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THE GOD CULTURE PHILIPPINES BLOG | SEPTEMBER 10, 2025

📜 Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) – Fact Sheet

🕊️ Biblical Name & Timing

• Hebrew Name: Yom Kippur (יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים) — “Day of Atonements”

• Date: 10th day of the 7th biblical month (Ethanim).

• On the calendar we use by Zadok Way, this falls on October 2-3 for 2025. It begins at sundown on Ethanim 9 (Oct. 2) and ends at sundown on the 10th (Oct. 3). This has been greatly misunderstood in modern exegesis due to a lack of reading Torah but instead accepting Pharisee leaven untested. It is time to restore this. [Watch our Day of Atonement video]

• Scriptural References:

• Leviticus 16 (entire chapter)

• Leviticus 23:26–32

• Numbers 29:7–11

📌 Commanded Observance

• High Sabbath — No work is permitted

• "Afflict your souls" (Leviticus 23:27) = a clear reference to fasting

• Duration: From evening to evening (24 hours) with no food, but water is permissible. For those beginning this that struggle, don’t beat yourself up. Do your best the first year and as you mature, you will get through the entire day. If one has a medical condition, there is no edict to abandon treatments. So, be wise in your situation.

• “...from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.” — Leviticus 23:32

🛑 Only Commanded Fast in Scripture

• Yom Kippur is the only fast directly commanded by Yahuah in the Torah.

• All other fasts (e.g., Daniel fast, 40-day fasts, Acts 13) are:

• Voluntary

• Spirit-led

• Based on individual or corporate seeking of Yahuah

• Always valuable in our walk but one must hear from the Holy Spirit

⚠️ Biblical fasting = total abstinence from food unless otherwise specified.

⚖️ High Priestly Service & Temple Ritual (Historical)

• The High Priest entered the Most Set-Apart Place (Holy of Holies) once per year (Hebrews 9:7)

• Made atonement:

• For himself

• For the people

• For the sanctuary

• Two goats:

• One slain for Yahuah as a sin offering

• One sent into the wilderness (Azazel/scapegoat), symbolizing the removal of sin

🗝️ This ceremony foreshadowed Yahusha’s priestly work and final judgment.

Messianic Fulfillment & Prophetic Foreshadowing

Yom Kippur represents the Final Day of Judgment.

🕊️ Foreshadowed in Yahusha:

• Yahusha as High Priest (Melchizedek) entered the heavenly Holy Place (Hebrews 9:11–12)

• He offered His own blood — once and for all

• Currently interceding (Hebrews 7:25) until the day of final judgment

• We do not offer animal sacrifices as His blood was sufficient. Nothing else in any of these Feasts was replaced and His blood remains valid and never passed away, nor can any Bible Feast Day.

🔥 Future Fulfillment:

• Revelation 20:11–15 — The Great White Throne Judgment

• All people judged according to their works

• Book of Life opened

• Righteous receive reward; wicked face condemnation

• Many confuse that John fast forwards to tell us of Satan’s bondage and destruction, but then, returns to the Day of Judgment for this event. The Second Death is for sinners on the Day of Judgment as their spirits are consumed after their first physical death. [See Addendum below for complete explanation of our position].

• 🧎Yom Kippur calls believers to repent, examine their lives, and stand in awe of Yah’s justice and mercy. Just as Yahusha defined in Matthew 7, the Day of Judgment measure will be our personal relationship with Him. It will not consider our denomination, church attendance and volunteering, but our knowing Him.

🗣️ Spiritual Themes

Theme                Meaning

Atonement                  Covering and cleansing of sin

Judgment                     All will be judged by Yah’s standard

Intercession                Messiah stands in the gap for us

Humility                       Fasting = submission and reverence

Cleansing                     A time for deep spiritual purification

🧭 Practical Application Today

• Fast for 24 hours (sunset to sunset) — total fast unless health requires modification

• Use the day for:

• Confession and repentance

• Prayer and worship

• Meditation on Scripture

• Quiet reflection

• Avoid distractions — this is a set-apart, solemn day

• If this is your first time, eat a large meal just before and immediately following and most will find this is not difficult.

💡 Note: This is not a legalistic ritual but a spiritual appointment — to afflict the soul before our Judge and King. Fasting is always beneficial and this one is an annual event for 24 hours.

🕰️ End-Time Connection: The Final Day of Judgment

• Yom Kippur prophetically points to:

• The closing of the books

• The sealing of destinies

• The day when Yahusha judges the nations

• Joel 2:1 – “Blow the trumpet… for the day of Yahuah comes”

• It fits within the Fall Feast sequence:

• Trumpets – The King returns

• Atonement – The world is judged

• Tabernacles – Yah dwells with the redeemed

❌ Common Misunderstandings

Misconception                              

“We don’t need to fast anymore”.   

Biblical Truth                 

Yahusha never abolished Yom Kippur; it is still a moed (appointed time). As it is foreshadowing a future event, it cannot pass away.

Misconception                              

“Fasting is optional on Yom Kippur”                 

Biblical Truth 

Scripture commands “afflict your soul” as part of the observance. Unless you have medical reasons, even if you have to work for some reason, you can still do this.

Misconception                              

“It’s only for Jews”

Biblical Truth 

Leviticus 23:2 — “These are My feasts,” for all who follow Yahuah. The gentile always kept the same Law.

Misconception                              

“Yahusha fulfilled it, so we ignore it”

Biblical Truth 

Fulfillment doesn’t mean erasure, nor passing away which is a poor definition as it means He kept it — it means deeper meaning and urgency for believers. However, this is a future event and it has not been fulfilled in that sense and cannot pass away.

📌 Summary

Yom Kippur is a set-apart, prophetic day where:

• We are called to humble ourselves in fasting

• We reflect on our standing before Yahuah

• We remember that Yahusha is our atonement

• We anticipate the Final Judgment when every soul stands before the King

“It shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls…” — Leviticus 23:32

Keep the Feasts!

If you follow another calendar, that is fine—we have yet to find a perfect one. But as Paul affirmed in Acts 18:21:

"I must by all means keep this feast."

We will continue notifying the community of the calendar dates we follow throughout the year. However, we still have not released our own calendar.

Enjoy the Feasts this year, teach others, and keep seeking truth!
Yah Bless! 🙌

✔📖 Read More Biblical Research Here