Yom Kippur: The Secret in the Talmud That No One Has Discovered!

There is something missing in Yom Kippur. Growing up, many of us fasted and prayed in the synagogue, reciting beautiful songs and prayers. But very few of us actually study what God said about this day in Leviticus 16. So what is God's purpose for this day? What are we missing? Today, our culture looks at this day as what we can do to make things right with God. I need to do good deeds, find everyone I've wronged and have them absolve me. Maybe say some extra prayers at the synagogue and fast in an extreme way. The harder I try, the bigger points I'll get, as if we can climb Jacob's ladder ourselves. But look for yourselves in Leviticus 16 and see what God says. You shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. For on that day, the priest shall make atonement for you to cleanse you that you may be cleaned from all your sins before the Lord. The entire chapter is full of details of the work that the high priest has to do. But only a couple of verses here tell us what we have to do. We do nothing. Just wait with faith for the high priest with humble hearts. Yom Kippur was never about us or what we could offer. Unlike all other holy days, you don't offer a sacrifice or bring any offering at all. Even the other priests had to wait. The high priest alone went into the Holy of Holies to offer the blood of the sacrifice for Israel's national sin. Our part was to wait on our high priest with faith. So how did this high holy day that was all about God's forgiveness become all about us? According to tradition, on this day, each of our names is brought before God's heavenly courts. This is why we say, Kema Chatima Tova. It translates as, may you have a good final seal. But what does that mean? This expression refers to our names being found and sealed in the book of life, mentioned in Exodus, Daniel, and the New Testament. In this book, God records the names of the righteous who have their place in heaven. The wicked, on the other hand, being bloodied out of the book of life, face God's judgment in the world to come. According to the Talmud, this book is opened on Rosh Hashanah and for 10 days, our lives stand in the balance until Yom Kippur, Judgment Day. So what chance do I have to make it in this book? Maybe if I'm fully dedicated, if I reach the highest heights of religion, I'll be good enough. Rabbi Yohanan Ben-Zakai, one of the most respected rabbis in our history, surely had a greater chance than me, right? But laying on his deathbed, when he saw his disciples, he began to cry. His disciples said to him, Ner Yisrael, light of Israel, pillar of the right, hammer of the strong, why are you crying? The rabbi responds, Now that they are leading me before the supreme king of kings, the holy one, blessed be he, who lives and endures forever and all time, if he's angry with me, his anger is eternal. If he incarcerates me, his incarceration is an eternal incarceration. And if he kills me, his killing is for eternity. I am unable to appease him with words and bribe him with money. Moreover, but now I have two paths before me, one of the garden of Eden and one of hell, and I do not know on which way I'm going. And will I not cry? This sad story leaves us pretty hopeless, right? But in ancient times, our people had some assurance on this day. There was an elaborate system of sacrifices and rituals to do on Yom Kippur. And one of those rituals described in the Torah included bringing two goats and casting a lot between them. One was for the Lord and the other was for Azazel, known as the scapegoat. Yom 4.2 of the Mishnah tells us they tied a crimson thread to the horn of the scapegoat. This crimson thread was also tied on the temple's entrance. As the person accompanying the goat came up to the mountain, the goat was pushed off a cliff. After the goat died, according to the Mishnah, the red thread would turn white as snow. Some see that miracle in Isaiah 1.18, as God says, "'Come now and let us reason together,' saith the Lord. "'Though your sins be as scarlet, "'they shall be as white as snow. "'Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.'" But here is the crazy part. 40 years before the destruction of the temple, that hope was taken away. Really, don't take our word for it. Check it out for yourself. In the Babylonian Talmud, tractate Yoma 39b, we read, "'During the 40 years prior to the destruction "'of the second temple, the lot for God did not arise "'in the high priest's right hand at all. "'So too, the strip of crimson wool that was tied "'to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel "'did not turn white. "'And the westernmost lamp of the menorah "'did not burn continuously. "'And the doors of the sanctuary opened by themselves.'" Did you catch that? The Talmud explicitly says, 40 years before the destruction of the temple, the thread stopped becoming white, the menorah lamp wouldn't stay lit, and the massive temple doors that protected the holy sanctuary started opening themselves on their own. Just ask yourself, what biblically significant event happened 40 years before 70 AD? It was exactly in this time that Yeshua of Nazareth was crucified and then raised