Don’t let the media steer your priorities this year.

As we enter another calendar year (albeit on the Roman rather than the biblical calendar), what will be the central focus of our attention as a society, and as individuals? A delayed vote on the Brexit ‘deal’? Concerns over immigration? Climate change? The fortunes of our favourite sporting team? The next TV cooking competition?

We can be sure that the news media will be full of their own top priorities, all shouting loudly to draw our attention. Three days after Christmas, I ran a search on the name ‘Jesus’ on the BBC website. Among a multitude of news items, sporting fixtures and scores, entertainment, travel and so on, apart from a small amount of archived material, Jesus was barely mentioned: a late-night Christmas Day programme, an early morning Sunday radio show, and an upcoming Daily Service on 14 January. Nowhere else.

Yet, unless Jesus is at the centre of all that we think and do, our focus will be out of balance and our priorities skewed more towards worldly affairs and opinions than we might realise. In this fast-paced, media-driven culture we must be careful to check our priorities, even as Christians - that would be a good new year resolution for all of us!

Check Your Sources!

Personally, I have become more concerned than ever about the way the media focusses our attentions and dictates our concerns. We can be beguiled into thinking that the latest BBC news headline is the key issue in the world. But the choices of news editors can blinker us away from what might be God's priorities.

When I was a child I was brought up in a working class family and worked with my father on building sites, where I am glad to have come into contact with many ‘ordinary’ folk. I was impressed by the depth of understanding that they seemed to have of political affairs, debated hotly in the tea and lunch breaks. It was only in later years that I smiled when I realised that most were only expressing the opinions that they read in their daily papers, such as the Daily Mirror. Many of these workmen had their choice of newspaper in their pocket as they went to work.

Unless Jesus is at the centre of all that we think and do, our focus will be out of balance and our priorities skewed more towards worldly affairs and opinions than we might realise.

In conversations I have had this Christmas break, I was struck again by the way opinions across all social classes are still formed by the media. It was standard media opinions and the arguments of charismatic media personalities that were used by my non-believing friends to defend evolution against creationism, or LGBTQ+ ‘rights’, or to debate questions of our membership of the EU, or President Trump, Theresa May and so on.

"Check your sources!" is my constant cry against arguments that are too often based on no solid foundations. Certainly the mainstream media is not usually a primary source of truth, even if it is a primary source for opinion.

Steering Public Opinion

I read Andrew Marr's book, My Trade, recently and this confirmed my view of much corruption in the news industry: always seeking a headline (whether true, part-true or contrived) in order to make sales. Fake news is a new term, but it is not a new issue. Fake news or biased news reporting has permeated news media from its inception.

Not all is bad and rotting of course, but overall, the general public is often faced with a variety of selected ‘news’ stories that they cannot check and which are cleverly contrived to steer their opinion in a certain direction.

What we witness in the public arena is a power struggle for who shall govern our nation. The media has a legitimate place to hold politicians to account, but it has become a manipulating power that often weakens government instead of strengthening it. This adds daily to the corruption which is all around us - a corruption that is deepening because Jesus – the Truth - is no longer the central focus in our nation.

Generation Gap

Young people are not always as beguiled as older generations by what they see in the news arena. They have grown up in a world where you can no longer believe what you see. I discovered this from other conversations that I had this holiday season. These conversations made me wonder whether I really understand our younger generation who, through their own interactive and online communities, seem to be separating themselves away from a failing world.

The mainstream media is not usually a primary source of truth, even if it is a primary source for opinion.

The up-side is that many young people are thinkers. The down-side is that they are vulnerable and susceptible due to our cultural drift away from the Gospel message (which many young people have never heard). The nation is ripe for a youth-led revolution: but whether an uprising or a revival - it could go either way.

Jesus at the Centre

My challenge for 2019, therefore, is for us who know him to bring Jesus fully into the centre of our lives once more: to see things as he sees them and not according to worldly agendas that make no reference to him.

The Bible speaks so often, though sometimes in mysteries to be understood through prayer, about the days in which we live - days like the days of Noah or of Sodom and Gomorrah - days leading up to the return of Jesus, on which we need to be focussed more and more.

Perhaps, if Christians were to strengthen their focus on our Lord, then he may be gracious enough to revive us once more and through us speak truth to this needful generation. The days are urgent.

