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Dip apples in the honey for a sweet new year!
“L’shana tova!” or “Good New Year!” I quickly learned this happy greeting during my first High Holiday season in Israel. The High Holidays begin with Rosh Hashanah or the 'head of the year', and continue till the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, a few weeks later.
This early fall holiday comes after a long summer interlude without any biblical holidays.
On the kibbutz, tables were spread for a glorious outdoor celebration and feast welcoming in the New Year. I should explain what a ‘kibbutz’ is for those who have forgotten from high school Sociology class. A kibbutz is a community of people in Israel who work and live together for the common good. It a commune that actually works! We volunteered on a kibbutz, which had a small factory as well as a farm and was quite prosperous. There were about 800 members and everyone ate together in a spacious dining hall but had separate living quarters. It was a small paradise.
That feast with all those tables set was a beautiful thing to behold. It took a lot of work, but everyone had a part in the preparations and cleanup. After a long, hot summer of toil, this feast was both a reward and a blessing.
Rosh Hashanah is considered the Jewish New Year. Once on the kibbutz, I was babysitting for an American kibbutznik, who had an Israeli husband. She wanted to go out on December 31st and celebrate New Years Eve. Her husband protested saying, “this is not our New Year. Ours is Rosh Hashanah!” Well, needless to say, they went out, but he was right!
Personally, I think it’s actually a much better time for New Year celebration. The new school year is beginning, and summer break has ended. What better time to start again, to reassess, to return to our hopes and dreams.
I know it’s not the beginning of our calendar but it’s not the beginning of the Jewish calendar either. Which, by the way, is different than ours. That is why all the holidays seem to come on a different day each year. Theirs is based on the cycles of the moon. You always get a lovely new moon for Rosh Hashanah. It was beautiful at the kibbutz feast.
It’s also not the beginning of the Torah reading for the year. This New Year celebration is a spiritual New Year.
Another name for this holiday, as seen in Lev. 23:23 is the Feast of Trumpets. Now, this trumpet isn’t like the common band instrument. The trumpet or ‘shofar’ in Hebrew is literally a horn, a ram’s horn. Some are short, some long but all are curved and all come from an animal which has died. Unlike antlers, which shed each year, there’s only one way to get a horn and that’s by the death of the animal.
The shofar’s blast is the key element of this holiday. There’s nothing like that clear call of the ram’s horn breaking through the dark, announcing the New Year. It sure beats banging on pots and pans.
Although the shofar has no keys like a modern trumpet, it can make a variety of sounds. The first is a kind of a blast. The Hebrew word for this blast is “tek’ and has the same root word as ‘shout.’ That blast from the shofar is a sort of a shout. The second sound is a series of broken notes, short and staccato. This in Hebrew is called ‘shevarim.’ Next, the ‘teruah’ or alarm starts on a lower octave and rises up. Finally, we have the great blast or ‘teki gedolah.’ This blast lasts as long as the shofar player can continue on one breath. It’s amazing to hear how long some players can hold this note. The voice of the shofar shouts its message into the heavens.
Just as the shofar has a variety of sounds, it has a variety of messages to proclaim. In Exodus 19:13, 16, and 19, the ram’s horn is sounded with a ‘long blast’ or ‘tekia gedolah’ on the third day proclaiming God’s presence and assembling the people to the Mountain of the Lord. The “blowing of trumpets” in Leviticus 23:24 is announcing the feast. The judge Ehud blows the shofar in Judges 3:27 to gather the nation for a great victory. Nehemiah uses the trumpet as an alert against the enemy in Nehemiah 4:8. In I Kings 1:34, King David has the shofar blown to herald the new King, his son Solomon. The voice of the shofar filled its hearers with fear, awe, and expectation.
Rosh Hashanah is a time of joy, hope, and return. It is a time to heed the shofar’s voice and return to God. The watchword or theme for this High Holiday is 'tshuvi.' 'Tshuvi' or to make ‘tshuvi’ means to return to God. It’s a time of reflection, repentance, and re-gathering. We reflect on the past year and our shortcomings and sins. We repent of our past actions and look hopefully towards the coming year. Called together by the shofar’s warning, we re-gather and return to Him.
Isaiah 27:12-13
And it will come about in that day, that the Lord will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt; and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.Called together from the threshing floor, from Egypt, perishing and scattered, called by the great trumpet to come and worship the Lord, in his holy mountain.
