The Christian Jewish RootsSýnishorn

A part of September is divided into the Jewish month of Elul and the remaining days fulfill the month of Tishrei. September / October  2017 contains three of the most important Jewish festivals to be celebrated which is - Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. September 21, 2017 begins the new Jewish Year 5778.

Sad to say, many good, Bible-believing Christians are still in the dark about these three Jewish feasts and their relationship to Christ. Then there are others whose indifference to spiritual truth is reflected in their calloused remarks, and who mock at them not knowing anything about their prophetic significance.  I will teach briefly on these three feasts to help you gain a better appreciation of what they mean to you as a Christian. 

Rosh Hashanah literally means “head of the year,” and it is commonly referred to as the “Jewish New Year.” Rosh Hashanah begins a ten-day period of repentance that concludes with Yom Kippur also known as The Day of Atonement.  

In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah also means “the opening of the gate.” It is the opening of heaven’s gates. Just as we often reflect and self-evaluate on January 1st, New Year’s Day, it is a day of reflection and self-examination.  In Israel, during every day in the thirty days leading to Rosh Hashanah, the rabbi would blow an ancient trumpet made of ram’s horn called the shofar. The shofar was a warning to all Israelites who heard it that Rosh Hashanah was coming.

During those 30 days, God would speak to the people. There would be a chastening by God on those who had broken the law during those thirty days. They knew that “as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you” [Deut.8: 5]. Today, we as Christians know that “whom the Lord loves He chastens” [Heb.12: 6]. The Jewish people were aware that if they had not forgiven others, the next year would not be good. If they had spent a whole year bickering and quarreling, the next year would not be good, unless they accepted change.

The blowing of the shofar is to remind us that a new year – a new beginning - is on the way. Old things pass away; all things are becoming new [2 Cor.5: 17]. This why sometimes Rosh Hashanah is called the “Feast of Trumpets,” and is also called Yom Hazikaron or Day of Remembrance when God remembers His people when He hears the sounding of the shofar.