TTAERUM@ualtavm.gatech.edu (06/07/89)
For those of you who know the Jewish calendar, you will realize I made an error when I said Lamentation was read at yom kippur - in fact it is read at tisha be-av. This error, reflects an error which I believe many of us make in our walk with Christ. tisha be-av is on the 9th of av while yom kippur is on the 10th of tishri. The force of tisha be av is to mourn the fact that G-d permitted his temple to be destroyed and Israel sent into captivity. yom kippur is a "day of atonement" or a "day of covering". There are many similarities: fasting and prayer, but there are significant differences - the primary one being that at yom kippur the "sins are covered" while at tisha be av the "sins remain exposed for all the nations to see". Perhaps the difference can be explained by Hosea, Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning. I wrote for them the many things of my law, but they regard them as something alien. (Hosea 8:11-12). In another place G-d says that He did not command sacrifices but rather He commanded obedience to the law. In other words, the sacrifice was to be an atonement for sin, not a replacement for doing everything possible to obey his law. Terry Taerum