Days of Awe
and its significance to our Christian walk
September 2012
Rosh Hashanah (http://www.godzgurlz.com/rosh-hashana.html) for this year 2012 was celebrated on Sunday, September 16. The ten days starting with this day and ending with Yom Kippur (http://www.godzgurlz.com/yom-kippur.html) are commonly known as the Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim) or the Days of Repentance. This is a time of serious introspection and a time to consider the sins of the previous year and repent before Yom Kippur.
One of the ongoing premises of the Days of Awe is the concept that God has “books” where He writes our names in: those who will live and who will die; and who will have a good life and a bad life, for the next year. These books are written in on Rosh Hashanah, but our actions during the Days of Awe can alter God’s decree. These actions that change the decree include repentance. In Yom Kippur, these books get sealed.
More than the Jewish traditions, what I want to share with you is its relevance to our Christian faith. Everything that God established in the Old Testament is a pre-cursor to the New Testament. I will be talking more about these feasts on a special article on our October issue.
The Days of Awe has so much significance to the lives we are called to live as Christians. Repentance plays a major role in our salvation. In fact, it is the foundation of our salvation. There will be no salvation without repentance.
Repentance has to be a lifestyle for Christians. 1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Sad to say, many Christians have abused this verse. Thinking that they can just confess their sins and be forgiven, they use this as an excuse to sin. With this, there is a great need to remind ourselves of the essence of repentance. It is not just asking God for forgiveness but turning away from our sins. It is not just saying sorry but mourning and grieving for what we have done against God. Back in the Old Testament days, they fast and put on sackcloth & ashes as a sign of repentance.
The Days of Awe should be a reminder for us to repent in the real sense of the word. It should be a shaking up for us ... a fresh reminder that we have a punishing God. We have always looked at God as merciful and forgiving, forgetting that He is just and will do what He said He will do, and that includes punishing those who reject Him and who turn away from Him. 2 Peter 3:9-11 says ...
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering (patient) toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
The Days of Awe is actually considered as the last chance for repentance. Prophetically, these days will be the days of tribulation where Jesus will give one last chance to those who want to repent and receive Him, after which the Judgment Day will come.
One thing is for sure, after the complete and final fulfillment of Yom Kippur (Atonement) takes place, apparently after the one thousand year millennial reign of Jesus, no one will have their name written in the 'Book of the Intermediates;' everyone will be in either the 'Book of Life' or the 'Book of Death.'
As Christians, we know that it is only through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus that our names can be included into the 'Book of Life.' However, it is also crucial that each re-born Christian has come to true repentance for his sins.
On Trumpets or Rosh Hashana, the whole world stands in judgment before God and deserves to be found guilty. Only those whose sins have been forgiven through their previous acceptance of the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ are worthy to be found not guilty. This acquittal is not rendered because of their own righteousness or works, but because of the righteousness of Yeshua [i.e. Jesus] that has been applied to them.
So my dear brothers and sisters, let these Days of Awe be days of repentance before the Lord. Think about the things that have kept you bound all these years, or those that keep calling you back (drunkenness, fornication, adultery, pride, lust, slothfulness, envy, etc.). Grieve and mourn for your sins. Don’t take these sins lightly, thinking that God is merciful and forgiving. Cry out for forgiveness of your sins and even the generational sins of your forefathers. Beat your breasts in repentance. Turn away from your sins ... before it is too late.
http://www.godzgurlz.com/yom-kippur.html
~Lisa Maki~
One of the ongoing premises of the Days of Awe is the concept that God has “books” where He writes our names in: those who will live and who will die; and who will have a good life and a bad life, for the next year. These books are written in on Rosh Hashanah, but our actions during the Days of Awe can alter God’s decree. These actions that change the decree include repentance. In Yom Kippur, these books get sealed.
More than the Jewish traditions, what I want to share with you is its relevance to our Christian faith. Everything that God established in the Old Testament is a pre-cursor to the New Testament. I will be talking more about these feasts on a special article on our October issue.
The Days of Awe has so much significance to the lives we are called to live as Christians. Repentance plays a major role in our salvation. In fact, it is the foundation of our salvation. There will be no salvation without repentance.
Repentance has to be a lifestyle for Christians. 1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Sad to say, many Christians have abused this verse. Thinking that they can just confess their sins and be forgiven, they use this as an excuse to sin. With this, there is a great need to remind ourselves of the essence of repentance. It is not just asking God for forgiveness but turning away from our sins. It is not just saying sorry but mourning and grieving for what we have done against God. Back in the Old Testament days, they fast and put on sackcloth & ashes as a sign of repentance.
The Days of Awe should be a reminder for us to repent in the real sense of the word. It should be a shaking up for us ... a fresh reminder that we have a punishing God. We have always looked at God as merciful and forgiving, forgetting that He is just and will do what He said He will do, and that includes punishing those who reject Him and who turn away from Him. 2 Peter 3:9-11 says ...
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering (patient) toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
The Days of Awe is actually considered as the last chance for repentance. Prophetically, these days will be the days of tribulation where Jesus will give one last chance to those who want to repent and receive Him, after which the Judgment Day will come.
One thing is for sure, after the complete and final fulfillment of Yom Kippur (Atonement) takes place, apparently after the one thousand year millennial reign of Jesus, no one will have their name written in the 'Book of the Intermediates;' everyone will be in either the 'Book of Life' or the 'Book of Death.'
As Christians, we know that it is only through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus that our names can be included into the 'Book of Life.' However, it is also crucial that each re-born Christian has come to true repentance for his sins.
On Trumpets or Rosh Hashana, the whole world stands in judgment before God and deserves to be found guilty. Only those whose sins have been forgiven through their previous acceptance of the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ are worthy to be found not guilty. This acquittal is not rendered because of their own righteousness or works, but because of the righteousness of Yeshua [i.e. Jesus] that has been applied to them.
So my dear brothers and sisters, let these Days of Awe be days of repentance before the Lord. Think about the things that have kept you bound all these years, or those that keep calling you back (drunkenness, fornication, adultery, pride, lust, slothfulness, envy, etc.). Grieve and mourn for your sins. Don’t take these sins lightly, thinking that God is merciful and forgiving. Cry out for forgiveness of your sins and even the generational sins of your forefathers. Beat your breasts in repentance. Turn away from your sins ... before it is too late.
http://www.godzgurlz.com/yom-kippur.html
~Lisa Maki~
