The second of the Fall Appointed Times (Moedim) commanded by YAHWEH is Yom Kippur which on is September 29th which means it begins on September 28th at sundown to September 29th sundown. Yom Kippur/ Yom ha’Kippurim/The Day of Atonement is considered the most set-apart (Kodesh) Day of the year. Make sure you do NO WORK on this day as it is a Shabbat Shabbaton a day for complete rest, complete stopping and ceasing from all activity just as the weekly 7th Day Shabbat is a Shabbat Shabbaton. We will be discussing what Yom Kippur is, how to observe Yom Kippur, what is involved in a fast, do children have to fast, and YESHUA being our High Priest.
The Book of Jubilees shows us why and when Yom Kippur was instituted:
Jubilees 34:12-18
“And the sons of Jacob slaughtered a kid, and dipped the coat of Joseph in blood, and sent it to Jacob their dad on the TENTH DAY OF THE SEVENTH MONTH (YOM KIPPUR). And he mourned all that night, for they had brought it to him in the evening (Leviticus 23:32 evening to evening), and he became feverish with mourning for his death, and he said, “And evil beast has devoured Joseph; and all the members of his house were grieving and mourning with him all that day. And his sons and his daughter rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted for his son. And on that day Bilhah heard that Joseph had perished, and she died mourning him, and she was living in Qafratef, and Dinah also, his daughter died after Joseph had perished. And these THREE MOURNINGS came upon Yisra’el in one month. And they buried Bilhah over against the tomb of Rachel, and Dinah, his daughter, they also buried there. And he mourned for Joseph for one year, and did not cease, for he said, “Let me go down to the grave mourning for my son.” FOR THIS REASON IT IS ORDAINED FOR THE CHILDREN OF YISRA’EL THAT THEY SHOULD AFFLICT THEMSELVES ON THE TENTH OF THE SEVENTH MONTH. On the day that the news which made him weep for Joseph came to Jacob his father, that they should make atonement for themselves with a young goat on the TENTH OF THE SEVENTH MONTH, once a year, for their transgressions; for they had grieved the affection of their father regarding Joseph his son. And this day has been ordained that they should grieve for their transgressions, and for all their transgressions and for all their errors, so that they might cleanse themselves on that day once a year.”
What does the Otiot tell us about Yom Kippur? The etymology for the word “atonement” is H3725 which is “kippur” and is spelled: Kaph, Yod, Pey, Waw, Resh
Kaph is a picture of an open palm and means: Bend, open, allow, TO COVER, tame, THE WORK OF YESHUA
Yod is a picture of an arm and hand and means: Work, ACTIONS, throw, worship, deed
Pey is a picture of a mouth and means: SPEAK, praise, blow, scatter, edge, beginning of
Waw is a picture of a tent peg and means: SECURE, add, hook, join together
Resh is a picture of a man’s head and means: First, top, BEGINNING, Chief, Leader
When we combine Kaph, Yod, Pey, Waw, and Resh to spell Kippur we get this message: THE WORK OF YESHUA on the stake, to COVER, our ACTIONS SPEAKS of SECURING our salvation from the very BEGINNING!
Leviticus 23:26-32 (Samaritan)
“And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying, On exactly the TENTH DAY OF THIS SEVENTH MONTH IS DAY OF ATONEMENT. It shall be a set-apart reading for you. And you shall HUMBLE YOUR SOULS, and present an offering by fire to YAHWEH. And you shall not DO ANY WORK ON THIS SAME DAY, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before YAHWEH your ELOHIM. For any soul who will NOT humble himself on this same day, HE SHALL BE CUT OFF FROM HIS PEOPLE. For any soul WHO DOES ANY WORK ON THIS SAME DAY, THAT SOUL I WILL DESTROY FROM AMONG HER PEOPLES. And you shall NOT DO ANY WORK. It is to be a statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It is to be a SHABBAT OF COMPLETE REST TO YOU (SHABBAT SHABBATON). And you shall TORTURE YOUR SOULS, on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall REST ON YOUR SHABBAT.”
