Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement)

 “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the LORD. Neither shall you do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the LORD your God. If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your Sabbath.” Lev 23:26-32 

Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement, was and is still considered the holiest day of the year by the Jewish people. It was the day when the High Priest went before God to make atonement, first for himself, and then for the sins of the whole nation. Two goats were chosen. One was sacrificed and the other had the sins of the nation confessed over it and was sent out into the wilderness where it was pushed over a cliff. All this pointed to our atonement in the Messiah who took away our sins and who was the atoning sacrifice. However, besides being The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur was is also known as The Day of Judgment. Atonement was for those who follow God’s way of atonement and repent of their sins. It was not automatically granted to everyone. The Rabbis taught that those who were righteous on Yom Kippur were sealed in the book and those who were not would have to wait another year. This tradition continues to this day. Yom Kippur then is The Day of Judgment when Messiah will appear in Jerusalem to bring judgment on the nations, which at that time will be gathered against it, and to bring deliverance to the righteous remnant of the Jews and Gentiles.  

At the end of Yom Kippur, when Messiah has appeared and the Great Shofar is sounded, all the exiles of Israel will be gathered back to their land. 

“It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.” Isaiah 27:13 

We know that this passage points to Yom Kippur because of the phrase “a great trumpet.” In Hebrew, it is called the Shofar Hagadol. This is different from the Last Shofar or Shofar of God that Paul referred to in 1Cor 15 and 1Thess 4:17, which had a redemption theme. As the gates of the Temple closed at the end of Yom Kippur, a priest blew a long and loud blast signifying the end of the holy convocation and announcing the beginning of Sukkot (Tabernacles) preparations. Jesus made reference to this event on Yom Kippur in the Olivet Discourse.

“ …and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.  Matt 24:30-31 NAS

This gathering of the elect (Jewish remnant) from “the four winds of heaven” was prophesied many times by the prophets beginning with Moses.

“’Ho there! Flee from the land of the north,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I have dispersed you as the four winds of the heavens,’ declares the LORD.” Zech 2:6

“If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth(Lit. ‘sky’), from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring (Lit. ‘take’)  you back.” Deut 30:4

When Messiah comes in wrath to judge the nations, He will be a man of war. He will execute vengeance on the armies of Antichrist and all the armies of the nations that have gathered against Jerusalem to battle. This time of tribulation will have been so intense that, had He not come when He did, there would have been no survivors. He will come in the nick of time to save the Jewish remnant, and a remnant from the nations will also be left alive. Considering that the population of the world has now reached eight billion people, this remnant could be a considerable number. These survivors will be gathered and judged on the basis of how they treated Israel during the Time of Wrath.

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’  Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You  drink?  And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’  Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’  Then they themselves also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’  Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’  And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”  Matt 25:31-46