Yom Kippur — Bible Study Express

Seriously, Yom Kippur is the best news we have. Jesus is making justice! Just read Psalm 98

KJV ¹ O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. ² The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. ³ He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. ⁴ Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. ⁵ Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. ⁶ With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King. ⁷ Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. ⁸ Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together ⁹ Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity. WEB A Psalm. ¹ Sing to Yahweh a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. ² Yahweh has made known his salvation. He has openly shown his righteousness in the sight of the nations. ³ He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. ⁴ Make a joyful noise to Yahweh, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises! ⁵ Sing praises to Yahweh with the harp, with the harp and the voice of melody. ⁶ With trumpets and sound of the ram’s horn, make a joyful noise before the King, Yahweh. ⁷ Let the sea roar with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein. ⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together. ⁹ Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
. So I am not surprised that the rabbis make it good news, a day for a "cheerful and confiding spirit". I really believe we do ourselves a disservice with an emphasis on Judgement day as a threat, to try and scare youngsters into obedience. Unfortunately, when I grew up this was common in our church. (These days we just ignore it) This sort of thing actually leads people to reject it as contrary to the loving God they knew.

While this isn't a Bible study as such, it IS the product of long study of the Old Testament over generations.

A friend of mine has pointed me to an article in the Jewish Encyclopedia about atonement and the Day of Atonement. It reinforced for me the positive side of the Day because we so often get worried about it.

But before I get onto that, for all the medical missionaries, did you know what they read on the morning of the Day of Atonement .... yeah, you knew already didn't you, Leviticus 16

KJV ¹ And the Lord spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord, and died; ² And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. ³ Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on. ⁵ And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶ And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house. ⁷ And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. ⁸ And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. ⁹ And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. ¹¹ And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself: ¹² And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: ¹³ And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: ¹⁴ And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. ¹⁵ Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: ¹⁶ And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. ¹⁷ And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. ¹⁸ And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. ¹⁹ And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. ²⁰ And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: ²¹ And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: ²² And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. ²³ And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there: ²⁴ And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people. ²⁵ And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar. ²⁶ And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp. ²⁷ And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung. ²⁸ And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. ²⁹ And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: ³⁰ For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. ³¹ It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. ³² And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments: ³³ And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation. ³⁴ And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses. WEB ¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they came near before Yahweh, and died; ² and Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Most Holy Place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark; lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat. ³ “Aaron shall come into the sanctuary with a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He shall put on the holy linen tunic. He shall have the linen trousers on his body, and shall put on the linen sash, and he shall be clothed with the linen turban. They are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water, and put them on. ⁵ He shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶ “Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. ⁷ He shall take the two goats, and set them before Yahweh at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁸ Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for Yahweh, and the other lot for the scapegoat. ⁹ Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for Yahweh, and offer him for a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat shall be presented alive before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, to send him away as the scapegoat into the wilderness. ¹¹ “Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. ¹² He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil. ¹³ He shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the covenant, so that he will not die. ¹⁴ He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. ¹⁵ “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. ¹⁶ He shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins; and so he shall do for the Tent of Meeting that dwells with them in the middle of their uncleanness. ¹⁷ No one shall be in the Tent of Meeting when he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, and has made atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. ¹⁸ “He shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the bull’s blood, and some of the goat’s blood, and put it around on the horns of the altar. ¹⁹ He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and make it holy from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. ²⁰ “When he has finished atoning for the Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat. ²¹ Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is ready. ²² The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a solitary land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. ²³ “Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting, and shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. ²⁴ Then he shall bathe himself in water in a holy place, put on his garments, and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵ The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. ²⁶ “He who lets the goat go as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. ²⁷ The bull for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp; and they shall burn their skins, their flesh, and their dung with fire. ²⁸ He who burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. ²⁹ “It shall be a statute to you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no kind of work, whether native-born or a stranger who lives as a foreigner 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 Yahweh. ³¹ It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. ³² The priest, who is anointed and who is consecrated to be priest in his father’s place, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments. ³³ Then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary; and he shall make atonement for the Tent of Meeting and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. ³⁴ “This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” It was done as Yahweh commanded Moses.
, but also Isaiah 57:14

KJV ¹⁴ And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people. WEB ¹⁴ He will say, “Build up, build up, prepare the way! Remove the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.”
to 58:14, that's the whole chapter..."which has been significantly chosen to impress the worshipers with the lesson that the external rite of fasting is valueless without the works of righteousness and beneficence."