Time to taste the sweet honey of following Yeshua.

I was looking forward, with some trepidation, to blowing the shofar in front of hundreds of schoolchildren last week. But in the end my wife, who teaches Christianity and the Jewish feasts to primary pupils all across our town, decided she was perfectly capable of thus sounding the trumpet.

And as Jews welcome their New Year festival of Rosh Hashanah in this way, and enjoy the tradition of apples dipped in honey, I feel there is something of an apocalyptic, end time significance about this particular anniversary.

Significant Anniversaries Ahead

It ushers in the year 5777, which has a resonance of its own with three sevens – the latter being the 'perfect' number in biblical terms. And in the Gregorian calendar which most of us follow, we will soon be welcoming 2017, a date of huge relevance to Israel on three counts.

First, it will mark the jubilee, or golden anniversary (50 years), since the Six Day War of 1967 when the Old City of Jerusalem – the holiest property in all Judaism – was restored to Jewish hands for the first time in more than 2,000 years. Some scholars have suggested that this awesome event represented the fulfilment of "the times of the Gentiles" referred to by Yeshua (Jesus) when he said: "Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (Luke 21:24).

The new year will also mark 70 years since the historic United Nations vote to recognise Israel when, although Arab states opposed the resolution, the required two-thirds majority was achieved which set the scene for the re-birth of Israel the following year.

The year 5777 will mark and contain several significant anniversaries.

Jesus' Return Close

Bear in mind what Jesus said about the lesson learned from the fig tree, which is symbolic of Israel. He said that when it buds and blossoms at a time when the world is in great upheaval with wars, famines and earthquakes, we would know that his coming is near. Then he said: "This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened" (Matt 24:34).

In other words, the generation (possibly lasting 70 years, man's allotted lifespan according to Psalm 90:10) witnessing these extraordinary events would live to see "all these things" happening. Could that include his actual return? We cannot be certain, but it's a distinct possibility. And as one born the year after the state of Israel, I find that both hugely exciting as well as rather scary.

The Zionist Hope

But neither of these hugely historic anniversaries would have been possible without Britain's Balfour Declaration of 1917, which effectively cleared the path for Israel's restoration. The centenary of this crucial milestone in the Jews' long journey home is in danger of being lost in the mists of political correctness, but it needs to be celebrated with gusto. It may not be as topical as our current Brexit endeavours, but it is also something for which Britain can be justly proud.

It amounted to a British government promise, from Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur James Balfour, to do all in its power to facilitate the creation of a homeland in Palestine (as the region was then known) for the Jewish people. And it came about largely through the efforts of 19th Century evangelical Christians, allied to the rise of Zionism under Theodor Herzl. When all is said and done, it was the preachers and politicians who knew their Bible – and the God of the Bible – who undoubtedly most influenced the government of the day. They clearly saw that it was our duty as a Christian nation to love and support the Jews, and to facilitate their return to their ancient homeland.

The preachers and politicians of the 19th Century knew their Bible – and with God, influenced the government of the day.

They also knew – and this was crucial to their support – that it wasn't just about land, but about the Lord; that though the Bible clearly speaks of a restoration of Israel from every corner of the globe, such restoration would precede their national return to the God of Israel, the Father of the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, which would in turn usher in our Lord's Second Coming. Ezekiel prophesied: "I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land...And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws" (Ezek 36:24-27).

It was this truth, above all, that drove our British forefathers to pray, proclaim and work towards fulfilment of the Zionist dream.

God is Seeking a Bride

God is seeking a Bride with whom he wishes to rendezvous back in their ancient land where he first 'courted' her. There she learnt to walk in his ways and the prophets tried, often in vain, to encourage faithfulness to the one true God.

When the Balfour promise was made back in November 1917, the Holy Land still belonged to the Turkish Ottoman Empire, which had ruled the region for 400 years. But within weeks it was in British hands, which handed on a plate the opportunity for us to make good our pledge.

However, because we reneged on many of our promises and dealt treacherously with the Jews as we made repeated concessions in a bid to appease Arab demands, it took another three decades – and the death of millions at the hands of the Nazis – before the founding fathers were finally in a position to re-create the state of Israel.

The Zionist dream is not just about Jews returning to the Land. It heralds their prophesied return to the Lord and – ultimately – his return to the Earth.

