TONIGHT begins Yom Kippur!

I am of the conviction that if all Christians celebrated the Seven Feasts of The Lord, we would not have wide-spread Biblical illiteracy -- not only in this age, but any age! In fact, did you know that the Feasts will be celebrated globally in the Messianic Age to come – the Messianic Age itself as the fulfillment of the millennial Sabbath? And not only will we celebrate them, but in full revelation of Messiah sitting on His Throne in Jerusalem!

The illustrations of the Feasts are simple enough for a child and can be studied to the depth of any scholar’s capacity! The Feasts are The Lord’s plans, His integrated truths and purposes, His calendar of events in every prophetic time-zone!

You might say, “Isn’t that all just Old Testament stuff?” And the answered would be “Well, yes, yes, it is!” In fact, ALL our faith and core doctrines are from the Old Testament!” But to set your mind at ease, Yom Kippur is very much a New Testament adherence! Did you know that the entire Book of Hebrews is about Yom Kippur and our RESPONSE to it? It is in symbolism what The Lord progressively projects in our future?

Hebrews teaches that we can REST, by faith, in the great exchange put on Yom Kippur’s Scapegoat, our Messiah – our multiple and inexhaustible sins laid on Him! No need to be hindered by our sins or even the sins of others. However, we are cautioned that this exchange is so extraordinary, not to passively or casually neglected it – it is the reclamation of the miraculous Priesthood of Melchizedek! We are all called to progressively participate and pursue – if we so choose, and “choose” is the key word here. We have a choice to proactively “claim by and through our faith” progress in The Kingdom forward, or not. Thus, the observance of Yom Kippur.

As Christians, we are more familiar and understand Passover, and the Sacrificial Passover Lamb of God. Passover is about HOW to be saved and delivered, but Yom Kippur, is about how we RESPOND to His Atonement. It is a day intended for both NATIONAL and INDIVIDUAL reflection before The Lord.

Jesus teaches us that we will give an account for all our motives and intents of the heart – in thought, actions and words – He underscores an exact account! His encouragement is not to dismiss His truths of old or those being revealed presently, but to “take the exchange on the table” – it’s a good trade that He is offering!

Any consultant worth their salt is going to ask you 4 key questions in strategic planning for a corporation or individual embetterment:

Where have you been?

Where are you now?

Where are you going?

And how are you going to get there?

Inherently, Yom Kippur is asking these same questions. Salvation is a “progressive mind-set”– meaning that we are not to be static, but progressing, as the Bible says, “…from glory to glory…” Beloved, that requires a sensitive and self-aware approach before The Lord to truthfully answer the question, “How am I responding to The Lord’s generous Atonement?” Yom Kippur is an intentional pause for both nations and individuals to answer that question in their hearts.

If we are honest, we will see our great need for His Atonement, humbly take the “exchange on the table” and REPENT, which literally means to return to our high-place of right standing with God and man. When we do that willingly, we experience transformation - The Lord longs for this process of transformation within us and we do too, once we experience His Divine Nature because we realize that His Life is the Good Life! And the bonus is that the Melchizedek Priesthood is no longer an ethereal concept, but an experiential adventure with, in and through Him, PTL!

A traditional Jewish greeting on Yom Kippur is “G’mar chatima tovah” which means, “A good and final sealing” (in the Book of Life) – and not that I speak Hebrew, I don’t, I looked it up on the internet 😊. But as my good friend Chelsea said with her eyes alit with cheer, “Hey! It’s National Scapegoat Day!”

So, Happy National Scapegoat Day, friends! There is a good trade on the table, and if you so choose, RESPOND, choose life, and take The Lord up on His generous offer!