Yon Kippur, day of judgement,Succot, time of THANKSGIVING

I thought I would finish the Jewish festivals since I started them. Succot has a relationship to Thanksgiving because it is a time of thanksgiving so I thought the appropriate time to post it would be at this time of Thanksgiving. The festival before it is Yon Kippur..

Yon Kippur
Leviticus 23:27
"Also on the tenth day of this seventh month, there shall be a day of atonement, it shall be an holy convocation unto you."
It is the most important day of the Jewish calander. It is also called the great or great festival, the sabbath of sabbaths, the day of judgement, the day of atonement.

There is 24 hours of fasting and prayer from sundown to sundown with morning, noon, afternoon and evening services. The evening service is an all vow service. During the all vow service, a prayer is chanted repeatedly to absolve all vows. It recognizes that sometimes humans don't keep their obligations or promises to god.
Ecclesiastes 7:20
"For there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not"
Deuteronomy 23:21
"When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy god, thou shalt not slack to pay it for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee ..."

The lesson is to not make vows until you are raedy to commit to them."

also Isaiah chapet 64

There is a parayer that is said that is a thousand years old and it is put to a melody. This 1000 year old prayer had a significance during the inquisition in spain when people were persecuting the Jewish people there. They were using the excuse that those who don't believe as they believe, should be punished. The crusades were made with the erroneous premise that if they invade they will persuade. That is not God's way. They are not speaking for God.

There is a scripture that says " I will bless them that bless you and curse them that curse you."

At the time Spain was a world power after the inquisition, Spain began to slowly decline.

During this festival the question is asked "Why have we been fasting?" This question is asked in Isaiah 58:3.

It is to focus on getting spiritually fed, it heightens awareness of that which is spiritual.

It is customary to wear white during this holy festival of Yon Kippur.

Isaiah 1:18
"Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow...."

A practice of Yon Kippur is to immerse in water to be puirified and the story of Jonah is read.

A prayer is said
"For the sin we committed in your sight brought about because of our pride and the sin we committed against you by our own unbelief, for the sin committed we committed in your sight not looking to you, our first love ..."

"We thank you O Lord for the word teachs that you are slow to anger but quick to forgive."

It is said in Jewish philosophy that there is a tendency toward good and a tendency toward evil and both tendencies are within every person.

Isaiah 53:6
"All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
Psalm 32:1 "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered."

The lesson here would be, repentance, not repeating sin and praying for repentance, that God may provide a way to repent, to overcome the tendency, the temptation, to suppress it.

2 Chronicles 7:14
"If my people which are called by my name shal humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear fro heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Humbleness is mentioned as a part of forgiveness. Perhapps humility, recognizing our weaknesses, helps us to repent.

Yon Kippur is the day of atonement. Atonement is reparations for any offense, to pay the penalty. It is reconciliation between God and man, to appease and to extinguish all the guilt incurred, to make amends.

In Hebrew it is a covering.
Leviticus 17:10-11
"For the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." In order to get a covering there would have to be shedding of blood. The shedding of blood shows the awfulness of sin because an innoscent animal has to be sacrificed because of sin. It is an unpleasant thing to witness so people may choose not to sin.

I guess the lesson is the God wants us to see that sin hurt the innoscent or ourselves and it is a transgression against God., His laws. It seperates us from God.

When adam and Eve were seperated from God because of transgression, Adam had to shed innoscent blood to make a covering of skins for their bodies as well as to make a covering for sin.

God wants to recover us and allow us to be in His presence again. He also wants us to have a personal relationship with Him in prayer as Adam had when he walked and talked with God.

In the past the High priest made an atonement as a mediator. He would immerse in water and put on linen garments and take two goats and cast lots, one goat was killed to be the sacrifice and the othet goat made a scape goat by placing hands upon it and confessing all the people's sins.

I mentioned that the 1000 year old prayer had a special significance during the inquisition in spain. That persecution is reminescent of another time that is remembered during the festival of Purim. The festival of Purim commemorates divine intervention in a former time when the Persians defeated the Babylonians and a benevolent gentile became king of a pagan nation. It tells the account of an antagonist Hammon who caused persecution. The story represents spiritual warfare, lucifer {the adversary} influences spiritually weak people, people with a tendency to be selfish or hatefull to plunder, steal, kill, destroy those that obey and serve God. The adversary {lucifer} has constantly been trying to destroy the Jewish people to defeat God's plans that have been prophesied. He won't succeed but he tries. Sometimes it is done in the name of a religeon but it has more to do with selfishness, greed, prejudice or politics than religeon.

