Blessings Friends,
Rosh Hashanah is upon us once more. The Jewish New Year, beginning the Feast of Trumpets and the ten Days of Awe, when we are called to examine our hearts and seek God in prayer and repentance. A time to be sanctified so that when Messiah returns, He will find us faithful. This ten day period culminates in the fast day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, symbolizing the Great Judgment.
This should be a time of great celebration for us, as this Feast of Trumpets is one of the final feasts given by God to be fulfilled on Earth. We are told what to expect with its fulfillment by Paul:
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
This is a great and much anticipated day for those whose lives are hidden with Christ in God. Even more so with so many other signs in the heavens given to us by the Father coinciding with this prophetic feast. Namely, the culmination of a Shemitah or Sabbath year, which is also believed to be the seventh Shemitah, bringing us into a year of Jubilee. And to top it all, the last of the tetrad, or four blood moons which will appear on September 28, 2015—During the feast of Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles symbolizing our gathering in the New Jerusalem).
Though God doesn’t have to do anything, those who have eyes to see and ears to hear know that we are poised for something big. This could be a time of great blessing for God’s people…
And yet, my heart is unbearably heavy. Our God is a very patient God, but as he has sent us, the U.S., warning after warning that we are heading down the wrong path, we have continued to respond to Him with defiance, arrogance, and hostility. We have become an abomination to the most Holy God, tearing down His first holy covenant with man, the marriage between one man and one woman…
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24
…sacrificing the children He calls a heritage and reward from Him to the selfishness of lust and gain…
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.” Psalm 127:3
…and driving Him from our government and schools. Christians are being imprisoned and robbed of everything right here in the U.S. for refusing to turn their backs on the very commands of God our country was founded on. And the Church sits powerless as it happens, cocooned in its preconceived notions of who God is and the false safety of scripture manipulated to suit its individual needs, striving to please both man and God.
We are not the first, of course. The same warning God gives us, he gave His people centuries ago…
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!” Isaiah 5:20-21
And we all know what became of Judah. Yet, we continue in this fog of self-delusion, thinking that we are above the judgment of God.
In my time on my face before the Lord each morning, I’ve seen the judgment coming. I’ve seen the Tidal Wave and The Church in Ruins. And, though I pray for forgiveness, I’ve come to understand that most people must be brought low before they begin to look up. I’ve also come to understand that only the Spirit of God can change the hearts of man.
That is what I pray for in the early morning hours. That the Spirit of God will move in the hearts of people. That they may seek Him like never before. Not to save them from judgment, but because He is good, and beautiful, and His mercy endures forever. Because nothing and no one is more worth having or knowing. Because without Him we can never really be whole.
My heart breaks for those who don’t yet know the One who loves them like no other.
Please join me these next ten Days of Awe crying out to the Lord for forgiveness, for wisdom in the knowledge of Him, and for the power of His Holy Spirit to move in the hearts of His people. Not just that we may be spared His judgment and once more receive His blessing, but that people may know His great love for them, and that He might receive all the glory due Him. For He alone is worthy. Amen!
Leshanah tovah tikateiv v’teichateim—May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year!
God’s grace and peace be yours,
Rebecca
