Shana Tova!

It means “good New Year for you.” And even though Rosh Hashanah, the head of the Jewish New Year 5778, was last week, we continue to pray for a good New Year for you. In fact, let’s join together during this season of the Fall Feasts to pray for Jewish people around the world, that they will not only have a good year, but also be blessed in the Messiah.

Yom Kippur, observed sundown on September 29 through sundown September 30 this year, is the Day of Atonement from Leviticus 16. Jewish people view the Ten Days of Awe leading up to Yom Kippur as a critical window of time to ensure one’s name is written in the Book of Life through repentance, seeking forgiveness and good deeds. As believers in Yeshua, we know that it is through Him alone that we are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, whether Jew or Gentile.

During this time of year, let’s pray for:

• A fresh revelation of the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Yeshua the Messiah for ourselves as Believers and for all who will receive Him
• The Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to convict of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8)
• God’s kindness in restraining judgment to lead people to repentance (Romans 2:4)
• Jewish people to accept Yeshua as Messiah and Savior. As Acts 4:12 tells us, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (TLV)

Sukkot, or the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles), is a festive time of fellowship which comes after Yom Kippur. It is a time of remembering the Lord’s faithfulness to the Children of Israel in the wilderness. As Jewish people look up to the starry night skies through the branches covering the sukkah (booth) – which many build in their backyards or over balconies and porches – they are also reminded of God’s promises to make Abraham a great nation. This weeklong holiday looks forward to when the Lord will truly dwell, or tabernacle, among His people – the day when Yeshua returns to Earth.

It’s a great time to pray for:

• Greater unity between Messianic Jewish and Gentile Believers as a witness to the Jewish people of Yeshua as the Messiah
• The nations to be open to the Good News of Yeshua, for the strengthening of Believers there, and for the salvation of those who don’t know Him
• Jewish people worldwide to be drawn to return to live in the land of Israel. Sukkot is a picture of pilgrimage to Jerusalem

We pray: Lord, in our day, we ask that You will fulfill the prophetic symbolism of the Fall Feasts when we will be gathered together around the Lamb of God, Yeshua. Thank You that You are drawing people from every tongue, tribe and nation to intercede for all Israel to recognize Yeshua as their long-awaited Messiah. May this year draw us closer to the time when the people of Israel say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matthew 23:39). In Yeshua’s name, amen.

Jewish tradition teaches that every Rosh Hashanah (rosh ha-SHAH-nah), the Lord pronounces judgment for the coming year for each person’s life. Ten days later, on Yom Kippur (yom kih-POUR), tradition holds that He seals the judgment.

The days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, known as the Days of Awe, are a time of reflection in which Jewish people focus on repentance, giving to charity and pursuing reconciliation with God and man. They do so in hope of securing a favorable judgment from the Lord for the year to come and being inscribed in the Book of Life.

Yom Kippur literally means “Day of Atonement.” It is the holiest day of the Jewish year, accompanied by fasting, extensive prayer and introspection. Services in the synagogue focus on the recitation and proclamation of the numerous passages in the Hebrew Scriptures that declare the Lord will forgive the sins of the people of Israel. These Scriptural declarations are believed to serve as substitution for the sacrifices that can longer be made in the absence of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Messianic Jews around the world often join with the broader Jewish community in the observances of Yom Kippur. As we do, we reflect on the gifts of Yeshua that add to our commemoration of this most holy day on the biblical calendar.

The Gifts of Confession, Forgiveness and Salvation

One of the main prayers in the synagogue on Yom Kippur is the confession of an extensive and specific list of 44 sins codified in the prayer referred to as the Al Chet (meaning, “for the sin”). This prayer is based on the confession of “all the iniquities of the children of Israel” that the High Priest was instructed to make over the scapegoat (Leviticus 16:21-22).

This specific list is believed to have been handed down through the centuries from Moses and Aaron and recorded by the sages and rabbis of Israel. Often times, the person reciting the prayer strikes his chest with the naming of each specific sin. This is a sign of grief over having committed that sin. This confession, along with teshuva (teh-SHOO-vah), which means repentance, is believed to grant forgiveness for the penitent of heart.

