Happy Rosh Hashanah!

I love Rosh Hashanah. It's the beginning of the new year, the celebration of new beginnings. It's the start of the Ten Days of Awe, a time of introspection, repentance and forgiveness. And it's a celebration of the kingship of our Messiah Yeshua!

Biblically, Rosh Hashanah is called Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets. The only details that HaShem gives us for how we celebrate this day are that it is a holy convocation - a day to assemble together, a sabbath - a day to rest, and that we are to hear the shofar/trumpet blown. (Leviticus 23:23-25)

HaShem has always placed high significance in the shofar blast. It was the sound that came from Mount Sinai at the giving of the Torah, and has been used in battle as well as worship throughout Israel's history.

But why did HaShem establish an entire holiday for the purpose of listening to the shofar blast? I believe the answer is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17:

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Not only has the shofar blast been important in times past, but it will be important in the time to come!

Be blessed this new year and always - Shana Tova!
~Judy

*For more information about the shofar, check out this link:
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Fall_Holidays/Elul/Shofar/shofar.html

Shavuot - Delighting in God's Gifts of Torah and Spirit

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he propers.
Psalm 1:1-3 NASB

Today is Shavuot - the Feast Of Weeks - that is celebrated 50 days after Passover. Today is the day that we celebrate the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai as well as the giving of the Spirit in Jerusalem. Today we celebrate that God loved us so much that He gave us His divine instruction for how we should live our lives, and He gave us His Spirit so that His Words would be written on our hearts and we would have more power to live a holy life.

The passage above is one that our family holds dear; the last sentence of that verse is on our living room wall. We stand on that promise: that we will be strong, fruitful and blessed as long as we delight in and meditate on God's law - teachings - Torah.

Does that seem like a dichotomy to you - delight and law? God never intended for that to be so. His Torah was given as part of His relationship of love with Israel. And He gave His Spirit to His people to help empower them to keep that same Torah. Yeshua taught a love for the Torah (see Matthew 5:17-20); the apostles cherished the Torah. And I love the passage in John 14 (vs. 15-31) where Yeshua explains to his disciples his reason for sending his Spirit. His Spirit was to be a helper to them - to keep God's commandments - and a source of God's power within them.

As modern-day believers, we are called to celebrate the Torah as "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword," (Heb. 4:12) and also cherish the Spirit, the "Helper to be with you forever." (John 14:16) Through these two gifts to us, God speaks, and through them, our lives are changed! But in keeping with my heart's song of late, sometimes it's really hard to see these gifts. If I'm being honest, I'll tell you that I've gone through seasons when God's Word and Spirit have been far from my words and spirit. But the grace of God is truly amazing, and patient, and forgiving! He longs to draw us to Himself over and over again, and He never gives up on us!

Praise be to our God, who in His infinite love gave us His Word and His Spirit! May we recognize these gifts that He has given us and delight in Him!

~ Judy