Today, (beginning yesterday at sundown, ending today at sundown) was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Many people mistakenly call it a "Jewish holiday"...it is not. It was instituted by God. Yeshua fulfilled this feast day by becoming the sinless blood sacrifice for the atonement of our sins AND our high priest who enters the throne of God on our behalf. This day also has a prophetic fulfillment when the Jewish people will see Yeshua as the lamb of God sacrificed for them and thus "all Israel shall be saved" (Romans 11:26).
Today on Yom Kippur, the Jewish people fast and pray that their sins will be forgiven for the coming year, as they did in the days before Yeshua, when God became flesh and dwelt among us. The day ordained by God in the Tanakh (Old Testament) was to be a solemn day of denying oneself (often marked by fasting) and repenting of past sins. The person was to first repent to any person he or she had hurt or offended and THEN approach God for forgiveness. This is confirmed by Yeshua's teaching in Matthew 5:24 to leave one's offering on the altar if you remember your brother has something against you, go be reconciled to your brother, then return to give the offering.
I must say that at the end of this day of introspection and repentance, I have a fire in my heart and a love for Yeshua more than I ever have in my life. He is more real to me now than He was at the beginning of this day.
The Hebrew word for repent is "teshuvah"- to turn. To turn from one's own way of doing something and turn toward God's ways. Or to be put more simply, to turn away from sin which separates us from a holy God. The Bible teaches us that it is the goodness of God that leads us toward repentance. We cannot even repent without God's help and His mercy. Usually it is due to revelation or an unveiling, of one's own sins or wrong committed that compels us toward repentance. Some repentance is hard to do. But ALL is necessary in order to follow the Messiah.
Today, there is MUCH for believers in Yeshua to repent for. Much of it comes from idolatry- the worshipping of other gods which is to break the first and second commandments. False teaching and the traditions of man have infiltrated the body of believers down through history and led many astray from the worship of the one true God. This has come by way of many sins in the history of the church- i.e. early anti-semitism, replacing the teachings of the Torah with practices from paganism, the incorporation of other gods into Christianity and so forth, but one thing is for certain: It affects ALL of those who follow the Messiah today. Put simply, we need to repent.
Many teachers and leaders in the church, however well-meaning they are, have led many astray in the teachings of these worldy and pagan festivals. One instance is the practice of Christmas and Easter. Many Christians want to "put Christ back into Christmas". However, I would argue that Christ does not WANT to be put into Christmas...for HE was never there to begin with!
Most Bible scholars, and anyone else who does their research knows that Jesus was not born on December 25th. But that date does mark the birthday of another god which many throughout time, including some of the Israelites, worshipped. His name was Tammuz. In Ezekiel, God showed that an abomination was occuring in the temple.."Those weeping for Tammuz" (Ezekiel 8:14).
The time of year also has significance to the feast of Saturnalia. The names down through history have been changed to protect the guilty. Easter? You guessed it: honoring the fertility goddess Eostra (also called Astarte or Ashteroth, also known as the 'Queen of Heaven') with fertility symbols such as bunnies and eggs (some hidden on church grounds for our babies to find)! All these pagan festivals are rooted in sun god worship, which has its roots in Babylon, and not the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who is our redeemer Yeshua HaMashiach. Jesus never even heard of Christmas. He would have never celebrated a pagan festival. For that matter, He never even heard of a Christian, much less desire to start a new religion naming it's followers such! He came to make atonement for man's sins and return people to the Torah (teaching) of almighty God. He did not split the old and new testaments. Man did that through his false teaching and anti-semitism. Yeshua came to fulfill (make full)what was prophesied in those scriptures, not to do away with them (Matthew 5:17).
Moreover, many of us who follow the Messiah and see these things being practiced in His name are grieved. I speak from experience. We need to repent from such atrocities. It offends God, the one we claim to love, and it does nothing to help us turn other men to the truth.
What was the result of the children of Israel's worship of other gods in the scriptures? They were led away into captivity. Twice. God promised to restore them and He promised to redeem them and bring them back to their land, but I think the point is clear: God hates all idolatry.
Most people who practice these things usually tell me, "Oh, it is for the children's sake that we do this and that and make-believe". Really? What does scripture have to say about these things?
*God condemns the cutting down of a tree and adorning it with silver and gold. Jeremiah 10:3-4
*"...Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth and shall say, 'Surely our fathers inherited lies.." Jeremiah 16:19.
*Scripture teaches that the people of God are not to cause their children to pass through the fire (to the god Molech- for the assurance of prosperity and wealth) nor are they to teach them of pagan gods.
*We are no longer to be conformed to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:2) but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
*We are to cast "...down imaginations and every high and lofty thing which exalts itself against the knowledge of God" (2 Corinthians 10:5).
*We are to come out from among them and be separate and touch not the unclean thing (2 Corinthians 6:17)
* Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commandments will be called great..."(Matthew 5:19)
Those who teach that God is only a God of mercy and that He will not judge his children here on the earth need to know that the Lord chastises all whom he considers to be a son. Correction is coming. The question is will we be willing and ready to turn away from such things? For there have been influences allowed in the church that have defiled many and have brought the word of God into disrepute. These are the tares that have grown up with the wheat. Rest assured, God promises to send his angels to separate the two in judgement.
I look forward to a day when the false teachings of christendom will no longer slam the door of the Kingdom of God in the faces of the Jewish people. Because of false doctrines that have been put forth, many Jewish people think that Christians are not monotheists at all but actually worship 3 gods and then we worship pagan gods twice a year! They know what God does to the idolaters. Until we start manifesting the glory of God, walking in His truth and humility, becoming holy as He is holy, and start rightly dividing the word of truth, that "revival" everyone is looking for will continue to elude us and this at the expense of men's very souls... possibly even our own.
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