As Messianic Jews, those who declare Yeshua as the promised Messiah of Israel, we join this prayer with great confidence that our confession of sin leads to forgiveness, and our confession of Him as Messiah also assures us of salvation!

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

“For if you confess with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

We often add to our Yom Kippur petitions the plea that our people would share in the assurance of the forgiveness of sin and the salvation that can only be found in Yeshua.

The Gift of Redemption from Sin

The word “atone” means to “cover.” When we seek atonement for sin before the Lord, we are asking that He would cover our sins. The Torah-prescribed practices of Yom Kippur are the means by which the Lord said He would cover the sins of the children of Israel year after year. The writer of Hebrews affirms that the blood of goats and bulls has power to cleanse us.

“For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh” (Hebrews 9:13 ESV).

While affirming that power, Hebrews also identifies the limits to the power of the blood of animal sacrifices, saying that it cannot take sin away.

“…for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).

“Indeed, every [priest] stands day by day serving and offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins” (Hebrews 10:11).

Speaking of Yeshua’s sacrifice, the writer of Hebrews states:

“He entered into the Holies once for all—not by the blood of goats and calves but by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12).

“…He is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that those called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – since a death has taken place that redeems them from violations under the first covenant” (Hebrews 9:15).

As Messianic Jews join other Jewish people around the world to commemorate Yom Kippur, we call on the Lord to make atonement for our sin, and, while we ask Him to cover it, we also have great confidence in Yeshua’s sacrifice to have redeemed us from sin, that is, to take it away completely. How much more there is for us in Messiah’s blood in the Heavenly Holy of Holies! Not just a covering of our sin, but redemption from it historically, today and eternally. Oh, that our people, Israel, would join us in the redemption from sin found in Yeshua!

The Gift of Being Sealed in the Lamb’s Book of Life

The practices of Yom Kippur are observed with the goal of having one’s name written in the Book of Life. Moses, David, Daniel and Malachi all refer to books where people’s names are written. Moses and the Lord indicate that those whose sins are forgiven are written there (Exodus 32:32-33). David refers to it as the “Book of the Living” where the righteous are written (Psalm 69:28). Daniel states that those from the people of Israel who are written in this book will be delivered at the time of the end (Daniel 12:1). Malachi refers to those remembered for fearing the Lord and meditating on His Name being written there (Malachi 3:16).

From these biblical expectations – forgiveness of sins, indication of righteousness, deliverance and remembrance – Jewish people seek the Lord through prayer and Scripture recitation at Yom Kippur, asking Him to write them in the Book of Life.

John the Beloved refers to the Book of Life five times in his Revelation of Yeshua the Messiah, which was canonized as the Book of Revelation at the end of the New Covenant Scriptures (Revelation 13, 17, 20, 21). John adds something that is not explicit in the references from the Hebrew Scriptures: that the Book of Life belongs to the Lamb.

“…written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain” (Revelation 13:8).

“But there shall by no means enter [New Jerusalem] anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life” (Revelation 21:27, NKJV).

Who is this Lamb? He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David (Revelation 5:5). He is the one redeemed us to God by His blood (Revelation 5:9); he is the One to whom blessing, honor, glory and power are due, the One who sits on the Throne (Revelation 5:13).

Yeshua owns the Book of Life. And He is the One who secures those written there.

Oh Yeshua, make Yourself known to our people Israel! May this year be the year that they call on You and are inscribed in the Lamb’s Book of Life!

These Gifts are Available to All

In recounting the gifts of Yeshua in the practices of Yom Kippur for Messianic Jewish people, it is important to know that these gifts are freely available to all who will call upon Him.

“For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever trusts in Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all – richly generous to all who call on Him. For ‘Everyone who calls upon the name of Adonai shall be saved’” (Romans 10:11-13).

The traditions of Yom Kippur, derived from the Scriptures, point us to the redemption in the blood of Yeshua shed once for all. Anyone who follows Him, Jew or Gentile, can walk in the gifts He has given us. Those gifts are commemorated by the holy day of Yom Kippur.

For Reflection:

• Take some time to reflect on these Yom Kippur gifts given by Yeshua, and thank Him for them.

• How do they affect your daily interaction with God?

• What steps can you take to more fully rest in these gifts?

