A Whale of A Time?

Give Us a Sign!

We are a curious people always wanting to know what’s coming or to provide proof of something.

The people of Jesus/Yeshua’s day were no different and they asked Him to prove He was who He said He was.

The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and testing him desired that he would show them a sign from heaven. Matt 16:1-4

He replied with

Matt 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

The signs were all around them. Many were expecting the Messiah and watching for Him. Jesus/Yeshua uses their ‘discerning of the weather’ as an example of how every sign-oth, that they need has already been produced and yet their hearts are hard and closed to it. 

He was the Word made flesh – the living Word

 He said The scriptures speak of me

which is ALL of them from Genesis/ Bereshyt – beginning

Below is the meaning of the letters of the word Genesis in Paleo Hebrew letters:

and to the end – alef to tav.

The alphabet/alef-bet and Alpha -Omega.

He was and IS the Word

The oth

the sacred sign – oth

oath – covenant

He was the fulfillment of the re-newed covenant –

HE WAS the SIGN – OTH – Covenant.

That which they knew of Jonah was about to be realized in their Messiah but they could not see Him

This is why the Torah, the Prophets and Writings in the Bible – Old Testament/Covenant and New Testament/Covenant

is

a living testimony – a living book/scroll.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. John 1:1-5

The phrase and the life was the light of men is in the Greek imperfect tense. This means that the life began to be the light of men in the past and continues to be so in the present time. The Son of God is the source and essence of life itself.

The entrance of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple Ps. 119:130

Your word is a light to my path – Way – Derech. Ps. 119:105

God is Light and in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God. John 1:1

The assertion now, is THAT LIFE, ζωή-Zoe, with all it’s manifestations and in all it’s regions; that the life of plant, tree, and animal, the life of man, of society, that the life of the body, soul, and spirit, the life transitory and the life eternal (ζωὴ αἰώνιος), was in the Logos, who was God and in the beginning with God.

Proverbs 4:22 Says, “For they (His Words) are life to those that find them, and health to all their flesh.” 

He is the living word and the scriptures

Jesus/Yeshua often referred to the Scripture (the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms) as evidence for His Messiahship.

He taught that they would all be fulfilled in Him (John 10:35; Matthew 5:18).

The Old Testament Scriptures spoke of Messiah Jesus/Yeshua, pointing us to Him.

Speaking to those who opposed Him, Jesus/Yeshua said,

“Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).

On the road to Emmaus, He opened up the scriptures to them concerning Himself.

https://www.minimannamoments.com/seeing-jesus-on-the-way/

There is no other way to come to the saving knowledge of Yeshua/Jesus and eternal life except by the written Word of God; and there is no other teacher than the Holy Spirit – Ruach HaKodesh, who leads us to all truth.

The very letters of the words

are pictures of who He is and we will examine some of them as they are depicted in the fascinating early Paleo Hebrew Pictograph picture symbols that eventually evolved into the letters we see today.

There are 2 pages, accessed through mmmHomepage, that are dedicated to alef bet; they are in the process of being updated so

for your patience.

 

תוyאוֹת – otiot –  signs, letters.

אוֹת – oth, ot – a sign, letter.

 

Words are made up of individual letters called OTIOT   אותיות

One letter is called an ot (pronounced oat); ot means sign.

A number of letters are referred to as otiot;

otiot, of course, means signs

strongs # 226

The word Otiot is Hebrew for sacred signs.  (pronounced: oat-ee-oat)

The Hebrew language is a very solid, physical, tangible language; meaning that each word is a description of an action of a person or object.

This is very different to our modern languages that are made up of abstract words. The word righteous is an example of an abstract: in that it has no connection to something physical that can be touched.

The ancient Hebrew language was one based on senses. They thought in agricultural terms and their language was based upon what they could

see, feel, taste, smell, hear or touch;

and all words made from any particular ancient two letter root have a similar meaning.

Hebrew thought is solid, physical and tangible, where as Greek thought is abstract. Abstract thought is the expression of things that cannot be sensed with the 5 senses.

Hebrew thought is circular whereas Greek thought is linear. The Bible was written in Hebrew and is circular in nature – as the end is declared from the beginning.

The concept is also seen in their calendars annual 7 appointed times of the Lord.

Even their Torah Scripture scrolls are rolled..

Look at the word anger as an example of solid vs abstract thought. to a Greek, anger is an abstract concept. To a Hebrew, the word for anger is Awph which means nose. When a person gets angry, the nostrils flare and the breathing gets harder. The Hebrew sees (using senses) anger when a person’s nostrils are flaring. 

With this in mind, this is how the pictographic Hebrew works in the word oth which is usually translated as sign, token, mark. It is spelled

alef vav tav.