Please forgive us, Israel, and in the meantime rejoice that even without our help in more recent times – though certainly with God's help – you have come this far.

May God's love surround you at this special time and cause you to know the fear of the Lord and his decrees, which are "sweeter than honey" (Ps 19:10).

In this beautiful psalm of King David, we see how much he loves the law, the statutes, the precepts and the commands of the Lord. "They are more precious than gold...and sweeter than honey." And all of this is perfectly fulfilled in Yeshua, who told the crowds on the Mount of Beautitudes at Capernaum: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them" (Matt 5:17).

Clifford Hill responds to the widespread sex attacks in Germany on New Year's Eve.

This was the headline news in Germany that has shaken the nation which has opened its borders to more than 1,000,000 migrants and refugees during the past year. It is particularly disturbing for the President Angela Merkel whose personal policy has been to provide an open door for those escaping the war in Syria and Iraq. She has been foremost among European leaders in expressing compassion, both in deeds and in words, for the victims of the violence and atrocities causing so much suffering in the Middle East.

The reports from a number of German cities show that similar incidents occurred to those in Cologne where it is reported on the BBC News website that "around 1000 young men arrived in large groups, seemingly with the specific intention of carrying out attacks on women."¹ More than 100 women have reported being subjected to sexual harassment and have complained that the police deployed outside the Central Station to control the New Year crowds did not come to their aid.

Organised Harassment

Newspaper reports say that the police were overwhelmed by the crowds of aggressive young men, many of whom were intoxicated, who surrounded women and girls intent on making sexual advances. There have been numerous reports of girls suffering unwelcome assaults that have left them traumatised. The Hamburg police said that many similar incidents had been reported on New Year's Eve and similar reports from other German cities indicate that this was part of an organised event.

The attacks have been particularly disturbing news for Angela Merkel, who has been foremost among European leaders in expressing compassion to refugees fleeing war-torn nations.

Link to Migrants

The most disturbing fact to come from these incidents is that many of the young men involved were migrants or asylum seekers. Many did not even speak German or English. The inevitable conclusion from this is that Germany has been foolish in taking so many newcomers in such a short period of time and not providing for their acculturation into German society.

It would be very sad if the events in Cologne and Hamburg triggered widespread anti-migrant activities, but it is hard to see how such sentiment can be avoided in view of the public outrage at the attacks upon defenceless women and girls simply out to enjoy a New Year party atmosphere.

Lack of Cultural Understanding

This is a clear demonstration of the danger of policies devised by well-meaning politicians who have no understanding of the culture and social values of Islam that have moulded the upbringing of these young men. To them, women on the streets, scantily dressed and not under the authority of a man are nothing more than prostitutes and are therefore fair game.

Well-meaning politicians in the West may have no understanding of the cultural and social values that will have moulded the upbringing of these young men.

In Islam, all women are second-class citizens. In Saudi Arabia they are not even allowed to drive a car, let alone appear on the streets unaccompanied by a man. Legally their testimony is not equal to that of a man and they do not have equal human rights. A girl who is raped in a town can be stoned for adultery because it is assumed that she should have cried out for help, therefore she is guilty of complicity. The men often escape punishment.

Inevitable Repercussions

Until European leaders study the teaching of Islam they will continue to blunder by forming policies that can only lead to violent confrontation and social disorder, even if they successfully filter out the migrants who come into Europe with the deliberate intention of carrying out acts of terrorism.

Until European leaders study the teaching and culture of Islamic countries, they will continue to blunder with policies that foster social disorder and not successful integration.

The New Year events in Germany will have repercussions throughout Europe and we can only hope and pray that the German authorities will act quickly to instigate educational courses to teach their one million newcomers about the Christian heritage of Europe and the social values that are rooted in our faith.

What is God Doing?

Prophetically, we have to ask the question of whether God has sent all these people of North African and Arab descent as the 'rod of his anger', in judgement upon Europe for the way we have scorned our spiritual heritage and despised our Christian birthright - as he sent the Assyrians against Judah in the time of Isaiah. On the other hand, it may be that in his love and mercy, remembering the faith of our forefathers, God may be sending this great influx of Muslims into Europe as the greatest opportunity for evangelism we have ever had.