“The effective prayer of a righteous person is very powerful” (James 5:16 TLV)

hank you so much for your prayers for our recent Mberengwa Outreach in Zimbabwe. God used your prayer to undergird the ministry taking place during the Outreach in Mberengwa, and we saw great fruit.

With your prayers, we were able to treat thousands of patients during the week. Hundreds visited the prayer room and many were transformed with new life in Messiah when they came to faith in Yeshua (Jesus). 

As a further item of praise, on Wednesday, September 13, Jewish Voice welcomed our 400,000th Medical Outreach recipient since we began this program in Ethiopia in 1999. 

We ask for your continued prayer support as we work toward reaching more people around the globe with the Good News in 2018. 

Yom Kippur (YOM kih-POUR), or the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the Jewish year. It is the day when, in Israel’s history, the entire year’s sins were forgiven and removed making the way for reconciliation with the holy God.

The Hebrew Scriptures provide instructions for the Day of Atonement in Leviticus chapters 16 and 23 as well as Numbers chapter 29.

Most of the priest’s duties for the day centered on the Temple where he offered sacrifices, burned incense and, on this one day alone each year, brought the blood of sacrifices into the Holy of Holies before the very presence of God.

He also ceremoniously laid – via confession – all Israel’s sin on the head of a male goat chosen by lots. This scapegoat – which is the origin of the term we know – was then led outside the camp into the wilderness, signifying the removal of sin from the people.

For nearly 2,000 years, fully observing the Day of Atonement according to God’s instructions in the Torah has been impossible.

That’s because in 70 A.D., the Second Temple was destroyed. How do God’s chosen people observe the Day of Atonement without a Temple? Without the sacrifices and sprinkling of blood? Over time, Jewish rabbis and sages developed new rituals to retain the meaning and holiness of Yom Kippur.

Today, the focus remains on man’s need of atonement for sin. Jewish tradition teaches that, in the post-Temple age, Jewish people find atonement through confession, repentance and prayer to God and reconciliation among individuals. According to the Rabbis, Yom Kippur is a day when God seals a person’s destiny for the coming year. According to this teaching, on Rosh Hashanah, He decrees His judgment, and people have the opportunity during the following 10 Days of Awe to affect that proclamation before God seals it on the Day of Atonement.

Jewish people observe the holy day according to the Scriptures as they can without the Temple. God set apart this day as one in which to “afflict one’s soul” (Leviticus 16:29), so Jewish people fast from food, drink and various other pleasures and comforts for the 25 hours from just before sunset to just after sunset of Yom Kippur. God also declared it a complete Sabbath rest (Leviticus 16:31), and no work is done. The day is traditionally spent in synagogue where congregational worship includes Torah readings and special prayers and liturgy.

The Holy of Holies was the innermost part of the Temple. It was the place where God’s presence dwelled and where only one man could enter once a year by following detailed instructions. The moment Yeshua (Jesus) died on a tree, some 30 years before the Second Temple’s destruction, the veil in front of the Holy of Holies was torn in two. It was not split from the bottom up as a man might do. It was ripped from above, from top to bottom – as God would do. Why?

The New Covenant explains that Yeshua made complete atonement for us, and now, in likeness to the Temple in Jerusalem, Believers have the Spirit of the Lord dwelling in us.

“Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that the Ruach Elohim (Spirit of God) dwells among you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

“…for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:17).

With Yeshua’s death, the ultimate atoning sacrifice for sin was made. Yeshua did not have to make atonement for Himself first when He went into the heavenly Holy of Holies, and He brought His own blood before the Mercy Seat. He is the perfect High Priest, intervening and mediating on our behalf to reconcile us to God for eternity. He offered Himself up once for all.

“He has no need to offer up sacrifices day by day like those other [high priests] – first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people. For when He offered up Himself, He did this once for all” (Hebrews 7:27).

“But when Messiah appeared as Kohen Gadol [High Priest] … He entered into the Holies once for all – not by the blood of goats and calves but by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12).

“When this One offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God – waiting from then on, until His enemies are made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering, He has perfected forever those being made holy” (Hebrews 10:12-14).

The veil was torn in two because ultimate atonement is now available through Yeshua for those who call upon Him.