אוֹת  

The Pictographic characters are

We have the alef which stands for the mighty one or Elohim,

the vav indicating a nail

and the tav

which is a picture of a cross.

The tav or cross symbol means mark, sign and covenant; because the sign of the covenant (all covenants are cut) is our mighty one, nailed to a tree or cross.

Messiah said

Also,

The keeping of the Sabbath is said to be a sign – (oth) between God/YHWH (Yahweh) and His people Israel forever.

In the paleo pictograph letters

It is also saying that Messiah is the Master of the Sabbath. (Matt 12:8, Mk 2:28, Luke 6:5) Our Sabbath keeping identifies us as being in a covenant relationship with Him.

The word oath is Alah (ela), which carries the meaning of a binding agreement and a curse for violating it. As the older or stronger ox binds, or yokes himself, to the younger ox to train him, through the covenant with man, God/YHWH binds Himself to us to teach us how to walk.

Next a deeper dig, to look at some Treasure in the Torah of Grace and Mercy Seat.

These words have been much in the text of the last posts, and while mmm is working on more information to add to the Alef Bet Ancient pictograph pages, here is a taste of the riches in this storehouse of the Lord concerning His Living Word who we know as Yeshua/Jesus.

TREASURE – Otsar:

’ō·w·ā·r

אוֹצָרֽ

There are at least five different Hebrew words that may be translated into English as treasure.

Each of these has a slightly different meaning. usually we think of treasure as valuable objects such as precious gem stones, gold, or silver kept hidden for security.

Deuteronomy 28:12 has The most frequently used word for treasure where Moses writes:

The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.    

The Hebrew word Otsar is the word used here for treasure and is most often used with the meaning of a storehouse for treasure rather than the treasure itself, this verse says that the LORD is opening His storehouse of treasure in order to bless His people. 

In Proverbs 15:16 Otsar is also used to describe us and our storehouse of treasure:

Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.

This scripture indicates that our Otsar could bring us trouble and that we should do well to fear/reverently respect, the LORD and be content with whatever He chooses to grant us from His storehouse of blessing.

  What do ancient pictographs reveal to us about this word for treasure? 

Otsar is spelled

Aleph Vav Tsade Reysh

is read from right to left in Hebrew…below in modern hebrew:

and for our ease here it is in

Aleph Vav Tsade Reysh order

The ancient pictographs for Otsar

   Aleph       Vav        Tsade      Reysh

Aleph

 is the picture of the

ox and means the strong leader, the first, or God the Father.

Vav

is the picture of the

iron nail or the wooden hook or peg and means to secure, to add, or join two things that are separated from one another.

Tsade

is the picture of the

fishhook and means to catch, to have a strong desire, or a harvest.

Reysh

is the picture of the

head

and denotes the leader, the master, or the prince.

Ancient pictographs for Otsar reveal that the strong leader, God the Father, is joined to the harvest found in the prince.

The prince is Jesus/Yeshua the Messiah,

the Otsar or treasure is the harvest of the lost for eternity.

Yeshua said

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

Another nugget is in the fact that the Vav connects what is on one side of the word to what is on the other. Already revealed is God the Father/the strong leader, who is on one side, but what is on the other side?

The letters Tsade Reysh

Tsade Reysh

form the word sorry

and can be translated

narrow.

Meaning what exactly?

We are sorry when we are reminded that not everyone will choose to be joined to the Father and to be included in His treasure.

The answer is in Matthew 7:14:

In Isaiah 33:6, he writes of Otsar of the LORD: And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure  

Out of the treasure, or the Otsar of the Fear of the LORD, will come the source of wisdom and knowledge that will provide stability

Otsar here again is the word treasure,

a 2nd verse connecting Otsar with the fear of the LORD, revealing just how much the Lord values us viewing Him with the awe and respect deserving of His majesty.

Here it is clear that those that choose Him are His treasure, but also part of His Otsar is how He is viewed by those that choose Him.

In Isaiah 33:6

is another word for treasure where the word strength in Hebrew is the word

חֹ֥סֶן   (C)hocen ō·sen

spelled Chet Samech Noon.

Chet

or

is the picture of the fence and means to protect, to separate, a sanctuary, or a private place.

Samech

is the picture of the prop

and means to support and uphold symbolized by the trellis supporting the vines and their fruit.

Noon/Nun

or

is the picture of the fish

and means activity or life

and it’s translated as wealth, riches, strength, and treasure.

The Otsar of the LORD, is that His fear (reverential awe), brings us to a place of trust/faith, where the Father/Avinu and the Prince /Sar, join together for the purpose of the harvest of souls.

If we will just trust in Him, we can be protected, supported, and receive life/chaim.

This is the real treasure,

Otsar –

חֹ֥סֶן   (C)hocen ō·sen

not the physical blessings He showers upon us.