Here are some highlights from the page:

Atonement: "The setting at one, or reconciliation, of two estranged parties"

All the various elements effecting Atonement are in a marked degree combined in the Day of Atonement, to make it the occasion of the great annual redintegration of man. It is called "Shabbat Shabbaton," the holiest of rest-days as the Shabbath of the Sabbatical month (Lev. xxiii. 32), because it was to prepare the people for the festival of harvest joy, the Succoth feast at the close of the agricultural season"

Redintegration was a new word to me but from Wikipedia:

Redintegration refers to the restoration of the whole of something from a part of it. In cognitive psychology the word is used in reference to phenomena in the field of memory. The everyday phenomenon is that a small part of a memory can remind a person of the entire memory.

Great stress was laid on the cloud of incense in which the high priest was enveloped when entering the Holy of Holies"

Those of you who know my interest in Revelation 14:11

KJV ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. WEB ¹¹ The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.
will know why I like that.

Thus, the first ten days of Tishri grew to be the Ten Penitential Days of the year, intended to bring about a perfect change of heart, and to make Israel like new-born creatures..., the culmination being reached on the Day of Atonement, when religion's greatest gift, God's condoning mercy, was to be offered to man."

Day of Sealing God's Decree.

Down to the first century, in Apocalyptical as well as in New Testament writings, the idea of the divine judgment was mainly eschatological in character, as deciding the destiny of the soul after death rather than of men on earth. But under the influence of Babylonian mythology, which spoke of the beginning of the year—"zagmuk"—on the first day of Nisan, as the time when the gods decided the destiny of life "

A Day of Confiding Joy.

Far from being the means of "pacifying an angry God," as suggested by Cheyne ("Encyc. Bibl." s.v.), or from leaving a feeling of uncertainty and dread of suspense concerning God's pardoning love in the heart, as Weber ("Altsynagogale Theologie," p. 321) maintains, these ten days are the days of special grace when the Shekinah is nigh,and God longs to grant pardon to His people..."

The Day of Atonement is the "one day" prepared from the beginning to unite the world divided between the light of goodness and the darkness of sin (Gen. R. ii., iii.), "a day of great joy to God" (Tanna debe Eliyahu R.i.). "Not depressed and in somber garments as the suppliant appears before the earthly judge and ruler should Israel on New-Year's Day and on the Day of Atonement stand before the Ruler and the Judge on high, but with joy and in white garments betokening a cheerful and confiding spirit" (Yer. R. H. i. 57b). Only later generations regarded these white garments, the Sargenes—in which also the dead were dressed in order to appear before the Judge of all flesh full of gladsome hope—as shrouds, and considered them as reminders of death (Yer. R. H. l.c.; Eccl. R. ix. 7; Gen. R. l.c.; Brueck, "Pharisäische Volkssitten," 1368). "The firstday of Succoth is called the first day [Lev. xxiii. 35] because on it a new record begins, the sins of the year having been wiped off on Atonement Day" (Tan., Emor., 22). The sins of the preceding year therefore, unless they have been repeated, should not be confessed anew.

This is the reason I don't think that Jesus is returning in the next few years, no matter how bad the world is. I don't believe that Jesus is coming back until Seventh-day Adventists share this good news that "God longs to grant pardon to His people" and we stand before Him "with joy and a cheerful and confiding spirit."