Leviticus 16:29-31 (Samaritan)
“In the SEVENTH MONTH, ON THE TENTH DAY OF THE MONTH, you shall TORTURE YOUR SOULS, AND NOT DO ANY WORK, WHETHER A CITIZEN, OR THE PROSEYLTE sojourning among you. For it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to CLEANSE YOU. You will be clean for all your offenses before YAHWEH. It is to be a SHABBAT OF REST FOR YOU, THAT YOU SHALL TORTURE YOUR SOULS. IT IS A PERMANENT STATUTE.
Numbers 29:7-11 (Samaritan)
“And on the TENTH DAY OF THIS SEVENTH MONTH you shall have a set-apart reading. And you shall TORTURE YOUR SOULS. AND EVERY LABOR YOU SHALL NOT DO. And you shall present a burnt offering to YAHWEH as a SWEET SAVOR, one bull, one ram, seven male sheep one year old, having them without defect. And their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths for a bull, and two tenths for the one ram. And tenth tenth for each sheep of the seven sheep. And one male goat for a offense offering, besides a offense offering of atonement and the continual burnt offering, and its grain offering, and its drink offerings.”
YESHUA is the Lamb of YAHWEH who takes away the iniquities of the world and offered Himself with His blood and not the blood of bulls and goats. It is important to see what YESHUA’s blood did for us with His atoning blood for us all on the execution stake.
Hebrews 9:12-14 (Aramaic)
“And He did not enter with the blood of goats and calves, but BY HIS OWN BLOOD He entered in once into the set-apart place, and obtained for us EVERLASTING SALVATION. For if the blood of goats and calves and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who were defiled cleansed them even to the cleansing of their flesh, how much more will the BLOOD OF MESSIAH, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to ELOHIM, purify our conscience from dead works so that we may serve the living ELOHIM? For this cause He became the mediator of the New Covenant and by His death HE BECAME SALVATION FOR THOSE WHO TRANSGRESSED THE OLD COVENANT, that those who are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”
Titus 2:14 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“He (YESHUA) gave Himself up on OUR BEHALF in order to free us from ALL VIOLATION OF THE TORAH and purify for Himself a people who would be His own, eager to do good.”
Psalms 130:7-8 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“Yisra’el, put your hope in YAHWEH! For mercy is found with YAHWEH, and with Him is unlimited redemption. He WILL REDEEM YISRA’EL FROM ALL THEIR WRONGDOINGS.”
Daniel 9:24 (Aramaic)
“Seventy times seven weeks are determined upon your people and upon your set-apart city, to finish the TRANGRESSIONS, and to make an END OF OFFENSES AND FOR THE FORGIVNESS OF THE INIQUITY AND TO BRING IN EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS and to fulfill the vision of the prophets and to give the most set-apart to Messiah.”
YESHUA fulfills the animal offerings for us with His blood and the IS sweet fragrance that YAHWEH mentions that comes from the burnt offering in Leviticus and Numbers
Ephesians 5:2
“And walk in love, as Mashiach (Messiah) also has loved us, and gave Himself for us, a gift and an offering to YHWH for a SWEET-SMELLING FRAGRANCE.”
So we see that we are to do no work, have a set-apart gathering which includes having a set-apart reading as written in the Samaritan Torah, grieve over our iniquities, to completely afflict our souls and deny ourselves (torture our souls), which means at least a 24 hour fast of no food or water. We can deny ourselves through fasting because we need food and water to live and in doing so, we are denying our being or torturing our souls for the day. Example:
Anah (ah-nah) - means to bow down or afflict
Nefesh (neh-fesh)-soul or yourself
Psalms 35:13
"I HUMBLED my soul with FASTING”.
Isaiah 58:3 (Aramaic)
"Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we AFFLICTED ourselves, and You took no notice?"