A hidden mystery in the word

TORAH   תּוֹרָה  to-raw’

meaning:

direction, instruction, law

The Hebrew letters for Torah are

Tav Vav Reysh Hey.

The Torah is the complete instructions, directions and commandments of the covenant law for the nation of Israel.

It is the first 5 books in the Hebrew scriptures. Also sometimes called the Five Books of Moses because it was revealed to him by God on Mount Sinai.

And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel. EX 8: 32

The word Torah first appears is in Gen.26:5 where God/YHWH appears to Abraham and tells him he will be blessed:

Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws.

That word used here is for laws, is Torah, giving us 2 things.

One, that blessing comes through obedience to Torah, and secondly, that its’ essence existed even before Moses would be born or given the Torah on Sinai’s mountain in the wilderness.

Tav means to seal or to covenant and is a picture of crossed wooden sticks or a cross.

 

Vav means to join together or to bind together and is a picture of a wooden hook or peg or an iron nail.

 

Reysh is a picture of the head and stands for the leader or the master or the prince.

 

Hey means to behold or to pay attention to what follows and is a picture of a man looking up.

The letters tell us to

behold

the prince

who is fastened

to a wooden cross.

The word Torah contains a picture of the Messiah who was to come, Yeshua Ha-Mashiach, and shows us that He would die on a cross.

Matthew 5:17, Jesus/Yeshua prophetically declared:

Think not that I come to destroy the law, or the prophets:  I am not come to destroy but to fulfill.

In John 5:39, he wrote these words of Jesus/Yeshua:

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Here the word scriptures can mean either a book of the Torah, a passage, or a very specific portion.  The One who proved Himself to be the Messiah/the Living Word, declared He can be literally found in the written Word. 

The Torah testifies to Him in ways only Our Heavenly Father could have planned; as well as Messiahs life and death actually fulfilling the law.

Behold the prince, Yeshua Ha-Mashiach fastened to a cross so that we could be free from the curse of the law of sin and death.

Messiah is found in Torah by Grace.

GRACE

Noon   Chet

50        8

chn

One meaning of Grace is unmerited Favor. Grace is something that is given freely without conditions or obligation by the giver.

The very act of giving grace discloses two fundamental facts:

The first thing it discloses in most cases is a need. The person or persons receiving grace are usually unable to provide what is needed by their own power and receive it freely from another who has the ability to provide what is needed.

The second thing grace discloses is generosity on the part of the giver. He may be giving out of a great abundance and showing favor may cost him little. Or he may be giving all he has, thus enriching another at his own expense.

The ultimate expression of this is God’s Grace extended to sinful man.

The First use of GRACE in Scripture is Genesis 6:8

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord

Chet

Private – To Separate – Fence – Sanctuary   Inner Room

Noon

Activity – Life   Fish

God produces life in us and then puts a fence or wall of protection around that life so that is may not be destroyed or removed.

An acrostic for

G R A C E:

Gods – Riches – At – Christ’s – Expense.

 

The Mystery in the

Kapporeth – MERCY SEAT

Do the Hebrew pictographs of Kapporeth describe a hidden mystery that will reveal a connection to Messiah?

Moses, directs his people in an exodus towards the land promised to them in their father Abraham, God/YHVH gives Moses instructions to build Him a special dwelling place. In the book of Exodus 25: 8 and 9 Moses records the words of YHVH:

And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make them. 

Additionally,

Moses writes in Ex. 29:45,46:

And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God, and they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the LORD their God.   

Even more specific instructions were given for what was to be housed inside this tabernacle.

Ex. 25:10 continues:

And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.  

Finally, God/YHVH tells Moses in vs. 21 how the lid on this ark will be crafted:

And thou shall put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.  

The words mercy seat are the Hebrew word Kapporeth. This Kapporeth was to be made of pure gold with a cherub of beaten gold mounted on each end facing each other.

What was the purpose of this seat? In Chp. 25:22, God/YHVH tells us:

And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim who are upon the ark of the testimony. 

The only time that this commune with God/YHVH would take place, was each year on the fall feast of Israel we call the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, when the High Priest would sprinkle the blood of a lamb on the Kapporeth. This blood sacrifice was offered yearly on this most holy day of the year and was intended to cover the sins of the nation for one more year.

What is the significance of all this?

Can the Hebrew pictographs of Kapporeth give us a clearer understanding?

Kapporeth is spelled

Kaf Pey Reysh Tav.

reading from right to left below

Kaf

is the picture of the hand

and means to cover, to open, or to allow.

Pey

is the picture of the open mouth

and means to speak.

Reysh

is the picture of the

head

and means master or the prince.

Tav

is the picture of crossed wooden sticks

and means a sign, to seal, or to covenant.

The first mystery we can see in these pictographs is that there will be a cover on the mouth of the prince.

