A New Day: The Power of Rosh Hashanah

A New Day: Rosh Hashanah reminds us to reflect, repent, and listen for the trumpet as we await the return of our coming King.

God’s Appointed Times

God ordained certain cycles for our lives on earth—and for our relationship with Him for eternity. We enjoy the refreshing changes that come with the four seasons. We celebrate the milestones as a child grows from an infant into an adult. Now we continue to celebrate biblical feasts—what Scripture calls appointed times. God instituted them to remember His goodness and mercy to the Israelites in the past and to give signposts for prophetic fulfillment in the future.

The Meaning Behind Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah signals that the harvest has been gathered, and now it’s time to count our blessings and look forward. On the streets of Israel you will hear people greeting, “Shana Tova.” It means “good year,” the abbreviation of the traditional blessing: “May you be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life for a good New Year.”

Jewish tradition says it is the day that God created man. And ancient rabbis called it “the birthday of the world.”

The name Rosh Hashanah literally means the “head of the year” because it’s the beginning of the fall feasts, also known as the High Holy Days in the Jewish calendar or “The Days of Awe.” These annual holy days start on Rosh Hashanah and end on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

A Time to Reflect and Repent

Like the western celebration of New Year’s Day, people use Rosh Hashanah to reflect on the old year and anticipation of the new. It is a time of repentance for sin and past mistakes. Additionally, it’s an opportunity to make resolutions for change in the coming year.

The tradition of “Tashlikh,” which means “casting off” in Hebrew, expresses repentance. So, you travel to a nearby stream or river and drop in bread crumbs that symbolize the carrying away of your sins.

The first biblical mention of the holiday is Leviticus 23:24-25:

Speak to the people of Israel, saying, in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.

This Scripture mandates the blowing of the trumpets, or shofar, a musical instrument fashioned from a ram’s horn. The loud blast of the shofar reminds the hearer to repent of their sins and make things right with God and their brothers and sisters.

The use of the ram’s horn became a custom because when Abraham demonstrated his willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac, in obedience to God, God provided a ram as a replacement.

The psalmist declares: “Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon … on our solemn feast day” (Psalm 81:3).

The Coming of the King

Theologians believe that Jesus or the New Testament Church fulfilled many of the other major biblical feasts.

The Feast of Passover—the children of Israel killed a lamb and sprinkled the blood on the doorposts so that the Angel of Death would “pass over” their home. The death and resurrection of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who poured out His blood for the washing away of our sins, giving us eternal life in Him fulfilled this feast.

In Contrast, the Feast of Pentecost—the latter firstfruits of the wheat harvest were gathered and dedicated to the Lord. The word “pente” in Greek means fifty, so Pentecost comes fifty days after Passover. On the first New Testament Day of Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the disciples gathered in the upper room, waiting on God, just as Jesus instructed. Suddenly the sound of a mighty wind filled the air. And God poured out the Holy Spirit on believers. This became the offering of the firstfruits of the church to the Lord.

The Sound of the Shofar

The Feast of Tabernacles is a celebration of the final harvest before the New Year. Consequently, many theologians believe that this feast, which begins with Rosh Hashanah, has not been fulfilled in the New Testament. They believe it will be fulfilled when the Trumpet of God sounds and the Messiah returns.

For example, the Bible speaks of two significant times where God Himself sounds the shofar. The first time on Mount Sinai when God entered into covenant with Israel. The second time will be at the return of the Messiah.

So Rosh Hashanah is a time for Christians and Jews to look to Heaven with anticipation for the return of Jesus—Yeshua—the Messiah, promised of God.

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