Rosh Hashanah, also known as the Feast of Trumpets, is quickly approaching with much anticipation for God to move among His people. Rosh Hashanah is appropriately translated to mean “head of the year.” In Biblical custom we see the Lord ordering the observance of the Feast of Trumpets as the beginning of a time of introspection and repentance to prepare the year ahead.
In Leviticus 23:23–25, the Lord establishes the Day of Trumpets (or the Feast of Trumpets).
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the LORD.” (NKJV)
At first glance we get an idea that this feast is a time for setting aside ordinary life and ideas to be joined to the Lord. The feast is said to be proclaimed “with a blast of trumpets”; let’s get an understanding of what this means to pull out a deeper context.
The center of Rosh Hashanah is the blowing of the shofar. In Biblical times, the shofar – or trumpet – was blown for a number of reasons, including: the call to arms, the alarm for any disaster, the signal to assemble for community business, or the solemn announcement of an excommunication. Trumpets are blown as a sign of the times to wake up God’s people and to remind us that The Great Day of the Lord is coming. It is a reminder to inspect the soul and to prepare for the coming glory of God as He did with Moses and the House of Jacob in their wilderness journey.
I can hear the questions arising in your mind already… What does this mean for Christians today? Let’s take a look at what the Father says when laying out the commandments to follow the feasts.
Leviticus 23:1-2
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. (NKJV)
From the very beginning, the Lord declares them to be His feasts. These feasts do not belong to the Jews, but they were invited to celebrate and keep them if they desired to obey God. In like manner, Christians serve the God of both the Old and New Testament, so in honoring the Word of the Lord, we must see how we can still celebrate now spiritually. To explore what it means to observe the feasts spiritually, let us look at the meaning of spirituality.
Spiritual:
In a way that relates to or affects the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things. “they are connected spiritually through a sense of purpose” [1]
If we observe the feasts spiritually, we are not focusing on what it means physically or just celebrating the head of the year, but we begin to inspect our souls so that we can prepare for what’s to come. Observing the feasts is a form of worship, and John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Isaiah 58:1 says, “Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.” Through a symbolic examination of scripture, we see that trumpets are likened to the voice of the prophets that sound the alarm for the Lord’s people to begin to prepare their hearts and get rid of sins in their lives. The more we look into it, we see that this is not a process that should only happen once a year. We should be preparing our hearts for The Great Day of the Lord that is vastly approaching, not on the calendar, but in the soul of those who believe in the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit and obey. Blessings to you during this feast season let us keep our eyes on truth, ever searching for more of God.
References:
[1] Dictionary.com