But what prince?  Surely that would be the prince of the cross which is Yeshua Ha-Mashiach, Jesus the Christ. Why is His mouth covered, what is He not saying? Look below the seat and into the ark itself for the answer.

 

The first three letters in Kapporeth are the root word Kapher which in conventional Hebrew means to cover. The Kapporeth or mercy seat is not just a place for God/YHVH to meet with the High Priest, it is covering something important.

What is in the Ark of the Covenant? According to Hebrews 9:4, the tabernacle in the temple contained:  

Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant. 

Although each of these items are symbols of the providential hand of God/YHVH in the lives of His people, they are also reminders of the sin of His people. When YHVH provided manna for food, the people complained it wasn’t enough so He gave them quail.

Aaron’s rod that miraculously budded was a sign that Moses had been given authority from God/YHVH to lead the nation as a shepherd, but the people rejected the leadership of Moses and therefore were also rejecting God/YHVH.

The stone tables or tablets containing the Ten Commandments were the law given to the nation for their instruction and their well-being. But the people again refused to obey and they rebelled against YHVH.

The prince with the covered mouth is Messiah, who by the blood shed on the cross on behalf of His people, has made amends for the sins of His people.

Those sins have not been just covered by His blood sprinkled on the Kapporeth

but have been taken away forever! 

The people of God/YHVH no longer need the blood of a lamb once a year on Yom Kippur, for as the writer of Hebrews 10:14;

For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.  

Each of the letters in Kapporeth is also a number which will tell us even more about this mystery.

Kaf 

is the number 20 and when found throughout scripture refers to redemption.

Pey

is the number 80 and stands for a new beginning ordained in heaven.

Reysh

is the number 200 and contrasts the insufficiency of man with the sufficiency of God.

Tav

is the number 400 and points us to a divinely ordained period of time that will bring about deliverance and renewal.

These numbers combine to paint a wonderful picture for us. God/Elohim has ordained in heaven a plan of redemption for man who could never make amends for his own sin and rebellion.

This plan was found at the perfect time in the Tav, the cross, where Messiah the Prince brought about deliverance and renewal for His people.   

Not only will Messiah the Prince not speak against us regarding our sin, but in 1 John 3:1 we see how our Heavenly Father will speak for us:

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. 

Mentioned in a previous post but worth reiterating –

The word for Truth is EMeT – אמת,


spelled with the following Hebrew letters,

Aleph א

Mem מ

Tav ת

It’s essentially the title/name for God Aleph-Tav – את

The beginning and the end letters of the alef bet

as in the first and the last

the alpha and omega

as we saw at the start of this post.

It is declaring the end from the beginning 
with a Mem – מ inserted in the middle!

 We looked at the ancient pictograph for the first letter of the Alphabet –

ALEPH א – was the Ox-head, and it symbolized the Chief, the Head, the Strength, the Leader of something.

Ideally, it speaks of God as being all of these things – as He is always placed at the place of preeminence and rank of First.

The ancient pictograph for MEM – מ – is the imagery of water flowing.

The ancient pictograph for TAV – ת was that of 2 crossed sticks – a Cross.

Strung together, it appears to form the picture of,

the Ox [with water flowing] from the Cross

As the Gospels indicate, Messiahs’ crucifixion and death portrayed this picture perfectly when the water flowed from His side where the spear pierced His body.

 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and WATER. John 19:34

He who saw it has borne witness – his testimony is TRUE, and he knows that he is telling THE TRUTH – that you also may believe. John 19:35

This was the ultimate manifestation of TRUTH

in ancient Hebrew thought.

Indeed, Yeshua/Jesus reminded us several times when He said I AM the TRUTH [EMeT אמת] John 14:6.

Finally, its good to remember that when the ALEPH א  – the Ox – (symbolic of God’s presence in this line of thought)

is REMOVED from the word for TRUTH – ‘EMeT אמת’,

all we have are the letters,

Mem מ

Tav ת

which spells the word

MuT – מת –

this is the Hebrew word for

DEATH.

Clearly meaning that when we remove God from the equation of Truth we are left only with Death.

All the scriptures from Alef to Tav – Genesis to Revelation is truly

He has indeed given us a sign and more than just one!!

Shalom Mishpachah/Family!

Please don’t leave this page until you make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.

It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.

 

 

 

At-One-Ment With The One You Love

Special Word of Introduction:

Ecclesiastes 3 tells us there are different times and seasons. This is a time to be serious and to put away, to cast down and throw from us all that would distract and keep us from the One to whom we owe EVERYTHING.

We will sing of your love for ever, we will declare your faithfulness and mercy to the generations.

