The Yom Kippur MysteriesPreached Fri. 9/21/07
By Rev. Michael H. Brown
©2007 All Rights Reserved
Introduction
1. Illustration: How many of you like mysteries? When I was growing up I used to read Sherlock Holmes mysteries. ‘ Mr. Holmes , I presume.’ It is interesting that in the very first Sherlock Holmes book, A Study in Scarlet, Holmes had written a magazine article entitled ‘The Book of Life’. Well that expression ‘Book of Life’ happens to be one we use during the High Holy Days. Could Sherlock Holmes have had some Jewish connection?
There is something about trying to solve a mystery.
2. Illustration: I even saw on the internet a mystery book related to the High Holy Days entitled The Yom Kippur Murder by Lee Harris talking about an amateur sleuth who was going to take her elderly neighbor to a Yom Kippur service but found him dead and then embarked on journey to solve this murder mystery.
3. The fact is that in real life there are mysteries too. And for many years there have been some mysteries associated with Yom Kippur. Tonight we want to be spiritual sleuths and solve three of these mysteries.
I. Mystery #1 – The Case of the Missing Sacrifice.
A. The Background
1. Let me remind you what God prescribed for our Jewish people on Yom Kippur. Talking about this day, it says: Read Leviticus 16:5-9 5 "He [the High Priest] shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 "Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. 7 "He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 8 " Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 "Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the LORD fell, and make it a sin offering.
Read Leviticus 16:21-22. 21 "Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. 22 "The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
Read Leviticus 16:29-30. 29 "This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; 30 for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
2. So notice that God prescribed this procedure for our Jewish people to follow once a year, on Yom Kippur, in either the Tabernacle or Temple to be cleansed from all their sins. It involved the High Priest slaying a bull for his own sins and then slaying a goat to cleanse the Tabernacle or later Temple , and people and then proclaiming the peoples’ sins over a scapegoat and releasing it. (That is where we get the expression ‘scapegoat’ from.)
As it says in Read Leviticus 17:11 11 'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.'
So these sacrifices which involved a life being taken and blood being offered had to be offered in the Temple to atone for the sins of the people ever year on Yom Kippur. Without these sacrifices our peoples’ sins would not be forgiven.
(But that eventually led to a mystery.)
B. The Mystery
1. The mystery for our Jewish people though is that in AD 70 the Jewish Temple was destroyed in Jerusalem and so far has not been rebuilt. Yes, there is talk about rebuilding the Temple and yes it will be rebuilt someday. But for the last 1937 years it has not been standing. For the last 1937 years and into the future, what were our Jewish people supposed to do then on Yom Kippur to get forgiveness for their sins? They weren’t able to offer blood sacrifices in a Jewish Temple.
2. Now think about it. This wasn’t the first time that the Jewish Temple had been destroyed. In 586 BC when the first Temple was destroyed in Jerusalem , the surviving High priests and Jewish leaders didn’t reason that God must have given up on a blood sacrifice for their sins on Yom Kippur. No, they wisely knew back then that God still required a blood sacrifice and awaited it to be offered again when the Temple would be rebuilt, unless God provided an alternative blood sacrifice.
3. Well around 90 AD at the Council of Yavneh in Israel , Yochanan Ben Zakkai and other Jewish leaders sought to solve this mystery after the destruction of the Second Temple . They reasoned that since God allowed the Temple and Jerusalem to be destroyed, then He must have had some other way to atone for their sins than through the prescribed animal sacrifices on Yom Kippur, since they could not offer them now. So far so good. But then they came upon the wrong solution. They reasoned that surely T’shuvah (or repentance), Tefillah (or prayer), and Tzedakah (or charity or good deeds) must take the place of the blood sacrifices on Yom Kippur to atone for their sins. And that wrong thinking provided the basis of what we know as Rabbinic Judaism today, which is at the basis of every other Judaism, except Messianic Judaism, today. As was mentioned before Yochanan Ben Zakkai on his deathbed had no assurance that his sins had been forgiven.
So what gave the Council of Yavneh the audacity to think that they could change what the God of Israel had prescribed? That is why I call this, the Case of the Missing Sacrifice. There is a missing blood sacrifice in their system for atonement.
Oh, if they had only reasoned correctly that since God allowed the Temple to be destroyed and they couldn’t offer the required blood sacrifices on Yom Kippur, then God must have provided another blood sacrifice somehow.
Incidentally, some Orthodox Jews today have a practice called Kaparot where shortly before Yom Kippur they take a chicken and swing it three times over their head and symbolically transfer their sins to the fowl. This is not prescribed in the Scriptures nor in the Talmud. We first read about this ritual starting in the ninth century. In fact some well known rabbis like Ramban opposed this ritual, though the Kabbalists liked it. Well even though some still do it, it won’t atone for their sins because it was not offered according to what God prescribed in the Scriptures.
(And that leads to)
C. The Solution to this Mystery.
1. Read Hebrews 10:10-14, 18. 10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, 13 waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Around 1977 years ago, Yeshua or Jesus, a Jew who showed by miracles and His teaching that He was the promised Jewish Messiah, then willingly died on a cross in Jerusalem to make a once and for all atonement for all of our sins. How do we know His death provided atonement? Then on the third day He arose from the dead. Through Yeshua’s death on the cross God provided the once and for all Yom Kippur sacrifice for our sins. Therefore when God allowed the Second Temple to be destroyed 1937 years ago, though it was a terrible event it wasn’t a problem for us to get forgiveness of our sins, because Yeshua had already provided the once and for all blood sacrifice for Yom Kippur so that our sins could be forgiven.
