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The season of Yom Kippur is one of Israel's most
solemn yet so many sadly do not recognize this feast day was fulfilled in Christ
and the Cross. The 16th chapter of Leviticus concerns the Great Day of Atonement
where the Lord gives Moses instructions concerning this Great Day which were to
be followed minutely. Israel's first Day of Atonement was celebrated in the
light of the recent death of Aaron's two sons who were stricken dead by the
Lord, because of their offering up of "strange fire," in order that Aaron might
understand the complete seriousness of these rituals. We will either embrace the
Cross, which is in reality the season of Yom Kippur, or we will embrace strange
fire and be killed as Aaron's sons.
By Chris McDonald
Text: Leviticus 16:1-3
And the Lord spoke 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 veil 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.
Before we begin this
journal I want to first wish all our Jewish brethren a very happy and blessed
High Holiday season, including a solemn Yom Kippur celebration that begins
Sundown Friday, September 21 and concludes Sundown Saturday, September 22. The
Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah begins sundown Wednesday, September 26, 2007
and continues through October 4, 2007. This year as we begin the Yom Kippur
celebration, Israel is doing anything but celebrating as she continues to face
one of her greatest threats since Hitler. The threats of course are the nations
of Iran and Syria, both which are bitter enemies of the Jewish state and both
which are seeking nuclear weapons they will use on Israel and quite probably the
United States if Iran and Syria continue to work with North Korea on obtaining
such weapons.
There is a growing darkness and dread
descending upon the nation of America right now as those who grasp
the depths of the conflict we're involved in at the moment in this
country understand the gravity of what is taking place in the Middle
East and know we cannot sit idly by and allow Iran's President, an
Islamic lunatic, get a hold of nuclear weapons that if
detonated in the right area and given the right circumstances, would
wipe out millions. We encourage you to visit our blog -
www.spiritblogandthought.blogspot.com and
www.inthelatterdays.blog.com for more thoughts on
the seriousness of the hour in the Middle East. Neighbor, Jesus
Christ is coming and we had better have our garments washed and
cleansed in the precious blood of the Lamb of God.
Let me tell you this. The world for the
most part does not have a problem with worshipping God. I know that
sounds strange but hear this writer out. The world at large has no
problem "serving" whatever "God" they think belongs to their
respective religions. The Buddhist worships Buddha, who many within
that movement think is "god." The Muslims worship Allah, whom they
feel is God. The Chinese, the Japanese, the Mormons and the list
could go on worship a "god" they think is the true God of heaven.
Man does not have a problem with that as a whole. But what man DOES
have a problem with is the crux of whether you and I will spend
eternity with God or eternity in hell. Man has a SERIOUS problem
with the glory, the deity and the majesty of the LORD JESUS CHRIST,
who declared, "I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE and no man
cometh to the father but by Me! Man don't care about worshipping
God; man sneers and rejects and snorts his anger rooted in
self-righteousness when man is confronted with the WAY to the true
and living God. That "WAY" is the ONLY WAY and it is through the
shed blood and the nail scarred hands and feet of the World's
redeemer, the ROSE of Sharon, the bright and the morning star! Glory
to God.
As we enter into the celebrations and recognition this
weekend of Yom Kippur my mind goes back to this same holiday in 1973, the Day of
Atonement when war drums were beating once again across Israel's narrow
territory as Syria and other enemies were seeking Israel's destruction.
Israel was in trouble then as she is today as Arab armies tightened the noose
around the little country, personifying once again the age old intent to
annihilate God’s ancient nation.
