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Ephesian 1:7

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.

Hebrews 9:14

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Colossians 1:14

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 2:12

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.

It seems too easy to simply ask, honestly, for forgiveness and to be forgiven.  Yet, that is what God does through the sacrifice of His Son.  The blood of Yeshua, shed for me, restores my ability to have a close relationship with YHWH.  My sin results in death, spiritually and even physically, but because Yeshua put Himself in my place He removes that penalty.  His blood is permanent cleaning.  Yes, I make mistakes, and I still need to be forgiven to restore close relationship with God, but I am no longer an orphan.  It’s like if I say something mean to my sister.  I’m still a part of her family, but our relationship suffers until I apologize and she forgives me.

Yom Kippur

Leviticus 16:29-31

This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work,whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD.  It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute.

Today it’s so easy to forget our need for cleansing.  It’s easy to be casual about the enormity of the sacrifice of Yeshua and the sin He took upon Himself.  It’s easy to overlook our need for repentance in a world that believes sin is all relative and silly.  Yom Kippur is a day of personal reflection and repentance, when all God’s people rest and are humble, recognizing the need for forgiveness.

The forgiveness we have through Yeshua’s sacrifice does not preclude my need to be obedient to the laws of God’s rule and reign.  Yet, so often I am not mindful of these and selfishly do things my own way.  My confession of my stubbornness is a good reminder of my need of a savior.  The forgiveness I receive is a joy, knowing I am again in right relationship with YHWH.

Here are some interesting readings on Yom Kippur that go into greater depth about the origins and practices of the holy day.

Hebrew4Christian’s Yom Kippur page

OU Cyberhome of the Torah’s extensive Yom Kippur resources

The Al-Chet Prayer

On Yom Kippur the Al-Chet prayer is said ten times (once for each commandment).  It is a list of 44 “categories” or areas in which we may need to be forgiven.  It uses the pronoun “we” instead of “I” because we are a community, just as the Hebrew people (the Jewish people) are one.  Here is the prayer:

For the sin which we have committed before You under duress or willingly.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by hard-heartedness.

For the sin which we have committed before You inadvertently.

And for the sin which we have committed before You with an utterance of the lips.

For the sin which we have committed before You with immorality.

And for the sin which we have committed before You openly or secretly.

For the sin which we have committed before You with knowledge and with deceit.

And for the sin which we have committed before You through speech.

For the sin which we have committed before You by deceiving a fellowman.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by improper thoughts.

For the sin which we have committed before You by a gathering of lewdness.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by verbal [insincere] confession.

For the sin which we have committed before You by disrespect for parents and teachers.

And for the sin which we have committed before You intentionally or unintentionally.

For the sin which we have committed before You by using coercion.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by  desecrating the Divine Name.

For the sin which we have committed before You by impurity of  speech.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by foolish  talk.

For the sin which we have committed before You with the evil  inclination.

And for the sin which we have committed before You knowingly or unknowingly.

For all these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us, atone for us.

For the sin which we have committed before You by false denial and lying.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by a bribe-taking or a bribe-giving hand.

For the sin which we have committed before You by scoffing.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by evil talk  [about another].

For the sin which we have committed before You in business  dealings.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by eating  and drinking.

For the sin which we have committed before You by [taking or  giving] interest and by usury.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by a haughty demeanor.

For the sin which we have committed before You by the prattle of our lips.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by a glance of the eye.

For the sin which we have committed before You with proud looks.

And for the sin which we have committed before You with impudence.

For all these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us, atone for us.

For the sin which we have committed before You by casting off the yoke [of Heaven].

And for the sin which we have committed before You in passing judgment.

For the sin which we have committed before You by scheming against a fellowman.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by a begrudging eye.

For the sin which we have committed before You by frivolity.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by obduracy.

For the sin which we have committed before You by running to do evil.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by tale-bearing.

For the sin which we have committed before You by swearing in vain.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by causeless hatred.

For the sin which we have committed before You by embezzlement.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by a confused heart.

For all these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us, atone for us.

And for the sins for which we are obligated to bring a burnt-offering.

And for the sins for which we are obligated to bring a sin-offering.

And for the sins for which we are obligated to bring a varying offering [according to one's means].

And for the sins for which we are obligated to bring a guilt-offering for a certain or doubtful trespass.

And for the sins for which we incur the penalty of lashing for rebelliousness.

And for the sins for which we incur the penalty of forty lashes.

And for the sins for which we incur the penalty of death by the hand of Heaven.

And for the sins for which we incur the penalty of excision and childlessness.

And for the sins for which we incur the penalty of the four forms of capital punishment executed by the Court: stoning, burning, decapitation and strangulation.

For [transgressing] positive and prohibitory mitzvot, whether [the prohibitions] can be rectified by a specifically prescribed act or not, those of which we are aware and those of which we are not aware; those of which we are aware, we have already declared them before You and confessed them to You, and those of which we are not aware — before You they are revealed and known, as it is stated:The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things are for us and for our children forever, that we may carry out all the words of this Torah. ForYou are the Pardoner of Israel and the Forgiver of the tribes of Yeshurun in every generation, and aside from You we have no King who forgives and pardons.

Perhaps we, too, should spend a day searching our hearts for sin in order to confess it and be clean in the new year!

Articles on Al-Chet:

MyJewish Learning’s article on confession

MyJewishLearning’s modern version of the Al-Chet

How easy it is to forget the relief, joy, and amazingness of forgiveness… until one is unforgiven. Then the reality comes crashing in.

How profound the moment when forgiveness is offered, how welcome the moment of reconciliation! What a reminder of the mercy of YHWH, of the relationship reconciled through His love, and of the restoration of a child who wandered away!