This is the pen-ultimate appointed time of the Hebrew calendar year. The 6th of 7 specific dates the Lord set into the annual cycle of life, incorporating the harvest seasons of the grains and fruits. Times chosen when The Lord God wanted to spend time with His people.They were all a prophetic type and shadow, a fore-telling of the coming Savior. A rehearsal for the future Messiah, JESUS who came a little over 2000 years ago and literally fulfilled the words of the prophets concerning God’s plan of the ages.

In Hebrew,Jesus was the burden removing, yoke destroying answer, redeeming mankind and all who will believe and trust in His atoning sacrifice of substitution at Calvary.

There His Blood has paid the price for ALL our transgressions. The wages of sin is death, meaning eternal separation from God’s presence. Because of Jesus, we will never have to experience that or have to personally pay the price for our errant ways. Ezekiel 18:20 ‘the soul who sins he shall die..’

Yom Kippur is all about the sacrificial offering of a pure unblemished innocent life, freely and willingly given to cover for sin, through the shedding of its blood. (For the life of the flesh is in the blood. Lev. 17:11) Yom haKipuriym/day of the Atonements, falls on the 10th day of the 7th month. It is not a feast day but rather a Holy convocation, an opportunity to deny ourselves, a time for self examination. A perfect opportunity for a heart (spiritual) check-up.As the High Priest performs the atonements for himself, the altar, the Tabernacle, and the whole community in Israel, we are encouraged to stop and think. To turn those thoughts to our own lives and allow an inner conviction to lead us to true repentance and then to the acceptance of the blood sacrifice of Jesus as a means of cleansing and forgiveness.Jesus our Messiah has clearly fulfilled both the position of our High Priest and that of our personal sacrifice, He atoned for us once and for all and is continually making intercession for us before the Father.He does not need to make sacrifices for Himself and for us year after year in order to atone for our sins–it has already been accomplished for ever. Hebrews 9:6–12

The weight and penalty of the sins, was symbolically transferred to the animal sacrifices for that year, so that forgiveness could be attained.

Our willingness to deny self on this day does not cause, aid or enhance our atonement, however it allows us to become acutely aware of our own mortality, our sin, our continuing need for atonement, and our desire for life. At the same time it causes us to appreciate on some minute level, the sacrifice the Master made as He denied His own life on our behalf and to re-evaluate our own commitment to walk in the way, the truth and the life, by obeying and keeping His commandments.

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matt.5:17-20

 

The sanctity and holiness of this day cannot be understated.

Though we may find great joy in our eternal atonement in Jesus the Messiah, this is a day for remembering the atonement in such a way that it should be very hard to forget in the busyness of daily life.

Although we are saved by grace and live by faith, we are still accountable for our individual lives and for changing our ways in compliance of being a ‘doer’ of the things Jesus taught and not a ‘hearer only’.

We are to be contemplative, repentant, humble and dead to ourselves because the self sacrifice necessary to atone for our sins is far beyond what any of us are able or willing to do. It would take every drop, every ounce of blood in our bodies to cover even our own sins, much less the sins of another.

However we can rejoice for the Messiah has come! Atonement has been made and He has obtained age enduring redemption, which is available for us! Justice is satisfied and Mercy fulfilled, once and for all!On Yom haKipuriym, day of the Atonements, we are also to remember that we live and breathe only because the Father so chooses, and that by His choice, He has the right and the power to take it away as well. A sobering reality.

Lk. 12:20; Mk. 13:44.

Hard though that is for some of us to admit, once born again and redeemed, it means that God through Jesus bought and paid for us and we belong to Him. Our life is no longer our own to live as we please and our destiny is His hands. At this time the story of Jonah is appropriate, teaching that sincere repentance can reverse even the harshest heavenly decreeand the prevention of Jonah’s flight shows that no one can escape from God.There is such an abundance of revelatory instruction around the 7th appointed time, it is prohibitive to attempt to include everything in one post, so some aspects are not mentioned below due to space and in an attempt to curtail longevity, however it is not out of ignorance or neglect.

(Further details regarding insights on the sacrifices and Temple proceedings followed at Yom Kippur will be posted on more mini manna moments/ deeper dig.)

Now for the Main Meal of the day! Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement (Lev. 25:9) 

The Biblical name for the day of Atonement is Yom HaKippurim, meaning ‘the day of covering, canceling, pardon, reconciling.’ Occasionally, it was called ‘the Day of the Fast’ or ‘the Great Fast’ (Lev. 23:27-31; 16:29-34). It is a unique ceremony which took place on the ancient Hebrew calendar for the children of Israel, it was the holiest day of the year and still is for believers and the Jewish community today. ‘Kadosh’, often translated as ‘Holy’, it also has a deeper meaning and conveys an understanding of being separate and set aside for Adonai /The Lord and not as the world and the things of the world are.Deut. 7:6, We are to be His own unique treasure.

