We have just come through one of the most significant seasons in the Jewish calendar. This season carries spiritual implications for the church;
“Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is one of Judaisms holiest days. Meaning “head of the year” or “first of the year,” the festival begins on the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, which falls during September or October. Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of the world and marks the beginning of the Days of Awe, a 10-day period of introspection and repentance that culminates in the Yom Kippur holiday, also known as the Day of Atonement.
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the two “High Holy Days” in the Jewish religion. According to tradition, God judges all creatures during the 10 Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, deciding whether they will live or die in the coming year. Jewish law teaches that God inscribes the names of the righteous in the “book of life” and condemns the wicked to death on Rosh Hashanah; people who fall between the two categories have until Yom Kippur to perform “teshuvah,” or repentance. As a result, observant Jews consider Rosh Hashanah and the days surrounding it a time for prayer, good deeds, reflecting on past mistakes and making amends with others.” (from History.com).
Even though these are celebrated as high holy days, we believers who have been grafted into the vine take these Biblical trues and apply them on a daily basis. In fact, being in Jesus has created a new “man” or “true” Israelite. Paul addresses this in his letter to the church in Ephesus (EPH 2:14-16)
“14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.”
And again, to the Galatian church; (Gal 3:28)
“28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
What the blood of sheep and bulls could never do (Hebrews 10:4), Jesus did by the shedding of His blood and creating new creations as His sons and daughters. He is our “Rosh Hashanah” and our “Yom Kippur”. We live with all separation between us and Him gone. We do not live to gain His favor; we already have His favor. The result is that we live lives of daily repentance and obedience so that He might manifest Himself through us. We forgive others because He has forgiven us. We love others because He first loved us. This incredible Jewish season of celebration reminds us of what Jesus has done for us eternally and internally. It is not simply about observing outward festivals but realizing what Jesus has done for us. Everything in the Old Testament points to its fulfillment in Jesus. Every day becomes a day of “awe” as we allow Him both to live in us. Every day becomes a new day of endless possibilities as we “live and move and have our being in Him”. This season causes me to celebrate and live in thanksgiving for the new creation, the new “one man” that I am in Him!