DANIEL'S PRAYER AND THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

Today a solemn hush descended on the whole land. It was the Day of Atonement, the most dreadful and awesome day of the Jewish calendar. God commanded us to observe this day as it is written in Leviticus 16;

This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you—  because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins.  It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance.  The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments  and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community.

 “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites".

Leviticus 16: 29-34 

It was on this day, and only on this day,  that the High Priest was to go into the Holy of Holies and make atonement for the sins of the people of Israel.  We are told (in verse 29) to afflict or deny ourselves on this day. Most interpret this as a command to fast and most Jews refrain from food or water, from wearing leather shoes, using lotions or creams, washing or bathing, or engaging in conjugal relations.  They also gather in synagogues for the five services that take place during the day.  On this day too a strange hush falls over the land as it is forbidden to drive a car. The roads are empty except, in recent years, for the many children who take advantage of the empty roads to ride their bicycles, skateboards, scooters etc.  Others enjoy a leisurely walk down the roads without the need to avoid cars. 

This morning I took a long walk around my neighborhood, praying for the city and for Israel as I went. The silence was most eerie but beautiful too. I sat on a bench overlooking Ein Kerem (the birthplace of John the Baptist) and the outskirts of Jerusalem. The only sound was the gentle sussuration of the breeze in the pines overhead and the occasional bark of a dog or cry of a baby. I felt close to Yeshua as I walked. In his days there were no cars and so the countryside must also have been just as silent as he walked the length and breadth of the Land. I laughed too at my filthy feet and understood why Yeshua had to wash his disciples' feet (apart from the fact he did it to teach them the meaning of service)(John 13:2-17). Roads were not paved in Jesus' day and the loess dust, finer than flour, which is blown in from the Sahara Desert, must have made their feet filthy too. 

Looking towards Jerusalem on Yom Kippur - notice the lack of cars on the highway!- it is usually nose-to-tail traffic

Our empty streets - downtown Mevasseret  on Yom Kippur

My feet!

This year I have been studying the Book of Daniel and I feel it is most timely, particularly Daniel 9.  In the first year of King Darius the Mede, the 67th of the Israelite's Babylonian Exile, Daniel after studying the prophecies of Jeremiah realized that the time of the restoration of Jerusalem was drawing near. Today many are sensing the imminence of the return of Yeshua and the final restoration of the world. We would do well to emulate Daniel. He did not shout for joy and race out onto the streets yelling 'the end is near'. Instead, he studied the word of God diligently and turned to God in prayer and fasting, with mourning:

So I set my face to my Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and supplication, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

                                         Daniel 9:3 (my translation) 

This phrase ' so I set my face to my Lord God...' is in Hebrew  וָאֶתְּנָ֣ה אֶת־פָּנַ֗י אֶל־אֲדֹנָי֙ הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים ('v'etnah panei el Adonai haElohim). It was an interesting confirmation to me when I attended a national gathering of local believers and found it was entitled ' פָּנַ֗י אֶל־אֲדֹנָי֙' (my face to my Lord) taken from this very verse. Many of the newly written songs that were sung at this gathering were also taken from Daniel 9. It would appear that I am not the only one with the sense that God is calling us, as believers, at this time to take on this attitude of prayer, supplication, fasting and mourning, not just for ourselves, or the people of Israel, but for the people of all the world. The end times are a time of joy and anticipation for those of us who believe, but they will also be terrible times of much suffering and loss, a time of many wars, earthquakes, floods, and diseases, even as we are beginning to see today. The prophet Amos said this:

Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!

For what good is the day of the Lord to you?

It will be darkness, and not light.

Amos 5: 18 

We are being called to intercede for the lost, to fulfill our God-given role as priests. The job of a priest is to stand before God and intercede for the people. We who are in Yeshua have constant access to the Holy of Holies, not just on this one day of the year, but every moment of every day, and we can plead for the forgiveness of our people.  Daniel prayed for his people using these words:

“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.

7 “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;10 we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

15 “Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.  Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.  Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”

Daniel 9: 4-19 

We can echo Daniel's prayer for the forgiveness of our sins, the sins of the people of Israel and for the sins of the people of all the world. We have all sinned, rebelled against God's ways, failed to heed the words of the prophets, and we all need atonement.  Atonement has already been granted in Yeshua through his shed blood on the cross, but many have not yet entered into that free gift. We need to pray for all those who have not yet known Yeshua and received him as Savior and Lord. Time is running out. The end days are drawing near. We need to call on the mercy of our Lord God, for His name's sake. 

