Rosh Hashanah and The Days of Awe

Tishri, the seventh month in the Jewish calendar, contains three major holidays. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot.

Tishri begins sometime during the last three weeks of September or the first week of October. The first day of Tishri is the Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashanah which means "head of the year." If you read Exodus 12:2CloseExodus 12:2 "From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) , you will discover that the Torah teaches that the month of Nisan when Passover is celebrated, is to be the first month.

How then did the first of Tishri come to be celebrated as New Year's day? Probably because the letters of the words "the first of Tishri" in Hebrew can be rearranged to form the words "in the beginning". This was probably understood as being a hidden indication that the world was created on the first of Tishri, according to a certain method of Rabbinic interpretation, and, therefore, the year begins on this day.

There is a Biblical holiday, however, on this day, the Feast of Trumpets (see Leviticus 23:23CloseLeviticus 23:23 The LORD said to Moses, OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) and Numbers 29:1-6CloseNumbers 29:1-6 "Celebrate the Festival of Trumpets each year on the first day of the appointed month in early autumn.* You must call an official day for holy assembly, and you may do no ordinary work. On that day you must present a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. It will consist of one young bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. These must be accompanied by grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil—six quarts* with the bull, four quarts* with the ram, and two quarts* with each of the seven lambs. In addition, you must sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering to purify yourselves and make yourselves right with the LORD.* These special sacrifices are in addition to your regular monthly and daily burnt offerings, and they must be given with their prescribed grain offerings and liquid offerings. These offerings are given as a special gift to the LORD, a pleasing aroma to him. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ).

Rosh Hashanah, also known as Yom ha-Din (Day of Judgement), begins the "Ten Days of Awe" (Yomin Noraim), the "Ten Days of Turning or Repentance" or "the High Holy Days" which conclude with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. During this period, it is customary to greet one another with the phrase, "L'Shanah Tovah Tikateyvu" meaning "May you be inscribed in the Book of Life."

This holiday is both solemn and joyous since it is both the Day of Repentance or Day of Judgement and the birthday of the world. It is celebrated for two days. On the first day, some Orthodox Jews practice a custom called "tashlich", which involves going to a body of water and emptying one's pockets or casting bread crumbs into the water. This is symbolic of Micah 7:19CloseMicah 7:19 Once again you will have compassion on us.  You will trample our sins under your feet  and throw them into the depths of the ocean! OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) , "And you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." A family meal is celebrated which includes honey cake, wine, and apples dipped in honey to symbolize hope for a sweet and happy year. On the second night, a fruit not yet eaten that season is served. Hallah bread, in a round loaf, symbolizing a crown, is another traditional food.

In the synagogue, the major focuses are introspection and repentance. It is a time for recognizing one's sins and turning from them. The blowing of the shofar (trumpet) is a central feature and calls the worshippers to turn to God. It also announces that a great event is about to take place. Genesis 22, which tells of God's command to Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, is read on the second day.

The Biblical holiday of the Feast of Trumpets is described most fully in Numbers 29:1-6CloseNumbers 29:1-6 "Celebrate the Festival of Trumpets each year on the first day of the appointed month in early autumn.* You must call an official day for holy assembly, and you may do no ordinary work. On that day you must present a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. It will consist of one young bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. These must be accompanied by grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil—six quarts* with the bull, four quarts* with the ram, and two quarts* with each of the seven lambs. In addition, you must sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering to purify yourselves and make yourselves right with the LORD.* These special sacrifices are in addition to your regular monthly and daily burnt offerings, and they must be given with their prescribed grain offerings and liquid offerings. These offerings are given as a special gift to the LORD, a pleasing aroma to him. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) . The central elements are the number 7 (7th month, 7 male lambs offered), the abstaining from regular work, the sounding of the ram's horn trumpets, various burnt offerings, and the sin offering of one male goat to make atonement for sin.

Notice that this holiday, which focuses on sin and repentance, is followed by the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur on the 10th of Tishri, and then Sukkot or the Feast of Booths on the 15th of the month, which focuses on God's providential care of his people. We must acknowledge our sin, repent and receive God's atonement for sin before we can experience God's providential care over our lives.

The New Covenant Fulfillment Rosh Hashanah

God has provided the ultimate Sabbath rest through Jesus the Messiah. We can rest from our own efforts to be accepted by God. Our own good works cannot save us, as even the traditional Jewish song from the liturgy, Avinu Malkeynu says: "We have no good works of our own; deal with us in mercy and kindness and save us." Messiah is our sin offering. If we recognize our sin, turn away from it, and return to God in faith, we can be sure our names are inscribed in the Book of Life (Philippians 4:3ClosePhilippians 4:3 And I ask you, my true partner,* to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) and Revelation 3:5CloseRevelation 3:5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ). The ultimate Day of Judgment of sin will come. Jesus' death demonstrated that sin must be judged. He received the judgement in our place. His resurrection shows that God has appointed Him the Judge (see John 5:21-27CloseJohn 5:21-27 In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him. "I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. "And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it's here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man.* Don't be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God's Son, OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ; 12:31; and Acts 17:31CloseActs 17:31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead." OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ).

The Ultimate Day of Judgement will come when the trumpet shall sound and Jesus the Messiah returns to judge the earth (I Thess. 4:16; I Cor. 15:52). He will preside over the heavenly court. We are called to repent and celebrate the New Creation that has begun in the Messiah (2 Cor. 5:17; Romans 5:12-19CloseRomans 5:12-19 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. But there is a great difference between Adam's sin and God's gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the result of God's gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man's sin. For Adam's sin led to condemnation, but God's free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Yes, Adam's one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ's one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ; and I Cor. 15:45) and will come in fullness when he returns (Romans 9:19-22CloseRomans 9:19-22 Well then, you might say, "Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven't they simply done what he makes them do?" No, don't say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, "Why have you made me like this?" When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn't he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ).

Used by permission, The Intercessors Network.