GRACE AND YOM KIPPUR
Once Tish B’Av has
passed and the month of Elul is inaugurated a Jew can’t help but feel the
weighty awe and solemness of the season. To remember that Elul leads to the New
Year (Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets) and that leads us to Yom Kippur
(the Day of Atonement), the single most solemn day of the entire year; a day
when even non-practicing Jews get Jewish. A day when the Levitical Priests of
days gone by would enter the Holy of Holies in the Temple and sprinkle the
blood on the Ark of the Covenant, G-d’s Throne on Earth, to confess and make
atonement for sin on behalf of all Israel. The time of the season when it is
said that the Books in Heaven are open and G-d balances the Books and sets all
the accounts and seals the events for the New Year, one can’t help but be in
silent awe. One can’t help recoiling into oneself to take spiritual inventory
of the year that has just gone by.
After the last
apple is dipped in honey to symbolize a sweet start to the New Year is eaten
and once everyone has been greeted with, “La Shannah Tova!”, and once the last
blast of the Shofar has sounded one is left hearing the reverberating echo in
the soul that acts as a supernatural alarm clock that shakes and wakes the soul
from its summer slumber.
One begins to see
the leaves on the trees begin to drain of color from a hearty, thick, rich,
lush, green, to a pail sickly yellow, as if the trees are even in awe of the
impending Judgment of Yom Kippur. One begins to truly understand the phrase,
“turning over a new leaf”.
You see, during
the month of Elul, we have 30 days to take an account of the entire year. To
replay those security tapes in our brains, to try and recall if we have wronged
anyone in anyway. To make a list of things we need to make right. To make a
list of people we need to seek forgiveness from and make amends with. It is
such a humbling and beautiful thing. 30 days to make sure everything is right
between me and my fellow man. Then comes Rosh Hashanah, the New Year, the Feast
of Trumpets, which on the one hand anticipates a great and fresh New Year, and
on the other hand is a shaking to the core. For the shofar blast has announced
the 10 Days of Awe; a time of getting nitty gritty, a time of getting down to
business with the All Mighty G-d. Once you’re cleaned the slate with your
fellow man one can channel every ounce of energy, focusing on their personal
relationship with G-d and making things right between you and Him.
Once Yom Kippur
arrives the Books in Heaven are closed and the unrepentant are blotted out and
the repentant are sealed for a sweet new year, and those that straddle the
fence has one last chance to repent.
Yom Kippur has
been marked by a day of mourning, chest beating, fasting and confessing ones
sins. It’s the saddest, most somber day on the Hebrew Calendar. But have you
noticed that in the English language the word Atonement symbolizes the
potential of that day? At-One-ment. For
this reason I have come to make it one of the most festive days of the year.
For if I’ve truly spent Elul making things right between me and my neighbor,
and if I’ve truly spent the 10 days of Awe making sure things are right between
me and God, then even though I’m denying myself of food and other luxuries as
the Scripture commands (Lev.23:27) I can be so busy thanking and praising God
for His mercy, grace and forgiveness, that I won’t have to time to think of
food, sex or other things I have been commanded to abstain from for that day. I
won’t have to mope around mournfully because my business has already been taken
care of. HalleluYah! Glory be to HaShem! I can look forward to a clean slate
and a fresh start to the New Year. Now I can focus on the plans and dreams God
has for me for Him!
This Elul, this
Rosh Hashanah take care of business. Don’t treat Yom Kippur like April 15th
and wait till the last minute and rush to get the paperwork done. This year
don’t beat your chest and hang your head low on Yom Kippur. Instead, be ready
ahead of time to wave your hands in the air and hold your head toward heaven in
praise and thanks to God for His Goodness, His Loving-Kindness, His mercy that
endures forever and are new every morning.
All too often I
hear how Judaism is full of “legalism” and how there is no Grace until Yeshua
came the first time. Nothing could be further from the Truth. Elul, the month
preceding Yom Kippur the Day of Atonement is all about Grace. Traditionally
Psalm 27 is recited in prayer everyday as well as Exodus 34:6-7
This passage lists the 13 Attributes of God taught in Judaism. Let’s break the verses down and lets just see how much Grace there is in the so-called and misnomer-ed “Old Testament.”
1.
YHWH.
This name denotes mercy. God is merciful even BEFORE a person sins, because He
knows who will sin, how, when and why, He knows the evil lies dormant in every
person.
2.
YHWH.
God is merciful AFTER a person has sinned and has gone astray by not destroying
them and giving them a space to repent.
3.
El.
This name is about power. God’s mercy sometimes surpasses even the degree
indicated by His Name YHWH.
4.
Rachum.
Compassionate; God eases the punishment of the guilty, and He does not put
people into extreme temptation. Just like when a loving father spanks his child
he does not use his full force as he could, but spanks hard enough to hurt, but
not enough to damage.
5.
Ve-Chanun.
And Gracious; even to those who are undeserving.
6.
Erech
Apayim. God is slow to anger so that the sinner can reconsider and repent long
before it is too late.
7.
Ve-Rav
Chesed; …And Abundant in Loving-Kindness…; towards those who lack personal
merits. Let’s say the scales are perfectly balance, it’s as if God purposely
tips them toward the good.
8.
Ve-Emet.
And Truth; God never goes back on His Word or Promises.
9.
Notzer
Chesed La-Alafim. Preserver of Loving-Kindness for thousands of generations;
The deeds of the righteous benefit their descendants way into the future.
10.Nose Avon .
…Forgiver of Iniquity…; God forgives the one who is “torahless” which is what
iniquity implies. HE forgives if they genuinely repent. Meaning doing a 180 and
obeying Torah from then on out.
11.Va-Phesha …And Willful Sin…; Even those who
break Torah on purpose are allowed to repent.
12.VeChataah …And Error; This is a sin
committed out of carelessness and or apathy.
13.VeNake. And Who cleanses; God wipes away
the sins of those who genuinely make teshuvah (repent).
What is the
definition of sin anyway? I John 3:4 tells us:
“Whosoever
committeth sin transgresseth also the law (TORAH): for sin is the transgression
of the law (TORAH).”
Now who said there
was no Grace in the Law?
Kris Shoemaker - Yehudah ben Shomeyr
www.abrahamsdescendants.com