Life is uncertain. We never know when our days will be numbered. On Sunday this week three young, strong men of Israel, got up and went off to work as usual, never dreaming it would be their last day on this earth. At around 7AM one of the Arab workers arriving from a nearby village opened fire on the security guards at the gates of the settlement of Har Adar, some 3 km from my home.  The three guards were killed and a fourth seriously injured before other security personnel killed the terrorist.

The three Israeli security personnel killed in the terror attack.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5021658,00.html

Terror is no respecter of persons. One of those killed was an Arab from the village of Abu Ghosh, a village known for its peaceful coexistence with Jews in the area. This act of terror has upset the trust between Jew and Arab in this area, which has seen few terror attacks even during the worst of the Intifada. Many Arabs from the neighboring villages come every day to work in the Jewish towns and settlements. Friendships arise and there is a high degree of respect between the peoples.  The man who carried out this attack was 47 years old, had a wife and 4 children and had worked in Har Adar for many years. He was liked, trusted and respected by his employers. What causes a man like that to  pull out a gun and open fire? It wasn't a sudden impulse. He left a letter to his wife clearly stating his intentions to carry out the attack.  He had some personal issues. He had been so violent to his wife that she had left him and gone to Jordan, leaving him to care for his 4 children. This may have precipitated his actions, but why express his despair and rage in such an act of violence directed against Jews. I believe it is a result of the deep indoctrination of prejudice, hatred and lies which is characteristic of the education system, and in the preaching in the mosques and religious madrasas in the Palestinian areas. Children grow up hating Jews, having been feed lies and libels about them, and with the belief that the greatest thing they can do is to kill Jews and thus gain entry to Paradise.  The only solution is Yeshua. Only in Him can these lies be exposed and defeated, and only in Him can the centuries, even millennia, of hatred be forgiven and only in HIm can true reconciliation and peace occur. If we wish to pray for the peace of Jerusalem we need to pray for the Muslim peoples and the Jewish people alike that they may find the true Messiah, Yeshua, the Saviour of the world.  

THE SCAPEGOAT

 

As I drive down the hill on my way home from work I often gaze upon the mountain of Azazel, known as Gebel Muntar in Arabic. This conical mountain, the highest in the area, lies about 10km southeast of Jerusalem in the barren Judean Desert. It is to this mountain the 'scapegoat' bearing all the sins of the people of Israel was banished on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). 

 

Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. ⁷ He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ⁸ Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. ⁹ And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

 

And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. ²¹ Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. ²² The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

 

Leviticus 16: 6-10, 20-22

View of Judean Desert as seen from the top of Mt Azazel

http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/Munttar.html

This extremely dry and barren desert land which is still largely unchanged from Biblical times is steeped in myth and mystery, as is the word Azazel itself.  Azazel has become a swearword in modern Hebrew: lech l'azazel meaning 'go to hell'. Thus Azazel has come to mean Hell.   In the times of the Temple the scapegoat was led out into the desert, the sins of Israel laid upon it, and it was cast over the steep cliffs on the east of the mountain to  its death. In the Zohar and the Apocryphal literature Azazel is identified as a fallen angel or even as a demonic god.

However it seems to me that the real meaning is simpler. This word Azazel is probably the combination of two Hebrew words 'Az meaning goat, and 'azal' a primitive root used mainly in poetry meaning simply 'to go'. We still use this root in modern Hebrew. I would say 'Col ha'lehem azal' meaning 'all the bread has gone (as in run out)'.  If this is correct then Azazal simply would mean 'the goat that has gone out'. Thus the word usually translated into English as 'scapegoat' simply means the 'goat that has gone out' into the desert.

In the passage above we can see that God commanded three sacrifices to be carried out on the Day of Atonement. The first was that of a bull which was to be sacrificed for atonement for the sins and uncleanness  of the High Priest and his family. Then one goat was to be sacrificed by fire to the LORD for the purification of the Holy Place, the Tabernacle and the Altar. Then the second goat was to be sent off alive into the desert bearing the sins of Israel.

I see this second goat, the live goat bearing the sins of Israel, as a prophetic forerunner of the Messiah, who though he was cast into the wilderness of death, lived before God and carried away the sins of Israel and all the world.

Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; ²⁵ not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— ²⁶ He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. ²⁷ And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Hebrews 9: 23-28

Whatever the case, we are now preparing for the Day of Atonement, or Yom Hakippurim, which begins on Tuesday night. Since the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD the bull and the goats are no longer sacrificed.

