Rosh Hashanah. The Feast of Trumpets. The head of the year, the beginning of the High Holy Days. A span of time where we start the Jewish New Year, look back and reflect, search our hearts, and seek repentance in the 10 Days of Awe. We not only look back, we look forward to what God will do in the coming year.
As believers, we strive to seek God daily and live holy lives. But this is a time that the Lord has set apart, to enter his presence deeply, to search our hearts, to seek reconciliation with Him and those inside and outside our families and communities.
His desire is not for us to get caught up in dwelling on the past or the mistakes we have made, but to come to the knowledge that He is God and recognize His forgiveness, His love, and salvation.
In this season, this particular year of quarantine, riots, division, loneliness, job loss, and so many uncertainties, this is the God of “I AM,” not the God of “What if.” It’s very easy for us to get distracted and disheartened by the world’s chaos and messages of fear and doubt. What do the Holy Days mean for us today, during this year? I am reminded that God has set apart these times for us to remember His faithfulness. That He is greater than what I see and He doesn’t change.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." - James 1:17 (NIV)
This is powerful because it reminds us that no matter what happens today or tomorrow, He is still on the throne. He will carry our burdens and He will be our strength in weakness.
One day, the Messiah will return and wipe every tear away and unite us with Himself. During Rosh Hashanah, the shofar is sounded as a call to God’s people to repent from their sins. It also speaks of the future coming of our Messiah and our need to prepare our hearts for Him. Many believe that it is this holiday, Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets, that will usher in His return.
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16
Within these 10 Days of Awe, as we come to the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, we are preparing our hearts to remember His atonement for our sins, Yeshua the sacrificial lamb.
Let us enter this new year with eyes full of hope, preparing ourselves for what God has called us to in this season: to be a light of hope for the world.
Michelle
