Rosh Hashanah

INTRODUCTION

Rosh Hashanah introduces the holiest month on the Jewish calendar known as Yamin Noraim – "The Ten days of Awe" ending on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This time of the year is intended to be a season of intense soul searching, of self-examination, introspective, a solemn time. It is a call to repentance. (Joel 2:12-17a.)

"Now therefore says the Lord, turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. And He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him… Blow the shofar in Zion….

According to Jewish tradition, during these ten days, all of mankind passes before the heavenly throne. God opens three books: one for the righteous, one for the wicked, and one for those who are in between. Judgement will be decided on the Day of Atonement to determine whether one’s name will be written in the Book of life. That is why the traditional greeting is Lashana Tova Tikatevnu - May your name be inscribed for a good year! For all of us who believe in Yeshua as our Messiah, Lashana Tova ki nichtavnu (for we are inscribed)!

The Biblical name for this Feast is the Feast of Trumpets because it is the blowing of the Shofar that characterizes this day. It is also known by several other names:

Yom Teruah – The day of the Awakening
Yom Hadin – The day of Judgement
Yom Hazikkaron – The day of Remembrance
Yom Hakeseh – The hidden day

The origin of the ram’s horn dates back to the time of Abraham and Isaac, when God tested Abraham’s faith by challenging him to offer up his one and only son as a sacrifice. Instead, God provided the ram as a substitute for Isaac. In fact, it is believed that Abraham offered Isaac on the first day of the seventh month, the day that God instituted Rosh Hashanah. That is why it is traditional to read the story of Abraham and Isaac called the Akeda – the binding of Isaac on Rosh Hashanah (we will be reading this account during our Tashlich service).

Jewish tradition teaches that there are five themes associated with this feast:

The blowing of the Shofar
The birth pangs of the Messiah (the time of Jacob’s trouble)
The sealing of Redemption (the judgement of all living souls)
The coronation of King Messiah when He begins His reign on the earth
The wedding of the Messiah and His bride.

I believe that this coming year of 1998 and 5758 (should be closer to 5798) on the Jewish calendar could be one of the most prophetic years for God’s people, since Israel became a nation in 1948. Perhaps a bold prediction, but I believe something very prophetic could happen this coming year. The reason I say this is because this particular year is a Jubilee year, 50 years since Israel became a nation. We know that 1988 was also a very significant year, Israel’s 40^th year anniversary as a modern day nation, or one biblical generation.

The world has witnessed many prophetic events in the past ten years: the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, the restructuring of Europe, the great exodus of Jews from Russia and the four corners of the earth, there have been thousands of Russian Jews who have come to faith in the Messiah. The Persian Gulf War laid the foundation for the Middle East Peace Process. Many signs in the heavens and in the earth have intensified in the past ten years (four lunar eclipses in the past year and a half, comets, earthquakes, flooding, famines, radical changes in the weather). There is evidence of spiritual awakenings in recent years.

It is interesting that many of these prophetic events have happened since 1988. And now, I believe this 50^th year is another major turning point for Israel, the Body of Messiah, and the nations. Tonight, I want to focus on the prophetic significance of the year of Jubilee as it relates to Rosh Hashanah. This will be the theme that will be reflected in my messages for the High Holy Days. After all, it only comes once in a lifetime.

The Jubilee celebration is an integral part of the Biblical festivals of the Lord, because the frequency of these festivals is based on the number seven. A Sabbath theme ties them all together. Every seventh day is the Sabbath. There are seven feasts of the Lord, and the seventh month is the sacred month. Passover and Sukkot are seven-day feasts. A system of sacred years is based on the number seven.

Just as every seventh day is the Sabbath, every seventh year is a sabbatical year and after a multiplication of seven times seven years (49) comes the Jubilee on the 50^th year. From Passover to Shavuot (Pentecost) there are seven weeks. I see a prophetic parallel between the Feast of Shavuot and the Jubilee year. It was on the 40^th day that Yeshua, as the resurrected Messiah, rose from the dead, and ascended to the Father. Ten days later, on the 50^th day, during the Feast of Shavuot, there was the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit that any generation has ever experienced. It represented the birth of the first century Community of the Redeemed, the Body of Messiah, the Church.

In 1948, Israel became a nation again, after being scattered among the nations for 2000 years. God breathed His Spirit into the dry bones of His people, and they rose from the ashes of the Holocaust to become a modern day nation, the greatest miracle of the 20^th century. Yeshua said one of the key signs of His soon coming would be the budding of the fig tree. Forty years later in 1988 Israel celebrated their 40^th year anniversary, or one biblical generation.

And now, ten years later, Israel is preparing for their Jubilee year, fifty years since they became a modern day nation.

In Leviticus 25:2 it says,

"speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, when you come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a Sabbath unto the Lord. And thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years, and the space of the seven Sabbaths of shall be unto thee forty-nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement shall ye make the trumpet (shofar) sound throughout all your land."

It has been 50 years since Israel has been in the land.

I sense in my spirit that this could be the year when we could witness the beginning of a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit, unlike anything we have witnessed in our generation. I believe we are on the verge of a great spiritual awakening.

What does Romans 11:12,15 say?

"...if Israel’s fall was riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles how much more their fullness. If their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?"

What the apostle Shaul is saying here, is that as we draw closer to Israel’s fullness as a nation, it will bring greater blessing to the body of believers. What God does with the natural Israel will affect what God does in the Spiritual realm.

One of the names for Rosh Hashanah is Yom Teruah – The awakening. God is calling His people to awaken. It is time to wake up and recognize the times we live in.

"Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead and Messiah will give you light. For you were once darkness but now are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." Eph. 5:8,14

Many believe that we are the final generation that will witness the coming of the Messiah. This is not only a 50 year Jubilee for Israel, but we are also being called a Jubilee generation. We are the 50^th Generation since the first coming of the Messiah, if we take 40 years as a biblical generation. We are the only generation since 70 A.D. that has witnessed Israel living in the land for 50 years.

We are also coming to the end of the 6,000^th year, which means that our generation represents the 120^th Jubilee. We know that 120 is very significant in scripture. There were 120 disciples in the upper room when the Holy Spirit fell in awesome power on Shavuot. There were 120 priests who ministered in the temple during the dedication of the temple on the Feast of Sukkot. The glory of God fell in such awesome power that they could not even minister before the Lord. One hundred twenty is symbolic of God’s outpouring. Joel 2:28-32 Joel was a Last Days prophet and prophesied that there would be a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Josephus, a great Jewish historian, said that Jubilee means freedom.

He said:

"…the 50^th year is called by the Hebrews Jubilee, in which debtors are freed from their debts and freedom is granted to slaves and he Moses also restores fields to their original owners. This name Jubilee means freedom."

On the year of Jubilee, all debts were to be cancelled, all slaves set free, and all the land returned to its rightful owner. This is a physical example of the prophetic and spiritual truths that were fulfilled in the Messiah at His first coming and will be completed at His second coming. The debt of sin has been cancelled, those who were slaves of sin have been set free, and the rulership of the earth will return to Yeshua, Israel and His bride when He returns. (Isaiah 61:1-6)

I believe that God is calling His people to freedom. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Let’s pray this year will be a year of great harvest, when the debt of sin will be cancelled over many and those who have been slaves of sin will be set free, the challenge for salvation.(Joel 2:31,32.)

written and / or assembled by Cal Goldberg, Messianic Leader, Beth Shechinah