Yom Kippur also bears a prophetic significance. Each of the biblical Feasts, God’s appointed times or moedim (mo-eh-DEEM), foreshadow God’s redemptive plan. The Spring Feasts have been fulfilled in Yeshua’s First Coming. Passover, Firstfruits and Shavuot point to His death, resurrection and the giving of the Holy Spirit. The Fall Feasts of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot will be fulfilled with His Second Coming. When Yeshua returns, Israel will recognize Him as their King, and all the nations will acknowledge Him as King of kings and Lord of lords – the provider of and provision for atonement.

I’m writing to tell you about an ambitious project to document every word in the Hebrew language. It marks the next step in the miraculous revival of a language once believed by some to be dead.

Hebrew as a spoken language began to fade after Jewish people were scattered around the world through various exiles and other events. For many centuries, Hebrew was used only in its written form.

In the late 19th century, reviving spoken Hebrew became a vital part of the Zionist movement as Jews began to resettle in the land of their ancestors. When Eliezer Ben Yehuda, known as the father of modern Hebrew, successfully brought the spoken language back to life, it was considered a remarkable achievement.

Not only was that revival successful, Hebrew is now the official language of Israel. This is considered the only example in history of such a dramatic revival of a language.

There’s no question about the nature of this linguistic revival in the mind of Gabriel Birnbaum, Senior Researcher for the Historical Dictionary Project at Israel’s Academy of the Hebrew Language.

“It’s a miracle,” says Birnbaum, who moved to Israel from Hungary when he was 6 years old.

An audacious vision

As reported in the Times of Israel, Birnbaum is part of a team working in Jerusalem on a project to document and define every Hebrew word ever used – from ancient texts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls to the works of contemporary Israeli writers.

Although the undertaking first started in 1959, it’s far from complete.

Essentially, the task is to create an exhaustive historical dictionary of the Hebrew language, comparable to the monumental Oxford English Dictionary.

Birnbaum says that he and his fellow researchers “understand that we do something very important for the Jewish people.”

But Hebrew’s unique history and the fact that it was revived after 1,700 years gives this project added importance, “for linguistics in general, also, because it’s a huge linguistic project in itself,” said Birnbaum.

“The day is short and the task is great.”

The researchers seek to comprehensively include all of the few available works of ancient literature. For later eras, where many examples exist, only representative samples are chosen.

Ben-Yehuda, who died in 1922, began work on the first modern Hebrew dictionary. Today, 25 people work to complete the project he started.

Some 50,000 entries are already included along with linguistic analysis, and definitions began to be written in 2005 – a major milestone.

“I don’t think anybody would even venture [a guess as to] how many years” it will take to complete it, the project’s Associate Editor, Steven Fassberg, told the Times.

Birnbaum seems undaunted by the size of the task. He points out a plaque, which once hung above Yehuda’s desk, quoting a traditional Jewish teaching: “The day is short and the task is great.”

Our task is great, too

In a similar way, as I consider the task we have been called to by God, it might easily be overwhelming. But your faithful prayers and support sustain us. As we stand together for Israel and the Jewish people, you are a great encouragement to me and the entire team at Jewish Voice Ministries.

As you know, this ministry has been called to bless Israel through bringing humanitarian aid and the love of Yeshua (Jesus) to Jewish people throughout the world. Your support helps us accomplish this, and we are so grateful.

Please consider a gift of support today. Give now to reach Jewish people around the world with help, healing and the Good News of the Messiah of Israel. Your partnership will carry forward this work in the name of Yeshua.

To show our appreciation for your gift of $35 or more today, we’ll send you two special Hebrew gifts. The Hebrew Trainer software package teaches you how to speak the holy language of Hebrew. The Ancient Alphabet Chart compares ancient and modern Hebrew alphabets for a historical glimpse at the language throughout the ages.

Again, thank you for choosing to partner with us. Your support is changing lives around the world.

A Good and Sweet New Year to You!

The Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, invites reflection and expectation as we consider the previous year and look ahead to the next.

As we welcome the year 5778, we rejoice with you in the greatest gifts ever given: eternal life through Yeshua HaMashiach – Jesus the Jewish Messiah – and confidence of being sealed in the Lamb’s book of life!

May you have a blessed holiday and New Year.

Praying you will have a sweet New Year
Filled with
His delightful presence,
comforting shalom
and joyful love!