AWE

This Sabbath falls on the Feast of Trumpets, or Yom Teruah. Trumpets have a special significance to the LORD, and to His people. Trumpets announce a warning, a call to battle, a time to rejoice, and they are a call to assemble together before the LORD. For believers in Christ, trumpets also signify the sound of the return of the Lord Jesus to gather His people, both the living and the dead, to meet Him in the clouds, and to be with Him from that moment forever forward (1 Cor. 15:51-57). From the day of the Feast of Trumpets until the Day of Atonement, which is also signified by a great trumpet, there are ten days that are referred to as The Days of Awe. The appointment of the ten days interim by the LORD was not an accident. These ten days are set aside as a time of prayer, self-examination, and repentance. The Hebrew word for the number "ten" is eser/asar, which means "ten, 10x/tithe, tenth, enrich, wealthy, prosper, happy, to be straight". The number ten also represents the complete congregation, body, kingdom, gathering, union. Ten, in the pictographic Hebrew alphabet, is represented by the letter yod, which means "hand", and "a finished work". The number ten also portrays the time of judgment when men either receive rewards or receive divine justice against themselves. So spiritually speaking, something of great importance in the eyes of the LORD is accomplished and finished in these ten interim days between the two feasts. The blessing said to one another on the Feast of Trumpets is "May you be inscribed (in the book)". A believer in Christ understands the "book" mentioned as "the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world", as mentioned in Rev. 13:8-9. The title of this week's Sabbath reading is Va-Yelech, a kind of "part 2" to last week's reading. This week's Sabbath is also called Shuvah, which means "to return". This is a tine to return to the LORD, which is the goal of the Ten Days of Awe also. I know that we feel many things for the LORD, but do we feel AWE? One definition of the word awe is "a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder". Do we reverence Him with the reverence which He deserves? It seems to me that we treat our Great God more with familiarity than reverence. Do we enter church or synagogue in a spirit of reverence knowing we are about to open His Word, and stand before His Presence in worship and praise? When we come before our God in prayer, is it with reverence and wonder, or is it instead with a shopping list of our needs and desires? Do we fear our heavenly Father in the same way that we might fear or dread disappointing our earthly fathers? Are our hearts and days filled with wonder (a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration caused by something beautiful, unexpected, or inexplicable) at His words and works? Most of us, being honest, may admit that the answer to these questions is "no", or perhaps "sometimes". We too then need a shuvah return to our Lord, our first love, our primary focus and reason for being (Rev. 2:4-5). Do we feel reverence and wonder when we consider how Jesus fulfilled the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, for us as our High Priest, sprinkling His own sacrificed blood upon the Mercy Seat of God in heaven in order to cover the curse of the Law that comes against those who break it? (Heb. 9:11-15). It is Christ's fulfilment of this Feast that became the redemption for our transgressions because "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (see Heb. 10:28-31). We cannot treat this as "a common thing" (v. 29). The reverence, fear, and wonder of this finished work of God should be with us every day. If it is not, then, again, we need a shuvah return to our Lord. In the readings from the prophets for this Sabbath, the Word of the LORD calls God's people to return to Him. Hosea wrote: "O Israel, return to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled (kasal - waver, tottering, stumble, stagger, feeble, made weak, bereaved, overthrown, wearied, fail) because of your iniquity; Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, 'Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips. Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride on horses, nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, 'You are our gods'. For in You the fatherless finds mercy." (Hos. 14:1-3). Often in scripture, the LORD must deliver judgment upon His people because they have left Him, and have chosen the ways of evil and wickedness, including the harming of others. However, I do not hear this kind of judgment when I read these words in Hosea. I hear God being concerned because He sees His people stumbling and falling, growing weaker because of the iniquities which they carry. They have relied upon other men, and the work of their own hands instead of Him. The LORD tells them to return to Him, and He makes it very simple for them: "Take words with you". They need only bring Him "the sacrifices of our lips". Immediately, the LORD promises: "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him. I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall grow like the lily...his beauty shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon." v. 4-6). The beauty and reviving pleasure of the LORD awaits us in our shuvah return to Him. Just take your words with you as you turn to Him. In another portion from this Sabbath's reading from the prophet Micah we can read: "Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me...He will bring me forth to the light; I will see His righteousness...Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." (Mic. 7:7-9, 18-19, 2 Cor. 5:21). Psalm 25 says: "The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way...For Your name's sake, O LORD, pardon my iniquity for it is great. For who is the man that fears the LORD? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses." As we saw above, the number ten is associated in part with the completed, unified body or congregation. With all of the divisions that exist within the congregation of the God of Israel, the Ten Days of Awe are a perfect opportunity, given to us by God, for the complete congregation, both Jews and Gentiles, to be unified in returning to the LORD our God. There is a time when God will judge all unrighteousness, and scripture tells us that the judgment begins in the House of the LORD (1 Peter 4:17). These Ten Days of Awe, which the LORD has provided for us, calls His people to assemble together in order to bring our words and return to Him. He will revive us in the beauty of His holiness, as the prophet saw, and He will revive our reverence, fear, and wonder of Him. If you would like to know more about returning to the LORD, you can join with me in prayer: "LORD God, I bring my words to You, to return to You, to have reverence, fear in honor and wonder towards You, and Your mighty works. . The trumpet will sound, and I will remember and proclaim the atonement that was made for me by the blood of the Lamb of God. The trumpet will sound, and I will rejoice that my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life- the Lamb who was slain for my salvation, and redemption, from before the foundation of the world. The trumpet will sound, and I will call upon Your mercy and pardon. The trumpet will sound, and I will fall to my knees in reverence and AWE. The trumpet will sound, and I will be taken up to meet Jesus, to remain forever with Him. In Jesus' name, I pray this. AMEN."

