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This Thursday is the Jewish Holiday of Yom Kippur. It is arguably the most important Jewish holiday of the year because it is the “Day of Atonement”, the day set aside to “afflict the soul” as atonement for the sins of the past year. Of course, a follower of Jesus I don’t believe that I can atone for my own sin, no matter how much I “afflict the soul”, but I still see great value in this holiday.

As I have often written here, I am just beginning to understand that my Christian faith is very much intertwined with the Jewish people, God’s people. The Bible makes it clear, over and over, that gentile (non-Jewish) Christians are grafted into Israel, not as a replacement, but as an extension, a branch (see Romans 11:11-24). So looking to the Hebrew people as my spiritual ancestors, I feel compelled to also celebrate the Jewish holidays, with a slightly different understanding of their meaning because I am able to read the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) in light of the New Testament.

Yom Kippur is instituted in Leviticus 16. In that chapter you will find the words “statute forever” three different times. God is commanding His people that throughout all their generations that they should celebrate the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement would have been celebrated in Old Testament time as a looking forward to the day when the sins of God’s people would be completely atoned for by the blood of Christ. And now, it can be celebrated looking back on the day when Christ’s blood atoned for our sin.

So, for those of you that are followers of Jesus like I am, Thursday might be a great day to spend some time reflecting on the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf, and to fast and pray that God will continually cleanse us and draw us near to Himself.

Here is a great summation of what I’m trying to say, Click here.