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Rosh Hashanah More Study Notes
Introduction
There are seven festivals given to us by the L-rd to celebrate as part of the cycle of His appointed times each year . Each one beautifully reminds us of the L-rd's faithfulness and illustrates a different characteristic of the redemptive career of our Messiah. The biblical festival of Rosh Hashanah, also referred to as Yom Teruah (the Feast of Trumpets), is the first in a series of festivals which occur in the autumn of each year and are referred to as the 'high holy days.'
Scripture
THE L-RD spoke to Moshe, saying:
Speak to the Children of Israel, saying:
On the seventh New-Moon, on (day) one of the New-Moon,
you are to have a Sabbath-ceasing,
a reminder by (horn)-blasting, a proclamation of holiness.
Any-kind of servile work you are not to do;
you are to bring-near a fire offering to THE L-RD
Leviticus 23:24-25 (The Schocken Bible: Volume 1)
Dates
The Jewish calendar is based on the lunar cycle, which means the each month begins with the new moon. There are 12 lunar months in a Jewish year, or 354 days. The Western calendar is a solar calendar with 365 days, so the Jewish calendar makes up the lost days by adding a leap month every few years. Consequently, the dates for the biblical festivals fluctuate from year to year on the Western calendar.
Rosh Hashanah is the first of the autumn festivals, and comes on the first day of the month of Tishri on the Jewish calendar. That translates to sometime in either September or October on the Western calendar.
Theme
The theme of Rosh Hashanah is one of repentance, preparation, and deliverance of the righteous.
Biblical observance
It's important to understand the Biblical observance (as opposed to the modern, evolved observance) of each of the festivals, because it is in their original states that we see the true image of the Messiah's works.
Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of what are called the Days of Awe, the period between the Feast of Trumpets and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and the theme of repentance is foremost. Synagogue services would have been lengthy and services would stress the L-rd's kingship, His remembrance of His everlasting covenant with Israel, and the role of the shofar (ram's horn trumpet) in the history of Israel. In fact, Rosh Hashanah is referred to in the Bible as the Feast of Trumpets.
In Yeshua's time the shofar was sounded to announce special days and call people to worship. At Rosh Hashanah, it would have been blown every morning for the entire sixth month. The shofar speaks of Mount Sinai where the L-rd first revealed himself with the sound of the shofar. It was blown a total of 100 blasts on each day of the Rosh Hashanah synagogue services.
Special blood sacrifices (in addition to the daily and monthly sacrifices) were offered at the temple, and no work was done on that day.
Modern observance
The modern observance of this festival has changed significantly through the ages. In 70 AD the Temple of the L-rd was destroyed, ending temple sacrifices, and the Jewish people were scattered. These days, Rosh Hashanah has been adapted and has two meanings:
Number 1: It's the civic new year Literally, the 'head of the year.' Jewish tradition holds that the L-rd began His creation at the time of the Feast of Trumpets. We celebrate by sending cards, baking round loaves of challah (bread) to symbolize the never-ending cycle of time, and by eating lots of sweet foods made with honey in hope for a sweet year ahead.
Number 2: It's the start of The Days of Awe Ten days after Rosh Hashanah comes Yom Kippur, when it is believed the L-rd will either write one's name in the Book of Life for another year, or not. Observant Jews will spend the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur praying fervently for forgiveness. It's an intense time of repentance and soul-searching; hence the name Days of Awe.
Prophetic significance
As with the other Biblical festivals, the Feast of Trumpets carries strong prophetic overtones. It commemorates no historical events (unlike Passover, for example), but foreshadows future events for the nation of Israel. Whereas the themes of the springtime feasts were fulfilled in Messiah's First Coming, the autumn feasts will be fulfilled at his Second Coming.
Yeshua himself may also have made an allusion to his return at Rosh haShanah in Mark chapter 13. To fully understand it, you need to know a bit about the times Yeshua lived in. Because Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first day of the seventh month, and the month begins with the new moon, the festival's beginning could only be confirmed by looking at the night sky. As you can imagine in the days before computers and star charts, it could sometimes be a bit tricky to know exactly when the festival would start. Israel had special witnesses to watch for and confirm the new moon. So, because of the method of confirming the new moon in those times, if you went up to someone and asked, 'Hey, when's Rosh Hashanah this year?' the answer would be, 'No one knows the day or the hour.' So, in that historical context, when Yeshua told his apostles, 'No one knows of that day and hour' (Mark 13:32) in response to their questions about the time of the 'end of the age', and also made references to His coming with a loud trumpet blast,one conclusion might be that His return will correspond with the Feast of Trumpets.
Scripture often speaks of angels blowing trumpets, yet only
twice is it recorded that the L-rd himself blows a trumpet. In both instances
it is the ram's horn, or shofar. The first occurrence was at Mount Sinai
when the L-rd revealed himself to Moses (Ex. 19:18-20) and the Israelites were
brought into covenant with the
L-rd and given the Torah. The second occurrence will be at Messiah's return.
As the Day of the L-rd begins, G-d's 'last trump' (the shofar) will be
sounded, and the Messiah will reveal himself in great wrath. This theme turns
up again and again, and overlaps all the other themes associated with Rosh Hashanah.
The Jewish people have traditionally referred to this day as Judgement Day. This really ties Yeshua's return to the Feast of Trumpets. Israel's prophets warned repeatedly of the coming of a dark day of judgement-they knew it as the Day of the L-rd which was to come at the end of this age, when the L-rd will pour out his fiery judgement on the earth (Rev. 6:12-17). His wrath would come not only on Israel's enemies but also on Israel herself, bringing her to repentance and into the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31; Ezek. 20:35-38; Zech. 13:9).
There is something to look forward to, after all the scary stuff: When Messiah returns, he will establish his kingdom on earth. Yeshua referred to the time when he will be 'coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory' (Mt. 24:30). The L-rd's last trump (the shofar) will sound and the Day of the L-rd will begin. The gathering of the elect (the 'rapture') will occur (1 Th. 4:16-17), the L-rd will do battle against the Adversary (Rev. 6:17), and the shofar will announce the coming and soon coronation of the Messiah (Isa. 2:17). As promised from the beginning, the L-rd will remember His bride 'Israel' and return for her (Isaiah 54:6-7).
Finally, the Feast of Trumpets is celebrated in the seventh month. In Hebrew tradition, seven is the number of completion, and is the number of the day of the week set aside as the Sabbath. In fact, the whole month of Tishri is known as the 'sabbath month'. As people who have faith in the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and in Messiah Yeshua, we look forward to the sound of the trumpet as our L-rd returns to establish his kingdom on earth and share with us a thousand years of Sabbath rest! Amen!