I am doing this message a little early because Hurricane Milton is coming through later tonight and tomorrow, and I might not have any electric power with which to post this.
I have often heard the Christian teaching that the Torah was done away with by Yeshua’s sacrifice, which I cannot justify by anything in the Bible, Old or New. As a Believer in Messiah, and Jewish (as well), I try to live my life in accordance with what God said to do in the Torah, and not what men have taught based on Shaul’s (Paul) letters.
So, if you are a Gentile Believer, you might be wondering why I, accepting Yeshua as my atonement for sin, still observe Yom Kippur?
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The reason why I observe Yom Kippur (I don’t say celebrate it because, really?- who finds fasting for 24 hours a celebration?), as well as the other Holy Days commanded in Leviticus 23, is simple: because God said we should. I know, I know, you’ve been told that Yeshua is the fulfillment of the law, and that all that “Jewish” stuff is not necessary for Christians.
I challenge you to find anything that Yeshua ever said or implied indicating that we do not have to obey the Torah, which includes all the High Holy Days outlined in Leviticus 23.
Yom Kippur is a day when we come before God, as he commanded, confess our sins, then ask him to move from the Throne of Judgement to the Throne of Mercy so that he will forgive our sins and write our names in the Book of Life.
The reason that Yom Kippur is so important, still, is that only God can forgive sins. Yes, in Matthew 9:6 Yeshua says he is granted that power, but when you interpret that passage correctly (at least, as I think it is correctly understood), Yeshua indicates that his authority to forgive sins is ONLY when he is on the earth, and only in order to prove he is from God.
Look, it is really simple…Yeshua died so that we can come before God and ask HIM to forgive our sins. His death provides the means to be forgiven that was previously only available to us when we brought an animal to the temple in Jerusalem, which is what the Torah required. Yeshua’s sacrifice changed only one thing in the Torah- the need to bring an animal to the temple. That is why Yeshua told us that we cannot reach the father except through the son, which is because in 173 AD the temple was destroyed, making obedience to the Torah regarding sin sacrifice impossible.
And here’s what’s really sad: the temple still ain’t there! Without the temple, the forgiveness we can receive through Yeshua is the only means of being forgiven.
So, even though sins can only be forgiven through Yeshua’s sacrifice, it still makes sense to obey God’s commandments, which he gave us in the Torah. Not to be legalistic, not to be “correct”, and not just because I am Jewish (which I am and always will be- I am NOT a Christian!), but to be obedient to God.
Do you really think that God will reject anyone, believer or not, who obeys what he said to do in the Torah? After all, God did promise in Deuteronomy 28 to bless those who obey him, so even if we can’t sacrifice an animal at Yom Kippur, doing everything else is still obedient to God, right? And God cannot sin, or go back on his promises, so even if you have been taught to not to anything the Torah says, that is what some religions say, but it is not from God.
Hey!- let me ask you something: we know Yeshua lived the Torah perfectly because if he hadn’t, he would not have been an acceptable sacrifice, and Christianity teaches the best thing any Christian can do is to follow in the footsteps of the Messiah, so then why is it that one of their major tenets is to reject everything the Messiah did?
If you reject the Torah, you are not obedient to God or to Yeshua: the ones you are being obedient to are some men who didn’t want to have to do this stuff, and misused Shaul’s letters to make their own religion. Do you really think that the son of God rebelled against his father and taught that we don’t have to do as his father said?
You go ahead and reject God’s instructions, blame it on Yeshua or on your religion, but I am pretty sure that when you use that excuse before God at Judgement Day, he ain’t gonna buy it!
That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!
And for those who are obedient to God, may you have an easy fast!
