT:

Yom Kippur is our reminder that we have one life and will give an account to God for how we lived it.

1. So, how do we make application?
   1. #1 – Stop judging others and start examining yourself.
      1. “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Messiah. For it is written, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘to me every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess to God’. So then each one of us will give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:10-12).
   2. #2 – Stop making excuses and ask God to remove your obstacles.
      1. Excuses absolve you of responsibility and put the problem on someone else (i.e. God).
      2. Obstacles identify the problem and help you seek support to get past it.
   3. #3 – Lay hold of the promises of God for your life now, not for the by-and-by when Jesus returns.
      1. Too many Believers are living as if Messiah needs to come a second time to accomplish what He already did at the first.