Ezekiel 35:1-5
Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, [2] Son of man,
set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, [3] And
say unto it, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O mount Seir, I am
against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I
will make thee most desolate. [4] I will lay thy cities waste, and
thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. [5]
Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the
blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the
time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:
With barely 350 miles in length and averaging 50 miles in width,
Israel has learned to fight fast and hit hard over the years in
order to not be overrun by her enemies. There is no other option for
a people so besieged and surrounded with hatred. And what the world
deems as an overly aggressive posture of a militant small nation, is
in fact the right of survival for a Jewish minority in the Middle
East. I want to say that again. What the world decries as
"aggression," is nothing more than "self-defense" against a
perpetual hatred that God has condemned and has in addition promised
to deal with at a time yet future concerning the Arab world. Hear
what I say to you today. We love the Arab peoples. We pray for the
salvation of their families just as we diligently pray for the
salvation of the Jewish people. This is not about bashing Arabs in
general but we are also not stupid to believe that Islam will
somehow become a peaceful religion tomorrow and all the Arab hatred
the enemy has incited will go away overnight. It will not. Islam is
the greatest threat to Western civilization since Hitler's armies
sought to overrun Europe in the 1940s. Islam is greater in scope and
danger than even Communism was in the 1950s because Islam is
SPIRITUAL in nature, while Communism sought to spread it's theology
through POLITICAL means. Those who adhere to Islam seek to
forcible spread by the sword a RELIGIOUS theology more than just a
political ideology. Religious ideologies become far more serious in
what they produce than anything politicians can do. Look at the
Crusades of the Roman Catholic Church. It was to the church's
eternal shame when the church became just like Islam and took up the
sword instead of the SPIRIT! Jesus told Peter to put up his sword
"for they who live by the sword shall DIE by the sword." The
church's weapons are NOT carnal but they are SPIRITUAL in nature,
pulling down strongholds by the power of Almighty God.
Within hours, once the initial Syrian attack reached the Heights’
western cliffs overlooking the Galilee, small, scattered Israeli
units, found ourselves deep behind enemy lines. On that morning,
Syria and Egypt launched a coordinated Soviet-backed surprise attack
upon Israel that nearly destroyed the Jewish state. It was days
later that the Israeli reserve forces which had been called up to
duty on that solemn Day of Atonement and fighting desperately up the
steep cliffs, finally joined the tattered forces on the high plain.
It wasn’t long after that Israel broke the Syrian initiative,
launched a counter attack, and swept east deep into Syrian
territory. When military operations were called off under
international pressure, Damascus, the capital of Syria, was in
Israel's cross hairs coming precariously close to fulfilling the
prophetically decreed destruction of Damascus in Isaiah 17:
Isaiah 17:1-14
The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a
city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. [2] The cities of Aroer are
forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none
shall make them afraid. [3] The fortress also shall cease from
Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria:
they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord
of hosts. [4] And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory
of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax
lean. [5] And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn,
and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that
gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim. [6] Yet gleaning
grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or
three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the
outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel. [7]
At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have
respect to the Holy One of Israel. [8] And he shall not look to the
altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his
fingers have made, either the groves, or the images. [9] In
that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an
uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel:
and there shall be desolation. [10] Because thou hast forgotten the
God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy
strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set
it with strange slips: [11] In the day shalt thou make thy plant to
grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but
the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate
sorrow. [12] Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a
noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,
that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! [13] The
nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall
rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the
chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing
before the whirlwind. [14] And behold at evening tide trouble; and
before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil
us, and the lot of them that rob us.
The Syrian government needs to read this passage closely at this
very moment in history. Some 34 years later the Arab world,
including Syria and Iran have never caught on to the fact that
despite Israel being away from God spiritually, she is STILL the
apple of His eye! She is STILL the focus of God's heartbeat and
every single prophetic thread that runs through the Bible runs
through ISRAEL! Israel is God's prophetic time clock, neighbor, and
even we here in America need to understand that! We tend in the
church to lose sight of Israel's importance in God's plan for man,
thus the stupidity and moronic doctrines of end time eschatology
that are springing up left and right. Israel is the center of end
time theology and if you lose sight of that you will become very
confused! God will STILL fight for His covenant people and destroy
those who stand against her. Yes, He will give the Antichrist a
season to persecute her once more in the near future but that season
will end with the utter destruction of the Antichrist, the False
Prophet and all the armies who will one day gather themselves
against Jerusalem.
The chronicles of the 1973 Yom-Kippur war (the Day of Atonement
war), which resulted in Israel gaining possession of the Golan
Heights, a source of deep rooted tension to this day between Syria
and Israel, are known historical facts. By God’s grace Israel
prevailed, but not without paying a heavy price. The pride and
overconfidence that plagued Israel following the miraculous
Six-Day-War of 1967 was cleansed with the flood of pain and sorrow
of the 1973 conflict. . Today, on the Day of Atonement 2007, Israeli
forces are again on high alert on the Golan Heights in what seems to
be the never ending saga for survival against all odds. With North
Korean nuclear scientists being found collaborating with Syrian
officials, one must realize the seriousness of this hour in which we
live! It's getting late neighbor!
The Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, is the holiest day on the
biblical calendar. On this day the great majority of the Jewish
people, including Israel’s relatively secular population, observe
the day with fasting and solemnity. Even those who do not fear God
or obey His word quiet their souls and look deep within for
something beyond. The fact is that no other people group on earth
observes a national day of repentance as do the people of Israel.
Commanded by God to wait upon Him in fasting, the entire nation’s
hopes were hinging on the High Priest’s successful service as he
offered the life of the scapegoat for the sins of the nation.
Lev. 23:26-32 - “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, on exactly
the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it
shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls
and present an offering by fire to the LORD. Neither shall you do
any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make
atonement on your behalf before the LORD your God. If there is
any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be
cut off from his people… It is to be a perpetual statute throughout
your generations in all your dwelling places. It is to be a Sabbath
of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the
ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall
keep your Sabbath.” Leviticus 23:26-32.
In the spirit, we as Christians should join with Israel in an
attitude of fasting and prayer, humbling our hearts before the Lord
Jesus Christ, Who Alone is able to atone for our sins. This attitude
should last however more than just one day, but EVERY day in our
walk with the Lord as we examine our hearts in the light of God’s
truth, and repent before Him who is merciful and gracious to forgive
our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Looking at the Day
of Atonement from the other side of the cross, the Apostle John
said, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not
sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father
in our defense — Yeshua, the Messiah, the Righteous One. He is
the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also
for the sins of the whole world.” I John 2:1-2.
JESUS CHRIST and JESUS CHRIST alone can
atone for sins! Jesus is the ONLY way to God the Father and through
His blood ONLY we have the only true covering for sin that protects
us against God's wrath and justice concerning such. Millions today
think because they belong to a church that "covers" them from this
justice and wrath. It does NOT! Millions, even in Israel, have
placed faith in works and good deeds thinking that those deeds and
works will "cover" them from the wrath of God. Others go into a
confessional booth confessing their sins to a priest thinking that
in itself will cover their sins. Neighbor, there is NO earthly
priest or earthly man who can cover sins! There is no earthly figure
or earthly man who can forgive sins either! There is ONLY ONE man,
THE MAN, CHRIST JESUS. My Lord, I'm about to write myself happy
here. There is no covering outside of the Cross! That is the single
most important facet of our faith as Christians.
Hear me child of God. When you place your
faith in other things, even if you are simply trying to "add" these
things to your belief in the cross, you are committing spiritual
adultery and in essence removing the covering of God's grace and
mercy off of your life. God recognizes NO other covering than His
Son's blood for the atonement of sins! Millions in the church world
today hold up a book that has gained much popularity over the years
and has made that book the church's "covering" to offer people who
can't find their way with God. The book I refer to of course is the
Purpose Driven Life, which now has competition, from the "Secret"
which has taken the book stores and a growing number in the church
community by craze. Man is always looking for a human method or
effort to COVER his sin! When you check into a rehab center thinking
that by checking into that center you will "cover" yourself from the
demons raging inside, neighbor you're foolish in that thought
process. I get so angry sometimes when I hear of ministries who are
supposed to know better and claim they are so spiritual to promote
rehab centers over simple Bible repentance, faith and the POWER of
the HOLY GHOST as the answer to man's ills. It's not JESUS and the
rehab center honey, it's JESUS or NOTHING! Man can't cover another
man's sin. Well, brother McDonald, I just want you to know how
wonderful these places are, they are always providing a 'Christian'
atmosphere and accountability to those who come." Friend, not to
sound mean or cold. Man needs more than a Christian atmosphere to
set him free from the powers of darkness and cover him from God's
wrath against the sin that rages within all humanity! Man needs an
encounter with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the Fairest
of 10,000, the FIRST and the LAST, the BRIGHT and the MORNING STAR
through the person of the HOLY GHOST.
