Well, another year is upon us. Did you make any resolutions this year? Now, the real question: do you plan to keep them? Resolutions are hard—and hard to keep. Does the Bible have anything to say about this? Let’s look at the Jewish New Year. While this is not really a new year, per se, as it is in the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, I think it can tell us a lot. Rosh Hashanah, or Jewish New Year, occurs on the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, in the Jewish calendar. When this festival was first instituted, it was called the Feast of Trumpets (Lv 23:23-25). While all the Jewish festivals were memorial feasts, meaning they were to be a remembrance of something, this one was specifically called out to be such (Lv 23:24; Nu 10:10). The sound of trumpets was made to request God to remember his covenant with Israel, his chosen people. The reason becomes clear if we look at when this feast was instituted after Israel had lapses of celebration of these assigned feasts.

There are at least three examples of this (2Ch 5; Er 3; Ne 8). Let’s take a brief look at each one. Solomon dedicated his temple to God in the seventh month (2Ch 5:3). When the exiles returned after their Babylonian captivity, they dedicated their service to God starting on the first day of the seventh month (Er 3:6). Then, once the temple was completed, they again dedicated it to God starting on the first day of the seventh month (Ne 8:2). Did you notice the similarity? Each time, they wanted God to be in on their dedication. They wanted God to remember his covenant with them as they declared their dedication to him. Why? The Day of Atonement where judgment was to be imputed was coming in just a few days. An individual could not stand on their own merit, they needed to stand on the covenant God made with them before they could stand before a Holy God. Only by God remembering his covenant with them could they ever hope to come out unscathed.

So, in our first month of our new year, shouldn’t we do something similar? While we are not bound to these Israelite customs from the Old Testament, they do provide good analogies for us to follow. Before we start the year out with our agendas, we should first turn to God and be sure we are on the same page with him. Let’s let our agenda be part of his agenda. That’s how these Israelites dedicated themselves so they would be on the same page as God. Are we on the same page with God? Maybe starting our year off with prayer and meditation would be the best way to start out our new year. Now, that’s a resolution to take to heart. Wouldn’t you agree?

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

The Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, is upon us again. It starts at sundown on September 25th. I spoke of this holiday in some detail last year (Rosh Hashanah 2021). As was stated in that post, this was originally instituted by God at the time of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and was called Feast of Trumpets (Lv 23:23-25). Trumpets were blown as a memorial and a plea for God to remember his covenant with His people. This was significant because the Day of Atonement was only a few days away. This is when the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies to atone for the sin of the Israelites. No individual has goodness on their own that can save them or be good enough for God to accept them. Their only hope was for God to remember His covenant with them where He had promised to love and protect them. It was important that God remembered that when the high priest went into the Holy of Holies to ask God to accept them.

We had also stated that this feast is prophetic and relates to the beginning of the Tribulation period (also called the time of Jacob’s trouble by several Old Testament prophets) after the rapture of the church, also known as the Receiving of the Bride. Why then? The church age is over and so it is time for God to work with his chosen people again. Where are they? Scattered over the entire world. That is why this time of earth’s history affects the entire earth. God had stated long ago that their disobedience would result in consequences and trials that force them to come back to him (Lv 26; Dt 28). Since they are now living in almost every country of the world, the whole earth is involved. Even further into the earth’s future, the Passover will reflect the memory of this regathering of the Jews and Israelites rather than their exodus from Egypt (Ek 37:21-23; Jr 23:3-8).

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens