د خدای خلکو لپاره عدالت

Like any other nine-year-old, Eva Schloss enjoyed playing with her friends, particularly her best friend next door. But one day in 1938, everything in Austria began to change. She excitedly ran to her friend’s home to play, not expecting the cold response awaiting her. Her friend’s mother angrily declared, “We never want to see you here again.” 

Eva’s experience wasn’t rare. A young man at the time, Maximillian Lerner arrived at school to hear his favorite teacher declare that Jews were inferior and could no longer attend the German school. He and his fellow Jews were given toothbrushes to scrub the sidewalk around their school as a token of their new status.¹ 

These injustices, and many greater ones, fill our hearts with anger and discouragement. We wish for a way to bring an end to the prejudice, racism, and genocide in our world. We long for justice and healing.

Though we do not see justice now, the Tanakh assures us that it will come. “ADONAI is a God of justice; blessed are all who wait for Him” (Isaiah 30:18). One Jewish festival in particular—Yom Kippur—reminds us that God will make things right in the end. 

Yom Kippur

After the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, God instructed them to build a sanctuary so that He could dwell among His people. There, the priests made daily sacrifices for sin and entered the Holy Place throughout the year. But once a year, on Yom Kippur, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies where he would sprinkle blood and perform rituals to cleanse the sanctuary and the whole congregation of their sins. Leviticus/Vayikra 16:30 summarizes Yom Kippur with these words: “For on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. From all your sins you will be clean before ADONAI.”

Yom Kippur was a very solemn day because it was also a day of judgment for the Israelites. They spent time searching their hearts and confessing their sins. Anyone who failed to prepare his soul was “cut off from his people” (Leviticus 23:29). 

But Yom Kippur is more than a time of judgment. One rabbi writes of Yom Kippur, “For thousands of years, the Jews have understood that on this day, more than any other, it was possible to meet God.”² Jews still approach this day with solemnity as they prepare to come before God. They practice teshuvah (repentance) and seek forgiveness of those they have wronged. 

Facing the Judgment with Confidence

Yom Kippur represents the divine judgment which is coming at the end of the world. Daniel 7:10 speaks of a time when the court in heaven is seated. The judgment seems fearful to some, but to others it comes as a deliverance. How can we, God’s people, face the judgment with confidence and hope? How can we be sure that we will meet God in peace? 

When the Israelites kept Yom Kippur during the time of Moses, they could not depend merely on their identity as Israelites. If they chose not to search their souls, repent, and confess their sins, they were cut off from their people. Their only safety was in earnestly seeking God and depending on Him. 

Likewise, in the coming judgment, we cannot depend on our culture, heritage, or family. Isaiah prophesies that “the remnant of Israel . . . will depend upon ADONAI, the Holy One of Israel, in truth” (Isaiah 10:20). The remnant, or remainder of people, who stand before God will be all those who trust in God to make them righteous: “Also the foreigners who join themselves to ADONAI, to minister to Him, and to love the Name of ADONAI, and to be His servants—all who keep from profaning Shabbat, and hold fast to My covenant—these I will bring to My holy mountain, and let them rejoice in My House of Prayer” (Isaiah 56:6, 7). 

The time of judgment is an opportunity to draw near to God, knowing that He will judge truthfully and stand up for those who have suffered oppression. Let’s prepare now by giving ourselves fully to God and holding onto His promise of bringing us into His kingdom. 

If it is your desire to allow God to prepare your heart, pause for a moment and pray to Him:

Almighty God, I praise you that you are a God of justice and mercy. Thank You for the symbolism of Yom Kippur, which provides me with hope that you will make me righteous and bring an end to injustice. I give my life to you now. Prepare me to stand confidently before You in the time of judgment. Amen.    

If you would like to learn more about the coming judgment as predicted by the symbolism of Yom Kippur, please contact us at the information on the back of this paper.