The Blessings of Rosh HaShanah & Yom Kippur

The Feast of Trumpets

Biblical Christianity encompasses the whole Counsel of GOD:  the entire Holy Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21.  We will continue studying the Word of the Lord throughout the entire Millennial Reign of Christ!  The privilege and joy that is ours in knowing the ultimate truth of salvation through the atoning work of Christ alone, is a treasure beyond measure!  And yet we need to continue to dig deeply into the Scriptures that we may receive greater illumination and present truth confirmation of what belongs to us as children- sons and daughters of the Kingdom of our Sublime Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:22-29… ‘..the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.  But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.  Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.  

For you are all sons of GOD through faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. 

The ‘Days of Awe’ from Rosh HaShanah to Yom Kippur

This post will ‘unpack’ some of the riches that can be gleamed by all believers from the Moedim, the appointed Feasts of Israel.  Specifically we will focus on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur since they are imminent on the Jewish calendar, and have many blessings to reveal and impart to the spiritual as well as the natural seed of Abraham. 

Before we delve deeply into the significance of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, a brief overview of the 7 Holy Feasts of Israel is important for our understanding of the unity of this spiritual revelation:

I- Passover

• Memorial Aspect:  Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt’s bondage.
• Prophetic Aspect:  Death of the true Lamb of GOD on the cross.
• Doctrinal Aspect:  Justification by faith in the Blood of Christ:  repentance, regeneration, redemption, adoption.

II- Unleavened Bread

• Memorial Aspect:  The going out of Egypt.
• Prophetic Aspect:  The burial of Christ.
• Doctrinal Aspect:  Sanctification and separation from evil.  Water baptism.

III- Firstfruits

• Memorial Aspect:  Crossing the Red Sea.
• Prophetic Aspect:  The Resurrection of Christ.
• Doctrinal Aspect:  Walking in resurrection power and newness of life.

  IV- Pentecost

• Memorial Aspect:  Giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai.
• Prophetic Aspect:  Pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost; the Birth of the Church.
• Doctrinal Aspect:  Baptism of the Holy Spirit; the Earnest Seal of the Spirit.

V-  Rosh HaShanah (the Feast of Trumpets)

• Memorial Aspect:  To prepare GOD’s people for Atonement and Tabernacles.
• Prophetic Aspect:  To prepare GOD’s people for the end-time gathering.
• Doctrinal Aspect:  Revivals; Awakenings… the Call of the Spirit.  Preparation for the second Coming of Christ. [Possible Rapture of the true Church]

VI- Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)

• Memorial Aspect:  High Priest opened the Holy of Holies for the cleansing of sins of the people.
• Prophetic Aspect:  The cleansing of the church in the end-time.
• Doctrinal Aspect:  Purification; reconciliation; maturity; perfection; sin judged.

VII- Tabernacles

• Memorial Aspect:  Entering into the Promised Land with great rejoicing.
• Prophetic Aspect:  Final ingathering of souls; the Second Coming.
• Doctrinal Aspect:  The rest of GOD; Kingdom rest.  The Lord Jesus Christ tabernacles IN His people.

Announcing a New Year!

All seven of these feasts have more than just the listed applications in the lives of true believers.  The unfathomable depths of the riches of Christ and ABBA Father’s blessings and provision are for us to strive to discern.

Psalm 42:7,8… Deep calls unto deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me.  The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me– a prayer to the GOD of my life.

Rosh HaShanah- the New Year Feast of Trumpets

Rosh HaShanah, the Ten Days of Repentance that follow it, and Yom Kippur make up the High Holy Days of the Hebrew faith.  Jewish tradition says that GOD writes every person’s thoughts, words, and deeds in the Book of Life, which He opens and examines on this day.  If good deeds outnumber sinful ones for the previous year, that person’s name will be inscribed in the book for another year on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).  So according to this rabbinical teaching during Rosh HaShanah and the Ten Days of Repentance, people can repent of their sins and do good deeds to increase their chances of being inscribed in the Book of Life.

Prior to Rosh HaShanah, the shofar (ram’s horn) is blown to call the people to repent and remind them that the Holy Days are arriving.  During the Rosh HaShanah synagogue services, the shofar is blown 100 times.

Rosh HaShanah is also referred to as the Day of Judgment.  The Lord Jesus said He has the authority to judge people (John 5:24-27) and the Apostle Paul referred to Him as the judge of “the living and the dead” (2 Timothy 4:1).  GOD does have a Book of Life- it is called the Lamb’s Book of Life in Revelation 21:27.  True believers know that the only way to have one’s name inscribed in it is through faith in Jesus as Savior from sin, and then it is permanent!

John 10:27-30… My sheep hear My voice, and I know them and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are One.

