The Feast of Rosh HaShannah

(Based on Rev. Kevin Parviz’s 2000 Lenten Series, published by Concordia Pulpit Resources)
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Leviticus 23:23 “Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the
sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month you
shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
25 You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering
by fire to the Lord.’”
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word of “tradition” as “the
transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of
being passed on in this way; [in regard to] Judaism an ordinance of the oral law
not in the Torah but held to have been given by God to Moses.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary “an inherited, established, or customary
pattern of thought, action, or behavior (such as a religious practice or a social
custom); a belief or story or a body of beliefs or stories relating to the past that are
commonly accepted as historical though not verifiable.
Traditions are the result of our human nature. Human beings cannot escape
traditions. The question is whether the tradition is good for those who practice any
given tradition or bad. As proof for that assertion, one generation can pass on the
tradition of being anti-traditional, which is exactly what has happened to the
culture and church in America and see how that is turning out.
The Scripture condemns traditions of sinful man when they eclipse the true
work of God. We see this kind of thing in Matthew 15 in the exchange between
the Pharisees and Jesus over Jesus’s disciple’s failure to preform a ritual hand
washing before eating. “Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from
Jerusalem and said, 2 ‘Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders?
For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.’ 3 And He answered and
said to them, ‘Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for
the sake of your tradition?’”
At the same time the God’s Word commands traditions that convey the Law
and Gospel and wherein we find God at work. 1 Cor. 11:2 “Now I praise you
because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just
as I delivered them to you.”
2 Thessalonians 2:15 “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the
traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from
us.”
Listen to what St. Paul wrote about those who break from the traditions set
forth by the Apostles and Apostolic Church. “Now we command you, brethren, in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who
leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from
us.” 1 Thessalonians 3:6.
We are here this evening because of the tradition of Ash Wednesday.
Unfortunately it is a tradition that has been forsaken by so many people who call
themselves Christians. But for those who are attending Ash Wednesday services,
here and around the world, are stepping into the path of Lent. Those of us who
observe the Lenten traditions of special services and practices, are on a journey
that leads the Christian to Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday.
The tradition of Ash Wednesday and the imposition of ashes is a tradition
that help put sinners in our place. We are reminded that from dust we came and to
dust we shall return and as Christian we are reminded of this fact in the sure and
certain hope of the resurrection of the dead.
The Lord God, Yaweh Elohim was and remains a God of traditions. In the
Old Testament He commanded His adopted children to observe specific traditions
for the purpose of reminding them who they were made to be and what it was He
was doing for them as He lived in their midst.
Among those traditions were the feasts and festivals, specifically the six
feasts that we will be considering during this season of Lent. The historic, biblical,
and liturgical church of the New Testament still continues that tradition of
Festivals. We just celebrated the Festival of Transfiguration. We celebrate the
festivals and feasts of the Nativity of our Lord, Epiphany, Easter, Pentecost, the
Feast of Holy Innocence, the Feast of Name Jesus, and more.
Tonight we are going to learn about one of the original Feasts/Festivals. The
Feast of Trumpets, also called Rosh HaShannah.
The prophet Isaiah wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray.” That verse
is meant to be understood individually and corporately. As sinners, each one of us
strays from the path of righteousness and faith every day. The same is true of the
visible church, the Old Testament church, the Israelites and the New Testament
Christian Church.
The Lord God knew His people. He knew they would not and could not
keep their promises. He knew that they would forget, stray from the path, and
wander aimlessly. Yet, He not only gave His Gospel, Ten Commandments, and all
the other laws in the Torah meant to govern the life of His people, God also
commanded them to observe feasts and festivals, the Feast of Trumpets.
Leviticus 23:23 “Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 ‘Speak to the
sons of Israel, saying, In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall
have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall
not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the
Lord.’”
The Feast of Trumpets was a day of rest, preparation, and worship at the
Tabernacle and Temple. It began with the blast of the shofar horn. The horn called
people to worship the God who had given Abraham and his descendants the
covenant promise of the Messiah and Who had delivered them out of the hand of
the Egyptians.
There was a time when on Sunday morning church bells were heard all
across this country, starting on the east coast and rolling all the way to Hawaii.
Those bells called the people to worship God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We
don’t hear too many bells these days. They are falling silent because people want
to sleep and have lawyers. The tradition has been broken.
In regard to the Feast of Trumpets, it also became known as Rosh
Hashannah, which means the “Head or Top of the Year.” Rosh HaShannah is the
Jewish New Year. The festival celebrates the creation Adam and Eve, the covenant
established by God with Abraham and his descendants, and the test of Abraham’s
faith.
The exact day of the new year moves a bit based on the movement of the
moon. The Jewish New Year begins in the fall. Think September/October.