So this Yom Kippur and throughout the year, you can get forgiveness for your sins by trusting Messiah Yeshua to come into your life and forgive you and give you eternal life with God.
Read Revelation 1:5. 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood--
Read Romans 10:13. 13 for "Whoever will call upon the name of the LORD will be saved."
II. Mystery #2 – The Case of the Missing Signs.
Now this is not talking about missing Stop Signs, but missing miraculous signs from God.
A. The Clues
Around AD 30, while the Jewish Temple was still standing, some mysterious things changed on Yom Kippur.
1. The missing Right Hand.
Read Leviticus 16:8. 8 " Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat.
Traditionally it was considered good fortune if on Yom Kippur the lot ‘for the Lord’ was in the High Priest’s right hand (Yoma 39a). During the time of Shimon the Just the lot ‘for the Lord’ was reported to have always come up in the High Priest’s right hand (Yoma 39ab). But very mysteriously, starting 40 years before the destruction of the Jewish Temple, on Yom Kippur the lot always came up in the High Priest’s left hand (Yoma 39b). This omen struck our people with fear of impending doom (Yoma 39a) which many believe pointed to the coming destruction of the Temple in AD 70.
(Also the clue of)
2. The missing White Thread.
Talking about the scapegoat, it says: Read Leviticus 16:22. 22 "The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
A crimson thread was tied between horns of the scapegoat which was released to figuratively take away the sins of our people on Yom Kippur. According to tradition the crimson thread would change color to white, thus indicating that on Yom Kippur God had accepted the blood sacrifices and had forgiven the sins of the people. It is reported that during the time of Shimon the Just, the thread always changed from crimson to white. But very mysteriously, starting 40 years before the destruction of the Jewish Temple, the Mishnah says that the crimson thread never changed color to white again. Again this was an omen of disfavor with God.
(And then the clue of)
3. The missing Western Light.
Jewish tradition says that it was considered favorable if the western-most light on the menorah in the Temple kept burning on Yom Kippur (Yoma 39a). But very mysteriously, starting 40 years before the destruction of the Jewish Temple, the Mishnah says that the western-most light would go out on Yom Kippur and would not keep burning (Yoma 39b). Again this was a clue that something changed and they didn’t have God’s favor.
4. So on Yom Kippur the lot ‘for the Lord’ always coming up in the left hand, the crimson thread never changing to white again and the West light refusing to keep burning were all clues that around 40 years before the Temple destroyed in AD 70 something changed and displeased God. That is why I call this the Case of the Missing Signs. This is very mysterious.
B. The Solution to the Mystery.
1. Let’s see, 40 years before AD 70 was around 30 AD. Was there anything significant which happened around 30 AD? Wait a minute. That is when Yeshua or Jesus had His public ministry, proclaimed He was the Messiah, but was rejected by the Jewish leaders and was crucified. The fact that many Jews rejected Yeshua as the Messiah was displeasing to God, who sent Yeshua as the Messiah. It is very clear that these missing signs indicate that God was displeased with their rejection and that they should believe in Yeshua as our Messiah.
Pay heed to the Missing Signs tonight and believe in Yeshua.
III.Mystery #3 – The Case of the Missing Servant.
A. The Clues.
I want to read a portion of a passage about a Mysterious Suffering Servant and see if you can determine who it is talking about. In fact this passage is so mysterious that it is normally never read in a non-Messianic synagogue. Could they be trying to hide something?
1. Read Isaiah 52:13-15. 13 Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. 14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men. 15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand.
Alright, so this passage is clearly talking about an individual, a Servant of God, who got marred but cleansed the nations.
Read Isaiah 53:1-3. 1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. 3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
So this Servant of the God had humble beginnings and didn’t attract people to Himself by His appearance. In fact He was despised and rejected by His people.
Read Isaiah 53:4-7. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.
So this Servant of God was pierced through for our transgressions and we gain forgiveness through Him.
2. Now the mystery is, who is this Suffering Servant? Historically the Rabbis understood this to be describing the Messiah. Some recognized Him as Messiah ben Yoseph who would suffer for our peoples’ sins somehow. But in the Middle Ages Rashi popularized the view that this passage was talking about the nation of Israel . So in Rabbinic Judaism today this Suffering Servant is the Missing Servant.
B. The Solution to the Mystery.
1. Now any honest reading of the text shows that Isaiah 53 is not talking about the Nation of Israel, but instead an individual of the nation, who is suffering for the sins of our people and others’ sins too. This Suffering Servant was the answer to Yom Kippur. He would provide atonement for our sins.
2. Illustration: I conducted a funeral at a Jewish cemetery one time and in the funeral read a portion of this passage, Isaiah 53, which I just read. After the funeral, the Jewish director, who leads a Jewish Humanist congregation, came up to me and said, ‘I know you made reference to Yeshua in your remarks, but I appreciate your not mentioning His name.’ Now I never said that Isaiah 53 was referring to Yeshua or Jesus . I only read this passage. But just by hearing the passage he knew I was referring to Yeshua. See any honest reading of it clearly points to Yeshua. Someone has to reject the obvious to deny Yeshua is our Messiah.
Conclusion
1. Illustration: I heard a joke about a polish immigrant who went to the DMV to apply for a driver’s license and they gave him an eye test. On the eye chart it had the letters: Czwionstacz . The optician asked him, ‘Can you read it?’ The polish man responded, ‘Can I read it? I know the man!’
Well friends I know the man Isaiah 53 is referring to, this Suffering Servant. He is Yeshua or Jesus . And He is the answer to forgiveness for our sins. He is the answer to the Yom Kippur Mysteries.
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