After hundreds of years of missionary activity in North Africa and the Middle East, our Western missionaries have made little impact. Could it be that God is allowing the terrible conflict in the Middle East as the means of opening up those nations that have been closed to the gospel for hundreds of years? The major question we have to face is: does Europe have sufficient commitment to the gospel which declares that salvation is only to be found in the name of Jesus? And can the churches in Europe rise to the challenge to be witnesses for Jesus, forthrightly and fearlessly showing his love and declaring his word? The future of world peace may depend upon the answer to these questions.

References

1 Germany shocked by Cologne New Year gang assaults on women, BBC News, 5 January 2016.

As we enter into a new year, not knowing what we will encounter, how can we look ahead with understanding?

Looking ahead into the New Year is like driving a car in rain and thick fog with the windscreen wipers going flat out and your eyes straining to pick up familiar shapes and to distinguish signs of danger. But Christians have several weapons in their spiritual armoury enabling them to look ahead with understanding. In particular, they have the Bible and the Holy Spirit, who is the 'Counsellor' and the interpreter of the word of God.

The Promised Counsellor

Jesus promised his followers that the Holy Spirit would not only guide us into all truth but that he will even "tell you what is yet to come" (John 16:12). Obviously that does not mean some kind of soothsayer gift, or the ability to know everything that is going to happen in the future. This promise was made at the Last Supper when Jesus was preparing his disciples for the shock of his death and resurrection. He was reassuring them that they would never be separated from him once the Holy Spirit came into their lives.

Christians have several weapons in their armoury enabling them to look ahead with understanding. In particular we have the Bible and the Holy Spirit, who counsels us.

Jesus' emphasis was upon the truth being revealed to his disciples so that they could be his witnesses in the world. If, on some occasions, this meant that they needed to know what would happen in the future, then this would be revealed to them. That promise still holds good today, but only when it is essential for the furtherance of the gospel.

Of course, the broad outlines of the way God intends working out his purposes are already set out in Scripture, leading up to the day when he will draw all things together and the nations will be gathered before Jesus (Matt 25:32). But most biblical scholars believe there is quite a bit to be fulfilled before that day. Nevertheless, we clearly live in a day when momentous events are occurring, which may not only be turning points in history but actually milestones in the fulfilment of God's purposes.

The Year Past

As we noted earlier last year, 2015 was a year of anniversaries, such as the 1000^th anniversary of the Viking invasion of England, the 800^th anniversary of Magna Carta, the 750^th anniversary of our first parliament, the 200^th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo and the 70^th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. But what of the future? What does 2016 hold for Britain and for the nations of the world?

In the last week of 2015 the so-called Islamic State suffered its first major reversal in losing control of Ramadi, a key town in northern Iraq. But does this signal a turning point in the war against the Islamic fighters? Peace talks are scheduled for the New Year in the five year long civil war that has ravaged Syria and changed the demography of a large part of the Middle East. Is there anything in the Bible that helps us to understand what is happening in that part of the world?

We clearly live in a day when momentous events are occurring – not only turning points in history, but milestones in the fulfilment of God's purposes.

Understanding the Middle East Powers

Iraq and Iran generated some of the most violent and bloodthirsty empires that ruled the region in biblical times. Assyria, Babylon and Persia each had their capital cities in this territory. Between them they were responsible for hundreds of years of cruelty, oppression and injustice inflicted upon all the small nations around them including Israel and Judah. The ruthless atrocities committed by their armies struck terror into the hearts of their neighbours.

But the prophets foresaw a day of retribution coming upon them for the gross suffering they had inflicted upon others. Isaiah devoted two chapters (13 and 14) to the judgement that would come upon Babylon and Assyria. He foresaw Babylon being overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah. He said "She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations" (Isa 13:20) and Jeremiah also devoted two whole chapters (50 and 51) to what he foresaw coming upon Babylon. He prophesied that God would "stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon" (Jer 51:1). He continued "I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster."

Prophecies Against Babylon

Historically that did not happen when the Babylonian Empire fell to Cyrus, the Persian Ruler, in 539 BC because Babylon surrendered to him without a shot being fired and the city remained a centre of commerce and prosperity for many years. In fact, that prophecy was not fulfilled until hundreds of years later. Babylon gradually fell into decay during the Greek period and then when the Muslims conquered the land in AD 650, what remained of it was totally destroyed. Babylon has remained desolate to this day - despite Saddam Hussein's attempt to revive its ancient glory.

