The framework for this series was from an article that was posted at https://allisrael.com/forgiveness-yom-kippur-and-the-messiah-s-atoning-sacrifice
Yehuda Frank is the author.
The premise of the article is that God rejected the Yom Kippur sacrifice the forty years preceding the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. Since the Temple is no more, the High Priest of Israel has been unable to enter the Holy of Holies and make the sacrifice on behalf of himself and the nation to this day.
We are approaching 2,000 years of God rejecting Israel’s Day of Atonement sacrifice.
Historically, who arrived on the scene 40 years prior to 70 A.D.? Well, that would be our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now depending on the timeline one subscribes to, Jesus was sacrificed for sin in one of two likely dates, 30 A.D. or 33 A.D. In either case, His ministry and/or death were on the scene in 30 A.D. Israel rejected their Messiah. Jesus is the atonement for sin for all and for all time.
How do we know God rejected the sacrifice prior to the flattening of the Temple? What proof is there for 40 years of history prior to 70 A.D.? Scribes of the times observed some strange happenings taking place starting in 30 A.D.
Authors of the Talmud chronicled their observations from 30 to 70 A.D. The Talmud, meaning learning or study, is a Jewish book of teachings and commentaries regarding the law, theology, sayings, arguments and rebuttals.
Granted, these documents are not Biblical Canon but they are historical documents of events that took place. In the case of the Talmud, there are two witnesses.
Babylonian Talmud: “Our Rabbis taught: During the last forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the lot [‘for the Lord’] did not come up in the right hand; nor did the crimson-colored strap become white; nor did the westernmost light shine; and the doors of the Hekal (Temple) would open by themselves” (The Soncino Talmud, tractate ‘Yoma,’ 39b).
Jerusalem Talmud: “Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the western light went out, the crimson thread remained crimson, and the lot for the Lord always came up in the left hand. They would close the gates of the Temple by night and get up in the morning and find them wide open” (The Yerushalmi, translated by Jacob Neusner, p. 156f).
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Why Two Witnesses?
Deuteronomy 19:15-21 A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
The evidence presented is consistent. History agrees, the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. The time frame of 40 years is noted. There are 4 points of agreement.
- The lot of the Lord was in the left hand.
- The crimson strap remained crimson.
- The western light was out.
- The doors of the Temple were open in the morning.
Per the Mosaic Law, the findings of the Babylonian Talmud and Jerusalem Talmud are established facts per two independent witnesses.
There is legal evidence, God has been rejecting Israel’s Yom Kippur sacrifice for a long time…