Matthew 9:14-15 (Hebrewgospels.com)
“Then disciples of John came unto YESHUA MASHIACH, saying, “Why do your disciples not AFFLICT THEMSLEVES like us and the Pharisees? So YESHUA MASHIACH said to them, “Because of the bridegroom—while he is alive, all of them who are with him are not able to be quenched. But when the time comes that man will hide the bridegroom, THEN THEY WILL FAST.”
So as we see from the scriptures above that denying/humbling/afflicting/torturing your soul means to fast, which is what we are supposed to do on Yom Kippur.
Scriptures that support Yom Kippur being a day of FASTING!
Damascus Document 6:19
“They shall keep the Shabbat day according to its exact interpretation, and the FEASTS AND THE DAY OF FASTING according to the finding of the members of the New Covenant in the land of Damascus.”
2 Chronicles 8:13 (Aramaic)
“Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Shabbats and the SOLEMN FEASTS, three times a year, in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, AND IN THE FEAST OF FASTING, and in the Feast of Tabernacles.”
Acts 27:9 (Aramaic Lamsa)
“There we remained for a long time, even till the DAY OF THE JEWISH FAST was over and, since it had now become dangerous for any one to sail, Paul gave them advice.”
Acts 27:9 (Aramaic English New Testament)
“And we were there a long time, and till after the DAY OF THE JEWISH FAST.”
There is a footnote marked #205 in the Aramaic English New Testament which says “THIS IS YOM KIPPUR.”
The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls (Prayers for Festivals, 1Q34)
“Prayer for the DAY OF ATONEMENT. Remember O YAHWEH, the feast of mercies and the time of return…Thou has established it for us as a FEAST OF FASTING, AND AN EVERLASTING PRECEPT…Thou knowest the hidden things and the things revealed…”
Do children have to fast?
The Samaritan Torah page 286 says “Soul”—The Israelite Samaritans understood “soul” in this regard as the infant that MUST fast the Day of Atonement of the year in which the infant WAS WEANED from the breast. The Jewish halacha understood the soul as being one who has reached 13 years of age.”
Genesis 21:8 (Samaritan)
“And the child grew and was WEANED. And Abraham made a GREAT FEAST on the day that Isaac his son WAS WEANED.”
Weaning is when a child is completely off of the breast milk which can be anywhere from the ages of 18 months to 4 years, some say 5 years old maximum. So, we can agree that Isaac was not 13 years old when he was weaned. It appears the Samaritans have it correct that once a child is weaned then he or she should participate in the fast.
Judith 4:9-15
“Then every man of Yisra’el cried to ELOHIM with great ardor, and they HUMBLED their beings with great fervency; both they and their wives and THEIR CHILDREN and their cattle and every stranger and hired man and their servants bought with money, and put SACKCLOTH upon their loins. So every man and woman and the LITTLE CHILDREN and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, fell before the Temple, and threw ASHES upon their heads, and spread out their SACKCLOTH before the face of YAHWEH; they also put sackcloth around the altar, and cried to the ELOHIM of Yisra’el all with one accord earnestly, that He would not give their children as prey and their wives as spoil and the cities of their inheritance to destruction and the Set-Apart Place to defilement and reproach, and for the nations to rejoice at. So ELOHIM heard their prayers and looked upon their afflictions; FOR THE PEOPLE FASTED MANY DAYS in all Judah and Jerusalem before the Set-Apart Place of YAHWEH ELOHIM.”
Jonah 3:1-7 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“The word of YAHWEH came to Jonah a second time: “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and proclaim to it the message I will give you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, as YAHWEH had said. Now Nineveh was such a large city that it took three days just to cross it. Jonah began his entry into the city and had finished only his first day of proclaiming, ‘In forty days Nineveh will be overthrown,’ when the people of Nineveh believed ELOHIM. They PROCLAIMED A FAST and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth and sat in ashes. He then had this proclamation made throughout Nineveh: “By decree of the king and his nobles, NO PERSON or animal, herd or flock, IS TO PUT ANYTHING IN HIS MOUTH; THEY ARE NEITHER TO EAT NOR DRINK WATER.”
