If you have any Jewish, or even Messianic, friends, you might find them a little distracted, introspective of late. You might find this true even more over the 10 day period from September 7th to 18th. We are entering a period of the Jewish calendar called the High Holy days. The month of Elul (August 10th – Sept 7th this year) is a period of repentance before New Year (ראש הושענא - Rosh Hashanah)/Feast of Trumpets (יום תרועה - Yom Teru'ah) which begins the '10 Days of Awe' before Day of Atonement (יום כיפור - Yom Kippur) September 18th (or Tishri 10th if you are following the Jewish calendar). These are days where you review the previous year, to see if there is any unfulfilled vow, whether you have hurt someone unintentionally (or intentionally), how can I improve myself in the coming year, etc. I think you get the point. Anyway, you might be getting a phone call or some communication from your friend, asking forgiveness, or wanting to make up for something they have or haven't done.
In the Temple times, this was when the High Priest would prepare himself for entering the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur and perform the ritual of atonement for the people of Israel (see Leviticus 16) by sprinkling the blood of a goat on the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant. If the High Priest had not confessed all of his sins and made sacrifice for them, he would die in the Holy of Holies before the Shechinah Glory (השכינה פאר - presence of God). This period of ritual cleansing took the 10 days prior to the Day of Atonement as preparation with ritual sacrifices, period of introspection, bathing and preparation of robes etc. Everything had to be just right.
During this period our Jewish minded friends are confronting two actions of faith I have written about recently Repentance (בתשובה - Teshuva) and Fear of the Lord (ליראה את־יהוה - le-yirah et-Adonai). As a review, Teshuva means more than just repentance (being sorry, recognizing a wrong and being sorry about it); (שוב - shuv) means to physically turn. We turn our actions from destructive to good, and turn our hearts from evil to God. Special services are held in the synagogues, and the Shofar (שופר - rams horn) is sounded daily, to wake the people to repentance and teshuva.
Fear of the Lord (ליראה את־יהוה - le-yirah et-Adonai) is an expression that always bothered me, how can you love and fear something at the same time? Fear has such a negative connotation in the English language, you fear snakes, spiders, or bugs; not a loving God. Here again, the English language is woefully inadequate to complete the thought. The Jewish idea here is actually three levels of fear, the first level is the fear of unpleasant consequences or punishment (yirat ha'onesh). This is fear not only of physical pain, but also what we believe what others think or expect of us, and about us. The second type of fear (yirah) is still a fear of unpleasantness, the fear of breaking Gods laws (yirat Ha-Milkhut) and the resultant punishment if you do. The third (and highest) level/ kind of fear is that of a profound reverence for life from 'rightly seeing'. This level discerns the Presence of God in all things and is sometimes called yirat Ha-Romemnut – 'Awe of the Exalted' where fearing and seeing are linked and united. We are elevated to this level of reverent awareness, holy affection, and genuine communion with God's Holy Spirit (רוח
הקודש - Ruach HaKodesh). This love for good creates a spiritual antipathy for evil, and conversely, hatred of evil is a way of fearing God (Prov. 8:13, John 3:20-21).
According to Jewish tradition, on Rosh Hashanah the destiny of the wholly righteous, the tzaddikim (צדיקים), are written in the Book of Life (הספר החיים), and the destiny of the wholly wicked, the resha'im (רשעים) are written in the Book of Death (הספר המוות). Most people, however, won't be inscribed ion either book, but are given ten days, until Yom Kippur, to repent before sealing their fate. Here we see the effects of yirat ha'onesh and yirat ha-Milkhut working, while they try to make sure all their deeds are covered. These ten days between Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur are called the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah – The Ten Days of Repentance. These are days that call for sincere personal repentance so that our name is written in the Book of Life.
As Messianic/Christian believers, we maintain that the Judgment Day has come and justice was served through the sacrificial offering of Yeshua for our sins (2 Cor. 5:21). All those who truly belong to Him are written the 'Lambs Book of Life' or Sefer HaChayim (ספר החיים) (Rev. 3:5). As believers, who belong to Yeshua our Messiah, we eventually have to stand before Him in the judgment of believers, called the' Judgment seat of Christ' (2 Corinthians 5:10) where we will not fear condemnation, but give and account of how we 'walked out' His salvation in this world. We will receive the award we deserve (sort of an award ceremony), rewarding acts of service done during our allotted time here on earth in our mortal state.
We also know that there are two other judgments to come; the 'sheep and goats' judgment at the end of the Great Tribulation period (Matthew 25:31-36), and the 'Great White Throne' judgment at the end of the Millennial Kingdom period (Revelations 10:11-15). Common to each of these judgments is the inevitability that all, both living and dead, saved and unsaved, will ultimately give an account of their lives before Yeshua as the True Judge (Romans 14:11-12, Isaiah 45:22-25).
The central theme of Rosh Hashanah is to recall that God is our Creator, our King, and therefore our righteous Judge. Since our souls are 'on loan' from God, we have the moral obligation to serve Him as our true King and to answer to Him as our righteous Judge. The Scriptures declare that every person who has ever lived will face judgment one day (Hebrews 9:27). This is because the Lord is the God of Truth and His judgments define the nature of reality itself. Indeed the Scriptures reveal that there are heavenly 'books' that contain detailed records of all that we did (or did not do) during our time here 'on earth' (Revelations 10:12).
Chaverim, today you are writing the 'Book of your Life'; every action of your life – every thought, decision, deed – is being 'recorded' in the archives of Heaven itself. When your soul returns to account for itself before God one day, this 'book' will be opened before the 'Judge of the Universe' (אלוהים- Elohim) (Matthew 12:36). Ultimately each of us will have to confess the truth about who we are, and what we have become. We can begin that process now through confession of our sins (1 Cor. 11:31). If we refuse to do this, we may be 'chastened' so that we may not be condemned along with the world (1 Cor. 11:32). Most Christians are encouraged to practice self-examination before partaking of the elements of the Lords Table (communion) (1 Cor. 11:28-29), whereas self examination and confession should be part of our everyday lives as followers of the Messiah (1 Cor. 11:30-31, 1 John 1:7-8, James 5:16).
Now I know that those in school don't want to hear this, but Life is a test and that you will one day stand before Christ to give account for every detail of your life. We need to be mindful of eternity and of the inevitability of your own personal judgment day. If the thought of this causes you anxiety, what do you need to do differently in your life so that you may have confidence for that day (2 Cor. 5:9, Heb. 12:1)? There is great glory coming your way, Hallu-ya (הללו יה)! May God help you 'to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory' (1 Thess. 2:12).
Barukh Moshi'einu
No comments:
Post a Comment