Prophecies about Babylon's destruction were eventually fulfilled so that it remains desolate to this day – despite Saddam Hussein's attempt to revive its ancient glory.

No-one lives in Babylon now, as both Isaiah and Jeremiah foresaw. Jeremiah wrote his long prophecy on a scroll and sent it via a messenger to Babylon in the year 593 BC with the instruction that the whole of the scroll should be read in Babylon - presumably on a bridge over the River Euphrates, because he gave the scroll to a man called Seraiah with this instruction, "When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. Then say, 'O Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither man nor animal will live in it; it will be desolate forever.' When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. Then say, 'So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring upon her'" (Jer 51:61-64).

Prophecies for Today

Are there any prophecies that are relevant for understanding what is happening today? The answer to this question lies in Ezekiel, Haggai, Malachi, as well as in the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels and in the Book of Revelation. Clearly we cannot review such a range of Scripture in a short article such as this. But we can note one or two salient points.

Anti-government protesters shout slogans against Assad, 28/12/15. See Photo Credits.A number of Arab leaders, such as Ahmadinejad the former President of Iran, have made clear declarations of their intention to destroy Israel. At the moment, with the Syrian conflict still at its height, none of the nations in the Middle East are in a position to launch an attack upon Israel, so apart from the odd incident of violence involving Palestinians, Israel has largely dropped below the radar of the world's media. But we all know that it will happen sometime.

The prophet Ezekiel devotes two chapters (38 and 39) to what he foresees as a combined attack upon Israel coming from many of the surrounding nations. But his prophecy is quite specific and everyone in Israel today is aware of his warnings. He says that a combined international army will invade Israel; "In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety" (Ezek 38:8). All of this sounds very much like the history of the modern state of Israel since 1948. But the prophecy also sees the Israeli population as being "a peaceful and unsuspecting people" (38:11) which certainly is not an accurate description of Israel today, where everyone is on the alert.

Ezekiel prophesied a combined attack on Israel from surrounding nations which has not yet come to pass – which requires Israel to be 'peaceful and unsuspecting'.

False Peace

Strangely enough, the greatest danger may be coming from the so-called 'peace talks' which the United Nations are organising, when they hope to bring together the warring factions in Syria together with President Assad, plus the support of unlikely bedfellows such as Iran, Russia, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Once the Arabs have settled their disputes, Israel may be in greater danger which inevitably brings a threat to world peace.

The outcome of these talks is more likely to be a false peace based upon a patched-up agreement - rather than a true peace. Such an agreement with the backing of the United Nations could lull Israel into a false sense of security which could endanger their future.

This is the kind of scenario referred to in the prophecy given by David Noakes in Jerusalem back in 2003 that we are printing alongside this article. We cannot look ahead into 2016 without sounding a note of warning. At the same time, we express our confidence in the sovereignty of God, who is clearly working out his purposes at this point in world history.

Strangely enough, the greatest danger may be from UN peace talks, which will likely create a false peace that will lull Israel into a false sense of security – but which will not last.

Need for Committed Prayer

Perhaps the greatest need today is for a greater commitment of Christians to the study of the word of God and to specifically focused intercession. The key to the future lies not so much with the activities of churches and denominations with their synods and assemblies, but with the multitude of small groups of believers who faithfully gather in prayer and Bible study, as they did in the earliest days of the church.

As the season known in Jewish tradition as the 'High Holy Days' begins, Helen Belton looks at the meaning and significance of Rosh HaShanah (Jewish New Year) or the Feast of Trumpets.

This Sunday night, Jewish people around the world will gather in synagogues and homes to celebrate the eve of the Jewish New Year with prayers, songs and food - particularly sweet food (typically apples and honey), symbolising the desire for a sweet year ahead. People greet each other with "Shanah Tovah!" or 'Good Year!'

This festival is known in the Bible as the 'Feast of Trumpets', but how did it also become known as Jewish New Year? In the Bible the instructions about this festival are sparse.
Leviticus 23:23-25:

The Lord said to Moses, "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. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.'"

