Verse: Lev 23:29-31 Whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. And
whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall not
do any work. ESV
It is also important for us to understand that on Yom Kippur, our job is to do nothing. Just as the people
gathered in the Temple courts to do nothing but observe the actions of the ministry of the high priest,
so do we step into our salvation and remission of guilt as we observe and acknowledge the sacrifice and
ministry of our Great High Priest Jesus Christ, who once and for all completed His ministry on our behalf.
We have nothing to add to it or participate in it.
Often the severity of the warning that we could be “cut off “from God’s people lends a somber and
fearful atmosphere to this day but the results of this day point us to the greatest act of mercy we can
ever experience!
The two seemingly opposing parts of this day actually make perfect sense as we understand what the
mercy of God really is and what part we play in it as recipients of His grace. The difficulty lies with our
carnal nature because we are compelled to become humble. Humility is not weakness, it is our strength.
Jesus who is fully God and fully Man said,
Matthew 11:29-30
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart,
and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for
your souls. [Jer 6:16.]
30 For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good--not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but
comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne. AMP
It is easy to forget that Jesus is humble and at the same time very powerful. It was written of Moses that
he was more humble than anyone, yet he was the leader of Israel and spoke directly to God face to face
on the mountain and in the Tabernacle (Numbers 12:3.)
True mercy.
Ephesians 2:4-7
4 But God--so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful
and intense love with which He loved us,
5 Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive
in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new
life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not
deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation)
6 And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating
with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the
Anointed one).
7 He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable
(limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and
goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus. AMP
When we deny ourselves, we get to have what God wants for us instead of what we want for ourselves
this is our great blessing. Beyond what we could think or ask or even imagine. This is the kingdom of
heaven. Without this we have no citizenship in this great assembly, we are already “cut off “from the
people as the Scriptures say.
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