A New Year to Encounter God

​The Biblical feasts are called God's appointed times. The Hebrew word for a God appointment of a feast is "Moed." When Moses had appointments with God, he would meet Him at the "tent of meeting" or the "Ohel Moed." Thus, Rabbi Jason Sobel calls the Biblical feasts "a tent in time." On Wednesday night at sundown a new Hebrew year will be upon us, the year 5785, and this is a time to go to our “tents of meeting” to connect with God.
 
I believe that the Old Testament feasts have much to reveal to the Christian Church and that it would be to our benefit to study them. In doing so, we would see that the Jewish New Year is a significant time to meet with God. Here is what it says in Leviticus 23:24, 25. "Say to the Israelites: 'On the first day of the seventh month (Tishrei) you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present an offering made to the Lord by fire.'" The Jewish people believe that the world was created on this day and call it by the names Rosh Hashanah (Head of the Year) or Yom Teruah (The Day of Blowing).
 
The blowing of the shofar at the beginning of the year is a call to intimacy for God's people. It is time for those who love God to encounter Him and to prepare for the next sacred festival called Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement. There are ten days in which to do this. These ten days are called "The Days of Awe." It is significant that on the two days of the New Year the shofar is blown 100 times on each day. This is a call for God's people to prepare for the year to come to remind us that God has made an everlasting covenant with us. One hundred is a significant number in that it stands for fullness in terms of a measure, reward, and recompense.
 
There is also a connection between the number 100 and Abraham and Isaac. On Rosh Hashanah the story of Abraham being called to sacrifice Isaac on Mt. Moriah is read. It is called the "Akedah" or the "binding" in Hebrew. Abraham was 100-years old when he climbed up the mountain with Isaac. His righteousness with God stands as an example to all of us. We should ask ourselves, "Do our human failures merit atonement?" The story of Abraham and Isaac points us to a deeper understanding of God's infinite mercy and grace. He sent us Jesus as our "ram in the thicket."
 
The blowing of the shofar is meant to be a reminder of the ram caught in the thicket as a sacrificial substitute. The horn of a ram is what is blown to herald the new year. God promised Abraham a blessing of abundance because of his obedience. That blessing was passed down through the generations. God said, "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities or their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Genesis 22:17, 18) In Genesis 26:12 we see how Isaac benefited from this promise. "Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him." Today we are still reaping the benefit of this promise because we are Abraham’s descendants and have faith in the Lord.
 
The mercy or grace of God should hit home for us as we go into the new year 5785. Five is the number of grace and redemption, and this year we get a double portion. As we enter the new year, let us consider blessing God by worshiping Him for sending us a Savior.