This day marks the end of the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe) and falls on the 9th/10th day of Tishrei (Tishri), the seventh month in the Jewish calendar.It’s not a feast like the others that we have looked at. It is a day of repentance and it’s still of great significance for Christian believers, because not one of us is perfect.  It’s a time for us to make a decision to be better in the coming year than we were in the past year. Paul makes mention of Yom Kippur when he refers to it in Acts 27:9 saying that the fast had already gone by, as the main focus of this day is to fast before the Lord.Names used are:

Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement)

Face to Face
The Day (or the Great Day)
The Fast
The Great Shofar (Shofar HaGadol)
Neilah (the closing of the gates of heaven as the festival concludes and the judgment was set for another year.)

 

UNDERSTANDING THE PRIESTLY SERVICE FOR YOM KIPPURLev. 16, specifies the 10th of Tishrei as the date on which the high priest (Cohen HaGadol) shall conduct a special ceremony to purge defilement from the sanctuary and from the people. The heart of it is that the high priest (Cohen HaGadol) shall bring a bull and two goats as a special offering. First, the bull is sacrificed to purge the sanctuary from any defilements caused by misdeeds of the priest himself and of his household (Lev. 16:6). Secondly, one of the goats is chosen by lot to be sacrificed, to purge the sanctuary of any similar defilement stimulated by misdeeds of the whole Israelite people (Lev. 16:7-8). Finally, the second goat is sent away, not sacrificed, to cleanse the people themselves. The goat is marked for Azazel and is sent away to wander in the wilderness (Lev. 16:10).Before the goat is sent out, the high priest lays both his hands upon its head and confesses over it all the iniquities and transgressions of the Israelites, whatever their misdeeds, and so putting them on the head of the goat. Thus, the Torah adds, ‘The goat shall carry on it all their iniquities to an inaccessible region…’ (Lev. 16:20- 22).

AZAZEL: THE SCAPEGOAT

The Hebrew word for scapegoat is ‘Azazel’. Azazel was seen as a type of satan (Ha satan). The sins of the people and thus the punishment of the people were laid upon Azazel the scapegoat. Azazel being sent into the wilderness is understood to be a picture of satan (Ha satan) being cast into the lake of fire (Rev.19:20).The sins of the people were laid upon the scapegoat (Lev.16:21-22).

 

ADDITIONAL ASPECTS TO THE HIGH PRIEST CEREMONY

In order to enter the Holy of Holies, the high priest (Cohen HaGadol) was first to bathe his entire body, going beyond the mere washing of hands and feet as required by other occasions. The washing symbolized his desire for purification (Num. 19). The washing was of his clothes and his flesh (Num. 8:5-7;19:7-9).

This was done in conjunction with taking the blood of an animal with the finger
and sprinkling the blood upon the altar (Num. 19:1-4; Lev. 8:13-15 and in Num. 31:21-24.)  

‘And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering.’

The priest dipping his finger in the blood and placing it on the horns of the altar represents that the sin is recorded. The mark of a finger print in blood is evidence a death had taken place to pay the price for the sin.By this action, the altar had in a sense, become defiled until on the Day of Atonement when the pure blood of the Lord’s goat was placed on the altar to purify it.

The blood is shed for the sinner’s life and to satisfy the demand of the law, on the Day of Atonement the redemption is finalized. So too, is the process in the heavenly sanctuary on the day when our sins are blotted out. 

 The spiritual understanding of this is given in Heb. 9 -10:19-22.
The sprinkling of blood upon the altar is also mentioned in Ex. 29:1-4,10-12, 16,20-21; and Lev. 1:3-5,11; 3:1-2,8; 4:1-6; 5:4-6,9. The spiritual understanding is found in Heb. 9:11-14,23-25, and 1Pet. 1:2.

FACE TO FACE

The high priest (Cohen HaGadol) could only go into the Holy of Holies once a year (Lev.16:2; Heb. 9:6-7).(God issued a warning that no man could see His face and live (Ex.33:20). But because on the Day of Atonement the priest could be in God’s presence (Lev.16:2), another term for the Day of Atonement is ‘face to face.’  At that point, the high priest was ‘face to face with the mercy seat of God.’

Face in Hebrew: panim or paneh פָּנִים (paw-neem’)When the high priest (Cohen HaGadol) entered the Holy of Holies, he saw the Lord’s presence as a brilliant cloud hovering above the mercy seat (Lev.16:2).The word for mercy seat in Hebrew is kapporet. It comes from the root word kaphar, which is the same word used for atonement. The mercy seat can also be translated as the seat of atonement. The mercy seat is described in detail in Ex. 25:17-22 and 37:6-9. This is the place where Moses (Moshe) met and spoke with God face to face (Ex. 25:22; 30:6; Num. 7:89).The themes are:

Yom Kippur is a day of fasting and affliction of the soul.

