Leviticus 23:23 ¶ And the
LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 24 Speak
unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day
of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy
convocation. 25 Ye shall do no servile
work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
26 And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 27 Also on the tenth day
of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an
holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an
offering made by fire unto the LORD. 28
And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of
atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. 29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall
not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
30 And whatsoever soul it be that
doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his
people. 31 Ye shall do no manner of work:
it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your
dwellings. 32 It shall be unto
you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day
of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
See here that the seventh day of the week was not the only Sabbath
of rest ordained by God. This is not like the Protestant churches of the
Reformation and beyond calling Sunday the “Christian Sabbath” because typically
in their estimation it is not a day of rest but a day of attending church
meetings, corporate worship, and other functions of the church and someone will
work, usually women.
The institution of a memorial of blowing trumpets is commanded
here. It is a holy celebration and a burnt offering is to be made to the Lord
God. This reminds me of the trumpets of Revelation and how they announce
something.
The ninth day after the blowing of trumpets was the day of
atonement for sin, making peace with God, temporarily, of course. There was to
be no work done that day and it was as strict as the weekly Sabbath. If you
read 28, 29, and 30 together you can see again how cut off meant to kill. Here are comments I made earlier regarding
to cut off.
To be cut off can
mean to be killed.
Genesis 9:11 And I will
establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any
more be a flood to destroy the earth.
2Kings 9:8 For the whole
house of Ahab shall perish: and
I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against
the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:
Ezekiel 25:7 Behold,
therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a
spoil to the heathen; and I will cut
thee off from the people, and I
will cause thee to perish out of
the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
One possible understanding of this is that for a Jew to be cut off
from his people was for him to be lost forever. To disregard God’s Law was to
hold not only His Law but His very person in contempt, not believing. Note the
euphemism for death and dying here, being gathered to one’s people;
Genesis 35:29 And Isaac
gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered
unto his people, being old and full of days: and his
sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Genesis 49:33 And when
Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the
bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered
unto his people.
This is also referenced in Genesis 25:17 regarding Ishmael, in
Numbers 20:24 & 26 & Deuteronomy 32:50 regarding Aaron. Therefore, to
be cut off from one’s people carried with it the pain of death and the loss of
fellowship in eternity if you look at it from that viewpoint.
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