Numbers 29:1-6:

On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets. As an aroma pleasing to the Lord, offer a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. With the bull offer a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil; with the ram, two-tenths; and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth.

Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. These are in addition to the monthly and daily burnt offerings with their grain offerings and drink offerings as specified. They are food offerings presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma...

Is New Year in the Bible?

No mention of New Year, so how did the association come about? Biblically, New Year is at Passover. Exodus 12:2: "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year." It is a more obvious choice, as it marks the redemption from Egypt.

However, in rabbinic tradition the first of the month of Tishri, the day of the Feast of Trumpets, came to be known as Rosh HaShanah, literally 'Head of the Year' ('Rosh' is Hebrew for head, 'ha' is the definite article, and 'shanah' means year). This may have arisen because Exodus 23:26 and Exodus 34:22 describe the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as the Feast of Ingathering, i.e. of the harvest) which takes place 15 days later as occurring at the end (or turn) of the year, signifying the close of the agricultural year and the beginning of the next.¹ Ezekiel 40:1 also speaks of the time of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement, which follows 10 days after Rosh HaShanah) as being at the beginning of the year. Also, Ezra read the Torah (the Law of Moses) before Israel on Tishri 1 in Jerusalem (Neh 7:73-8:9).²

The Jewish historian Josephus wrote in the first century: "Moses...appointed Nisan [the month of Passover]...as the first month for the festivals...the commencement of the year for everything relating to divine worship, but for selling and buying and other ordinary affairs he preserved the ancient order [i.e. the year beginning with Tishri]" (Antiquities 1.81).³

In rabbinic tradition, the 1st of the month of Tishri became the first day of the new year for all ordinary affairs, perhaps because of its proximity to the turn of the agricultural year.

Day of Judgement

In Jewish tradition, the gates of heaven are opened at Rosh HaShanah and closed on Yom Kippur. In between are Ten Days of Repentance (Aseret Yemei Teshuvah). By the end of Yom Kippur, one hopes to be inscribed in God's Book of Life.

Rosh HaShanah is also known as 'Yom HaDin', or 'Day of Judgement'. We are called before the heavenly Judge to give account for the deeds of the preceding year and to be weighed in the balance. Abraham Chill writes:

Satan stands there to indict him. Armed with accusations, incriminations and denunciations he charges that this person is incorrigible and irredeemable; he sins continually; she brazenly defines the word of God – in short, this man or woman deserves to die.

In order to negate the accusations of the enemy, preparation for Rosh HaShanah begins early.

On the first day of the month of Elul (which began this year at sundown on 14 August), prayers of repentance, known as selichot, are said. A custom that has grown up in the last 200 years is to read Psalm 27 every day during the month of Elul, with its emphasis on the light and salvation of the Lord, the plea that the Lord would not hide his face in anger, or reject or forsake, and the final command to "Wait for the Lord". There is also a custom of saying repentance prayers (known as tashlich, meaning casting) at a body of water, to reflecting Micah 7:19, "You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."

Blowing the Shofar

The daily blowing of the shofar or ram's horn begins at Rosh HaShanah, a sound which heralds the period known as the High Holy Days or the 'Days of Awe' (Yamim Noraim).
The sound of the shofar is the rallying call to repentance (Heb. teshuvah, literally return). Psalm 89:15 states: "Blessed is the people that knows the joyful sound". In Hebrew, "joyful sound" is teruah, the sound of the ram's horn, and so the Feast of Trumpets is known as Yom Teruah. Teruah means a massive shout, either by a crowd or by a ram's horn, the kind of shout that caused the walls of Jericho to come tumbling down (Josh 6:20).

Teruah is a form of prayer that appears several times in the Psalms: "All you people clap your hands, raise a joyous shout (teruah) to God" (Psa 47:2). During their travels in the desert, the sound of the shofar alerted the people of Israel when it was time to move on. Both meanings of teruah, a joyous shout of supplication and the sounding of the shofar, unite in Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets).

The daily blowing of the shofar is intended to rally people to repentance and is said to herald God's judgment and victory.

There is an imperative to this sound: it is awe-inspiring and can make us tremble. When God gave the Torah at Mount Sinai, the shofar sounded: "On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled" (Ex 19:16).

