The LORD said to Moses, 24“Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. 25Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the LORD.'”
September! The month will be ushering in so many new sensations of fall, crackling leaves, crisp air, apples and pumpkins! Wonderful promises of back to school new notebooks, backpacks and pencils, plaid jumpers and promises of new adventures as our children return to school and college. There is another event that I would like to bring to our attention. It is not a celebration that has been in the forefront on our holiday get together’s, but it should be. Rosh HaShana, (the Feast of Trumpets) on through ten days to Yom Kippur (the Day of Judgement).
These are Fests of the Lord and since they were not revoked when Jesus came, but were fulfilled, it would behoove us to re-instate and celebrate these fests as we honor our Lord and Savior. Why? Glad you asked!
The Feast of Trumpets or ‘New Year’ are the common names for these beautiful Jewish fests. These ten days are Ten Days of Repentance. They are High Holy Days in the Jewish tradition. During the Rosh HaShana the shofar or rams horn is blown 100 times to call people to repentance. They remember God’s judgement and look forward to God’s goodness in the New Year. Often cards are sent to friends and family wishing them a ‘Happy New Year.’ It is a solemn day in every Jewish home. A day when your sins are cast into the water (symbolically) and washed away. Micah 7:18-20 18Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. 19You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. 20You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago. (NIV)
A traditional meal in the Jewish home on Rosh RaShana is challah bread to remind them of God’s provision, and apples dipped in honey to give them hope for sweetness in the new year.
The reminder in this Holy Feast for us as believers in Christ is that there WILL be a Judgement Day! The trumpet will sound and Jesus will return! 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NIV For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
The Jewish faith had no Jesus to look to as teacher, forgiver of their sins, or Savior. They just continued to follow the traditions that were handed down from generation to generation. And they still do. Somehow, their eyes are blinded (though not all of them) to the foreshadowing of Jesus coming to fulfill what the Lord Yahweh told them to do until He, the Messiah came to fulfill these prophesies.
Now we, knowing the Old Testament prophesy, and the New Testament of reality fulfilled in Yeshua , can celebrate these Feasts of the Lord in true joy, knowing just as the prophesies of thousands of years ago came into being, these prophesies will also come to fruition! So, Celebrate what Christ has done; He has forgiven oursins so we do not need to atone for them every year. What He is doing, walking with us daily. What He will do one day soon, His return is eminent, He will meet us in the air! Listen for those trumpets, and BE READY TO GO TO MEET HIM IN THE AIR! Now that IS something to Celebrate! Have a wonderful Rosh HaShana!
Leave a Reply