There is much hope surrounding this holiday. We dip apples in honey with hopes of a sweet prosperous new year. We hope that our names are inscribed in the book of life. We make round challah, the sweet Sabbath bread. It’s circular shape symbolizing the continuation of life in this New Year. We throw crumbs from that challah into the sea in hopes that our sins will be far removed from us. This tradition is called Tashlich and is performed at the end of the holiday.
But for me the hope of Rosh Hashanah comes from the shofar. A sweet Jewish woman named Hannah tells of the hope.
Hannah was barren. The one desire of her heart was for a child. Her prayers were answered and she was blessed with Samuel, her first born. Once Samuel was weaned she gave him to the Lord to live and work in the temple.
Immediately after she gave up her heart’s desire, her son to the Lord, Hannah was given a prayer, a prophetic prayer.I Samuel 2:1-10
Then Hannah prayed and said,
“My heart exults in the Lord;
My horn is exalted in the Lord,
My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies,
Because I rejoice in Thy salvation.
There is no one holy like the Lord,
Indeed, there is no one besides Thee,
Nor is there any rock like our God.......
......The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
And He will give strength to His king,
And will exalt the horn of His anointed.”
In the first verse, Hannah speaks of a horn being exalted and lifted up in the Lord. Then in the last verse of her prophecy, she speaks again of this horn as an anointed King. The word, anointed one, in Hebrew is Messiah, in Aramaic, Christ.
Who is this horn that brings so much hope to the people?
Zacharias knew! He too had experienced childlessness. He too gave up his long hoped for child, his heart’s desire to the Lord. Instead of naming his child, Zacharias, after himself as was the established custom for a firstborn son, he gave the child the name the angel had given him, Yochanon or John. John means “Yahweh has been gracious.” The Lord gives gifts that are undeserved.
Then like Hannah, Zacharias was given a prayer, a prophetic prayer.Luke 1:68-79
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished
Redemption for His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of David His servant-
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old-
71 Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
72 To show mercy toward our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
74 To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
76“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;
77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high shall visit us,
79 To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Verses 68 and 69 speak once again of this horn, this horn full of redemption and salvation. This horn will bring a ceasing of fear as it says in verse 74. It will bring forgiveness of sins in verse 77 and be a guide into the ways of peace, verse 79.
Zacharias knew that his son John was not this horn but would go before this horn and prepare his way, verse 76.
The desire of Zacharias was for a son but his heart’s desire was for Messiah to come.
Israel was living under Roman rule and many looked to the hope of Messiah to save Israel. Maybe Zacharias was expecting a conquering ruling king, a Messiah of political and military strength but remember our shofar....
This horn was curved and bending to the will of the Father. This horn came from a slain ram. This horn was ‘exalted’ or in other words ‘lifted up’ but it was not yet blown.
The shofar is a beautiful symbol of the Anointed One, Messiah Jesus Christ. He came to do God’s Will; he bent himself to the will of the Father. As it says in the Psalms, “I come to do thy will, oh God." The gospels share Jesus’ word, “I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 5:30b) and “Not my will but Thine be done.” (Luke 22:42b). Even when he taught us to pray he said, “Thy will be done.” (Matthew 6:10).
The curve in the shofar reflects this bending of Messiah. Having the voice, the word of total authority but choosing to be a humble servant.Philippians 2:5-8
Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.Jesus was perfectly bent to the will of the Father.
When Abraham showed himself willing to give up his son, Isaac as a sacrifice to God, God provided himself as an offering.
Genesis 22:8-14
8 And Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there, and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
12 And he said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”
There in the bushes, caught by the horns, was a ram. Abraham sacrificed this ram on the altar instead of his son.
The shofar is a ram’s horn, a reminder of the sacrifice. The blood of goats and sheep is no longer shed for an offering. God has provided himself a sacrifice.
Yochanon, Zacharias’ son or as he was later called John the Baptist called Jesus “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." Jesus, our Messiah, gave himself as the perfect sacrifice to end all sacrifices. But more on that at Yom Kippur!
Zacharias speaks of this horn being exalted and perhaps he thought the Messiah would immediately be a ruling King.
But Messiah said, “if I be lifted up from the Earth, I will draw all men unto me.’ (John 12:32). He was lifted up, lifted up on a cross and all will be drawn unto him.