Those whose names are not in the book will be judged and sentenced to perdition.

Revelation 20:15… If anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Many recognize that the four spring holidays (Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Pentecost) were fulfilled in the Messiah’s first coming.  It is also considered that the three Autumn feasts (Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Booths [Tabernacles]) will be completely fulfilled at our Lord’s Second Coming.

Rosh HaShanah is a solemn New Year holiday; not like our traditional New Year’s celebration on January 1st.  A common custom is sending cards to relatives and friends to wish them a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.  The message includes the greeting:   L’shanah tovah tikatevoo which means “May you be inscribed in the Book of Life for a good year.”   It is also traditional to eat apple slices dipped in honey- the apples represent provision, while the honey represents sweetness for the coming year.

Like Christians who only attend church on Christmas and Easter, many Jewish people attend Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur services even if they have not attended synagogue services the rest of the year.

Yom Kippur- The Day of Atonement

Temporary Atonement

The Day the High Priest makes Atonement for Sin

Yom Kippur is the most solemn holy day of the Jewish people.  Kippur means ‘atonement’ or ‘covering’, and means the reconciliation of GOD and man.  As stated the ten days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are known as the ‘days of repentance’.  Yom Kippur is the final day of judgment when GOD judges the people.  In the Biblical account according to the Aaronic and Levitical priesthood, the High Priest sacrificed an animal to pay for his sins and the sins of the people.  It was a time of solemn fasting and prayer.  The shofar is blown at the end of the evening prayer service for the first time since Rosh HaShanah.  When the High Priest was finished with the atonement sacrifice, a goat was released into the wilderness.  This “scapegoat” carried Israel’s sins away, never to return (Leviticus 16:8-10; 20-22; 29-34).

The Holy of Holies in the Temple, was separated from the congregation by a massive thick veil from floor to ceiling.  It was entered only once a year on Yom Kippur, when the High Priest offered the blood sacrifice of atonement on behalf of the people.  When Jesus died on the cross, the heavy veil was ripped from top to bottom (Luke 23:44-46).  The Lord Christ came as the Ultimate High Priest and entered the Holy of Holies (in Heaven itself) once for all, not by the blood of goats and calves but by His own Blood, having obtained eternal redemption (see Hebrews 9:11-28).  Believers in Christ Jesus accept His sacrifice on the cross as the final atonement for sin.

Romans 3:21-25a… But now the righteousness of GOD apart from the Law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of GOD which is through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe.  For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of GOD, being freely justified by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, who GOD set forth to be the propitiation by His Blood…

When the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ returns, Israel will look on Him whom they have pierced (along with the rest of us who were in sin and rebellion until He became our propitiation), and they will repent! (Zechariah 12:10).  On that day of repentance, Israel will be forgiven and permanently restored (Isaiah 66:7-14; Romans 11:26).

After the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., Jewish people could no longer offer the prescribed sacrifices for atonement from sins.  They have substituted prayer, good works, and charitable donations hoping to take away the penalty of sins.  We fully know that ‘works’ will accomplish little; and literally nothing to permit us to stand blameless before a Holy GOD.  Yom Kippur is a day of fasting, and the book of Jonah is usually read during the afternoon service to remind people of GOD’s forgiveness and mercy.

The Ark of the Covenant

The Power of the Blood of Jesus

The ultimate truth concerning the atonement is that the blood of Jesus will bring the church to perfection, ultimately sinless perfection when we are transformed at His Coming!  It is what every true believer yearns for… to put off this mortal coil and be like Him when we finally see Him as He is!  Many scholars and Bible students believe that just as the spring feasts fulfilled key transitions in the Lord’s first coming, that the Feast of Trumpets may well be a date in the future when the Rapture of the Church will occur.  This will be followed by the Day of the Lord and all the judgments and wrath of GOD poured out on an unrepentant mankind- pointing to the period of the final atonement.  Tabernacles as stated earlier points to the peaceful Kingdom of our Lord when he inaugurates the Millennial Kingdom reign.  Praise His Holy Name!

For prayerful consideration- since all the Spring Holy Feast Days of YHVH have had profound significance in reality, may not Rosh HaShanah ( The Feast of Trumpets) in the Autumn- be the time of the Rapture of true Biblical Christians?  These three essays will make that case… though it is STILL years away (2027-2034?):

• Messiah Catches Away Believers (The Rapture)
• The Rapture (Part 2)

Also these guidelines for effective Prayer and Fasting are critical to fervent intercession that ‘availeth much’:

• Praying For The Healing Of America
• The Joy of Fasting: Discipline, Deliverance, & Delight

References

The Feasts of Israel by Kevin J. Connor… City Bible Publishing, 1980

Feasts and Holidays of the Bible… Rose Publishing, 2004

Baruch Hashem Adonai