Scripture:
Psalm 47
Reflection:
The Jewish festival of ‘Rosh Hashanah’ literally means ‘Head of the Year’ and is the celebration of the Jewish new year.
The Feast of Trumpets in the Old Testament (Leviticus 23:23-24) falls in the seventh month of Tishrei in the Hebrew calendar. Despite this, and the fact that it falls in autumn, later Rabbinic tradition named it Rosh Hashanah, designating it the beginning of the year – the beginning of a new cycle of sowing, growth, and harvest.
Rosh Hashanah proclaims God as the Universal King and is accompanied by Psalm 47, read seven times. It represents a new start. It also celebrates the created world, recalling the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman according to the Hebrew Bible, and the inauguration of humanity's role in God's world.
So Rosh Hashanah is both a time of rejoicing and of serious introspection, a time to celebrate the completion of another year, while also taking stock of one’s life. A time of repentance and returning to creator God.
Normally, the two-day festival is marked with big celebrations at home and in the synagogue. The festival begins with the blowing of the Shofar – the ram’s horn. It is to ‘wake people up’, a call to repent and return to their maker and look forward to a good year ahead. Customs include attending synagogue services where the Shofar is blown and special liturgy used, centring on ‘teshuva’ (repentance).
Amongst the food eaten at the festive meals are apples dipped in honey, symbolising a sweet new year ahead. Also challah (traditional round bread), symbolizing the eternal cycle of life. This, too, may be dipped in honey, symbolizing the hopes for a sweet new year.
You might also find a pomegranate on the table because there is a tradition that they contain 613 seeds - one for each of the commandments a Jewish person is supposed to keep.
In the Bible, the Hebrew word Shuphr (Shofar) is often translated into English as ‘trumpet.’ In 1 Thessalonians 4:16 we read that Jesus’ future return will be accompanied by ‘…a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God…’
Once again, we see how the whole of Scripture hangs together in perfect harmony. The very instrument used thousands of years ago to announce God as the Universal King, will again announce the return of the King of kings.
And whilst we wait for the time, we are called to be people who proclaim the coming king, always prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (1 Peter 3:15).
Prayer:
Lord,
I long for your return, to see you lifted high in the sight of all creation.
Enable me to proclaim your kingship in my life.
AMEN
Songs:
Food for Thought:
How might the knowledge of Jesus’ return strengthen you in life now?
This lad is playing the Shofar next to the Western Wall in Jerusalem.