In Matthew 24:31, Jesus speaks of the Tekia ha Golah, the Great Trumpet blast and his elect being gathered together from one end of the sky to the other. Is. 27:12-13 also speaks of this gathering up at the great trumpet. All those perishing and scattered will be brought together to come and worship in Jerusalem.
I Cor.15: 52, our friend Paul writes of the last Trumpet, that long blast which seems to break open the heavens.…in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.Again in I Thes. 4:16a, Paul tells of the Lord, Himself descending with a shout (tekia) with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God…Study Isaiah 40:10, Revelation 22: 7 & 12, Hebrews 10:9, Psalms 40:7-8. All of these verses mirror the voice of the Messiah as he returns with a shout;Behold I come, as it is written in the Word.
Behold I come to do Thy Will, oh God.
So what is this great shofar announcing? Why all the fuss? Remember the uses of the shofar…
Announcing of a feast, gathering the nation, heralding the new king, alerting against the enemy, proclaiming God’s presence…
This shofar encompasses all the uses in one long blast. It alerts us against our enemy, sin, which like the crumbs for Tachlich in Micah 7:19 have been cast ‘into the depths of the sea.’
The voice of the shofar shouts out of God’s presence in our lives, that the ruling master of sin’s chains, have been broken and God can be in communion with us.
“Wake up, get ready, the long wait is over, the king is come!” It calls us together to re-gather as a nation as one body. The shofar is a herald of the new King, the Anointed One, Messiah, Christ Jesus.
And finally as in Rev. 19:9, it announces the feast, the wedding supper of the lamb.
The long wait and toil are finished. The king has returned and the table has been set for a feast of reward and blessing. Maranatha! (Our Lord, come!)
Questions for Rosh Hashanah
1. Remember, that Rosh Hashanah comes after a long hot summer, the longest wait between holidays during the year. Some say that we are in a time of waiting now. Waiting for our king to return… What do you think Rosh Hashanah represents in light of this?
2. Habakkuk 3:2 says ‘Oh Lord revive Thy work in the midst of the years
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.’
Why would this be a good verse for Rosh Hashanah?
3. Lamentations 5:21 says, ‘Turn thou us unto thee O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.’
Jeremiah wrote this soon after the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed on August 15, 586B.C. Do you think he had Rosh Hashanah on his mind?
“L’shana tova!” or “Good New Year!” I quickly learned this happy greeting during my first High Holiday season in Israel. The High Holidays begin with Rosh Hashanah or the 'head of the year', and continue till the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, a few weeks later.
This early fall holiday comes after a long summer interlude without any biblical holidays.
On the kibbutz, tables were spread for a glorious outdoor celebration and feast welcoming in the New Year. I should explain what a ‘kibbutz’ is for those who have forgotten from high school Sociology class. A kibbutz is a community of people in Israel who work and live together for the common good. It a commune that actually works! We volunteered on a kibbutz, which had a small factory as well as a farm and was quite prosperous. There were about 800 members and everyone ate together in a spacious dining hall but had separate living quarters. It was a small paradise.
That feast with all those tables set was a beautiful thing to behold. It took a lot of work, but everyone had a part in the preparations and cleanup. After a long, hot summer of toil, this feast was both a reward and a blessing.
Rosh Hashanah is considered the Jewish New Year. Once on the kibbutz, I was babysitting for an American kibbutznik, who had an Israeli husband. She wanted to go out on December 31st and celebrate New Years Eve. Her husband protested saying, “this is not our New Year. Ours is Rosh Hashanah!” Well, needless to say, they went out, but he was right!
Personally, I think it’s actually a much better time for New Year celebration. The new school year is beginning, and summer break has ended. What better time to start again, to reassess, to return to our hopes and dreams.
I know it’s not the beginning of our calendar but it’s not the beginning of the Jewish calendar either. Which, by the way, is different than ours. That is why all the holidays seem to come on a different day each year. Theirs is based on the cycles of the moon. You always get a lovely new moon for Rosh Hashanah. It was beautiful at the kibbutz feast.
It’s also not the beginning of the Torah reading for the year. This New Year celebration is a spiritual New Year.
Another name for this holiday, as seen in Lev. 23:23 is the Feast of Trumpets. Now, this trumpet isn’t like the common band instrument. The trumpet or ‘shofar’ in Hebrew is literally a horn, a ram’s horn. Some are short, some long but all are curved and all come from an animal which has died. Unlike antlers, which shed each year, there’s only one way to get a horn and that’s by the death of the animal.
