Yom Kippur for Christians?

Today the Jewish people are celebrating Yom Kippur - The Day of Atonement. Have you ever wondered, does this day mean anything to us as Christians? John says YES!

1 John 2:2 And He Himself is the HILASMOS for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world

1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the HILASMOS for our sins

Some translations translated this Greek word "hilasmos as "propitiation", but that's not helpful, and many people have created their own definitions for this word to fit their theologies, and if you look up the word "propitiation", you will likely end up in a place that John did not intend (and beliefs about God that the first century church did not have) when he made a very special, Old Testament reference with this word:

Check out where HILASMOS is used in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint):

Leviticus 25:9--10 ‘Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on this Day of Atonement (HILASMOS) you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants.

Day of atonement : A high holy day where the High Priest made a sacrifice to atone for/cleanse the sins of the people and the sanctuary on the 10th day of the 7th month. 

Year of Jubilee: A special year announced on the Day of Atonement every 50 years, which proclaimed liberty for captives ( the release of slaves), forgiveness of debts,  the return of property to original owners, and the rest of the land from agricultural activity. Spiritual and material debts are forgiven, and freedom is proclaimed throughout the land.

Luke 4:16-20

Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read, the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,

because He has anointed Me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then He rolled up the scroll, returned it to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him, and He began by saying, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

After Jesus death, John is referring to this and the sacrifice of Jesus, the offering of himself, fulfilling and replacing the yearly offering & sacrifice of an animal on the day of atonement and sacrifices for atonement in general.  His sacrifice cleanses us from sin and releases us from sin, providing redemption and restoration, so we can repent and return to God, cleansed and made pure and holy. 

Here are some scriptures you can read about the Day of Atonement and the year of Jubilee. I could copy and paste these, but it's better for you the reader to look these up yourself and study them.

It's unfortunate that so many Bible translations translate "hilasmos" as propitation, because the beautiful reference John is making to the sacrifice on Day of Atonement in the year of jubilee is totally lost. The NIV translates is as "atoning sacrifice" which is better, so read about it for yourself, and learn more about the amazing, cleansing sacrifice of Jesus:

Day of Atonement/cleansing

Exo. 30:10

Lev. chapters 16 (entire chapter), 17:11, 23:26-28,

How atoning sacrifice cleanses:

Exo. 29:36

Lev. 8:15, 12:7-8, 14:18, 14:20, 14:29, 14:31, 15:15, 15:30, 

Num.: 8:21, 15:25, 15:28,

2 Chr.: 30:18

Eze.: 43:20, 43:26, 45:20

How Atoning sacrifice sanctifices/make holy: Exo. 29:37, Num. 6:11