As always take it to our Father YAHWEH in prayer.
What is involved in a Fast?
We firstly deny ourselves by not eating any food or drinking any water, we must turn away from our own desires/pleasures and to completely seek YAHWEH’s face, and we are not to oppress others. I would recommend laying in sackcloth as they did in ancient Yisra’el and if you are able and to put dust or ashes on our heads to completely humble ourselves. You can get dirt outside or even use ashes from the grill.
What is sackcloth? A very coarse, rough fabric woven from flax, hemp, or jute vegetable fibers. Here are some examples of what was usually done during a fast which included weeping, mourning, and fasting.
Joel (Yo’el) 2:12
“Yet even now,” declares YAHWEH, “turn to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”
Jeremiah 4:8
“For these things gird yourselves with SACKCLOTH and lament and wail: for the anger of YAHWEH is not turned away from you.”
2 Maccabees 13:10-12
“When Judah learned of this, he commanded the multitude to call on YAHWEH night and day that He would help them now if ever at any other time, being at the point that their Torah, their country and their set-apart Temple taken from them; and that He would not allow the people that had only just now been a little refreshed, to be in subjection to the blasphemous nations. So when they had all done this together and pleaded for the kindness of ELOHIM with WEEPING AND FASTING and LYING FLAT upon the ground for THREE DAYS, Judah, having encouraged them, commanded they should make themselves ready.”
Lying flat upon the ground is not comfortable and is a way to torture your soul in complete humility.
Job 16:15 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“I sewed SACKCLOTH over my skin, and laid my pride in the dust.”
1 Maccabees 3:46-47
“Therefore the Yisra’elites assembled themselves together, and came to Mitspah, opposite Jerusalem; for in Mitspah was the place where they previously prayed in Yisra’el. Then they FASTED that day, and put on SACKCLOTH, and THREW ASHES ON THEIR HEADS, and tore their garments.”
Judith 4:9-15
“Then every man of Yisra’el cried to ELOHIM with great ardor, and they HUMBLED their beings with great fervency; both they and their wives and their children and their cattle and every stranger and hired man and their servants bought with money, and put SACKCLOTH upon their loins. So every man and woman and the little children and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, fell before the Temple, and threw ASHES upon their heads, and spread out their SACKCLOTH before the face of YAHWEH; they also put sackcloth around the altar, and cried to the ELOHIM of Yisra’el all with one accord earnestly, that He would not give their children as prey and their wives as spoil and the cities of their inheritance to destruction and the Set-Apart Place to defilement and reproach, and for the nations to rejoice at. So ELOHIM heard their prayers and looked upon their afflictions; FOR THE PEOPLE FASTED MANY DAYS in all Judah and Jerusalem before the Set-Apart Place of YAHWEH ELOHIM.”
Job 42:6
“Therefore I recant and repent in DUST AND ASHES.”
Lamentations 2:10
“The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground, are silent. They have thrown DUST on their heads, they have girded themselves with SACKCLOTH.”
1 Kings 21:27
“And it came to be, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his garments and put SACKLOTH on his body, and FASTED and lay in SACKCLOTH, and went softly.”
Nehemiah 9:1 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“On the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Yisra’el, wearing SACKCLOTH and with DIRT ON THEM, ASSEMBED FOR A FAST.”
Mathew 11:21
“Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Beth Saida! Because if the miracles which were done in you had been done in Tsor and Sidon, they would have REPENTED long ago in SACKCLOTH AND ASHES.”
Jonah 3:4-5
“And Jonah began to go in to the city on the first day’s walk. And he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown! And the men of Nineveh believed in ELOHIM, and proclaimed A FAST, AND PUT ON SACKCLOTH, from the greatest to the least of them.”