The shofar’s blast is the key element of this holiday. There’s nothing like that clear call of the ram’s horn breaking through the dark, announcing the New Year. It sure beats banging on pots and pans.
Although the shofar has no keys like a modern trumpet, it can make a variety of sounds. The first is a kind of a blast. The Hebrew word for this blast is “tek’ and has the same root word as ‘shout.’ That blast from the shofar is a sort of a shout. The second sound is a series of broken notes, short and staccato. This in Hebrew is called ‘shevarim.’ Next, the ‘teruah’ or alarm starts on a lower octave and rises up. Finally, we have the great blast or ‘teki gedolah.’ This blast lasts as long as the shofar player can continue on one breath. It’s amazing to hear how long some players can hold this note. The voice of the shofar shouts its message into the heavens.
Just as the shofar has a variety of sounds, it has a variety of messages to proclaim. In Exodus 19:13, 16, and 19, the ram’s horn is sounded with a ‘long blast’ or ‘tekia gedolah’ on the third day proclaiming God’s presence and assembling the people to the Mountain of the Lord. The “blowing of trumpets” in Leviticus 23:24 is announcing the feast. The judge Ehud blows the shofar in Judges 3:27 to gather the nation for a great victory. Nehemiah uses the trumpet as an alert against the enemy in Nehemiah 4:8. In I Kings 1:34, King David has the shofar blown to herald the new King, his son Solomon. The voice of the shofar filled its hearers with fear, awe, and expectation.
Rosh Hashanah is a time of joy, hope, and return. It is a time to heed the shofar’s voice and return to God. The watchword or theme for this High Holiday is 'tshuvi.' 'Tshuvi' or to make ‘tshuvi’ means to return to God. It’s a time of reflection, repentance, and re-gathering. We reflect on the past year and our shortcomings and sins. We repent of our past actions and look hopefully towards the coming year. Called together by the shofar’s warning, we re-gather and return to Him.
Isaiah 27:12-13
And it will come about in that day, that the Lord will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt; and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.Called together from the threshing floor, from Egypt, perishing and scattered, called by the great trumpet to come and worship the Lord, in his holy mountain.
There is much hope surrounding this holiday. We dip apples in honey with hopes of a sweet prosperous new year. We hope that our names are inscribed in the book of life. We make round challah, the sweet Sabbath bread. It’s circular shape symbolizing the continuation of life in this New Year. We throw crumbs from that challah into the sea in hopes that our sins will be far removed from us. This tradition is called Tashlich and is performed at the end of the holiday.
But for me the hope of Rosh Hashanah comes from the shofar. A sweet Jewish woman named Hannah tells of the hope.
Hannah was barren. The one desire of her heart was for a child. Her prayers were answered and she was blessed with Samuel, her first born. Once Samuel was weaned she gave him to the Lord to live and work in the temple.
Immediately after she gave up her heart’s desire, her son to the Lord, Hannah was given a prayer, a prophetic prayer.I Samuel 2:1-10
Then Hannah prayed and said,
“My heart exults in the Lord;
My horn is exalted in the Lord,
My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies,
Because I rejoice in Thy salvation.
There is no one holy like the Lord,
Indeed, there is no one besides Thee,
Nor is there any rock like our God.......
......The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
And He will give strength to His king,
And will exalt the horn of His anointed.”
In the first verse, Hannah speaks of a horn being exalted and lifted up in the Lord. Then in the last verse of her prophecy, she speaks again of this horn as an anointed King. The word, anointed one, in Hebrew is Messiah, in Aramaic, Christ.
Who is this horn that brings so much hope to the people?
Zacharias knew! He too had experienced childlessness. He too gave up his long hoped for child, his heart’s desire to the Lord. Instead of naming his child, Zacharias, after himself as was the established custom for a firstborn son, he gave the child the name the angel had given him, Yochanon or John. John means “Yahweh has been gracious.” The Lord gives gifts that are undeserved.
Then like Hannah, Zacharias was given a prayer, a prophetic prayer.Luke 1:68-79
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished
Redemption for His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of David His servant-
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old-
71 Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
72 To show mercy toward our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
74 To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
76“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;
77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high shall visit us,
79 To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Verses 68 and 69 speak once again of this horn, this horn full of redemption and salvation. This horn will bring a ceasing of fear as it says in verse 74. It will bring forgiveness of sins in verse 77 and be a guide into the ways of peace, verse 79.
