The Messianic Significance of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year)
and Yom Kippur
Rosh Hashanah - September 13, 2007
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The symbolism in the all the feasts (Leviticus 23), the Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25) included, clearly demonstrate various aspects of Messiah's purpose and Kingdom. God has been preaching the Gospel from the very beginning, as Jesus told us (Luke 24:27,32,45 and John 5:39), and as Paul told us (Galatians 3:8).
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The parallels drawn between the feasts and Messiah's purpose and missions are remarkable. The Scriptures in the Tanakh (Old Testament) do tell us of the Messiah - they tell us precisely who He is: His looks, His personality, His methods, His purpose, and His missions. His first mission on earth was to come as a suffering servant (Isaiah 52-53) to redeem those who accept Him as the perfect sacrifice, once and for all time, for the atonement of their sins and who obey His commandments (John 14:21-24, Revelation 22:14 (KJV)). His second mission is to come as a King (2 Samuel 7:12-13, Daniel 7:13-14, Psalm 2 and 110, Isaiah 9:6-7).
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The Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah, is no less than a perfect demonstration (picture or shadow) of the need to sanctify (set apart) ourselves from the world and then be assembled unto rest (Hebrews 4:1-11) upon being called by a trumpet blast.
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The Feast of Trumpets occurs 10 days before the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The trumpet blasts that are performed during the Feasts of Trumpets come after sanctification (being set apart). The blasts are the same type of blasts that Moses was told to have the priests perform in calling together an assembly of the people so they could go up to Mount Sinai to receive instruction from the LORD - the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19:10-25).
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The blasts of the trumpets mean five different things depending on the sound or length of the blast (Numbers 10:1-10). The blasts: (1) called together an assembly of leaders, (2) forewarned the people when they were to set out on the next journey (with two different warning blasts), (3) called together an assembly of the people, (4) served as a warning to Israel's enemies and caused the LORD to remember them so He would save them from their enemies, or (5) called them to remember the LORD in their days of rejoicing, in their appointed Feasts, and at the beginning of each month; the trumpet blasts were performed over their sacrifices and peace offerings to remind them of the LORD their God.
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For those who believe in Jesus as our Messiah, the Feast of Trumpets is now the true fulfillment of: (1) a call to remember what God has done by offering His Son as the perfect sacrifice for sin and the peace offering who reconciled us with God forever (
Hebrews 10:1-25,
Colossians 1:19-20,
Romans 5:9-11), (2) a call to remember that He has given us victory over our enemies - Jesus' enemies, our same enemies, are His footstool (Psalm 110:1), (3) a call that will assemble the righteous when being caught up in the clouds with Jesus at His appearing - before His millennial reign and establishment of His Messianic Kingdom (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
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Through the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, God demonstrated the coming of Messiah's Kingdom and the preparations that have to be made in people's hearts and minds to be received into His Kingdom. God has been preaching the Gospel from the beginning - He prepared the hearts and minds of His people, Israel, to receive their Messiah, who would make a new covenant with them (Jeremiah 31:31-40). They would have understood this if God had not veiled the truth for them for a season.
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For the time being, their eyes are blind, their ears are shut, and their minds are veiled because of their disobedience and rebellion ((Isaiah 28:12-13, 16, 29:9-10) Romans 9:30-33, 11:7-8 and 2 Corinthians 3:14-18). The good news is that God says He has kept a remnant all along, like the 7,000 who did not bow their knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18, Micah 7:18-20). The remnant have accepted Jesus as Messiah, and better news yet, God will save all of Israel when He removes the veil from their minds and opens their eyes and ears to see and hear Jesus as their Messiah (Romans 11 and Zechariah 12:10-14, 13:1, Isaiah 44:1-8). They will certainly understand the meaning of the Feasts that they have kept when that time comes.
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We can see that the Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25) is symbolic of the calling that will assemble the Saints when being caught up in the clouds to meet Jesus in the air and taken to heaven. The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-31) is symbolic of the final judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). And the nine days that lie between the two may be the time of preparation for the Bride for the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-8). Perhaps the nine days, the Days of Awe, in between represent the fulfillment of Zechariah 12:10-14 for God's people, Israel - literally occurring in the time between the in-gathering of the Saints and the final judgment day. The fulfillment of Zechariah 12:10-14 seems most fitting since the Days of Awe are a serious time of introspection for the Jewish people; it is during the Days of Awe that they consider the wrongs done to others and seek to be forgiven and to forgive. Read Zechariah 12:10-14 in light of the Days of Awe - awesome!
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Revelation 3:3-5 is just one passage of Scripture that simply demonstrates the fulfillment of Feast of Trumpets, the nine days between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, and then the Day of Atonement. The meaning God assigned to each of these as found in Leviticus 23:
(1) The Feast of Trumpets (3:3): Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.
(2) The days of preparation for the coming Day of Atonement (3:4): You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy (Revelation 7:14).
(2) The Day of Atonement (3:5): He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels (Psalm 2:6-7, 10-12).
12 "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." (Isaiah 44:6)
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes (Exodus 19:14, Revelation 7:14), so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.
16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the [congregations*]. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."
17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come " And let the one who hears say, "Come " And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost (Isaiah 55:1, John 4:13-14).
- Revelation 22:12-17
I pray you have heard the Gospel of Salvation, believe in Jesus, are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13), and your name is now written in the Lamb's Book of Life!
Have a very sweet and blessed New Year! I'shanah tova tikkatevu vetechatemu (Hebrew): May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year!
-Deborah
(click on the picture link above to read the entire tradition of Rosh Hashanah. To read, The Christian and Rosh Hashanah, scroll to the bottom of John J. Parson's article)
*Revelation 22:16: The English translation of the Greek word for "congregation" is "church". The Greek word for "congregation" is "ekklesia", which means "a calling out, i.e., a popular meeting place, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both): assembly." - Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.
I bring this point out to remove the belief that "churches" are only Gentile in nature, and to undermine the negative connotation that the word "church" has in the minds of some precious Jewish people who have been truly slighted, historically and presently, by unbelieving, so-called Christians who are really anit-Semitic, evil-spirited people that cast stones, or worse, from within their "churches". (Believe me, for those who presently perpetuate anti-Semitism, I pray that those kind of Gentiles will truly believe in Messiah, too, so they will love you as He does! For those who were guilty of proliferating anti-Semitism in the past, who are now dead and gone, God is their Judge and it's a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God - our God is a consuming fire!). So understand that in Revelation 22, Messiah said, "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the congregations. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."
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.1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. - Psalm 103:1-5
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