Jesus and the Jewish holidays Although most Jews today are blind to the presence of Jesus in all of the Scriptural holidays of the Old Testament except Purim, it is exciting for believers to see how our Father pointed the way to the Messiah from the beginning. The Scriptural holidays are Shabbat, Pesach/Passover, First Fruits, Shavuot, Rosh Hasannah, Yom Kippur, Succoth, Simcha Torah, and Purim. Many of these holidays have counterparts in the New Testament. Pesach became the celebration of the Last Supper, First Fruits became Easter, and Shavuot became Pentacost. Some of the Holidays are known by their English translations or interpretations: Shabbat/Sabbath, Rosh HaShannah/Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippor/Day of Atonement, Succoth/Festival of Booths, Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement. The Hebrews were instructed from Exodus through Ezekial that the priests must make atonement on their behalf for their sins, even for those sins committed unintentionally or unknowingly. (Lev. 4:1-35) These sacrifices were made on a daily basis as sin offerings and guilt offerings. Once a year, on the tenth of Tishri, (in late September or early October) the high priest, the first was Aaron, was to take two perfect animals, initially goats. One goat was to be slain and it’s blood used as atonement for the sins of the whole of Israel. The other goat, after ceremonially having the sins of the whole nation transferred to it, was sent outside the camp to die. Today Orthodox Jews ceremonially kill a chicken. The other branches of Judaism spend the day in synagogues, fasting and praying as their sacrifice. The sacrificial system only worked if the people were willing to give up their sins, to cast off their rebellious hearts and selfish ways so they could be transferred to the animal killed and to the scapegoat. The high priest could go through the motions, but it was the faith and commitment of the people that was rewarded with forgiveness and cleansing. Therein was the problem and makes obvious why we needed a personal savior. Again, it pointed to and foretold Christ’s atoning death. The perfect animals represented Jesus. His blood was shed as our atonement and, like the scapegoat, He was taken outside the city to take upon Himself all the sins of mankind and die on Golgatha Hill. Just as with the original Yom Kippur, only those who are willing to cast off their sins, to repent and accept God’s forgiveness are cleansed by the blood of the sacrifice and are forgiven.
Posted on: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 14:23:42 +0000
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