YESHUA our High Priest and Everything points to YESHUA and His atonement
Also, surrounding Yom ha’kippurim is that everything points to YESHUA just as the entire Old Testament does. In ancient times the high priest (kohen ha’gadol) would enter into the Tent of Meeting once a year, behind the veil, into the kadosh ha’kadoshim (holy of holies) and make atonement for himself, his household, and for the assembly of Yisra’el. He would sprinkle blood on the mercy seat that sat above the Ark of the Covenant (Leviticus 16:14-17). Then the high priest would confess the iniquities, transgressions, and wickedness of Yisra’el onto the forehead of azazel (scapegoat) and a fit man would send him into the wilderness with their iniquities and that goat himself would bear the wickedness of the people
It is just a constant reminder of how everything was a foreshadow of YESHUA being the perfect sacrificial lamb; just like the blood of the perfect lamb spared the children of Yisra’el in Egypt and YAHWEH “Passed Over them” and protected them is the same way the perfect blood of the Lamb of YESHUA saves us and iniquity and death “Pass Over us”.
Romans 5:16-19 (Aramaic)
“And the effect of the gift of ELOHIM was greater than the effect of the offence of Adam; for while the judgement from one man’s offence resulted in condemnation of many, the gift of ELOHIM in FORGIVENESS OF INIQUITIES resulted in righteousness to many more. For if by one man’s offence, death reigned, how much more those who receive abundance of mercy and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, YESHUA HA’MASHIACH. In like manner as by one man’s offence, condemnation came upon ALL MEN, even so by the righteousness of one man will the victory of life be to ALL MEN. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made transgressors, so by the obedience of one man shall many be made righteous.”
While atonement was being made; the high priest did all the work and the community of Yisra’el did not need to do anything, just as YESHUA is our High Priest and He has done all the work of atonement for us on the execution stake.
YESHUA is our High Priest and intercedes for us at the throne:
Hebrews 8:1-2
“Now above all we have a High Priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven; and He has become the minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which ELOHIM pitched and not man.”
YESHUA is our High Priest and King in the order of Melchizedek who was the only other king/priest in scripture:
Genesis 14:18
“And MELCHIZEDEK king of Salem brought out loaves and wine and he was the PRIEST of Elyon ELOHIM.”
Psalms 110:4
“YAHWEH has sworn, and will not lie, You are a priest forever after the ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.”
Hebrews 7:11
“If therefore perfection had been reached by the Levitical priesthood by which the law was enacted for the people, what further need was there that another priest should rise after the ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK? Otherwise, the scriptures would have said that he would be after the order Aaron.”
The Dead Sea Scrolls 11Q13- The Coming Melchizedek says:
“And concerning what Scripture says, “In this year of Jubilee you shall return, everyone of you, to your property” (Lev. 25;13) And what is also written; “And this is the manner of the remission; every creditor shall remit the claim that is held against a neighbor, not exacting it of a neighbor who is a member of the community, because ELOHIM’s remission has been proclaimed” (Deut.15;2) the interpretation is that it applies to the Last Days and concerns the captives, just as Isaiah said: “To proclaim the Jubilee to the captives” (Isa. 61;1) (…) just as (…) and from the inheritance of Melchizedek, for (… Melchizedek) , who will return them to what is rightfully theirs. He will proclaim to them the Jubilee, thereby releasing them from the debt of all their iniquities. He shall proclaim this decree in the first week of the jubilee period that follows nine jubilee periods.
Then the “DAY OF ATONEMENT” shall follow after the tenth jubilee period, when he shall atone for all the Sons of Light, and the people who are predestined to Melchizedek (Reference to YESHUA in order of Melchizedek) (…) upon them (…) For this is the time decreed for the “Year of Melchizedek`s favor”, and by his might he will judge ELOHIM’s set-apart ones and so establish a righteous kingdom, as it is written about him in the Songs of David ; “A Elohim like being has taken his place in the council of ELOHIM; in the midst of divine beings he holds judgement”
Testament of Levi 8:14
“And the third will be called a renewed name, because a KING will arise from Judah, and will establish a NEW PRIESTHOOD (Tribe of Judah not Levi), after the fashion of the nations to all the nations. And His presence is beloved, as a prophet of the Most High (Deuteronomy 18:18), of the seed of Abraham.”
