An Offering Made by Fire: Rosh HaShanah

Leviticus 23:23 "And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, "Speak to the children of Israel saying, 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you will have a Sabbath, a memorial announced with a blowing of horns, a holy convocation. You will do no servile work on this day, but you will make an offering made by fire to the Lord.'"

This is the time of year we refer to as Rosh HaShanah, or "Head of the Year", the Jewish New Year. Many of us will observe this day as the Lord commanded, by blowing of horns and taking the day off from our regular work week, or eating apples dipped in honey to signify having a sweet new year. But how is it that we will make an offering made my fire to the Lord, as is commanded in this Scripture?

The "blowing of horns" in this passage of Scripture is referring to the Shofar, an instrument made from a hollowed out ram's horn that the children of Israel used often for many types of warning calls, war cries, victory praises, and gathering announcements. On Rosh HaShanah, the Shofar is used as a call for Teshuva, or repentance, and symbolizes the voice of the Lord crying out for His people to return to Him with their hearts.

Doing no servile work on this day gives us an opportunity to sit and reflect on the past year's grievances against the Lord; this time is to be used to meditate on the things we have done in sin and seek the Lord for true repentance - which is a change of mind followed by actions of obedience to return to the Lord's commands.

Our offering made by fire to the Lord in today's relevant terms has nothing to do with animal sacrifice - this is a sacrifice of mind, spirit, and soul, in which we offer up our entire beings to the Lord and ask Him to bring us through His Refiner's Fire: "And I shall bring the third part through the fire and will refine them as silver is refined and will try them as gold is tried. They will call on My name and I will hear them. I will say, 'It is My people': and they will say, 'The Lord is my Shepherd.'" [Zechariah 13:9].

In Isaiah 48:10 we read, "Behold, I have refined you, but not with silver. I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction." These two passages of Scripture tell us exactly how the Lord refines and purifies us: through the fire, in the furnace of affliction. As we thoughtfully reflect on everything we have committed in sin this past year, the Lord is actually looking at the intents of our heart; why we did what we did, and if we are truly coming to Teshuva, or just having outward appearances of repentance with no true heart desire to return to the Lord in obedience.

As we face a new year and we wish one another "L'Shanah Tova", or a Good New Year, let us not only reflect on our sin, but let us, of free-will, offer our hearts to the Lord as an offering made by fire; let us ask Him to burn up the fleshly desires and the tendencies to sin in our heart and cleanse us for the New Year - so we may face the Day of Atonement with confidence that we will call on His name and He will hear us, saying, "It is My people" - and we can say, "The Lord is my Shepherd". [BNF 9.1.13]

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