ROSH HASHANA 5778

Rosh Hashanah at Gan Hashlosha (Sakneh) in the Galilee
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5019471,00.html

Jews everywhere have just celebrated the Rosh Hashanah holiday. While the more religious celebrate with the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn) and special services in the synagogues, the secular Israelis flock to the beaches, forests and parks.  The photo above shows a popular place in the lower Galilee called Gan Hashlosha (also known as Sakhne). Shlosha means 'three' because there are three pools fed by perennial hot springs, which make for pleasant year-round swimming.  This lovely spot is surrounded by grassy lawns and trees, perfect for the quintessential Israeli pastime - 'al ha'esh' (literally 'on the fire', meaning the barbecue). 

Rosh Hashanah means 'head of the year', or the new year, and today this holiday marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year, the beginning of the Hebrew month of Tishrei.  Now, Tishrei is the 7th month of the Hebrew calendar, so why do we celebrate the New Year in the 7th month and not at the beginning of the first month, the month of Nissan in the spring, as the Torah prescribes (Exodus 12:1-2)? The reason is lost in the mists of history but we do know that sometime between the end of the writing of the Tenach (Old Testament) and the writing of the Mishna in the first-second century CE (AD), the Nissan new year was eclipsed by the Tishre new year.  The Mishna (Rosh Hashanah 1:1) states “The first of Tishrei is the beginning of the year [rosh hashanah] for years, sabbatical cycles, and the jubilee." One of the attributes of the Antichrist when he comes will be that he will seek to change the set times determined by God (Daniel 7:25). Although the Antichrist has not yet come, we already see his rebellious spirit active in human history intending to confuse God's order. This change in the meaning of this feast distracts us from its real importance. 

According to the Holy Scriptures,  the first of Tishrei is not the New Year but rather the Feast of Trumpets:
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.  You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’”

Leviticus 23:23 -25

For a fuller exposition on the Feast of Trumpets go to this excellent study by my good friend, Hannah Nesher,  http://mailchi.mp/shaw/the-sound-of-the-shofar-yom-zikaron-truah?e=bdc00e3926

This day is described as 'a memorial of blowing of trumpets'.  A memorial for what? The Bible does not say but I believe it is, among other things,  intended as a wake-up call. Traditionally the trumpet is sounded each day during the preceding month of Alul, calling us to introspection and self-examination, in preparation for the Days of Awe, which begin with the Feast of Trumpets, and lead up to the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. The shofar is sounded to remind us of the LORD and all that He has done in the past, is doing now and will do in the future. 

I suspect that at this time God is calling all his followers to 'wake up'. We are living in perilous times and we are poised on the cusp of a new phase of history. Are we aware of what God is doing and is about to do? Are we ready? 

This past week more terrible disasters have hit the Americas, Hurricane Irma has almost totally destroyed the Virgin Islands, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, and much destruction in Florida, this on the heels of Hurricane Harvey which devastated much of the state of Texas. A strong earthquake has wreaked havoc in Mexico.  Meanwhile, the US President Trump and North Korean President Kim  Jong-Un are trading insults like kindergarten students in the playground. Their words, however, will not lead merely to a few pushes and tears but could lead us all into a catastrophic world war. At the same time, Iran is also ramping up the rhetoric as Trump threatens to cancel the agreements made by the USA and Iran last year.  Russia is spreading and consolidating its influence in the Middle East, and is strengthening its relationship with China. Are we awake yet? 

How Hurricane Irma turned the green paradise of the Virgin Islands to a wasteland, stripped of nearly every green plant.
https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/five-portraits-hurricane-irmas-record-breaking-fury  

This week I have been studying the Book of Daniel.  Daniel wrote this, 

Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.  

Daniel 9:13

When disaster strikes what is our response? Do we repent and turn back to God and his ways? Have we got down on our knees, or prostrated ourselves before him, in repentance and intercession, pleading for his mercy? 

In the first year of Darius, which was the 67th year of the Exile in Babylon, Daniel, from his study of the Book of Jeremiah, realized that the time of the Exile was drawing to a close. What was his response?  He turned to the LORD, and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. 

In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

Daniel 9:1-3 

Daniel's prayer is recorded in verses 4-19. We would do well to echo his words: 

"...Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.  Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.  Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name....”   

Daniel 9:17-19

Even though the end of the Exile was prophesied, and Daniel believed it was imminent, he did not take it for granted but prayed fervently for God's mercy and the restoration of Israel, not because they were worthy but for the sake of God's name. He cried' Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act!  How do we pray today? Do our hearts cry out with pleading for our people, Israel and all the peoples of the world, for forgiveness and restoration? Are our hearts in tune with God and His Holy Spirit? 

In the last few verses of Daniel 9 the angel Gabriel answers his prayer by giving him a vision, which he then interprets, saying

Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

Daniel 9: 24

The vision summarises what was to come after the Exile ended, and prophesies the end of sin, the atonement for wickedness, everlasting righteousness, the completion of vision and prophecy and the anointing of the Most Holy Place, in other words, the completion of all redemption.

This completion would take place in two stages as outlined in the following verses:

Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing.The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.

Daniel 9: 25-27. 

The first stage consists of seven sevens (of years) and sixty-two sevens of years, or in other words, sixty-nine sevens of years, from the time of the command to rebuild Jerusalem (after the Exile) until the Messiah, the Annointed One, comes and is killed, and the city and sanctuary are again destroyed. This has already been fulfilled in the coming of Yeshua (Jesus) and his death and resurrection, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD70. 
(For a thorough study of the 69 weeks see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiAJ71MhrDY ). After the 69 weeks there is a pause of unspecified length until the 70th week. We are currently living in this period "war will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed'.  Then will come the last 'seven' years during which time the antichrist will make a covenant with many, sacrifice and offerings will cease, and he will set up an abomination in the temple, until his the end will be decreed. The prophecy says this final seven year period will come like a flood. Note, it is not a literal flood but a metaphorical flood, 'like a flood', in other words when it comes, it will come quickly, like a flash flood.  (for a study of the interval and the 70th week see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lshj22lSDZo&t=1079s). 

No one knows exactly when this final seven-year period will begin (Matthew 24:36) , but the seemingly increasing pace of natural disasters and wars that we are currently experiencing may well indicate its imminent arrival.  So what should be our response?  We should not fall into hysterical alarmist declarations but should follow Daniel's example - we should study God's word, ask him for understanding and revelation by His Spirit and should bow down in repentance, crying out for his mercy. 

Jesus tells us that at the time of his coming people would be eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, just as they did in the times of Noah, unaware of the disaster about to befall them.  But he warns us not to be like that, but to keep watch (Matthew 24:42), and to be sober, faithful and wise. 

This year we, myself included, have celebrated Rosh Hashanah largely heedless of the perils and suffering around us, eating, drinking and enjoying ourselves. We are a nation (world?) in denial. I wonder how many of the people of Israel, religious or secular, have taken even a moment to reflect honestly, to repent before God or cry out for his mercy. I wonder how many of the displaced and suffering residents of the lands devastated by hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and war stop to repent of their sins and call upon the Lord for mercy.  Please pray that we will all do so, beginning with all those who are called by HIS name, the Body of Christ and Israel.   

We are living in the period of much suffering and tragedy and it can strike any of us, at any time. I stumbled upon this video this week and I want to share it with you. It moved me to tears. I have known this hymn since childhood but had no idea of what lay behind it. It is also a good reminder that whatever happens, flood, famine, war, death, loss or illness, it is 'well with my soul'.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lshj22lSDZo&t=1079s