Today is Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur: Israel all but shuts down for the duration of the fast day. There are no TV or radio broadcasts, businesses are shuttered and the streets are so devoid of cars that thousands of children take advantage of Yom Kippur to ride their bicycles down highways.

Israel came to a virtual standstill at sundown Friday as Jews began observing the start of the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, the 25 hours of fasting and contemplation known as Yom Kippur.

Though most Israelis are not religious, Israel all but shuts down for the duration of the fast day. There are no TV or radio broadcasts, businesses are shuttered and the streets are so devoid of cars that thousands of children take advantage of the day to ride their bicycles down highways.

Polls show that most Israeli Jews fast on Yom Kippur, also know as the Day of Atonement, and the Friday editions of the papers carried tips on how to prepare: have an egg for breakfast, drink 10 cups of water during the day and eat lots of carbohydrates.

The fast ends and normal life resumes at sundown on Saturday with a blast of the shofar, a traditional ram’s horn, in synagogues across the country.

In Jewish tradition, Yom Kippur is the day on which God assesses the deeds of each person and decides their fate for the coming year. Jews must spend the day fasting, praying and repenting for past sins in hope of being forgiven.

As Adventists, we have tad different picture of the Day of Atonement. The biblical Day of Atonement was about cleansing the sanctuary. All year long, the accumulation of the daily sacrifices for the sins of the people and the accumulation of the individual sacrifices for the sin of the person, were collected in the sanctuary. Ten days before the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Trumpets happened. It was a time where people searched their hearts, their homes for anything unclean and got it clean. They had ten days to prepare.

On the Day of Atonement, judgment happened. It was a day of cleansing the sanctuary of the accumulation of sin. If any person was found to still have sin within them, had not already confessed it and come clean, they were cast out of the camp of Israel forever.

We tend to view this as a negative. However, in the biblical context, it was a day of rejoicing. “We have been found clean!”

Since the mid-1800s, Seventh-day Adventists believe that we have been living in the symbolic Day of Atonement. The redeemed have been confessing their sins on the blood of Jesus. In the Day of Atonement, they are proclaimed free! Part of the camp of Israel. Hallelujah.

In other words, TODAY The Day of Atonement, is a day of rejoicing in the blood of the Lamb – Jesus Christ. Today is a day of salvation for all involved. Today is a day of rejoicing because we have been found to be free and part of the family of God.

Today, rest in the cleansing of Jesus. Rest in His blood. However, if you are harboring sin, harboring guilt, it’s time to unload it and get rid of it. Jesus will take it from you…if you give it up to Him.

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