The question is often asked of some of us Disciples of Jesus Christ (the Messiah), as to why we recognize the major High Holy Days of the Jews....when Christians are no longer under the law of Moses, but the Doctrine of Grace. This is an excellent question, since a few of our brethren can go a little in the other extreme and place themselves back under the authority (and therefore,the judgment) of the Torah! I suggest the following article to get a flavor of these important Biblical feasts, and the signs we need to look for and comprehend.
Yom Kippur 2012 has added significance. When read against the words of the Apostle John in 1 John 3:5 about the Atonement of the Cross, by Jesus (You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin... 1 John 3:5 ESV), we should recognize the time of the Return of the Messiah is fast approaching.
On Yom Kippur of 1973, the armies of Egypt and Syria attacked Israel as it prepared for their holiest day - The Day of Atonement. Just briefly, both these nations launched. a first successful strike against Israel and took the Golan Heights and parts of the Sinai desert away. In a few days, Israel had launched a victorious counter-attack which re-took all the lost territory from these two historic foes.
This Yom Kippur (2012), armed forces of the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) are massed along their borders in expectation of another war - this time with a budding rogue nuclear Iran, which reaffirmed this week its intent to eliminate the land of Israel. We all know this is not going to happen to what God has called His own...Jerusalem, the future Capitol of Jesus Christ's Millenial Kingdom!! At last count, all kinds of western nations have moved into the Straits of Homuz (from America to Britain etc) to protect world commerce and the free flow of oil. The Russians and the Syrians seemed to be aligned with Iran (Gog and Magog). I encourage the Reading of the prophet Ezekiel Chapters 38 and 39, about this coming horrible event....where God will prevail, yet again.
As Christians who believe in the full revelation of the FULL COUNSEL of God - the Bible, let us not be so blind as to ignore these events. Too many western christians have their heads in the sand and will be caught unawares when the prophetic events come upon them. We should know and participate in these Jewish feasts in the way the Jesus and the Apostles did, not to be come Judaizers but because we are grafted into the Family of Abraham, and will be in the Presence of the King of the Jews for Eternity!
So let us learn from and about, the history of this day, the most recent history and then understand what the Scriptures are saying to us. The main things to take from all of this are the following:
- Thank our most Gracious and Heavenly Father God, for sending His only Begotten Son, Jesus, to die on the Cross and shed His Blood as an ATONEMENT for our sins....that those (we) who repent and put their faith and trust in Him as Lord and Savior, are truly saved.
- Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem and the Land of Israel (Psalm 122)
- Study the Prophets from the Book of Daniel to the latter part of Ezekiel (from Chapters 36 onwards) and then the Book of Zechariah. All the prophets predicted these end times, but these are timely, for such a time as this.
- Pray this day for the salvation of many (Jew and Gentile alike), through repentance and even fasting, as we look forward to His Glorious Appearance.
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