For example the Catholics and the Protestants that were fighting, terrorizing eachother in Ireland. In the new testement in the bible, nobody ever tells anybody to kill persecute, judge or invade to persuade others to believe the gospel. It only speaks of love. Love isn't just a noun. It is a verb. The christians are taught that the two greatest commandments are to "Love God with all their heart, might, mind and strength and to love their neighbor as themselves. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." If they fail to love they fail one of the greatest laws they are commanded to live. They are failing half the laws.

Therefore those who plunder, and persecute others either don't know the principles, they haven't read the book and studied it to gain a knowledge of it's principles or they have a knowledge of them but choose to disregard them, trangress them.

People perish for lack of knowledge.

Leviticus 23:34
"Speak unto the children of israel, saying, the fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of Tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord."

"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy" Psalms 126

It is the feast of in gathering. It is a time of Thanksgiving. It is sometimes called the Jewish Thanksgiving. It is a time of great joy, the season of rejoicing.

Israel was commanded to make a pilgrimmage to the Temple in Jerusalem during Passover, Shavuot and Succot.

They were commanded to dwell in tabernacles
Leviticus 23:42 "You shall dwell in booths..." They are to be self made. It has three walls with a fouth wall open, exposed to the elements. In Leviticus 23:40 it mentions to take the branchs of goodly trees, branchs of palm trees, willows of brooks and rejoice before the Lord. The branchs were placed over the tabernacle as a roof but showing the stars through them. They were to dwell in it seven days.

A prayer is said "Blessed art thou God, King of the universe who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to dwell in the tabernacle." It commemorates the temporary abode of the Jewish people wandering in the wilderness and that God supernaturally took care of them. It is to remember God's protection. Psalm 23

He sent manna from heaven, the grain of heaven, angel food. Psalm 78:24 and 25
Moses struck the rock and water poured forth Psalm 78:20

A prayer is said after the construction of the booth

From the time of Joshua to Ezra nehemiah, 750 years, they did not dwell in booths to celebrate Succot. In the time of Nehemiah, they dwelt in tents again to celebrate Succot. Nehemiah 8:17
"And all the congregations of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths and sat under the booths for since the days of Jeshua, the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness."

The tithes {10%} were brought in and offerings in keeping with the final gathering Deut 16:13 and 17.


and Jeremiah chapter 20

A priest was sent with a golden pitcher to bring water from the pool of Silon. This water was poured into a basin at the foot of the altar. Wine was poured from another pitcher into the same basin. These mingled together and flowed through special pipes back to the pool. It was symbolic of prayer for the abundant rain that Israel depended upon for daily bread.
Zechariah 10:1 asks for rain.
Hosea 6:1 speaks of a latter rain
"Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord, His going forth is prepared as the morning and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth."
Hosea 10:12 mentions rain as symbolic of the Spirit
"Sow to yourselves in rightoeusness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow groundfor it is time to seek the Lord till He come and rain righteousness upon you."

Leviticus 23:40 speaks of four different branchs. The sadducees thought these were put on their tabernacles but the pharisees opposed them thinking they should be held in the hand and special prayers said. A combination of palms, myrtles and willows fastened with a golden thread. These were waved in the Temple during parts of the ceremony. Special prayers are said in a special portion of the service. They join in a procession around the pulpit.

One of these special prayers "Save us we beseech you for your sake, O God. Do save us for your sake. O Creator, O save us, for your sake, O Redeemer, save us, for your sake. You who seek us, we beseech you" These are said seven times.

It is symbolic of a last chance to get right with God.

Every day thereis a procession around the pulpit or synagogue and after the procession, branchs are waved in four directions. On the seventh day is the great HOSANNA. Hosanna is "Save Now". There is a procession seven times around the pulpit.

There is a reading of the law every 7th year at the Temple site. God wants us to know His word. It is spirit food, a guide to survivol, your way to find God's will.

It has been designated by rabbis as the end of the passage of time, an end time festival. It is also a festival of the future Zechariah 14:16