Yom Kippur is a time when all Israel stops. For 26 hours no cars move on the roads, except for emergency vehicles. All places of work are closed, except hospitals. Most people fast, eating no food nor water, and many gather in the synagogues for special services. There are 5 prayer services held during the course of the day.  It is the most solemn day of the Hebrew calendar and one which has retained its sanctity in spite of the pressures of modern consumerism. A hush falls over the land. It is a time for reflection and introspection. A time to repent before God for the sins we have committed. A time for  returning to God.

Yom Kippur in Jerusalem
http://igoogledisrael.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/YomKippurJerusalem2.jpg

Please pray with me that all Israel will turn back to God, seek his Truth and his Messiah, this year.  Time is running out (azal)!  Israel is facing threats more severe than any it has ever faced before - including the Holocaust.  We are sitting on a time bomb and the clock is ticking. At any moment the tension could escalate to full-out war.  And the song that keeps resonating in my head is ' I wish we'd all been ready....".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9mETkfC7xQ

Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

Matthew 24: 42

This week has been a tense one here in Israel. On Wednesday a rocket fired from Gaza landed in the town of Sderot.  It landed in the street in front of the house of the Mayor and just meters away from a school.  For some reason the rocket interception system failed to bring it down, but praise the LORD that He steered it away from the school. The following day Israeli forces bombed several Hamas targets in Gaza.

Yesterday, Sunday, a 60 year old woman and a 29 year old policeman were killed when a terrorist opened fire on a bus stop and nearby cars on a major arterial road located on Ammunition Hill. Five others were injured and the terrorist was shot dead as he was attempting to flee into the neighboring Arab village of Sheikh Jarrah. This terrorist had links to Hamas and was about to go to jail for assaulting a police officer on another occasion.

Levana Melihi and Yossi Kirma , victims of  yesterday's terror attack
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4864763,00.html

Tension is very high in the city during these holy days, and thousands of police are patrolling the danger points.  The West Bank is closed off except for humanitarian emergencies but many Arabs in the city, like yesterday's terrorist, have Israeli citizenship and can therefore move freely around the country. Please pray we can get through the rest of the High Holy Days without any further terror attacks. It is very hard, almost impossible, to anticipate and prevent these 'lone wolf' attacks.



Prayers at the Western Wall on Yom Kippur
http://st.depositphotos.com/1009778/2727/i/950/depositphotos_27273603-Wailing-wall-in-jerusalem.jpg
 

 Please pray for us in the coming days, for peace in Jerusalem and all the Land, but above all that all the residents of this region, Jew and Arab alike, will find the peace that passes understanding, in their Messiah Yeshua. 

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me all around.

Psalm 3:6

 

 

No, its not a case of Cold War paranoia, but its 2015, and the Russians are really coming - to the Middle East.  Whilst America is executing its policy of withdrawal and non-involvement in the Middle East, and Europe is busy trying to figure out what to do with the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing ISIS or other extremist Salafist butchers, Russia and Iran are quietly filling the power vacuum in the Middle East.



The Russians have established a base on the Mediterranean coast of Syria at Latakia (see map below) a mere 420 km from Jerusalem (as the fighter jet flies!).

 



http://www.affarinternazionali.it/IMAGE/syria.jpg



According to American sources there are now some 28 Russian fighter jets in Syria and at least 12 support aircraft, transporters and helicopters. Russian drones are already being used for surveillance purposes, and there are plans to send some 2000 Russian military personnel to this new airbase, in the 'first phase' (!) of its development.   It is likely that they are also sending surface-to-air missiles to the base, since this is an integral part of the defense of any air base.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4703202,00.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11880974/Russia-begins-military-operations-in-Syria-as-Putin-sends-28-jets.html
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/95971a4e-607d-11e5-a28b-50226830d644.html#axzz3mRoQZkWM

Netanyahu meets Putin

http://theaviationist.com/2015/09/20/su-30sm-exposed-on-the-ground-latakia/

A satellite photo taken on September 20 shows at least 16 Russian combat aircraft stationed at the Bassel al Assad air base near the Syrian town of Latakia Photo: Stratfor/Reuters http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11880974/Russia-begins-military-operations-in-Syria-as-Putin-sends-28-jets.html

Earlier this month, Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's elite Quds Force, met with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and as a result hundreds of Iranian ground soldiers were also sent into Syria. This cooperative effort between Russia and Iran is intended to shore up Syrian President Assad's crumbling regime which now controls  only  25-30% of Syria, mainly along the coastline. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4699809,00.html

 

 

 



Soleimani (left) and Putin (right) have both put boots on the ground in Syria. (Photo: AP, Fars, EPA)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4699809,00.html

