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Post by alon on Aug 10, 2021 9:29:00 GMT -8
40 Days of Teshuvah
Exodus 34:27-29 (ESV) And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.
Since Sunday evening 8 Aug, 2021 we have been in a special time: 40 days of introspection and seeking God which starts on erev Elul and goes to 10 Tishre when we enter into Rosh Hashanah.
Elul is the twelfth and last month of the Hebrew calendar. It is known as the month of "Returning to God" or “Teshuvah/Repentance.” Jews, both ancient and modern believe that God always watches over His own. But they also believe He is more accessible during the 40-day period starting the 1st of Elul and ending on 10 Tishri.
Elul is the month given each year to prepare for the 10 days from Rosh Hashanah (1 Tishre) through Yom Kippur (10 Tishre), known as Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe. This is a time for serious introspection, a time to consider the sins of the previous year and repent before Yom Kippur ends. If we’ve been thinking about this for the last month, our time here should be profoundly fruitful. These days, also known as the Ten Days of Teshuvah/Repentance begin with Rosh Hashanah, and end with Yom Kippur. This follows the principle stated in Isaiah 55:6 "Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near." So we make a special effort to renewal of our commitment to Him during this time when He is "closest" to us.
Yom Kippur (10 Tishri) is the holiest day of the Jewish year; the Day of Atonement when the High Priest goes into the Holy of Holies to atone for all our (the people) sins. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb will take place on Yom Kippur when Yeshua comes for His Bride. A Jewish wedding is known as a private Yom Kippur.
Biblically the number 40 represents waiting, preparation, testing, punishment, or the number which can start a new chapter of the history of salvation. It’s also the time of a generation. Hebrew engagements were a time of waiting and preparation before the couple were to consummate the relationship. This started a new chapter in their lives during which they would raise up the next generation.
Moshe was with Elohim for two periods of forty days and nights. The first was recorded in Exodus 24:18-31:18. At the end of this time He gave Moshe the first set of tablets: the 10 Commandments written by God’s own finger (Exodus 31:18). This set was destroyed when Moshe cast them down upon seeing the people worshipping the golden calf (Exodus 32:19), and committing sins around the idol.
In Jewish tradition, the 30 days of Elul plus the first 10 days of Tishre is the time Moshe was on Mt. Sinai after the golden calf was destroyed, preparing the second set of tablets (Ex. 32; 34:27-28). He prayed God would forgive the people for worshipping the calf so that God would spare His people and return His full Presence to be among them. God responded to Moses’ prayers by commanding Moses to write a new set of tablets of the same Ten Commandments. Then he descended on 10 Tishri, at the end of Yom Kippur. The time of repentance would have then been complete.
And the LORD said to Moses, "Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke." Exodus 34:1
When Moshe ascended the mountain the second time the Israelites blew the shofar in the camp to remind themselves that Mosshe had once again gone up. The first time they thought him dead, and they had lost their conduit to their God. Having spent the last 400 yrs as slaves in Egypt, they reverted to what they had learned there. They did not believe the calf was a god, however they did believe making a physical representation of a god would be a conduit to the deity. However their Deity had told them “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.’” (Deu 5:8) They did not want to once more misjudge the time of Moshes' return, thus again falling into idolatry. So the Jews in later generations adopted the custom of blowing the shofar, beginning with Rosh Chodesh Elul as a reminder that the people of Israel in the desert had sinned, repented, and been forgiven by God, thus being restored to their former level of holiness. Blowing the shofar should awaken in our hearts both the importance and effectiveness of true teshuvah (repentance).
Exodus 34:27-29 (ESV) And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.
Since Sunday evening 8 Aug, 2021 we have been in a special time: 40 days of introspection and seeking God which starts on erev Elul and goes to 10 Tishre when we enter into Rosh Hashanah.
Elul is the twelfth and last month of the Hebrew calendar. It is known as the month of "Returning to God" or “Teshuvah/Repentance.” Jews, both ancient and modern believe that God always watches over His own. But they also believe He is more accessible during the 40-day period starting the 1st of Elul and ending on 10 Tishri.
Elul is the month given each year to prepare for the 10 days from Rosh Hashanah (1 Tishre) through Yom Kippur (10 Tishre), known as Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe. This is a time for serious introspection, a time to consider the sins of the previous year and repent before Yom Kippur ends. If we’ve been thinking about this for the last month, our time here should be profoundly fruitful. These days, also known as the Ten Days of Teshuvah/Repentance begin with Rosh Hashanah, and end with Yom Kippur. This follows the principle stated in Isaiah 55:6 "Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near." So we make a special effort to renewal of our commitment to Him during this time when He is "closest" to us.
Yom Kippur (10 Tishri) is the holiest day of the Jewish year; the Day of Atonement when the High Priest goes into the Holy of Holies to atone for all our (the people) sins. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb will take place on Yom Kippur when Yeshua comes for His Bride. A Jewish wedding is known as a private Yom Kippur.
Biblically the number 40 represents waiting, preparation, testing, punishment, or the number which can start a new chapter of the history of salvation. It’s also the time of a generation. Hebrew engagements were a time of waiting and preparation before the couple were to consummate the relationship. This started a new chapter in their lives during which they would raise up the next generation.
Moshe was with Elohim for two periods of forty days and nights. The first was recorded in Exodus 24:18-31:18. At the end of this time He gave Moshe the first set of tablets: the 10 Commandments written by God’s own finger (Exodus 31:18). This set was destroyed when Moshe cast them down upon seeing the people worshipping the golden calf (Exodus 32:19), and committing sins around the idol.
In Jewish tradition, the 30 days of Elul plus the first 10 days of Tishre is the time Moshe was on Mt. Sinai after the golden calf was destroyed, preparing the second set of tablets (Ex. 32; 34:27-28). He prayed God would forgive the people for worshipping the calf so that God would spare His people and return His full Presence to be among them. God responded to Moses’ prayers by commanding Moses to write a new set of tablets of the same Ten Commandments. Then he descended on 10 Tishri, at the end of Yom Kippur. The time of repentance would have then been complete.
And the LORD said to Moses, "Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke." Exodus 34:1
When Moshe ascended the mountain the second time the Israelites blew the shofar in the camp to remind themselves that Mosshe had once again gone up. The first time they thought him dead, and they had lost their conduit to their God. Having spent the last 400 yrs as slaves in Egypt, they reverted to what they had learned there. They did not believe the calf was a god, however they did believe making a physical representation of a god would be a conduit to the deity. However their Deity had told them “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.’” (Deu 5:8) They did not want to once more misjudge the time of Moshes' return, thus again falling into idolatry. So the Jews in later generations adopted the custom of blowing the shofar, beginning with Rosh Chodesh Elul as a reminder that the people of Israel in the desert had sinned, repented, and been forgiven by God, thus being restored to their former level of holiness. Blowing the shofar should awaken in our hearts both the importance and effectiveness of true teshuvah (repentance).