But here is the problem. The church world
at large as we celebrate Yom Kippur 2007 has rejected the ministries
and operations of the HOLY GHOST and as a result has been left to
nothing else but self-help humanism and all these other "methods"
that we offer men today. I know of a ministry right now in this city
we live that got angry at us in January this past year when we told
those we were preaching to one afternoon at their establishment that
the answer to their problems was "not the Purpose Driven Life or
rehab centers," but the power of Almighty God through the blood of
Jesus. The lady who runs this ministry told my wife, "we just don't
think we'll have Chris back down because you see we are BIG on
getting our people to these places. We don't want them to think
these places can't help them." Friend, if we stop and think with our
brains about two seconds and realize that those who go to these
rehab centers are not coming out DELIVERED and all these places do
is put a band-aid on a cancerous problem that is going to destroy
that person's life and soul if they don't get victory over it we
wouldn't embrace such stupidity and moronic thinking. Have we lost
our minds in the church today? Have we lost our total 100% capacity
to SEE and UNDERSTAND what Christ did for us at the Cross and
understand WHO He really is? I have a friend who is a former druggie
and he told me not too long ago he went into one of these rehab
centers years ago while seeking help with his bondage. (We like to
call it "problem," in the church, but NEIGHBOR IT IS A DEMONIC
STRONGHOLD and BONDAGE AND SIN!!!!!!!!)
He said "Chris, they gave me this 12-step
program to get free but after I took the 12th step, I need about 10
more because I still craved the drug!" Let me tell something
neighbor. THE HOLY GHOST DON'T NEED TWELVE STEPS - HE JUST NEEDS
ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My Lord, I'm having church right now in my study. I feel the unction
of the HOLY GHOST on these words. You check into the HOLY GHOST
REHAB CENTER and friend it won't take Him months to "diagnose" your
problem and then put on your some psychology-mumbo-jumbo stupidity
laced mind trip and program to free you from the powers of darkness!
He can set you free in one second!! What man tries and takes months
to do, God the HOLY GHOST takes seconds! But when we reject Him and
His ministries and operations as MILLIONS of religious people have
done and thousands of churches and scores of mainline denominations
have also done, we are left with nothing more than man's pitiful
efforts to cover himself from the powers of darkness and friend that
is impossible for man to do! What about the accountability factor
you ask? It's simple to answer that. The CHURCH should be a place
where drug addicts and alcoholics and whoremongers and homosexuals
and pushers and all other sorts of folks can be welcomed to come
find deliverance but that too is an issue we don't talk about. Most
of the people these ministries shove off to rehab centers are shoved
off to rehab centers because they know their high and mighty, smug,
self-righteous, pious churches would not let these people through
the front door and if they made it in the front door would be
shunned to bad words cannot describe it. I could and perhaps may
write on that more later but I need to get back on subject here.
Friend, there is only ONE covering for sin that will not only cover
us from sin's power but cover us from God's judgment that has been
decreed against sin AND the SINNER!
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 3:23-26
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; [24] Being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus: [25] Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
[26] To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he
might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Yom Kippur 2007 -Israel Surrounded By Enemies Once More Just Like
1973
Following Israel’s air force strike in the depth of Syria a few days
ago from the day of this writing, the region is bracing for a
possible Syrian response. Reliable intelligence sources have
confirmed that Israeli war planes apparently struck a North Korean
shipment of nuclear material or devices. Israeli security
analysts are concerned that Syria might attempt to seize territory
on the Golan Heights, launch missiles at Israeli targets, or kidnap
an Israeli patrol in the region. Either way, your prayers are needed
for all these plans to be thwarted. As Israel flexes its muscles and
seeks to ward off the next Arab attack, let the intercessors
remember the scripture which says, “In that day I will make the
clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming
torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on
the left all the surrounding peoples, while the inhabitants of
Jerusalem again dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem.” Zechariah
12:6.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Israel
this week for high level talks, preparing the way for the proposed
“peace conference” in November. Most Arab nations in the region are
avoiding the meeting, including the key nations of Egypt, Jordan and
Saudi Arabia. Without the support of these nations, Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will not have the muscle or
authority to achieve any agreement with Israel concerning the key
issues of final borders, the refugees, and the status of Jerusalem.
Watch and pray. On its southern border, Israel recently declared
Gaza a “Hostile Entity” as the rain of Kassam rockets continues to
inflict death and destruction upon Israel’s southern communities.