 

 

 

The question of course arises - why? Why are Russia and Iran so keen to support the crumbling Assad regime? What are their interests? Do they really care about the Syrian people, and an end to the Syrian civil war? Do they really want to support Assad, a cruel and despotic leader who massacres his own people? I suspect not.  As Middle Eastern regimes shake and self-destruct in the so-called 'Arab Spring', a power vacuum is being created. America and Europe have lost the will to fill such a vacuum. Iran and Russia have not. They both have the ideological drive and military might to move in. Though both Russia and Iran have an interest in defeating the advances of Dai'ish (ISIS), such an event would also conveniently serve their empire building goals allowing them to get a much stronger foot-hold in the Middle East, and the possession of very significant oilfields and uranium mines.

Although the Russian and Iranian presence in Syria is not ostensibly directed towards any  attack against Israel, it is nevertheless of great concern to us here. This week Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, travelled to Moscow for direct talks with the Russian President, Putin, aimed at reducing the possibility of  'misunderstandings' and inadvertent clashes between Israeli and Russian forces in the area, particularly in dealing with arms shipments from Iran to Hezbollah through Syria.  http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-putin-agree-plan-avoid-syria-clashes-081802449.html 

The long term risks are not so clear. It appears that as Iran has increased its direct presence in Syria, their proxy, the Shiite Hezbollah militias, are pulling out. Hezbollah has lost an estimated 1000 fighters in its efforts to support Assad against Dai'ish (ISIS) and as long as it has been so tied up in Syria, it has not had the resources to open a front with Israel. Why is it pulling out now? It may be merely to make way for its 'big brother' Iran, but it may equally be intended to allow Hezbollah to rearm and prepare for a new confrontation with Israel. Russia's involvement with Iran is also very worrying. We have already seen their readiness to supply Iran with sophisticated long-range surface-to-surface missiles in the wake of the lifting of the boycott against Iran. What is Putin's long-term agenda?  Is there a wolf in sheep's clothing in our midst? Although we would welcome the defeat of the military forces of Dai'ish, we fear it may be at the cost of installing an even greater threat to Israel, the Middle East and the World, a Russian-Iranian coalition, extending from the Mediterranean to the North Sea and the eastern borders of Iran.

Once again I would cry out to the USA and the European Nations to wake up to the threat that confronts us. From our perspective they seem increasingly weak and ineffectual. The USA has lost the will to be the world's 'policeman' and Europe is busy putting its finger in the hole in the dyke, in the face of a mass migration from Northern Africa and the Middle East, instead of trying to stop the source of the flood. One day soon the dyke might crumble and then it will be too late.

We who pray to the God of Israel, and of the whole world, we need to cry out now to the LORD. Although we know God is ultimately in control and He is working out his redemption plan, we are called as a 'holy priesthood' (Revelation 1:5-6; I Peter 2: 4-5) to intercede for the lost at this time. We need to be faithful in praying for our leaders, and the leaders of our enemies too, that "God's Will be done in Earth" in our days.  

Today is Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar. It ends the Days of Awe when Jews search their hearts, ask forgiveness of one another for wrongs committed, and seek God's forgiveness for their sins. On this day they pray that their names will be written in the Book of Life for the coming year.  In a desire to obey the Biblical injunction to 'afflict your souls'  on this day (Leviticus 23: 26-28) most Jews totally abstain from any work, food or drink or other pleasurable activity for 25 hours. TV and radio stations are silent and all shops, businesses and places of entertainment are closed. In Israel all traffic on the roads stop and an eerie hush descends upon the Land, broken only by the cries of happy children riding their bicycles and skateboards along the traffic free highways and streets, and the occasional ambulance siren.

Messianic believers also observe this solemn day. Many of us use it as an opportunity to fast and pray, not only for ourselves, but especially for our People. While we can rejoice that we have the sure knowledge that our names are written indelibly in the Book of Life for ever (Revelation 3:5), we are very conscious that in Judaism today there is no such certainty for even the most observant of Jews. They can only hope, at best,  that they will be found worthy to be sealed in the Book for the next year. Only in Yeshua can we have any certainty of eternal life and freedom from the second death. We long to see all people blessed with that knowledge and to find true eternal life in Yeshua.

 

Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!
Many are they who rise up against me.
² Many are they who say of me,
“There is no help for him in God.” Selah

³ But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
⁴ I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah

⁵ I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
⁶ I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me all around.

 

 

Psalm 3: 1-6

https://dailydeposit.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/psalm-63-4.jpg