TISHRI 1
A Day of Repentance
“Therefore
say to the house of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “REPENT, and turn back from your idols,
and turn back your faces from all your abominations.” (Eze 14:6 ISR,
emphasis mine)
Last night, at sundown, marked the beginning of the
Hebrew month of Tishri; this date is
also the first of the fall feasts of
our Elohim (see Lev 23), known to many as Yom
Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets, or Rosh
Hashanah. According to the Hebrew
calendar, this marks the beginning of the civil
New Year, and ancient Jewish wisdom believes that this is also the day that
Yahweh created Adam and Chavah,
commonly known as Eve. If we would have
been following the “appointed times”, we would have spent the last 30 days,
prior to Yom Teruah, as a time of
self-examination and teshuvah
(repentance) before our Creator, confessing our sins, transgressions and
shortcomings. ‘Repentance’ is the
key to entering into the coming New Year, walking in the covenant of His
blessings for the entire year.
True repentance is not guilt from ‘getting caught’ doing something wrong. According to Noah Webster, repentance is
“sorrow or deep contrition for sin, as an
offense and dishonor to God, a violation of His holy law, and the basest
ingratitude towards a Being of infinite benevolence. This is called evangelical repentance, and
is accompanied and followed by amendment {change for the better} of life”[1]. There is an anguish, a pain, and a sense of a trust being broken on the part of
the one committing the sin. True
repentance will always accept
personal responsibility for the sin and wrong-doing that was done, and will
consequently turn away from the behavior that caused the sin problem in the
first place. This is teshuvah – turning away from evil, and
turning back to our Elohim.
Messiah Yeshua made a way for us to come to the
Throne of Grace, to cleanse our hearts in repentance, and to obtain mercy in
our time of need (Heb 4:16). Yeshua is
the “Mercy Seat” we run to, where we find forgiveness for our sins on a daily
basis (1John 1:9), and not just once a year.
During this time of Yom Teruah,
together with the days leading up to Yom
haKippurim (the Day of Atonement), let us make an effort to examine
ourselves (2Cor 13:5; 1Cor 11:28), for Yahweh our Elohim is looking, looking,
running to and fro….
“For
the eyes of יהוה diligently search throughout all the
earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those WHOSE HEART IS PERFECT TO HIM.” (2Chr 16:9 ISR, emphasis mine)
“I advise
you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, so that you become rich; and white
garments, so that you become dressed, so that the shame of your nakedness might
not be shown; and anoint your eyes with ointment, so that you see. As many as I
love, I reprove and discipline. So be ardent and REPENT.” (Rev 3:18-19 ISR, emphasis
mine)
©2018
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