Return

This Sabbath is a special Sabbath called Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath of Return. It comes within the ten days between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. These ten days between the feasts, and this Sabbath Shuvah are a time for repentance, prayer, and turning back to the LORD. This Sabbath's reading portion from Deuteronomy 31 is titled Va-yelech, or "Then he went" (see last week's post also). In Deut. 31, Moses is told by the LORD that these are the last days of his life, and that he should bring Joshua before the LORD so He can inaugurate (sava - "command, appoint, commission, ordain, cause to exist") him as the next leader of Israel (Deut. 31:14). We see from this that we cannot appoint ourselves, but we must be appointed by God. As we consider the closing days of Moses' life mentioned in Deut. 31, we can imagine that the thought of losing Moses must have been very traumatic for Israel. He had been their prophet and leader across two generations, through dangerous testing times, and used in miraculous wonders of deliverance and provision performed by God. People pass away, even important people. Places and things pass away, but God does not pass away. Moses told the Israelites: "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them (the various enemy tribes already in the land; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." (Deut. 31:6). Jesus promised His believers the same thing (Mt. 28:20). The LORD also told Moses at this time, that after his death, Israel would not remain faithful to Him, and would become idolators. They would break the covenant that they had with God. Because of this, the LORD said that evil would befall them in the latter days (v. 16-18, 29). Moses must have been very saddened to hear this prophecy regarding the people to whom he had dedicated himself for all of those years. However, with this prophecy in mind, Moses left God's people a song of repentance and return to God which he taught to all of Israel (see Deut. 32). In something else to consider, this Sabbath also falls on 9/11, one of the most tragic days of loss in American history. This loss not only affected a nation, but it affected the whole world, as America sought justice, or perhaps revenge, for the murderous act. In facing the loss suffered on this date, the most fruitful and important action for Americans to have taken was not measured in military might, but in repentance in the hearts of those who know God. Our strength is not measured in military power, nor the height of our great buildings and the wealth and success that they represent. Our strength, as the people who are called by God's name, is in our covenant with Him. Have we been looking at the wrong things for our security and success? Have we been relying on people and things that cannot save us? It seems that we have been going down the wrong path for many years, but it is not too late for God's people to turn back to Him. This Sabbath reading is about the things that pass away, and the things that don't. It is about returning to the LORD, and finding that He has been waiting for us all along. He was not far away from us, but we have travelled far from Him. Much of our everyday lives have been built like a shaky house on shifting sands, relying upon things that cannot endure (Mt. 7:24-27). We have seen buildings that were embedded into solid bedrock and constructed with steel, brought down in minutes. How much more shakable are lives and plans built upon far less? There is only one house that stands forever, indestructible, and that is the House of the LORD with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone, into which we, as living stones, are to be built. In the haftarah reading portion of this Shabbat Shuvah, the prophet Hosea wrote in Chapter 14:1-3, "O Israel, return to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity...Assyria shall not save us (referring to political and military alliances), we will not ride on horses (military might), nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, "You are our gods" (idols created by relying upon our own efforts). As Hosea continues, the LORD answers this cry from the heart of His people, "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely,...I will be like the dew to Israel; He shall grow like a lily...his branches shall spread; His beauty shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon." (v. 4-6). Not only will the LORD turn and restore His people again because of their repentance, but they will become a fruitful and desired people. We need to be a fruitful people, especially now. The LORD said in Hosea that the fruitfulness that we need is found in our return to Him. In another haftarah reading for this Shabbat Shuva, the prophet Micah also brings us the message of returning to the LORD: "Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over (abar - "march over, pass beyond, go in advance of, to cover in intimacy") the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?...He delights in mercy...and will subdue (kabas - "bring into bondage, dominate, tread down, conquer") our iniquities. You will cast (salak - "hurl, throw down") all our sins into the depths of the sea." (Micah 7:18-19). While we often look for the world to repent, the privilege of returning to the LORD is reserved for His people, His remnant, according to Micah. He even "subdues", a forceful verb, our iniquities, hurling them down, dominating those things that enslave us, and bringing them into bondage instead. The Father has given this dominion to Christ for our benefit. It is believed that Ephesians 4:7-8 brings us an image of Christ descending into the earth upon His death in order to conquer the power of sin and death, and bringing up with Him those who died with hope in His appearing. These verses can also be looked at in an additional way, mirroring the prophecy of Micah, based upon the meaning of the Greek words used. The verses are written: "But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore He says: When He ascended on high He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men." The Greek meaning of the main words used in these verses from Ephesians 4 could also tell us that Christ forcefully made captive, or took as a prisoner of war to Himself, what had caused others to be captives. His doing so was a gift or advantage supplied to man. He "subdued" our iniquities in other words, as Micah had prophesied. We do not have to let iniquity, and a life away from the eternal things of God, take us captive again. This Sabbath, and the somber memorial occasion of 9/11 reminds us that life on earth, even the life of a man of God like Moses, is temporary. Buildings, places, possessions and institutions are temporary. Wealth and power are temporary. The LORD is calling His remnant to return to the eternal - to Himself. If you would like to return to the LORD, you can pray: "Father of Forgiveness and Mercy, I turn away from the love and reliance upon those things which cannot save or last, and I return to You with all my heart, soul, and strength. Your Son, Jesus, died and rose from the dead to destroy, and set me free from, the power of sin and death in my life, and I thank You for this gift that Jesus has supplied for me. As I ask You to forgive my sin, hurl it far from me. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, so that I can bear abundant fruit and renewing dew, that I may display the glory of God to all. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."