As with most religious traditions, various ideas and practices get attached to
the festival as time goes on. That is usually where the original purpose of a
tradition gets corrupted. In this case, Jews and their oral tradition added stuff to
the feast that God had not ordained. They turned it into an exercise in works
righteousness and added oral traditions to support the doctrine.
The Jews came to believe that then the shofar horn was blown on Rosh
HaShannah, God opens three books. The Encyclopedia of Judaica explains the
tradition this way. “Three books are opened in heaven on Rosh Ha-Shanah, one for
the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for the
intermediate. The thoroughly righteous [perfect] are forthwith inscribed in the
Book of Life, the thoroughly wicked in the Book of Death, while the fate of the
intermediate is suspended until the Day of Atonement.” (Rosh HaShanah 16b).
During Rosh HaShannah Jews send each other greeting cards expressing
this hope. “May your name be inscribed in the Book of Life.” No Gospel there.
No confidence or assurance either. Rosh HaShannah also became the time to
persuade God to extend your life and favorable treatment into the new year.
The feast lasted 10 days. Those 10 day are called “The Days of Awe.”
During this time Jews work to secure a place and assure themselves that their
particular name is written in the Book of Life. During the 10 days debts are paid,
old sins forgiven, and good deeds, mitzot are done in an effort to please God and
persuade Him to give them another year of life.
During theses 10 days the shofar horn sounded some 70 plus times. Each
time calling the people to some act of worship or work. During this time the story
of Abraham is read. According to the definition of mitzah, good deeds, Abraham
is the Old Testament’s premier example of good deeds because he trusted God and
trust is the greatest of all works.
You all know the story of Abraham. God put his faith to the test. God
commanded Abraham to sacrifice his only begotten son Isaac on Mount Moriah.
Trusting in God, Abraham set his mind to do so, knowing that God had given him
a promise. Abraham trusted that God would in some way resurrect his son and
give him as many descendants as there are the stars. The Epistle lesson for this
evening summarizes what was ultimately important about Abraham’s relationship
to God.
Hebrews 11:17 “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac,
and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18
it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” 19
He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which
he also received him back as a type. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau,
even regarding things to come.”
Here is the key to the proper understanding of the Feast of the Trumpet and
the New Year is found. This commanded festival was given to the Old Testament
children of God to set their feet firmly on the path of salvation. They read and
heard the creation story and the fall into sin. They heard the promise of God sent
them their Savior, a descendant of Abraham.
The whole life and story of Abraham was not about a life of thorough
righteousness, but of a sinner who lived not by good deeds, but by faith. The
Feast of the Trumpets and New Year set the people’s feet on the path of “salvation
by grace through faith in Jesus Christ for Christ’s sake alone.” That was its
purpose.
Each year the Israelites were to come to the tabernacle or the temple and
there hear the stories of the creation, the fall into sin, the promise of the Zot, the
Seed–the Messiah, and of what it means to live by faith in God’s Word and
Messiah, rather than in good works.
Through the prophets of old God had promised He would send His only
begotten Son into the flesh to be the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.
While God spared Abraham and Isaac for a horrifying and deadly episode, a father
sacrificing his one and only son, God the Father did not spare Himself or His only
begotten Son from that horrible “fate.”
As a Jew, Jesus Himself would have attended the Feast of Trumpets Rosh
HaShannah. He would have heard the shofar horn and would have grown up
listening to His very own Word read. He knew that the story of Abraham and Isaac
foreshadowed His life and death at the hand of His Heavenly Father.
Just as Abraham laid the wood for the sacrifice on the back of his son Isaac
and lead him up the mountain of Moriah, God the Father laid wood on the back of
His Son and led Him up the same mountain, now called Calvary.
One day, one day that Trumpet will sound and the elect will all be gathered
together to worship the Lamb Who was slain. There would be no more granting of
just another year.
Matthew 24:30 “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the
sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of
Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 And He will
send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His
elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”
It was by the sacrifice of God’s own Son Jesus Christ, Who was
thoroughly righteous, perfectly righteous that the Book of Life was opened to us.
It is by faith, like the faith given to and displayed by Abraham that the names of
the saints, your names are written in the Book of life.
Revelation 3:5 “He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments;
and I will not erase his name from the Book of life, and I will confess his name
before My Father and before His angels” The Days of Awe are no longer days of
uncertainty. They are not days of wondering and hoping. They are not days of
urging us to do more and more to appease an angry God.
These are the days filled with awe over the grace and truth of Jesus Christ.
These are the days we celebrate the new creation, the new year created and given
in the person and work of Jesus Christ for you name has been written in the Book
of Life.
Amen
May the peace that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.