Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together”, says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.”
The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur in Hebrew, was the single most important day during the time of Yeshua (Jesus) and still holds utmost significance in Israel and among Jews worldwide today.
I mentioned that every year the high priest would sacrifice a goat and sprinkle its blood on the altar for the atonement of the people. But there were actually two goats sacrificed on this day. One’s blood was sprinkled on the altar but the other was led to a cliff in the wilderness, where it would meet its end. This goat was called the “scapegoat” – it represented the “carrying away” of the iniquities of the children of Israel.
It is in connection with this ceremony, that an interesting tradition arose which is mentioned in the Mishna, an ancient Jewish commentary. A crimson colored sash would be placed on the door of the Temple before that second goat was sent into the wilderness. When the goat died, somehow the sash would mysteriously turn to white. And this was a sign to Israel that God had accepted their sacrifice and their sins were forgiven. The Mishna goes on to say, however, that something mysteriously happened in 30 AD, approximately forty years before the destruction of the Second Temple. Despite the continued goat sacrifices each year, the sash never turned to white again.
Hmm. What other very significant thing happened about this very time? Yeshua (Jesus) died.
Two thousand years ago, the final sacrifice was made for the atonement of our sins and for the sins of all who would believe. Yes! Yeshua is the Messiah! He has died and risen again! He rules at the right hand of our Father and He is interceding for us right now! Let’s pray for the world’s eyes to be opened today! There’s so much work to be done!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]If you keep a grain of wheat in your pocket, it will look exactly the same ten years from now. But place it in the right environment -- some good ground, enough water -- it will sprout into a living sheaf of grain!
This coming Sunday will mark the beginning of Pesach (Passover) Season on the Hebrew calendar. On Sunday morning, it will be the 10th of Nisan the very same day that Yeshua (Jesus) would have entered Jerusalem 2000 years ago. Every 10th of Nisan, four days before Pesach, the children of Israel would choose a lamb for the Passover sacrifice. Each man would take a lamb for his household. Four days were required to inspect the animal to make sure it was perfect and without blemish.
I'm not sure where I read it, but the idea has always been ingrained in my mind -- if you want to be a good teacher, be a good student. When Yeshua (Jesus) lived on the earth, his disciples were called "talmudim". The Hebrew literally means "students". "Talmudim" comes from the verb, "Lilmod", "to learn". In essence, talmudim are learners.
Psalms 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. In Budapest, a man goes to the rabbi and complains, "Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. ...
A survey asked mothers to keep track of how many times they made both negative and positive comments to their children. The surveyed mothers admitted that they criticized at least ten times for every one time they said something favorable. Another survey taken in one city's schools found that the teachers were negative seventy five per cent of the time. This study concluded that it takes four positive statements to a child from a parent or teacher to offset the effects of one negative statement. Wow, when I think about how many times I've said negative things to people in my lifetime, I have some positive paying back to do!
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Have you ever noticed that most of our phone conversations go something like this? You call, say a word or two, they'll say a short thing or two in reply and then something like "Ok, in the middle of something, gotta run, talk to you later"! That's a good example of most of our telephone conversations with people when we were living in the United States.