Next week we’ll be celebrating the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah), the new moon day of the seventh month in Yahweh’s calendar. He designated it “a day of complete rest for remembering, a holy convocation announced with blasts on the shofar” (Leviticus 23:24, Complete Jewish Bible). The blowing of shofars is connected to major times in Israel’s history. Yahweh used it to herald significant events, the most famous being the shofar that sounded on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:18-19).
Tishrei, the seventh month, is rich in holy days. Yom Teruah is ten days before the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and fifteen before the Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth). It’s important to prepare our hearts for each of these events.
On Yom Kippur we’ll be remembering that Yahshua made atonement for our sins once, for all, forever! The price He paid was incalculable, and the gift of salvation He so freely gave us, is beyond comprehension. We came to Him burdened down by our sin, and in one moment He set us free, cleansing us completely. Since then, the Holy Spirit has acted as our checkpoint, alerting us when we need to deal with issues or change in some way. Meanwhile, if we commit sin unknowingly, so long as we’re walking in the light, Yahshua, our High Priest, continually cleanses us (1 John 1:7). How then, do we prepare ourselves for Yom Kippur?
Observant Jews call this time ‘the10 days of awe’ and prepare for Yom Kippur by increasing their Torah studies, settling all debts, giving generously to charity, performing many good deeds and decreasing their involvement with worldly things. That’s an impressive list, isn’t it. I wonder if I’m as serious as this about my relationship with Yahweh. Are you? Perhaps, in these coming ‘days of awe’, we could pray with King David, “Search me, O [Yahweh], and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts” (Psalm 139:23). Initiate your own Autumn checkpoint! Allow the Holy Spirit to shine His searchlight into your heart, to point out anything that is displeasing or to show you where you need to change. Be ready to come up to Succoth with joy unspeakable!
Photo by Megs Harrison on Unsplash
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The Test Of LoveWe look at our lives through a spiritual lens now, as we see how our actions as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, friends and coaches, workers and employers relate to [Yahweh's] will.
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