26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God” (Leviticus 23: 26-28).
How many people do you know that will tell you they must go to church on New Year’s Eve? No party, they’re going to church instead. Or even that they need to stay home and read their Bible and pray on that special night?
Yet, prayer and going to synagogue are two of the major ways that Jews bring in their New Year of Rosh HaShanah. Observances will continue and culminate with the remembrance and celebration of Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement; the day the Jews repent of a year’s worth of sins and receive forgiveness from God.
Perhaps we should let this time on the Jewish calendar challenge us, as Christians, to reflect and repent, too. The first 10 days of the Jewish New Year are devoted to prayer, reflection and personal introspection on one’s own life and relationship with God, in order to prepare for the Day of Atonement. Before Jesus, that was the one day of the whole year when the High Priest would make atonement for the sins of the whole nation of Israel by entering the Holy of Holies and offering special sacrifices to God.
We remember Jesus’ sacrifice on Good Friday and Easter and are grateful that we no longer require the same system of violent sacrifice in order to get and stay right with the Lord. Do we often think about how bloody and smelly that scene was? Do we often think about the innocent blood that had to be shed to reconcile us to a Holy God?
Another major way that Rosh HaShanah is celebrated is by the blowing of the ram’s horn. This tradition goes back to the Lord providing the ram for Abraham to offer as sacrifice instead of his son, Isaac (Gen 22:13). Each blow is to be a reminder and call to repentance.
No matter how long we have been a Christian, we think and do something each day that deserves confession and repentance. As we hear others refer to this time of year as only a Jewish holiday, I challenge us to hear the blowing of the shofar from within our souls to call us continually back to repentance. May we, too, remember what the Lord has done for us through Jesus and celebrate His goodness.
Sin costs. Let us never forget that. And Jesus paid that price – and THAT, is our atonement! Let us always remember and celebrate that, not just once a year, but every single day!
Christina Starnes
