A Word Study for Christians
Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement: A Word Study for Christians
By Mary Katherine May (2 September 2010)
In Leviticus 23: 26-28 God explains to the Israelites the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for God’s chosen people, occurs on the tenth day of the Jewish month of Tishrei, ascribed as the day that Moses brought the second set of tablets with the Ten Commandments to God’s chosen people at Mount Sinai …because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. (Leviticus 16:30).
What does the Day of Atonement mean for the Jews? How does it fit into God’s continuing plan for Christians? A better understanding will come to light by looking at how the Hebrew root word translated as “atonement” is used in the Torah--what Christians call the Pentateuch—the first five books of the Old Testament. We will see how this adds to our understanding of what the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ means for Christians, as well as see how this perspective adds to the view of the Holy Bible, from beginning to end as one unfolding of God’s plan for man created in His image.
Yom Kippur
A good place to begin is with kippur, as in Yom Kippur. The holiest day of the Jewish year is spent fasting, in prayer and at the synagogue, confessing sin and asking forgiveness. The prayer of confession for Yom Kippur is named Al Chet, a long prayer that is repeated at least eight times throughout the day. Al Chet is prayed using the corporate “we,” take seriously the responsibility that all share in the well being of the group.
Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins explains, When an individual Jew celebrates, the whole community rejoices; when he weeps, the community shares his grief with him; when he sins, the whole community shares his sin. The group recitation of the confessional is intended to remind us that the failure of the individual is very often the result of the shortcomings of the society or community in which one lives.
Written Hebrew language contains no vowels, and thus kippur is spelled K.P.R. Rabbi Menachem Leibtag offers excellent insight on how K.P.R. is used in the Pentateuch. He explains how derivatives of K.P.R. all point to how protection is provided by the God who loves His people.
• Protective Coating: (Genesis 6:14) In this case, k.p.r. in the Torah refers to the coating (kofer=pitch) that God told Noah to use on the Ark to protect the gopher wood. Here not only the coating (noun) but also the coating procedure (verb) stem for the same root word (k.p.r.)
• Protection Gift: (Genesis 32:20) After a long separation, twin brothers Jacob and Esau are their way to meeting again. Jacob, fearing for his family and for himself due to the circumstances of their parting, sends a gift to appease or pacify Esau, hoping that it will keep his brother from attacking him. Appease (pacify) is translated from k.p.r. (kaphar).
• Ground Covering: (Exodus 16:14) Here k.p.r. is rendered kefore, which the NIV translates as frost on the ground. In essence, the manna that fell so profusely covering like frost on the ground was protection for life, because this is what sustained the Israelites for forty years in the wilderness.
• Protection Money: (Exodus 21:30, Numbers 35:31) Again, kopher (k.p.r.) used once to instruct when money may be accepted in lieu of punishment and when money may not be taken as an atonement for a crime.
• Protective Covering: (Ex. 25:21, Genesis 3:24, Exodus 26:31) Rabbi Leibtag explains the difference between a simple lid for the holy ark in which the Ten Commandments tables were placed, and God’s directions for creating its cover. Kaporet (k.p.r.) is translated in the NIV Bible as cover on top of the ark, yet perhaps the meaning is clearer in the KJV Bible, where the same is translated into English as mercy seat.
Further evidence of the kaporet’s protective nature are the cherubim placed at the two ends of the ark’s covering by directing readers to where keruv (cherubim) are found guarding the way to the Tree of Life.
Kippurim, Kapara
• Sprinkling of blood from the offering as
protection
• Sprinkling of blood as atonement for sin
• A Preparation,
readiness for holiness in the presence of God
Exodus 29. Thus far we have seen how the Hebrew K.P.R. is used to describe God’s protection for the ark that Noah built, people, and for a location: the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. We now turn to a directional rendering, kippurim. God gives instruction for consecrating the priests and rituals for purifying (atoning) from sin, which then sanctifies (makes holy) the Tent of Meeting in preparation for the Lord to dwell among the Israelites. Please notice the order of what happens: > consecration (make holy, prepare, be set apart) > atonement (K.P.R.: cover over, purge, reconcile) > (a) They will know that I am the LORD their GOD (Proverbs 3: 13, 18) and (b) that I might dwell among them (settle down, abide, reside).
Exodus 32. After Moses received the Tablets at Mount Sinai, most of us will recall what happened next—he found the Israelites worshipping a statue—a calf made of gold. Moses went to God, asking that the descendents of Abraham, those who He had promised to make into a great nation, that they not be destroyed for their disobedience. God allowed them to live, though their names were blotted out of the Book of Life. Through Moses’ pleading God granted protection from His wrath, though their sin was not forgotten.
At-one-ment. The reconciliation between God and man brought about by Jesus’ willingness to go to the cross as our substitute is sometimes referred to by recreating the word atonement into at-one-ment, and rightly so, for we are no longer separated from God by sin—but there is more. We are washed in the blood and made whiter than snow--yet it is also protective covering that sustains, gives new life, and keeps us separated from sin. It is the mercy seat, a place of rest, a shelter from the storms of life.
Matthew 25:40b, Matthew 6:10-14. For the Jewish people, the covering of sin (protection from sin) is not the same as forgiveness of sin, but rather two distinct acts. It also must be noted that forgiveness on Yom Kippur accounts only for one year’s sin.
For the Christian, forgiveness implies a freedom, a release, and the ability to move ahead knowing that living within the life of Christ will bring ultimate victory. The Mount Sinai story demonstrates the difference—yes, the sins were covered, but not forgotten. There is forgiveness for sins against God on Yom Kippur. There is the possibility of redemption but only by man’s ability to not sin.
For Christians there is no difference, as any sin is a sin not only against man but also against God. Christ said, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me,” and “whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” (Matthew 25: 41b, 45 b.)
Even so, through Christ there is complete redemption, in Christ there is freedom from sin. In Christ all of the protective K.P.R. is found. In Christ the final kippurim has taken place—the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross is our protective covering and redemption. We now have the ability through the turning over of our will to God to once and for all time grow away from sin, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:13) And by Christ’s blood we may claim right now a place with Him in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 2:6) Amen.
Mary and husband, Rick May, own Quality Music and Books, an online Christian music, book and gift webstore, based in Minneapolis, MN.