A call to repentance

The sound of the shofar commands repentance. It is an opportunity we spurn at our peril. "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion" says Psalm 81 (also Psalm 95 and Hebrews 3:15). The "rebellion" refers to the incident where Moses struck the rock and water came out after the Israelites complained about lack of water. It became synonymous with the people of Israel testing their God. The correct order is established at Rosh HaShanah: God tests his people. We must be soft-hearted and repentantly open to God's testing, rather than hard-hearted, querulous and stubborn:

"He [Moses] named the place Massah [testing] and Meribah [quarrelling] because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us, or not?'" (Ex 17:7).

Psalm 81 speaks of God's frustration with his people's intransigence: "If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways...with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." This is a symbol of the sweet presence of God in our lives which is only available through Messiah: 1 Corinthians 10:4 says that the spiritual rock that accompanied the Israelites in the desert was Messiah. The passage also warns that they all went through the same experiences in the desert but many of them perished and only some were saved. It is a stark and timeless warning that not all who journey with us and receive the same blessings will ultimately respond to God's voice.
Rosh HaShanah establishes that we do not test God, but God tests his people.

Challah bread shaped for Rosh HaShanah.At Rosh HaShanah, Sabbath bread (challah) is dipped into honey, which symbolises the hope for a sweet new year in harmony with God and man. Challah is plaited for the Sabbath but at Rosh HaShanah it is curled into a circle. By tradition, Rosh HaShanah is the anniversary of creation and so on that day we declare that the Lord is King of the world - the round or crown shape of the bread is a reminder of that.

A Day of Remembrance

Rosh HaShanah is known in Jewish liturgy as a 'Day of Remembrance' (Yom Hazikaron). It is a day to remember the binding (akedah in Hebrew) of Isaac, that mysterious story which baffles and amazes in Genesis 22, which is read in synagogues on the second day of Rosh HaShanah. Also read is the story of Hagar and Ishmael being sent away into the desert (Gen 21). Other readings are 1 Samuel 1:1-2:20, where Hannah dedicates her precious son Samuel to the Lord, with its echo of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac, and Jeremiah 31:1-19 with its message of redemption from exile. Sacrifice, testing, dedication and redemption are the themes.

At Rosh HaShanah, God is measuring our deeds in the light of eternity, remembering those which are laudable, which then become part of God, so to speak, as they are part of the divine memory. God chooses to forget the misdeeds of which we have repented, so that they are not carried into eternity.

At Rosh HaShanah, Sabbath 'challah' bread is dipped in honey symoblising hope for a sweet new year in harmony with God and man.

1 Corinthians 3:13 speaks of those whose deeds that are not built on the foundation of Messiah:

"their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day [Day of Judgement] will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's work."

The Book of Life

By the end of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), 10 days after Rosh HaShanah, rabbinic teaching says that judgement for that year is sealed and the books of life and death are closed: one hopes to be inscribed in the Book of Life rather than the Book of Death. Repentance towards God and man and good deeds in the run up to Rosh HaShanah are hoped to outweigh the bad deeds of the year so that one may continue to live, but there is no assurance of acceptance.

It is only in Messiah that we have the certain hope of redemption. As we come into his light our deeds are exposed and we see that even those we hoped were righteous are "filthy rags" (Isa 64:6).

Ephesians 5:8-16 promises that in Messiah we escape darkness (and the futility of trusting in our good deeds to win favour with God) and we come into the light of the Lord. Let us open our ears to the trumpet or shofar blast calling us to repentance, reminding us of the ram that replaced Isaac as sacrifice and let us pray that more and more Jewish people will awaken to the true meaning of the Akedah, that it is Messiah who is our sacrifice, who is calling us to repentance in the blowing of the ram's horn. We echo the prophetic cry:

"Wake up, sleeper,

rise from the dead,

and Messiah will shine on you."

Those who awaken from spiritual slumber may look forward to the final trumpet or shofar call of God, in fulfilment of the promised redemption. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 reminds us of that glorious hope:

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

Those who awaken from spiritual slumber may look forward to the final trumpet or shofar call of God, in fulfilment of the promised redemption.

Similarly 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16 is associated with the Festival of Trumpets:

According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 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 Messiah will rise first.

Let us pray this Rosh HaShanah for every Jewish soul to be inscribed in God's Book of Life in line with the apostle John's vision in Revelation 20:12, "And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books."