The incense of the golden censer represents the prayers of Bible believers.Repentance Repent (Teshuvah) return to the Lord.

Hear (Shema) the calling (Shofar) for our lives.

Yielding ourselves to God so we may live every day (face to face – al paneh – פָּנִים) in His Presence. Furniture of the Tabernacle

Atonement

 At the moment the atonement was made on the Day of Atonement, those being atoned for were sinless and blameless before God.

The congregation of believers (kehilat) in the Messiah is being presented before God without spot or blemish (Eph. 5:27) because of the blood of Jesus/Yeshua (1 Pet. 1:19).Messianic Fulfillment; Jesus/Yeshua is the sacrifice of God for us who believe on Him (Heb. 9:26-28; 10:1-10). 

Forgiveness

Messianic Fulfillment: Aaron the high priest typifies the ministry of mediator and intercessor. Jesus/Yeshua is our High Priest (Heb. 3:1) and Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 12:24). He lives to make intercession for us (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:22-27).Spiritual Application (Halacha): By the death of Jesus/Yeshua, we are free to enter into the veil every day not just once a year. (Matt. 27:50-51; 2 Cor. 3:14; Heb. 4:16; 6:13-19; 10:19-22).

 More about the Goats 

Lev. 16:7–10. the high priest would stand before the people in Jerusalem with two identical goats.He would then put his hand into an urn where there were two lots, each one with a different Hebrew word carved into it. The High priest would then remove them both, one in each hand. He then placed the lot in his right hand on the head of the goat to his right the other to the goat on the left.One of the lots decreed that one of the goats would live and be set free, the other that it would die as the sacrifice for the sins of the people on Yom Kippur.  This is where two goats (or lambs) were chosen annually to represent the sins of Israel, one was sacrificed as the usual sin offering and the other released into the wild, bearing the sins of the people on it.The fate of each goat was determined by the drawing of the lots. The black lot signifying the scapegoat and the white lot, the goat for sacrifice. When the lots were drawn, if the black stone was found in the priest’s left hand when the stones were revealed it was an indication that the offering was unacceptable to the Lord. White meant yes, black meant no.

The Mystery of the Semikhah

Within this ceremony is also the mystery of the Semikhah. This is the sacred act that had to take place before a sacrifice could be offered up for the sins of the one offering it, or before the scapegoat could take away the sins of the nation on Yom Kippur.

It is the mystery of physical contact.

The person offering the sacrifice had to make physical contact with the sacrifice itself.

The priest had to touch it and very specifically had to place the palms of both his hands on the sacrifice.Lev. 16:21, Only after the Semikhah was performed could the scapegoat take away the sins of the nation or the sacrifice be offered up as an atonement.

The mystery is the Messiah. He is the sacrifice. 

As the Semikhah must be performed and it was the priests who offered Him up and then delivered Him to His death. In accordance with Scripture, the priest had to make physical contact with the sacrifice by placing his hands on it. Mk. 14:65 records that after condemning Him to death the priests struck Him repeatedly with their hands. The description shows that they specifically struck his face and head the palms of their hands and afterwards Messiah was led away to be killed.What we need to comprehend is that what took place on earth at that moment, was symbolic of what happened in heavenly realms. That is where the reality and sovereignty of God’s intervention took place concerning the fate of mankind. In truth, it was God who performed the Semikhah when He placed our sins on Jesus, ensuring that sins are gone, Semikhah was completed and those sins can never return!

 

MESSIANIC UNDERSTANDING

God gave this ceremony of the casting of lots during Yom Kippur to teach us how He will judge the nations of the world prior to the Messianic age known as the Millennium. The nations of the world will be judged according to how they treated the Jewish people. Those nations who mistreated the Jews will be goat nations and they will go into the left hand. Those nations that stood beside the Jewish people will be sheep nations and will enter into the Messianic kingdom or the Millennium. Matt. 25:31-46.
Jesus/Yeshua during His first coming was a type of the goat marked La Adonai. He was a sin offering to us as God laid upon Him the sins of the whole world (Is. 53:1-6; 1 Cor. 15:3; Gal. 1:3-4; Heb. 2:17; 1 Jn. 2:2; 4:10).

In the ceremony of the two goats, the two goats were considered as one offering. A crimson sash was tied around the horns of the goat marked Azazel.At the appropriate time, the goat was led to a steep cliff in the wilderness and pushed off the cliff.  Before there could be any sacrifice, there had to be a public presentation of the two goats before the people and the decision of which destiny would be for each goat. In the life of Messiah before his sacrificial death at Passover He too was presented before the people by pilate. For them to choose which man would live and which would die. With the goats only one could become the sacrifice, so Messiah had to be one of two lives presented to the people in order to be chosen as the sacrifice. According to the Yom Kippur decree and the requirements of the ceremony, the other life had to be let go and his name was Barabbas. Matt. 27:15–24

They had to be identical but how could that have been true? Barabbas was a sinner, bandit and murderer Jesus was sinless.

