Yom Kippur is a day of contradictions and contrasts: Joy and sorrow. Rewards for the righteous and judgments for the wicked rebels. Joy for the righteous when Satan and his demons, death and Babylon are destroyed by the King of kings.
On this day the high priest of ancient Israel went into the holy of holies of the Tabernacle of Moses (and later the temple in Jerusalem). There he sprinkled blood on the mercy seat (Heb. kapporet) and the ground seven times. Atonement was made for the high priest himself, his family as well as for all Israel. On this day the sanctuary, tabernacle, the priesthood and the all Israelites were cleansed. It represented corporate or community cleansing and entering into a deeper and more intimate relationship with YHVH.
The Passover and Day of Atonement are related though different:
Pesach (Passover) is the time of the sacrifice or atonement for personal sin—initial repentance from sins committed before being born again.
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is the time of the atonement or covering of the individual’s as well as the corporate sins of Israel committed in ignorance (Heb 9:27) during the past year. On-going repentance is needed by the individual believer as well as the community of believers in order to stay in right-standing (called righteousness) before YHVH (1 John 1:9).
It is important to note that the shedding of innocent blood for the remission of sins is a central theme to both the Passover and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) events. The question may rightly be asked, if one is saved by the blood of the Lamb (Yeshua) when he was sacrificed on Passover what need is there of further Continue reading →
This coming Wednesday is Yom Kippur. Are you ready?
Yom Kippur
Yom haKippurim (literally, the Day of Atonements, plural) is not a one-time thing. The redeemed believer is covered by the blood of Yeshua at the time of their initial salvation, but needs additional covering every time they sin. We need this covering of blood on an individual and collective basis.
This pattern was set in Leviticus 16 when on the Day of Atonement, the high priest made atonement for his sins, those of his family, of the nation and even the Tabernacle of Moses itself due to defilement cause by men’s sins.
We’re all in this thing together. My sin affects you and vice versa. My sins are passed on down to successive generations, and unless I break the sin cycle through the means that YHVH has provided, this sin cycle will continue as it has from Adam to this day bringing corruption, ruination, division, strife and death to all men.
Atonement and At-One-Ment—It’s About Healing Broken Relationships
The English word atone means “to make amends or reparation of wrong or injury.” Atonement biblically means “to cover, purge, make an atonement (Heb. kaphar), make reconciliation, cover over with pitch.” As with many Hebrew words, kaphar means not only to cover over sin (by the blood of the Lamb), but it means “to reconcile and purge.” When we sin, we need the forgiveness of Yeshua and his blood to pay for or to cover over our sin debt. We also need to get purged of the inclination to sin in the first place. We also need to make amends with those we’ve injured in the process of sinning—to reconcile with them, to repair the damage, and to mend the breach in the relationship. When we sin, Continue reading →
Without the life-giving breath of YHVH we are dead both physically and spiritually. As YHVH breathed the breath of life into Adam who then became a living being (nephesh), so when Yeshua breathed on His disciples (John 20:22) they came alive spiritually. YHVH breathed on the first century redeemed believers through the wind of the Ruach HaKodesh (the Set-apart Spirit) on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:2, and the congregation of renewed covenant believers was birthed. Similarly, on the day of Messiah’s second return (Yom Teruah), the shofar (called the last trumpet in Jewish thought, which comes just prior to the final or the great trumpet/shofar hagadol of Yom Kippur) will sound and the dead in Messiah will be resurrected. Again the breath of YHVH will revive the dead, which is similar to the breath of YHVH blowing over the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37.
What can we learn from this? When YHVH breathes or blows on man, the supernatural pierces the natural dimension and the supernatural breaks the status quo of the natural and supernaturally empowers one to do that which he could not do in his own power naturally. We need YHVH’s divine breath to blow on us to empower us with his power and his ability to be and act supernatural in a natural world for his glory and the advancement of his kingdom!
When the shofar sounded in ancient Israel, it signaled that heaven and earth were about to meet, that divine power, the supernatural forces of heaven was about to break Continue reading →
There is still time to register for Sukkot Northwest 2016 on the wild and scenic Rogue River in warm and pristine Southwest Oregon. We have rented an entire campground with full camping and RV facilities, and several camp sites are still available.
After seeking YHVH Elohim, the theme for this year’s Feast is, “Get in the River of Life…Be a River of Life!” Our cornerstone scripture passages are:
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Yeshua stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:37–38)
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14)
In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Rev 22:2)
We were led by the Spirit of Elohim to choose this theme unaware of its broader prophetic implications until Brother Bill who is from Washington State and is one of our speakers pointed out to us, “This is a wonderful theme to have this year, just having come off of last year’s theme of ‘Coming out of Babylon.’ Babylon is known by several names, one of which is the ‘Land Between Two Rivers.’ One river speaks of death, and the other river speaks of life. Babylon is a mixture of the two. ‘Come out of (the river of death)” was last year’s theme. ‘Get into the River of Life!’ (and then be a river of life) is this year’s theme. A natural progression!” Thank you Bill for this encouraging confirmation.
Our primary motivation for choosing this theme is a response to the times in which we are living. Evil in the form of secular humanism, the rise in false and demonic religions, the moral and the spiritual decline of our society, the rise of the spirit of Antichrist, the rapid expansion of the police state and the move toward one-world government is coming upon us like a tidal wave! What should be our response? What can we possibly do about it? Very simply this: Do what Yeshua and the apostles did. Be a menorah on a hill boldly proclaiming the light of gospel message in the power of the Spirit of Elohim through our lifestyle and our words. This is the one weapon that we possess that makes all the powers of death, hell and darkness tremble. So, it’s time to saddle for battle!
A theme running through this year’s Sukkot will be learning to operate in the gifts of the Spirit to be a river of life to those around us as we help to gather in the lost sheep of the house of Israel in preparation for Messiah Yeshua’s second coming. Everyday, we will be having short teachings followed by group discussions (where we can learn from each other) on the gifts of the Spirit including prophecy, healing, deliverance, dreams and visions, signs and wonders, and the baptism of the Spirit. These will be followed by a workshop the following day in the prayer tent where we can learn to minister and be ministered to in these areas.
Nearly every day, we will have live praise and worship, Torah reading, and teachings from anointed speakers from several West Coast states.
We will also have workshops and several fun group activities including our annual erev Shabbat dinner, river immersion and water pouring ceremony.
For specific information and details on Sukkot NW 2016, please visit sukkotnw.org.
For a sense of what to expect at Sukkot NW 2016, we invite you to watch a fun video of excerpts from Sukkot NW 2015.
