Morning: Leviticus 16; Numbers 29:7-11
Isaiah 52:13-53:12; 57:14-58:14

Afternoon: Leviticus 17-18
Jonah 1-4; Micah 7:18-20

Long ago, the Jewish sages created reading calendars to be read annually throughout all the synagogues every sabbath. They are the Parsha (from the Torah, the first five books of the Bible), and the Haftarah (selected readings from the prophetic books of the Old Testament). Today, I continue my series exploring the Messiah in each of these portioned readings that was planned and scheduled in ancient days and appointed for our present days. For October 2 this year, the readings are cited above. I would encourage you to read those passages first before you read my post, or at least read them in tandem.

Yom Kippur is the only biblically mandated fast day or Israel. The day is spent in prayer for forgiveness of sins. At the close of the day, the final shofar is sounded, a long extended blast, and by tradition it is believed that the fate of each individual is determined for the next year, whether they will be written in the Book of Life or not. The days leading up to that moment are called the Days of Awe, when people should be repenting of their sins. The way they respond during the Days of Awe determines their fate when the final shofar resounds on Yom Kippur. Similarly, the one who repents of their sins and puts their faith in the Great High Priests, Jesus, who atoned for them once and for all will have his name put in the Book of Life (Rev. 20:12-15).

Hebrews 3:7-19 says,

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸ do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
    on the day of testing in the wilderness,
⁹ where your fathers put me to the test
    and saw my works for forty years.
¹⁰ Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
    they have not known my ways.’
¹¹ As I swore in my wrath,
    ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

¹² Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. ¹³ But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. ¹⁵ As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

¹⁶ For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? ¹⁷ And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? ¹⁹ So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

The day for repenting will end one day, and the books will be opened. When that moment occurs, it’s too late to jump books. Now is the time to ensure your name is in the Book of Life though repentance and faith. There are so many directions I could go with my post for this day, but I will leave it with an excerpt from the Haftarah for Yom Kippur and the lyrics I wrote for a song during a long drive with a headache brought upon me by the woes of this world. The more I praised God in my affliction, the more the song flowed, and the headache actually subsided. On Yom Kippur, Jews are supposed to afflict themselves, fasting all day.

Deuteronomy 8:3 says, “that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Fasting takes away the material distractions and desires and brings a person closer to their truer and deeper need, their spiritual need.

In Isaiah 58:6-12, which is taken from Yom Kippur’s Haftarah, God says,

“Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of wickedness,
    to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
    and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
    the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
if you pour yourself out for the hungry
    and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be as the noonday.
And the Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your desire in scorched places
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters do not fail.
 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to dwell in.

Amen. The following is a song I wrote last month, but I found many similarities between this and Isaiah.

You are all that’s good.
You’re my spirit’s food.
You are Living Water in a dry wasteland.
You are all I need.
I follow where You lead.
You are the Rock in the desert sand.

You are the Rock of Moses and Hannah,
For You were broken to feed Israel.
You are the Rock of David and Daniel,
The Heaven-Hewn Stone to rule over all.

You are all that’s good.
You’re my spirit’s food.
You are Living Water in a dry wasteland.
You are all I need.
I follow wherever You lead.
You are the Rock in the desert sand.

You are the Bread of Life sent from Heaven.
You are the Manna come down from On High.
You are the Word of God that was brought to us
Like the clearest purest sapphire sky.

You are all that’s good.
You are my spirit’s food.
You are Living Water in a dry wasteland.
You are all I need.
I follow where You lead.
You are the Rock in the desert sand.

You are the Living Water from the rock that Moses struck.
You are the River that watered Eden.
You are the River that will flow forth from Zion
To water earth from end to end.

You are all that’s good.
You’re my spirit’s food.
You are Living Water in a dry wasteland.
You are all I need.
I follow wherever You lead.
You are the Rock in the shifting sand.

You are my God and I am in Your hand.
You are all that’s good.

Until next time, God bless you.