It’s all in the name.

Jesus our Messiah was also the Son of God, the Son of the Father and Barabbas name in Aramaic comes from two words. Bar which means Son and Abba which means father so therefore Barabbas means son of the father. The two men each bearing the same name son of the father. So the one who was the sacrifice and the one set free were identical in this way. Similarly, as we believe Jesus was the son of God, He was also equal to God; then it would follow that God in the flesh had to die in our place and have an equality in some way with us. (John14:9, If you have seen me you have seen the father.) He did become flesh in the form of a man, in the ‘likeness’ of sinful flesh and as such was ‘identical’ to fulfill the law.Bar Abba (Barabbas) was a symbol of the disobedient nation of Yisra’el, and he was released from prison even though he was guilty. But our Messiah, Jesus was killed in his place, because He became the scapegoat for Yisra’el!The definition for the word ‘scapegoat’ is ‘the innocent party who takes the blame for the guilty party.’ The nation of Israel/Yisra’el, (the firstborn son) was the guilty party, but the Father put on human flesh and became the Son (representing Israel/Yisra’el) by trading places with him! 

(This is where we get our idiom for a scapegoat, for the one who takes the blame.)

Messiah fulfilled the pattern of the twin goats on Yom Kippur and then he also fulfilled the role of the Kohen Gadowl (High Priest) that year when He read Is.61:1-2 in the synagogue (Lk. 4:19) declaring the acceptable year of The Lord.”
We are not under the law of sin and death any more we are under the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Rom.8:2

Because of the sovereign purposes of the Lord, Israel has undergone a partial hardening until all of those whom God has called from among nations have been grafted in to the Olive tree of God. During this age of grace, those who were called not my people, are intended to provoke Israel to jealousy by means of the message. (Hos. 2:23) After the age of grace is complete all Israel will be saved (Rom. 11:26) and the original covenant will be fully restored and redeemed. Yom Kippur will be a fulfilled festival on that great day. Then the words of the prophets will be proven true and God will be vindicated. Israel will be adorned with honor and blessing above all the nations of the earth and they will finally be home from their long exile.

The aspect of ‘hidden, covered, veiled.’ We see ‘Yom Kippur’ typology here with the concept of being ‘covered’ or ‘veiled.’ To this day, the Jewish people have nick-named this day of ‘Yom Kippur’ as ‘face-to-face’ because it was this one time per year when the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies ‘behind the veil’ and come ‘face-to-face’ with The Lord!As the High Priest had to intercede on behalf of Israel/Yisra’el for her sins, if he had any sin for which he had not repented, he would die in the Holy of Holies! At the future Day of Atonement, the bride who sufficiently sanctifies herself or ‘afflicts’ and prepares herself will be able to come ‘face-to-face’ with the bridegroom. Likewise on that day when Jesus returns, the veil will be removed from her face and her heart (Israel) and she will ‘see’ her Messiah (2 Cor. 3:14-16). The scales will fall away from her eyes also as she will ‘look upon’ the one whom she pierced (Zech. 12:10).

In the future, during the ‘Ten Days of Awe’ between The Feast of Trumpets & the Day of Atonement, there will also be a ‘7-day’ wedding for the bride of Messiah.

Through Yeshua  the atonement has been made, not just for a year but forever; not just for Israel but for all who will believe.  We have been and will always be forgiven by God’s grace through faith. Jesus is not still on the cross however 
because of Jesus who is the heart and prophetic fulfillment of every one of God’s holy days. These are His feasts, the feasts of the Lord. Because God chose Israel to be His witness to the rest of the world, the celebrations commemorate events in Israel’s history.  Through them God revealed His character and His plan of redemption through Jesus.

So the Feasts are continual reminders of God’s faithfulness and goodness.  They connect us together as a community and are anchors of our souls.

The ultimate fulfillment of the year of Jubilee will take place at the second coming of Messiah.The earth will be redeemed and come into full and complete rest from the curse brought upon it by Adam’s sin. Complete restoration of man’s lost inheritance will take place. God’s people will be totally set free — set at liberty, from all sin, sickness and disease, death, and the curse. Satan (Ha satan), the source of all these things, will be bound and true rest, true shalom will be realized. The tabernacle of God will be with men and He will dwell with them (Rev.21:1-4). So, the day of Atonement speaks of the fullness of the redemptive plan of God for man.We do well to remember, liberty and freedom are NEVER really free.

Somewhere – sometime – someone...

has ALWAYS paid the price for that freedom. It would behoove us to count the cost now, today – for there will be no avoiding the inevitable day of reckoning.