The security cabinet has approved a series of steps including
military options and civil sanctions such as limiting fuel and
electrical supplies to Gaza. Most of the world is unaware or is
in denial of the Gaza Strip’s nearly total reliance upon Israel for
its water, fuel and electrical supply. This means that while the
Hamas run territory continues to harass Israel and threaten
violence, its population survives by Israel’s generosity and mercy
alone.
Should such sanctions be enforced, it’s hard to tell whether Gaza’s
population would turn against Hamas who led them into this calamity,
or against Israel. In response, Hamas leaders have complained that
Israel’s decision is a “declaration of war,” and threatened further
retaliations. Israel’s posture is essentially a message to the world
that it intends to treat the Gaza Strip differently than other
Palestinian territories, setting the stage for punitive actions.
Watch and pray.
Again, Israel is forced to lead the way in the war on terror. Since
international law does not make any reference to a conflict between
a sovereign nation and a terror regime, there are no existing rules
or regulations regarding conducting a war against terrorism. The
West faces a similar predicament as it wrestles with international
terrorism that is hidden behind and is anchored in hostile Islamic
regimes. For now, Israel will continue to forge forward,
blazing a trail, so to speak, for the free world, fulfilling once
again the scripture, saying, “There will be tribulation and distress
for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of
the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to every man who does good,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality
with God.” Romans 2:9-11.
The Message of Yom Kippur For the Christian - It's The Message of
the Cross
The Day of
Atonement speaks of blood sacrifice. Blood sacrifice is centrally tied to the
sin issue. The substitutionary death of an innocent one was required since an
atonement (covering) for sin was to be made only through the blood (Lev. 17:11).
The New Testament scriptures remained in agreement:
Leviticus 17:11 - For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it
to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood
that makes an atonement for the soul.
Hebrews 9:22 - And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and
without shedding of blood is no remission.
Even the Jewish rabbinic tradition states, "There is no atonement but by blood." The question
that rests within the mind of so many today who can't grasp the spiritual
significance of Yom Kippur is, "why does God demand blood and not some other body fluid
such as sweat or tears." The answer to that question rests in the absolute
JUSTICE of God, which can never be abrogated even in His mercy! Hear what I say
to you friend, this is SERIOUSLY ETERNALLY important to understand!
Because God is a God of absolute Justice. He will
ALWAYS do what His pure justice demands. His justice operates within the dual
principle that He will JUDGE DISOBEDIENCE (SIN) and BLESS OBEDIENCE
(righteousness). He cannot, and will not, overlook sin:
Habakkuk 1:3 - Why dost thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance?
for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and
contention.
The penalty for breaking God's law is DEATH (the shedding of blood). His justice
demands it, but in His MERCY, He made a provision for a substitute. That is, for
the truly repentant individual, an innocent one could serve as his substitute.
Since "There is none who does good, No, not one" (Psalm 14:3), God commanded the
sacrificing of lambs, bulls, and goats under the Mosaic Covenant.
Psalm 14:3 - They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there
is none that doeth good, no, not one.
The Old Covenant was just a forerunner of something greater, a temporary measure
until the fullness of time when God would institute the NEW COVENANT. Hebrews
says the "law made NOTHING PERFECT," "it was only a shadow," and it was had many
faults." It only covered sin, it didn't take sin away!
Hebrews 7:19 - For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better
hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
Hebrews 10:1 - For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the
very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Hebrews 8:7 - For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no
place have been sought for the second.
Jeremiah the prophet foretold of a new covenant which would
supersedes the Mosaic
Covenant in both power and substance:
Jeremiah 31:31-34 - Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: [32] Not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took
them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they
brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: [33] But this shall
be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. [34] And they shall
teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest
of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember
their sin no more.
The New Covenant is far superior to the Old Covenant in that it affords true
forgiveness and cleansing from sin. There is no (covering) ATONEMENT for sin
under the New Covenant. There is no need for one. The sin question was settled
at Calvary. The Messiah was not our atonement - HE DID AWAY with our atonement.
To say we have an atonement is really inaccurate and is never taught in the New
Covenant. The only time the word atonement is used in scripture is in Romans
5:11 and the Greek word for that is RECONCILIATION. Jesus has RECONCILED us to
God. He no longer covers our sins, He takes them away.
