OUR JEWISH ROOTS: Rosh Hashanah: A Spiritual New Year
Most people are not used to hearing the greeting “Happy New Year” in the middle of September, but that is precisely the saying in the Jewish community this month. No, there is no confusion about when the secular year starts, but in the Jewish tradition there is also a spiritual new year known as Rosh Hashanah (literally, head of the year).
We admit it is a bit odd to have a new year at the start of the seventh Hebrew month, but for some reason that is what God commanded in Leviticus 23:24; “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a sabbath, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy assembly.’” Known in the Bible as the Feast of Trumpets, this holy day is marked by the unusual sounding of the ram’s horn (shofar) in the synagogue even to this day.
Why a shofar? If you remember some of your Bible history, it was the shofar that played an important role in many of the events of Israel. The ram’s horn was often used as a shrill alarm to rally the troops before battle (Joshua at Jericho). Likewise, the shofar called the people to worship at the start of the festivals. By mandating a holy day for the sounding of the ram’s horn, it is as if God is reminding His people to wake up spiritually and be ready for battle.
Although called the Feast of Trumpets in the Bible, the rabbis had a secondary name for this feast which they called Rosh Hashanah. It is considered the head of the year, not in a secular sense, but it is thought to be a special spiritual new year where we should wake up and evaluate our walk with God. As a Messianic Jew (believer in Yeshua as the promised Messiah), I think it is great that God has given a holiday where we are to stop everything and evaluate our walk with the Father. This is why the local synagogues will be packed this month (Sept. 17-18) as many of my people will be looking into their own hearts in a special way.
For New Covenant believers, there is also a deeper lesson on Rosh Hashanah. As the shofar was sounded to gather the troops in biblical days, we should note that there is a future shofar that will be sounded. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet (shofar) of God; and the dead in Messiah shall rise first” ( I Thessalonians 4:16).
As Paul, a rabbi who became a believer in Yeshua, writes to the believers in this letter, he uses some common Jewish symbolism to describe the future resurrection. As with the holy day of Rosh Hashanah, it is the shofar that will sound the call for believers to be gathered together in the rapture. What we Jews practice at this time of year in our synagogues will be spiritually fulfilled as we meet the Messiah. It seems you don’t even have to be Jewish to appreciate the message of Rosh Hashanah. Happy (spiritual) New Year!