back to life. Can this be just a coincidence? Remember, this isn't a Christian legend, but directly from the Talmud. As well, the gospel account in Matthew gives witness of the temple curtains being ripped from top to bottom as a great earthquake struck the temple on the moment he gave up his life. Don't take Matthew's word for it either. In 2012, geologists confirmed the time and epicenter of this great earthquake that shook the temple exactly as Matthew stated. So why did this miracle stop? Why did God open the doors of the temple after Yeshua's resurrection? It's simple, the temple's role had been fulfilled. Just as when Solomon built the holy temple, there was no need to pull out the old tabernacle tent. The greater priesthood had come. The early Jewish followers saw Yeshua as the new high priest, as we read in the book of Hebrews. We have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens as minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man. But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he is also mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises. This better covenant was promised to our forefathers through the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 31. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with her fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, says the Lord, but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Thankfully, this new covenant isn't based on how much we give or what we do, but God's grace alone. Isaiah says in chapter 52, you have sold yourselves for nothing and you shall be redeemed without money. Yom Kippur isn't just a sad day, but a day of hope. According to the Mishnah, there were no days as joyous for the Jewish people as the 15th of Av and as Yom Kippur. But why the rejoicing? As the high priest exited the Holy of Holies, the atonement was complete. What a celebration to know you're forgiven and free. The covenant of Zioni was given with the hope of a greater covenant to come, a covenant that went deeper, transforming the heart. Moses understood this too, as he said, oh, that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them. This hope continued as we read in the New Testament. Even as Yeshua walked among our people, he spoke of this coming day as he said, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you. And it was on the day of Shavuot, the very same day God gave the covenant on Mount Sinai, that he fulfilled this promise. As he poured out the Holy Spirit on those who gathered in faith in the upper room. On that day, this new covenant was open to all who believe. From that time forward, the partition that kept us away from the presence of God was taken down. No longer was his presence only for the chosen few priests and prophets of God, but God's mercy and salvation was extended to all our people and even to the nations who would believe. No wonder the priests couldn't keep the doors of the temple shut. The way to God's presence was now open to all. To summarize, in the past, God's presence was only known to a few chosen priests and prophets. Now, he dwells in the hearts and empowers those who believe in Yeshua. His Holy Spirit abides with us in this tabernacle of flesh of those who trust in him. No longer do we need to travel to Jerusalem to give sacrifices for sin or try to earn our way through good deeds. He has paid the debt we could never pay and he hears us and forgives us as we confess and repent. Yeshua is the better high priest of a better covenant, as the book to the Hebrews states. Because Yeshua lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need. One who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from the sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day. First, for his own sins and then for the sins of other people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. The book goes on to say, just as people are destined to die once and after that to face judgment, so Messiah was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many and he will appear a second time not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. So as you think about the Day of Atonement, what hope do you have? Though he dedicated his entire life to religion, Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakkai didn't know where he was headed on his deathbed. In our own strength, this goal is hopeless. But thanks to our merciful God, there is a way. In the same way God turned the scarlet thread from crimson to white as snow, he has made a way for us through faith. Like Yom Kippur in Leviticus 16, you don't bring anything to the table but your faith in God. Come to God and trust in the work of our high priest Yeshua. Attaining salvation was never in our hands to begin with. Our forefathers in the faith likewise were granted grace through their trust in God. So have you trusted in him? We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain where our forerunner Yeshua has entered on our behalf. He has become our high priest forever. As it has been said, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion. Put your trust in Yeshua today and rest with faith and hope in the finished work of our Messiah and King.