Romans 5:11 - And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
The Old Covenant was a SHADOW of things to come. The New Covenant is the
SUBSTANCE. Under the Old Covenant, the payment for sin was ANTICIPATED, under
the New Covenant, it is REALIZED! Under the Old Covenant, the sacrifices were
provisional and recurring. Under the New Covenant, the sacrifice of Jesus is
ETERNAL and TOTALLY SUFFICIENT. Under the Old Covenant, men's lambs could only
COVER sin, but under the New Covenant, the LAMB OF GOD TAKES AWAY SIN!
Hebrews 10:4 - For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats
should take away sins.
John 1:28-29 - These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was
baptizing.
[29] The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb
of God, which takes away the sin of the world.
There is no need to continually sacrifice forever and forever. The sin question
is settled forever. We must only embrace the Lamb of God and allow His blood to
set us free. There can be no greater security in our salvation. There can be no
greater feeling than to know our sacrifice has not only been accepted, it's
sufficient for all time to come.
We do not have to wonder every year whether our names are written in the Book of
Life. The Bible assures us that we can know that we have life - not just for
another year, but for eternity - 1 John 5:13.
1 John 5:13 - These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of
the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may
believe on the name of the Son of God.
Year after year the sound of the ram's horn calls Israel to repentance, but
there is no atonement in Judaism today. There is no blood sacrifice, no temple,
no priesthood, and no adherence to the LEVITICAL regulations. Within every
Jewish breast, there yearns a need for true forgiveness before God. It will
never be found in the traditions of men, such as doing mitzvoth, or good deeds,
or transferring one's guilt to a substitute fowl. It can only come through
accepting the infinite sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God. I weep at this
moment as I think about the tens of thousands of sincere Jewish
people who honor Yom Kippur today but do not know the Lamb of God
which has TAKEN away their sins by His blood! I cry out to God as we
close this journal for the salvation of the Jewish people. "LORD,
REDEEM ZION" by YOUR OUTSTRETCHED HANDS OF MERCY AND GRACE. REDEEM
ZION LORD WITH YOUR BLOOD! COVER ISRAEL OH LORD WITH YOUR BLOOD AND
POWER and MERCY AND GRACE in this dangerous hour we live. COVER the
land with angelic protection because of YESHUA, Israel's MESSIAH who
have been offered as a sacrifice for sin.
Neighbor, Israel's Messiah is the ONLY
sacrifice and COVERING for sin today. If His sacrifice at the
Cross is rejected, only one tragic alternative remains:
men and women will suffer the penalty for their own sin. This penalty is death
and eternal separation from God. But to those who have put their trust is Him,
he says, "Their sin, I will remember no more!"
The season of Yom Kippur is in reality the season of celebrating the
Cross! At the Cross, at the cross, where I first saw the LIGHT, and
the burden of my heart rolled away. It was THERE by faith, I
received my SIGHT and NOW I am happy all the day. Alas indeed my
Saviour bleed, and DID my sovereign die! Would He devote that sacred
head, for SUCH a worm as I? YES HE WOULD and as we all are worms
because of sin, HE will devote that sacred head for ALL who come and
kneel at the foot of His Cross, not just this YOM KIPPUR day, but
FOR as long as man has breath on this side of eternity. Let Him
COVER you today.
Pray for the nation of Israel unlike you
have ever prayed for that tiny Jewish state before. We are living in
a seriously dangerous hour, unlike any since really the 1973 Yom
Kippur War to be frank. Israel's enemies have become more brazen
than ever and unless serious intercession takes place, war is not
only on the horizon for the Middle East, but greater conflict for
America as well, who is already engulfed in a war against Islamic
terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq that is testing the very fiber of
this nation. The fate of America is tied DIRECTLY to the fate of
Israel friend, don't ever forget that. Don't let these liberal pukes
that call themselves preachers but who are in reality wolves in
sheep's clothing, and full of the devil, get up and say Israel is
not important in the plan of God. Let God be true and every MAN
become a LIAR in light of the TRUTH of the Word of God! Have a
blessed season of Yom Kippur and be blessed today in Yeshua's name
we pray. Praise God.
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