Yom Kippur
One of the Elders, Eric Hall, that I am privileged to serve with at Corydon Baptist Church wrote this today. With his permission, it is published here.
Last night at sunset Yom Kippur began. Yom Kippur… the Day of Atonement. In case you don’t know the Day of Atonement is one of the high holy days for the Jews. It was the one and only time each year that the one and only high priest could enter into the holy of holies, into God’s very presence, and beg Him to accept the life of the lamb instead of taking the lives of the Israelites for all their sins that year. Sacrifices were made daily in the temple but only one time a year did someone dare to approach the very presence of God. You may also know that the high priest had a rope tied around his waist lest he sin while in God’s presence and be killed. No one else could go retrieve his body so the rope would be used to drag him out of there.
Their prince shall be one of themselves; their ruler shall come out from their midst; I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me, for who would dare of himself to approach me? declares the LORD. – Jeremiah 30:21
Would you dare to approach God, this God? We forget what the presence of God is like. The Israelites knew that I AM had revealed Himself as powerful and fearful and not to be trifled with! They had seen with their eyes blood fill the rivers, frogs fill the land, locusts and hail fill the sky. This God of theirs had plagued the strongest nation in the world, had wiped out the strongest army in the world, had parted the impassible sea, and made the mountain quake so violently that they wanted to hide. The one thing they didn’t want was to get too close to this God.
We have the opposite sentiment it seems. God is so familiar and tame that we don’t recognize the jealous God, the powerful God, the fearful God of the Jews.
Their prince shall be one of themselves; their ruler shall come out from their midst; I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me, for who would dare of himself to approach me? declares the LORD. – Jeremiah 30:21
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. – Hebrews 4:16
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. – Psalm 2:12
So should we draw near or be fearful to draw near? The Bible’s answer I believe is: Yes we should be fearful to draw near ourselves. It would be devastating for any sinner to get close to this Holy, Holy, Holy God. But the Bible wouldn’t stop there. For a Prince and a Priest has drawn near for us. You see, there has been an atonement. His blood was accepted instead of mine. And His grace and atonement will make you love the presence of God instead of run from it.
So what does the Day of Atonement mean for me and for you? It at least means that God is serious about sin. It means that if I knew God, really knew God I would be serious about offending Him… so serious that I would tie a rope around my waist as it were… so serious that I beg that He accept the blood of the Lamb though mine is deserved… so serious that I cherish and tremble and relish the incredible privilege of being in the presence of God.
I pray that this indeed would be a Day of Atonement for you, that you would hate your sins and fear for your life. That you would accept, trust, and wildly love Jesus’ blood and atonement for you. Remember what you’d be without Him?
Their prince shall be one of themselves; their ruler shall come out from their midst; I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me, for who would dare of himself to approach me? declares the LORD. – Jeremiah 30:21
For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. – Hebrews 7:26-27
-atoned for