YESHUA’s Priesthood in order of Melchizedek predates the Levitical priesthood. Clearly, YESHUA is KING, HIGH PRIEST, PROPHET, and everything in one! And outside of Melchizedek there was no other king priest because these are always two separate offices in scripture.
Zechariah 6:13
“Even He shall build the temple of YAHWEH; and He shall bear the esteem, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a PRIEST upon HIS THRONE (KING); and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”
The work that the human high priest did was a shadow of what was to come with YESHUA who would be the final atonement for us all because He has already done all the work for atonement! We don’t have a human high priest sacrificing animals anymore as we are the temple. YESHUA is our High Priest and unlike the human priests He does not have to make a sacrifice for His own iniquities because He was without iniquity and He makes continual intercessions for us because unlike humans He does not die, which makes Him a permanent High Priest forever.
Hebrews 4:14
“We have, therefore, a great High Priest who has ascended into heaven, YESHUA HA’MASHIACH, the Son of ELOHIM; let us remain firm in His faith. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot share our infirmities, but we have One who was tempted with everything as we are, and yet without iniquity.”
Hebrews 7:26-27
“For it was fitting that we should have such a Kohen ha’Gadol (High Priest)-kind, innocent, undefiled, having been separated from transgressors, and exalted above the heavens, who does not need, as those high priests, to offer up slaughter offerings day by day, first for His own iniquities and then for those of the people, for this HE did ONCE FOR ALL when He offered up Himself.”
1 John 2:1
“My children, I am writing you these things so that you won’t transgress. But if anyone does transgress, we have YESHUA the Messiah, the Righteous, Who pleads our cause with the Father. Also, He is the ATONEMENT FOR OUR OFFENSES, BUT ALSO FOR THOSE OF THE WHOLE WORLD.”
Die to self
YESHUA being ELOHIM the Son gave up His authority as King and humbled Himself to die for us. That is love and we need to follow that example by giving up ourselves and denying our existence and follow our Master YESHUA's example. Yom Kippur teaches us to die to self, deny ourselves, afflict our souls, weep, mourn and live for Him.
As we remember to deny, humble, and afflict ourselves during Yom ha’Kippurim let us use YESHUA our Messiah as the perfect example of how He completely denied His own existence for our sake when He said:
Mathew 26:39 (Hebrew)
"And He went a little further and bowed His face and said, “My Father, if it is a possible thing, remove this death from Me; however, NOT ACCORDING TO MY WILL, ONLY TO YOURS.”
Matthew 16:24 (Hebrew)
“And then YESHUA said to his talmidim (disciples), “Whosoever wants to follow after Me it is obligated that He should GIVE UP HOPE FOR HIMSELF, and that he take his warp and woof (execution stake) and follow after Me.”
YESHUA died so that we may live and freed us from the law of iniquity and death, by breaking the chains of Satan so that we do not have to suffer eternal torment! YAHWEH poured out His wrath upon His only Son so that we do not have to face what we are deserving of. We have been redeemed by His blood, so let us put our lives and fleshy desires to the side and do our Father YAHWEH's will and be obedient in our walk with YESHUA, HalleluYAH!
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“For the Messiah’s love has hold of us, because we are convinced that one man DIED ON BEHALF OF ALL MANKIND (which implies that ALL MANKIND WAS ALREADY DEAD), and that He died on behalf of ALL in order that those who live SHOULD NOT LIVE ANY LONGER FOR THEMSELVES BUT FOR THE ONE WHO ON THEIR BEHALF DIED AND WAS RAISED.”
1 John 4:9-10:
"By this the love of YAHWEH was manifested in us, that YAHWEH has sent His only brought-forth Son into the world, in order that we might live through Him. In this love, not that we loved YAHWEH, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be an atoning offering for our iniquities."
As always, may our Father YAHWEH bless you all in YESHUA’s Name!