Zacharias knew that his son John was not this horn but would go before this horn and prepare his way, verse 76.
The desire of Zacharias was for a son but his heart’s desire was for Messiah to come.
Israel was living under Roman rule and many looked to the hope of Messiah to save Israel. Maybe Zacharias was expecting a conquering ruling king, a Messiah of political and military strength but remember our shofar....
This horn was curved and bending to the will of the Father. This horn came from a slain ram. This horn was ‘exalted’ or in other words ‘lifted up’ but it was not yet blown.
The shofar is a beautiful symbol of the Anointed One, Messiah Jesus Christ. He came to do God’s Will; he bent himself to the will of the Father. As it says in the Psalms, “I come to do thy will, oh God." The gospels share Jesus’ word, “I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 5:30b) and “Not my will but Thine be done.” (Luke 22:42b). Even when he taught us to pray he said, “Thy will be done.” (Matthew 6:10).
The curve in the shofar reflects this bending of Messiah. Having the voice, the word of total authority but choosing to be a humble servant.Philippians 2:5-8
Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.Jesus was perfectly bent to the will of the Father.
When Abraham showed himself willing to give up his son, Isaac as a sacrifice to God, God provided himself as an offering.
Genesis 22:8-14
8 And Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there, and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
12 And he said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”
There in the bushes, caught by the horns, was a ram. Abraham sacrificed this ram on the altar instead of his son.
The shofar is a ram’s horn, a reminder of the sacrifice. The blood of goats and sheep is no longer shed for an offering. God has provided himself a sacrifice.
Yochanon, Zacharias’ son or as he was later called John the Baptist called Jesus “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." Jesus, our Messiah, gave himself as the perfect sacrifice to end all sacrifices. But more on that at Yom Kippur!
Zacharias speaks of this horn being exalted and perhaps he thought the Messiah would immediately be a ruling King.
But Messiah said, “if I be lifted up from the Earth, I will draw all men unto me.’ (John 12:32). He was lifted up, lifted up on a cross and all will be drawn unto him.
In Matthew 24:31, Jesus speaks of the Tekia ha Golah, the Great Trumpet blast and his elect being gathered together from one end of the sky to the other. Is. 27:12-13 also speaks of this gathering up at the great trumpet. All those perishing and scattered will be brought together to come and worship in Jerusalem.
I Cor.15: 52, our friend Paul writes of the last Trumpet, that long blast which seems to break open the heavens.…in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.Again in I Thes. 4:16a, Paul tells of the Lord, Himself descending with a shout (tekia) with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God…Study Isaiah 40:10, Revelation 22: 7 & 12, Hebrews 10:9, Psalms 40:7-8. All of these verses mirror the voice of the Messiah as he returns with a shout;Behold I come, as it is written in the Word.
Behold I come to do Thy Will, oh God.
So what is this great shofar announcing? Why all the fuss? Remember the uses of the shofar…
Announcing of a feast, gathering the nation, heralding the new king, alerting against the enemy, proclaiming God’s presence…
This shofar encompasses all the uses in one long blast. It alerts us against our enemy, sin, which like the crumbs for Tachlich in Micah 7:19 have been cast ‘into the depths of the sea.’
The voice of the shofar shouts out of God’s presence in our lives, that the ruling master of sin’s chains, have been broken and God can be in communion with us.
“Wake up, get ready, the long wait is over, the king is come!” It calls us together to re-gather as a nation as one body. The shofar is a herald of the new King, the Anointed One, Messiah, Christ Jesus.
And finally as in Rev. 19:9, it announces the feast, the wedding supper of the lamb.
The long wait and toil are finished. The king has returned and the table has been set for a feast of reward and blessing. Maranatha! (Our Lord, come!)
Questions for Rosh Hashanah
1. Remember, that Rosh Hashanah comes after a long hot summer, the longest wait between holidays during the year. Some say that we are in a time of waiting now. Waiting for our king to return… What do you think Rosh Hashanah represents in light of this?
2. Habakkuk 3:2 says ‘Oh Lord revive Thy work in the midst of the years
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.’
Why would this be a good verse for Rosh Hashanah?
3. Lamentations 5:21 says, ‘Turn thou us unto thee O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.’
Jeremiah wrote this soon after the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed on August 15, 586B.C. Do you think he had Rosh Hashanah on his mind?
