“He shall slaughter the sin-offering he-goat of the people, and bring its blood within the Curtain; he shall do with its blood as he had done with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it upon the Ark-cover and in front of the Ark-cover. Thus shall he provide atonement upon the Sanctuary for the contaminations of the Children of Israel , even for their rebellious sins among all their sins; and so he shall do for the Tent of Meeting that dwells with them amid their contamination. Any person shall not be in the Tent of Meeting when he comes to provide atonement in the Sanctuary until his departure; he shall provide atonement for himself, for his household, and for the entire congregation of Israel . (Leviticus 16:15-17)”
Many Christians believe that their deity became the final Yom Kippur sacrifice, even though his offering didn't occur on Yom Kippur, nor was he an acceptable sacrifice, being human and physically blemished, both forbidden by Torah law. Leviticus 16:29, 31, and 34 state that Yom Kippur is an eternal decree for the Jewish people. It is not for someone to take from them and do ‘once-and-for-all’ as Christians claim. They purport that this man died to take away everyone's sins. They claim that he was the ultimate culmination of Yom Kippur, the final sacrifice, the whole intent of the holiday.
Yom Kippur is a time when all Jews have an opportunity to focus on repentance and closeness to HASHEM without distraction. It is meant for our benefit. An eternal decree does not become completed, so that one doesn’t have to fulfill Yom Kippur through individual observance. HASHEM expects us to perform the commandments, not hand them over to someone else to perform on our behalf. Every mitzvah given in the Torah is intended to draw us closer to HASHEM. We are blessed to have an opportunity to serve HASHEM and it would be such a loss to give up a chance for intimacy with G-d.
No comments:
Post a Comment