Yom Kippur

Ron Simkins – October 3, 2022 3 Comments

As our Jewish sisters and brothers observe “Yom Kippur”—the day of atonement, Ron shares a reflection based on the translations “Atonement,” “Propitiation,”  “Covering” which translate Kapher (Hebrew) and Hiliasterion (Greek). May we learn to love God and neighbor more through these words. -Renée

God’s gift of atonement in both the Old Testament and the New Testament is often presented by Christians as God demanding a sacrifice so that God could love us instead of being angry with us. This is not the biblical teaching. Always, what God asks of us is meant to change and transform us, not to change and transform God. God already knows how to love and how to be good. We all have quite a long way to go.

First, I don’t mean to say that God is never angry and frustrated with us. I do believe that God gets angry about how we treat other people, trample on God’s gift of creation, and thumb our noses at the God who gives us life, sunshine, water, and food every day. 

God could not be good if it did not anger God that 1000’s of children live in the vastly affluent USA and go to bed without proper food or health care. God could not be good if God is not angry for what is happening to all of the innocent people in Syria year after year this past decade. God could not love humans or the creation if God is not frustrated with what we are doing to God’s great gifts of human community and creation through our greed and thoughtlessness. God could not be anything but angry about the USA history of “white supremacy” that has tortured the lives of BIPOC people in the USA and around the world. When we trash fellow humans, we are trashing a gift that is precious beyond words—God’s human family that God loves. What “father” would not be angry when the children are treated so badly by other children? When we trash the environment, we are trashing an engineering feat beyond our comprehension, a work of creative art that boggles the senses, and a work of craftsmanship that is so intricate we continually discover more. What Giver, Parent, Designer, Artist, and Craftsman would not be frustrated?

Second, I believe that Jesus chose to be faithful to God and to love us fellow humans and that cost him his life which he freely gave in order to express that faithfulness and love. Why? Not because God was angry and couldn’t love us, but because Jesus knew that God did love us and was willing to be a part of what God is doing to tell us so.

Now . . . .for a quick word study. The Hebrew word that is associated with the translations “propitiation” and “atonement” is kapher. It is the word group used in Genesis 6:14 (etc) for covering the ark with pitch or tar. The basic meaning seems to have clearly been carried over to the use of kapher when the word group came to be used for the covering (lid) that covered the box in the Holy of Holies that contained the ark of the covenant. Once a year this “covering” over the ark was the place the High Priest put the blood of a sacrifice that was meant to “cover” the sins of the Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the People. (Leviticus 16:32-33). 

This word came into the New Testament via the Greek translation of the Old Testament as the word group hilasterion/hilasmos. The New Testament writers usually continue the basic meanings of the Old Testament in their use of words like this. So, there is a strong reason to think that they still understand themselves to be speaking of a “covering lid” and a “sacrifice that covers” sins.

Two last comments. (1) This word is rare in the New Testament, but is used in some very key places – see Romans 3:25 and Hebrews 9:5 which identify Jesus as the fulfillment of the “covering seat.” The other uses are 1 John 2:2 and 4:10 where Jesus is identified as the “covering offering” for the sins of his people and for the sins of the entire world. The other use is Hebrews 2:17 where Jesus is described as the current Mediating High Priest between humans and God who is able to “cover the sins of the people.” None of these uses are connected with wrath although some are very directly connected with God’s love. In fact, the entire 4th chapter of 1 John is focused on God’s love.

(2) The only place that I can find that kapher and the wrath of God are connected in either the OT or the NT is Numbers 16:46-47. I might have missed something, but that is all that I know of. This passage describes the sacrifice God tells the High Priest to make on behalf of the people in order to stop a plague that they had brought upon themselves. There is no indication that this one event is in the mind of any of the New Testament writers who speak of Jesus as the “covering seat,” the “covering sacrifice,” and the High Priest who offers the “covering” for our sins.

So, it is a good question to ask ourselves, how did the translation “propitiation” come to be used in a lot of Christian doctrine as almost synonymous with assuaging and angry God? In both “Yom Kippur” and Jesus’ “atoning sacrifice,” is meant to communicate God’s desire to cover our sins so that we can be transformed. God doesn’t need to be transformed. God loves us. Each of us. On the other hand, every one of us could still use quite a bit of transformation, and each of us certainly needs to count on the gift of having our sins “covered” if we are going to be in a right relationship with God.

Ron Simkins 2022