Torah Reading: Leviticus 23:23-25; Numbers 29:1-6
Rosh Hashanah (‘Head of the Year’)

We have come to a very special time. This Friday evening (18 September) at sundown marks the end of 29 days of preparation (the month Elul) and the start of the traditional Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah – the Head of the Year. It is the first day of the seventh month Tishri in the LORD’s calendar and is marked as the first of the three autumn feasts of the LORD (mo’edim). These include Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), and Sukkot (the joyous Feast of Ingathering), when God will blow the shofar (ram’s horn) blast (1 Cor 15:52, 1 Thes 4:16) and Jesus returns to this earth.

This first day of Tishri is called Yom Teru’ah – the Day of Blowing, and is accompanied by a series of blasts on the shofar1. It is also an urgent call to repent, to renew right relationships, both with God and with people we know. Ten days are allocated for this (Yamim noraim – Days of Awe), in order to bring people to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when opportunity was given under the First Covenant to receive pardon for sins confessed, and for all to turn from going their own way (Isa 55:6-7, 43:25), and to be blessed for the New Year. This forgiveness for sin was (and is) based on the finished work of Messiah Jesus upon the cross at Calvary.

The Lord’s Call to all People
This feast of the LORD is a call to us also. It is a call to turn to him in acknowledgement of our sins and transgressions (where we have broken known features of God’s law), and to purge our consciences through the sacrifice and shed blood of Messiah Yeshua; and henceforth to serve the living God (Heb 9:14). God made him sin (with our sinfulness) who knew no sin, that we might be made righteous with his righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). It is truly an awesome time to seek God’s mercy and faithfulness. Be encouraged to seek him while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near (Isa 55:7).

Our Choice
This is one of those ‘Choose!’ times - choose to obey his will, and do not go after other gods. Moses laid it clearly before the children of Israel:
Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; life and death; a blessing if you obey the commandments of the LORD, and a curse if you will not obey. Therefore choose life that you and your children may live (Deut 11:26-28, 30:19-20).
Love the Lord your God, listen to his voice; hold fast to him, for he is your life. God longs to bless, but there are conditions to receive His blessing. He blesses those in the right place - those who abide in Messiah Jesus. So by faith we seek to stay in the centre of his will, and we abide in Jesus (John 15). He blesses those who live in loving, faith-filled obedience to his word. John 14-16 interweaves this love, obedience and blessing. And he blesses those who have an open heart and an open hand to the poor and needy (Deut 15, Isa 58, Prov 22).2

The message of the shofar (the four blasts on Rosh Hashanah) to us at this time, as it was to his own people when he came the first time, is:
• Listen! Proclaim his kingship.
• Cry for mercy! Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
• Awake from sleep! Prepare for action. Time is short.
• The King is coming! Be ready. Prepare his welcome.

Repent
For certain his coming is nearer now than it was a century ago. The increased shaking confirms that. But it may not be long before he comes again. Time is short now. The Yamim noraim is one of his chosen ways each year to restore relationship with him. Repentance is the key. So in these perilous days of the birth pangs of the end of the age, now all around us (Matt 24, Luke 21), let us consecrate ourselves afresh, let us deepen our relationship with our Lord Jesus who promises never to leave us or forsake us, and let us trust him in all situations, for he knows our needs.

Shana tovah! (‘Good Year’)

Greg Stevenson

1 Greg Stevenson, ‘The Message of the Shofar’, Olive Press Research Paper, CMJ, 2010
2 Timothy Pain, ‘Ashburnham Insights: Blessings and Cursings’, Kingsway Publications, 1987