Thus the priest shall make expiation for them, and they shall be forgiven. Leviticus 4:20

“Baruch Levine makes the point that the Hebrew verb, k-p-r, is often translated by a phrase such as “to cover or conceal.”  But this isn’t correct.  The idea behind kipper is to wipe clean, to remove defilement, to wipe off.”  (“Cleaning Up the Confusion”)

As a Christ-follower, I have always tended to think of Christ’s blood as a covering.  It covers my sins.  But the word used in the verse above actually means to wipe clean.  It seems like an insignificant thing, right?  Does the blood cover or clean?  Either way, God doesn’t see my sin, I guess.  But then I realized some of the implications of the difference.

If my sins are merely covered, then my sin still clings to me.  Underneath His blood, I am still filthy, disgusting,  and stained with years and years of sin.  (Also, if God does know everything then can’t He see through that blood and see all the yuck underneath?)  If my sins are wiped away, then underneath His blood I am clean and pure.  His blood against my skin, soaking into my soul.

That seems like a pretty significant difference.

Leviticus 16:21

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.

This is an interesting verse.  When Aaron lays his hands on the live goat (aka. the scapegoat) the Hebrew text says he cast the punishment for the sins of the children of Israel on it.  It wasn’t just the sin that was transferred, it was the guilt and punishment for those sins.  The goat was then sent into the wilderness (where it was probably eaten by lions or other animals in short order).  The symbolism is that their sins were removed, and they never saw them again.  This is what Jesus did for us on the cross, too.  Our guilt and our punishment for our sins were placed on Him (our scapegoat).  He was killed in the wilderness of our world and our sins were completely removed from the eyes of God.

I once read somewhere that the Israelites would place a scarlet thread outside or inside the temple and that after the scapegoat was removed it would miraculously turn from red to white.  However, once Jesus died, the miracle no longer occurred.  Jesus removed the need to offer continual sacrifices.

I think God has a remarkable imagination and an amazing way of using symbols to help us understand what He does in our lives.  Sometimes this makes it a little tricky, but maybe that makes the search more satisfying.

Psalm 19:12, 14

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults.  May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

This is my prayer.  Sometimes I feel like there are so many hidden faults, those things that are so ingrained in me that I don’t even realize they’re there – like pride or selfishness.  I know that some people would say that God convicts me of my sin and I should recognize these things… but the truth is sometimes God’s working on one issue and I get focused on that and don’t hear Him, or other times I’m so busy that I’m not paying a whole lot of attention.  I’d like to think that I could pause and reflect and ask God to cleanse me from my hidden faults.  My prayer each day is that the words of my mouth and the thoughts (or meditations) of my heart be pleasing to my Abba, Father, my rock and my redeemer.  He paid a high  price to redeem my heart, and I want to make Him smile.

Psalm 32:5

Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude

I read this verse and paused at the Interlude.  I’ve always kind of ignored them in the past, but this time I got a great image in my head…  Imagine David, with relief and joy, singing this Psalm and getting to the part about all his guilt being gone.  What does he do in this interlude?

The happy dance!!!

I can totally see King David doing a dance for joy, like my little 2-year-old when his favorite song comes on.  He is so excited and overwhelmed by the relief forgiveness and cleansing brings.

Love it!

When was the last time you danced for joy?

Psalm 24: 3-4

Who may climb the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?  Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies.

Wow, this is a tall order.  There are a lot of days (okay, most days) when I feel like I’m totally unworthy to be in God’s presence.  I make the same mistakes over and over and over and over again.  I have trouble forgiving people for what they’ve done to me or those I love.  I am afraid for the future.  I am angry with my situation.  I am a mess.  I am SO not holy.  David Loveless addressed this in our church service a couple weeks ago when he spoke about spending time with God.  I tend to view God’s ability to forgive on my own ability to forgive.  And I base God’s ability to forget sin on my ability to forget sin.  Obviously, there’s a flaw here.  I am imperfect and am not blessed with the ability to forget on command.  I usually forget the things I want to remember and remember the things I want to forget.  But God’s not like that.  He says that when He forgives He forgets our sin.  He can’t see it and He doesn’t replay it.  So every time we have to go back and ask for forgiveness He doesn’t ask, “Look, didn’t you just do this same thing yesterday?  What’s wrong with you?”  Instead, He simply forgives us because He’s forgotten the last time we did it and asked for forgiveness.  He forgets, even when we can’t.

That to me is mind boggling.  Because I can’t do it, it’s hard to fathom and to grasp that God does that.  I can keep track of each time I stop trusting God and freak out about situations.  But after forgiving me, God erases the board (and He’s got a great eraser – doesn’t leave marks or traces) and there’s nothing to add to anymore.  That is awesome.  It’s the only way I can ever be allowed into His presence.  If He remembered all the sins I did, I’d never be as white as snow.  It’d be a dingy gray.  Jesus is like Tide with Stain Release (or whatever works best).  Once I ask God’s forgiveness, the stain’s gone and I’m clean again.  I’m wearable.  I’m usable.  I can finally stand in front of Him and worship Him.  I like that!

Romans 16:25

God is able to make you strong, just as the Good News says. It is the message about Jesus Christ and his plan for you Gentiles, a plan kept secret from the beginning of time.

I’m thankful that God can make me strong because there are so many areas where I need strength today and every day.  Today I need strength to forgive and to love because I’m dealing with a situation where I’m expected to put someone first by someone who isn’t doing the very thing I’m supposed to do.  Confused?  That’s okay.  I’m just being a mom trying to protect her cubs.  Sigh.  I’m thankful for this situation because it’s making me more patient, and because when we finally have our own home, there are so many many things I will be grateful for.