Leviticus 23:26-32 And the LORD
spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month
there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto
you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by
fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it
is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD
your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that
same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever
soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will
I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall
be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls:
in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye
celebrate your sabbath.
Numbers 29:7-11 And ye shall have on the
tenth [day] of this seventh month an holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your
souls: ye shall not do any work [therein]: But ye shall offer a burnt offering
unto the LORD [for] a sweet savour; one young bullock, one ram, [and] seven
lambs of the first year; they shall be unto you without blemish: And their meat
offering [shall be of] flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals to a bullock,
[and] two tenth deals to one ram, A several tenth deal for one lamb, throughout
the seven lambs: One kid of the goats [for] a sin offering; beside the sin
offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering
of it, and their drink offerings.
Yom Kippur is probably the most important holiday of the Jewish year.
Many Jews who do not observe any other Jewish custom will refrain from
work, fast and/or attend
synagogue
services on this day. Yom Kippur occurs on the 10th day of
Tishri.
The holiday is instituted at Leviticus 23:26 et seq. The name “Yom
Kippur” means “Day of Atonement,” and that pretty
much explains what the holiday is. It is a day set aside to “afflict
the soul,” to atone for the sins of the past year. In
Days of
Awe, I mentioned the “books” in which God inscribes
all of our names. On Yom Kippur, the judgment entered in these books
is sealed. This day is, essentially, your last appeal, your last chance
to change the judgment, to demonstrate your repentance and make amends.
Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on that
day. It is well-known that you are supposed to refrain from eating and
drinking (even water) on Yom Kippur. It is a complete, 25-hour fast
beginning before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ending
after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur. The
Talmud
also specifies additional restrictions that are less well-known: washing
and bathing, anointing one’s body (with cosmetics, deodorants,
etc.), wearing leather shoes (Orthodox
Jews routinely wear canvas sneakers under their dress clothes on Yom
Kippur), and engaging in sexual relations are all prohibited on Yom
Kippur.
One of the ongoing themes of the Days of Awe is the concept that God
has “books” that he writes our names in, writing down who
will live and who will die, who will have a good life and who will have
a bad life, for the next year. These books are written in on
Rosh Hashanah, but our actions
during the Days of Awe can alter God’s decree. The actions that
change the decree are “teshuvah,
tefilah
and
tzedakah,”
repentance, prayer, good deeds (usually, charity). These “books”
are sealed on Yom Kippur.
The
Shabbat
(Sabbath) that occurs in this period is known as Shabbat Shuvah (the
Sabbath of Return). This is considered a rather important Shabbat.
The Sabbath of Return is for Israel to return
to God.
Matthew 25:31-46 When the
Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with
him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before
him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty,
and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked,
and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison,
and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying,
Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and
gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in?
or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison,
and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them,
Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the
least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall
he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed,
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For
I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye
gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked,
and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee
an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in
prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them,
saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one
of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away
into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
The Sheep-Goat Judgment is a teaching given to us by Jesus in the Olivet
Discourse. It is also a very important prophecy of what will happen
to those outside the covenant at the end of this age. The Sheep-Goat
Judgment is not the judgment seat of Christ. The Elect are not in view
here. The judgment here concerns the nations, the gentiles, the heathen,
if you will. This judgment will take place at the return of Christ.
It is a judgment of individuals who are not under the Eternal Covenant.
These people have not yet been saved. They are not covered under the
blood of Christ, the promised Sacrifice Lamb.
The Sheep-Goat
Judgment occurs at the Second Coming of Christ. As we shall see further
along in this article, the biblical study of the two turtledoves sheds
some further light on this epic event. Because the Sheep-Goat Judgment
is not made upon the basis of someone knowing Messiah directly. It is
a blood covenant connection to be sure. It is not a judgment based upon “works”
as many evangelicals erroneously assert. But the covenant connection
in the Sheep-Goat Judgment involves a triangle. Three people or three
parties are involved. This is what sets this judgment apart from the
other judgments we see in scripture. A person is either allowed entry
into the Millennium as a sheep or they are cut off and damned as a goat.
This covenant assessment is not made under the basis of a direct covenant
with Messiah. There is not one to be had. These people are gentiles.
They are outside the covenant of salvation. They do not have a saving
knowledge and a relationship with the God of Israel. If they did they
would not be considered gentiles. Rather, this judgment is an indirect
second order covenant. It is based upon the witness of a third party.
