The biblical calendar is important and we should keep an eye open as well as an ear to what the Lord is doing on and around these days that He has appointed for signals of the times in which we live.
One such day is Rosh Hashanah also called Yom Teruah, the Day of Shouting, the Day of Trumpets. While it is still a week away, it is important that we know something about this very important day mentioned by the Apostle Paul to give believers hope that we would not mourn as unbelievers mourn.
Rosh Hashanah could be translated as the head of the year. It is the anniversary of when God created man and when God became king, after all one is not a king until there are subjects. As such, it has been this day that Israel traditionally would coronate its king and when Jesus will be as well.
Coronations usually involve the blowing of trumpets and much shouting to celebrate the king assuming the throne and we see such celebration in the heavens when Jesus takes His.
Yom Teruah is also known as the day that we do not know the day or the hour it will begin. The reason for this has to do with Israel during the Babylonian exile and the identification of the new moon and getting that information passed on but suffice to say this is what Paul was referring to in 1 Thessalonians.
Beyond the rapture event that Paul writes, there is a more important bit of theology to consider during this holy day on the calendar and that is the true recognition of the King of the universe.
The return of our Lord is exciting indeed and we should be looking forward to that day when He calls us up with the voice of an archangel and the trump of God. We should also look forward to that day when He sits upon the throne having taken the scroll to pour out judgment on the earth on the living and the dead.
But what this day should call upon us to do most of all is to bend our knee to the king. After all, He is not just any king; He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Each year on this day we should re-commit our allegiance to the One who died for us because He loved us. We should submit to Him who is our Creator, our God and our Savior.
While everyone who has rejected His offer of forgiveness and salvation will bow their knee and confess with their tongue that He is Lord because of His command, we are able to choose Him of our own free will now.
In order to truly do this, we must be willing to obey Him in all things because we love Him. This is a time to reflect and ask if we really are following Him in obedience are we dealing with our sin, for once the King takes His throne there is judgment and I hope to hear the words “Well done thou good and faithful servant”
