The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, is one of God's appointed times that he told us to observe. Leviticus 23:26-28, "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the Lord. And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God.'
Yom Kippur follows the Feast of Trumpets and is before Sukkot. These are at harvest times, and it is no coincidence that Yeshua uses harvest analogies to make His point.
Matthew 13:24-30
He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’
The Day of Atonement is the time when the weeds and the wheat are separated. Christ's atonement in the heavenly places for our sins has been done and he comes to collect the elect. Those that God has chosen. What happens to the rest? Burned.
Yom Kippur is to remind us that eternity with God or eternity in Hell is very real. All of the things that God has instructed through the Bible point to Christ's propitiation of His sacrifice for His chosen people and their spending eternity with God. This is commanded that we observe this day forever.
We are not to do any work and afflict ourselves. Some think this means take a Sabbath and to fast. 119 Ministries has a good teaching "Is Yom Kippur a Day of Fasting" that has a good explanation as to why it is not a command. The bottom line is that the word "afflict" used in the Scripture to keep this day means to humble yourself like a slave to his master. This combined with it being on a Sabbath day means it is a time for reflection and to humbly evaluate one's self and to contemplate how we can serve our God, and what in our lives need to change.
Now fasting can help accomplish this, but it is not commanded by God. In my experience a church turns this into a command and it amounts to a lot of people starving and the focus is on being hungry as opposed to getting right with God. Israel was supposed to bring a food offering on this day when the head priest would go into the Holy of Holies in order to present to God the atoning sacrifice, so priests ended up eating and everyone else got to watch?
Jews call this day the holiest day of the year because they understand that atonement through blood is needed for the forgiveness of sin. Christ gave this atonement as a perfect sacrifice as the Passover Lamb, and in Hebrews Chapter 9 it says as the high priest He went to the Holy Place in heaven and atoned for His people there. This was a perfect sacrifice in the presence of God, and it provided sanctification for all of God's chosen people forever.
God does not want anyone to perish.
2 Peter 3:9-13
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Yom Kippur is the day each person will be judged and rewarded or punished.
I have been asked "how can a good, loving God allow horrible suffering?" Sin and wicked people have been allowed to exist because God wants people to repent and come to Him. Yom Kippur is the day when everything is made straight. There will be no more sin, suffering, and wickedness. God is concerned about the end game, and in the end sorrow is turned to joy and there will only be righteousness.
God has commanded us to observe this day. Humbly focus on how incredible it is that God chose us and sent His son to die for us. We deserve death, but God gives us grace.
May God bless you and your family.
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