And the covenant with Messiah is confirmed through the sponsoring witness
of that third party contact, someone who does know Messiah.
The Sheep-Goat Judgment as we see it outlined in Matthew 25:31-46 a
blood covenant judgment. It sets forth the basis for the returning Messiah’s
judgment of the people of the nations. This judgment will occur after
the Battle of Armageddon at the end of the age.
It is important
to understand that this is a judgment made here on earth. It is not
the Final Judgment of souls before the throne of God. This is not the
entry into the pearly gates of heaven. Nor is it the judgment seat of
Christ. The entry of souls into the heavenly realms is not in view here.
The people in question here are those remaining on the earth in their
mortal bodies at the end of this age. The saints, both the living and
the dead, have been raised up or harpazod. They will have already been
glorified at the Resurrection-harpazo. They will be in new spiritual
bodies not unlike the sort of body Jesus was seen with after His resurrection.
The sheep and the goats will be those left behind on earth.
The Sheep-Goat Judgment is not the judgment of souls for entry into
heaven. Rather, it is a judgment of living mortal individuals here on
earth before they are permitted entry into the earthly Millennium of
Messiah. This is a covenant matter between God and mankind. The returning
Messiah is back on earth judging the nations. After the awful history
of humanistic mankind during the Apocalypse Messiah has every right
to come in judgment of the nations. Because man-centered government
during the final seven years of this age will have brought this planet
to the very brink of disaster.
The sheep and the goats are people
who remain here on earth and are at the threshold of the new Millennium.
This is that glorious new age which will be established by Messiah for
a literal 1,000 years. He has every right to judge who comes into His
Kingdom. and to accept or reject whomsoever He wills. The scriptures
are quite clear as to what happens. The sheep will enter in. The goats
will not.
Here in this judgment we see certain mortals being
given permission to pass into the Messiah’s earthly Kingdom. The
Sheep-Goat Judgment is the judgment of the gentiles or heathen nations.
Christian and Messianic believers, those who had been in direct personal
covenant with Christ/Messiah are not in view here. At the time of the
Sheep-Goat Judgment they will no longer be earthbound mortals. They
will have been glorified. They will no longer be bound by time or space.
Jubilee
Leviticus 25:8-13 And thou shalt number
seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the
seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.
Then shalt thou
cause the trumpet of the jubile(H8643
“teruah”) to sound on the tenth [day] of the seventh
month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all
your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty
throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile
unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return
every man unto his family. A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye
shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather [the
grapes] in it of thy vine undressed. For it [is] the jubile; it shall be holy
unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. In the year of
this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.
For feasts like
Pesach Seder (Unleavened Bread) and
Sukkot
(Tabernacles), the feast is for seven days and the eight day is a holy
convocation. Following this pattern on a longer schedule,
Shavuot (Feast of
Weeks), or Pentecost counts 7 weeks from the day after
firstfruits
during Unleavened Bread and the day after is a holy convocation.
Jubilee extends that timing out even more where it is the length of a year
following 7 Sabbath years, or 49 years. The following year on Yom Kippur
is the Jubilee on 10 Tishri. It is interesting that the same word
translated as Jubilee is the word used for blowing of the feast of
trumpets, “teruah.” So every 50th year on Yom Teruah is the
memorial blowing of trumpets and 10 days later on Yom Kippur is another
trumpet sounded memorializing the year of jubilee.
Historically this was not followed or well documented so there are
lots of different ideas of when these 50th years are supposed to happen.
Currently the most intriguing one is presented in the
Messiah
2030 documentary series.
List of Dates
Yom Kippur will occur on the following days of the secular calendar:
Jewish Year 5784: sunset September 24, 2023 - nightfall
September 25, 2023
Jewish Year 5785: sunset October 11, 2024 - nightfall October
12, 2024
Jewish Year 5786: sunset October 1, 2025 - nightfall October 2,
2025
Jewish Year 5787: sunset September 20, 2026 - nightfall
September 21, 2026
Jewish Year 5788: sunset October 10, 2027 - nightfall October
11, 2027
Jewish Year 5789: sunset September 29, 2028 - nightfall
September 30, 2028
Jewish Year 5790: sunset September 18, 2029 - nightfall
September 19, 2029
Jewish Year 5791: sunset October 6, 2030 - nightfall October 7,
2030
“Be not overcome
of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21
Watchman Bible Study | 2005 - 2023
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