Yom Kippur

Yom Means “Day”

The word “Kippur” comes from the wordכּפ” or” “KAF-PEY-RESH” or “KAPHAR” which means, “to cover; to placate; to cancel; to forgive; to purge away; to put off; and to make reconciliation.”

Yom Kippur is referred to as the “Day of Reconciliation” or atonement. It is celebrated on the tenth day of the seventh month. It is ten days after Yom Teruah and five days before Sukkot.

What to Do During Yom Kippur?

Holy Convocation

Fasting and Prayer

No Work

Sacrifice Offering (Yeshua is the sacrificial offering)

During Yom Kippur, we no longer must offer an animal sacrifice and lay our hands on the animal for our atonement. Yeshua did this for us by his blood shed on the cross.

Why Celebrate Yom Kippur?

Leviticus 20:26 “²⁶ Rather, you people are to be holy for me; because I, Adonai, am holy; and I have set you apart from the other peoples, so that you can belong to me.” CJB

Leviticus 23:26-32 “²⁶ Adonai said to Moshe, ²⁷ ‘The tenth day of this seventh month is Yom-Kippur; you are to have a holy convocation, you are to deny yourselves, and you are to bring an offering made by fire to Adonai. ²⁸ You are not to do any kind of work on that day, because it is Yom-Kippur, to make atonement for you before Adonai your God. ²⁹ Anyone who does not deny himself on that day is to be cut off from his people; ³⁰ and anyone who does any kind of work on that day, I will destroy from among his people. ³¹ You are not to do any kind of work; it is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live. ³² It will be for you a Shabbat of complete rest, and you are to deny yourselves; you are to rest on your Shabbat from evening the ninth day of the month until the following evening.’” CJB

Yeshua tells us:

2 Chronicles 7:14 “then, if my people, who bear my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land.” CJB

While we wait for Yeshua to return and complete all things, during Yom Kippur, we humble ourselves with fasting and prayer; not because we do not have a Mashiach who destroyed death and cleaned our sins once and for all, but because it is a commandment. Believers in Yeshua will take this time to fast and pray for his plan to come to pass and to remember that He gave his blood for a sinning world.

What God Considers Fasting:

Isaiah 58:6-12 “‘⁶ Here is the sort of fast I want releasing those unjustly bound,
untying the thongs of the yoke, letting the oppressed go free, breaking every yoke, ⁷ sharing your food with the hungry, taking the homeless poor into your house, clothing the naked when you see them, fulfilling your duty to your kinsmen!’ ⁸ Then your light will burst forth like the morning, your new skin will quickly grow over your wound; your righteousness will precede you, and Adonai’s glory will follow you. ⁹ Then you will call, and Adonai will answer; you will cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you will remove the yoke from among you, stop false accusation and slander, ¹⁰ generously offer food to the hungry and meet the needs of the person in trouble; then your light will rise in the darkness, and your gloom become like noon. ¹¹ Adonai will always guide you; he will satisfy your needs in the desert, he will renew the strength in your limbs; so that you will be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. ¹² You will rebuild the ancient ruins, raise foundations from ages past, and be called ‘Repairer of broken walls, Restorer of streets to live in.’” CJB

What Does God Not Consider Fasting:

Isaiah 58:2-5 “‘² Oh yes, they seek me day after day and [claim to] delight in knowing my ways. As if they were an upright nation that had not abandoned the rulings of their God, they ask me for just rulings and [claim] to take pleasure in closeness to God, ³ [asking,] “Why should we fast, if you don’t see? Why mortify ourselves, if you don’t notice?” ‘Here is my answer: when you fast, you go about doing whatever you like, while keeping your laborers hard at work. ⁴ Your fasts lead to quarreling and fighting, to lashing out with violent blows. On a day like today, fasting like yours will not make your voice heard on high. ⁵ Is this the sort of fast I want, a day when a person mortifies himself? Is the object to hang your head like a reed and spread sackcloth and ashes under yourself? Is this what you call a fast, a day that pleases Adonai?’” CJB

Fasting must be accompanied with prayer and loving your neighbor as yourself. Yom Kippur is the celebration of life; yes, the life that Yeshua died to give you hope and a future.

Change your future by choosing life! Say “yes” to Yeshua Ha Mashiach, today!