Happy New Year!

Prayer – Lord Jesus, we are listening for the piercing sound of the shofar horn, bellowing from synagogues and from Heaven announcing the coming of the New Year—the new life. We don’t know the hour or the day, but we wait expectantly for Your return, as all Christians have since Your resurrection and ascension. 

Meditate on this:

The LORD said to Moses, "Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. On the first day of the appointed month in early autumn, you are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet. You must do no ordinary work on that day. Instead, you are to present special gifts to the LORD." Leviticus 23:23-25

This day is known as the Feast of the Trumpets. It is the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, literally meaning the head of the New Year. There are four “New Year” celebrations in the Jewish calendar. This one marks the actual beginning of the year. It may have commemorated the creation of the world and focuses on God and worship in the Synagogue. God created man and is the ultimate judge of man, so as this festival begins the Jews use this time to look inward and consider all the actions that occurred in the last year for which they need to repent.

This year Rosh Hashanah occurs on September 15 to September 17. The holy day actually began at sunset on Friday, September 15^th. It is celebrated on two days because in ancient times people in remote villages couldn’t determine the actual day of the new moon, which began the New Year of years, so they celebrated two days. The custom just continued and goes on with a two-day celebration today everywhere. It is one of the holiest days of the Jewish year.

The sounding of the trumpet was associated with war throughout the Old Testament history. In the prophetic book of Ezekiel God gives a message to the people of Israel.

Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, 'If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.’ Ezekiel 33:2-4 NASB   

Paul uses an interesting phrase about the last trumpet in his first letter to the church at Corinth. Here he is referring to the Second Coming of Christ at the time of His Millenium reign. They were anticipating Christ's return soon--that was about 2000 years ago.

What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. 1 Corinthians 15:50-53

In synagogues during the Feast of Trumpets the trumpet, or shofar, is sounded 100 times, using three different patterns of sounds. Is that last trumpet sound of any significance to us today? Search your Bible yourself for the times and reasons for the sounding of the trumpet.

When there were apple blossoms on your tree...
did you anticipate that the apples
would help you celebrate a New Year?

Serve apple slices with honey to begin
a sweet New Year.

How will you celebrate this Jewish New Year? Will you repent from your sins of the previous year? Study God’s Word? Will you call upon Jesus Christ as your Savior and listen hopefully for His shout from Heaven? Will you and your family have some apples and honey--the traditional Jewish food the celebrating the New Year? 

 

Verse of Salvation ~ So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:6-11

 

© 2023 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995

by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm. 

 

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