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Yom Kippur is not a day to be happy. It's a day to afflict oneself; which
Webster's defines as causing distress so severely as to cause persistent
suffering and/or anguish. (Lev 16:29, 16;31, 23;27, and 23:32)
The penalty for failure to cause oneself persistent suffering and/or anguish is
cutting off. (Lev 23:29)
Why is Yom Kippur such a depressing day? Well; that's not too hard to figure
out.
There's a goat involved in Yom Kippur commonly called a scapegoat.
However, it's not really a scapegoat, in reality it's an escaping goat; viz: a
fugitive.
Every sin the people ever committed is ceremoniously placed on the goat
and it's then turned loose. Well; that right there is a very bad thing for Jews
because in order for their sins to be pardoned, it's necessary for the
sin-bearing goat to be put to death and burned on the Altar. So what? Well;
I'll tell you so what. It means that the people's sins go unpunished; viz; the
sins placed on the goat are still on the books hanging over the people's
heads like a sword of Damocles and one day will be brought to justice. Now
if that isn't reason enough to be depressed, then I give up.
Q: Why every sin the people ever committed?
A: Because there is not even one offering in the entire Levitical catalogue
that suffices to delete the people's sins. The only thing that those sacrifices
obtain for them is a reprieve; which is a temporary delay, not a permanent
fix. In other words: forgiveness in the Old Testament acquits no one; Old
Testament forgiveness merely puts justice on hold. (Ex 34:7, Rom 3:25-26,
Heb 10:1-4)
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