According to our Gregorian calendar there are yet three months more and then the new year comes. No one of us, Christians and “goyim”, have made any resolutions this week, but this past September 29-30, from sunset to sunset, it was celebrated the “head” of festivals in the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah. The year 5769 has begun!
The blowing of the Shofar (horn) signals the beginning of the celebration. The sound is a call to meditation, auto-evaluation, repentance and prayer for a period of 10 days known as the “Days of Awe.”
MEDITATION: The Spring and Summer time, growing seasons, have passed and ended. The fields yielded their fruit and we have been sustained and strenghtened with lots of food. The fall harvest is yet to come and we need to remember that not matter how much the farmer plants, weeds, waters and waits; he is still in total dependence on God for the sun, rain and increase. “Every good gift comes from above”. AUTO-EVALUATION: It is believed to be the day on which every man stands in judgement before God. The Talmud offers the image of a person coming to court where a life/death verdict will be pronounced. We are not to fear death anymore for “there is no condemnation” for those who have put their trust in Yeshua. We’d do well in examining ourselves and ask God to search and try our hearts to lead us “in the way everlasting”. REPENTANCE: The feast will end with Yom Kippur (This year October 8/9), the Day of Atonement, literally “day of covering”. Jewish people try to right the wrongs they have committed. We are not to forget our sinfulness, but Praise God for the offering that was made on our behalf by Messiah Jesus. PRAYER: A song by Max Janowski is sung during this holiday. “Avinu Malkeinu” (Our Father, our King) is translated this way: “Hear our prayer. We have sinned before Thee. Have compassion upon us and upon our children. Help us bring an end to pestilence, war, and famine. Cause all hate and oppression to vanish from the earth. Inscribe us for blessing in the Book of Life. Let the new year be a good year for us.”
It is customary to eat apples and honey. They represent two types of sweetness in life. THE APPLE would be the normal, ordinary and usual joys. Nothing surprising in them. These could include family reunions, success in a business, personal triumphs and harmonious relationships. THE HONEY, that comes from an inedible insect that actually stings, pictures the sweetness that comes from challenging times that seem bitter and insurmountable like the sting of a bee: tensions, pains, losses, loneliness, degradations, tribulations that at the end, when endured, produce perseverance, character and hope.
To Christians this holiday is known as the Feast of Trumpets. A reminder that one day we will hear the sound of the last shofar from heaven. Another great holy convocation of God’s people to meet our Lord in the air. Are you ready? Let’s not wait till December to thank the Lord, our Maker, for provision of all our needs, for being with us through mountains and valleys, for forgiving our sins and for his promise to return to take us to a new Jerusalem.
Shana Tovah everyone!
Andres SGV17's Weblog 
Nice meditation! Thanks!
I have a lot of apples and honey to be thankful for.
That is soooooooo True. Let us celebrate that Feast of Trumpets at all times. I have to agree apples and honey are always present from the Lord. Thanks for the encouragement brother. I am praying for you, along with the family at Asbury Community Chapel here in Dubuque, IA, USA
God Bless, and keep on keeping on!