September 18, 2012

• 
  Day 8:  A Look at the Ten Days of Awe

  And you thought that we were done counting now that the month of Elul was over!

  Did you know that Rosh Ha’Shana is part of  another countdown?  Well, it is!  The fall feasts don’t stop – they just move seamlessly from one into another.  It’s the same thing in with the spring feasts – you go directly from Passover into Unleavened Bread and then Firstfruits, and tying them to Shavouth/Pentecost is the Counting of the Omer.  Well, we’re doing the same sort of thing here… we go from the 30-day countdown called Elul into Rosh Ha’Shana… and the ten days from Rosh Ha’Shana to Yom Kippur are special, too – they’re known as the “Ten Days of Awe“.  Directly after Yom Kippur begins the building of the family sukkot, which leads up to Sukkoth.  Another progression from one to another, seamlessly.

  You might have noticed that I wrote ‘Ten Days of Awe” at the bottom of yesterday’s blog.  That’s because there are ten days of… well, ‘awe’ leading up to Yom Kippur.  That means we’re on day TWO of ten today.  Right now!

  Ah, but I know what you’re thinking:  what are the Ten Days of Awe?  So here’s what I posted in 2003 from JewFAQ.org about the Ten Days of Awe:
  

  The ten days starting with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur are commonly known as the Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim) or the Days of Repentance. This is a time for serious introspection, a time to consider sins and repent before Yom Kippur.

  One of the ongoing themes of the Days of Awe is the concept that G-d has “books” that He writes our names in, writing down who will live and who will die… these books are written in on Rosh Hashanah, but our actions during the Days of Awe can alter G-d’s decree. These “books” are sealed on Yom Kippur.

  I was confused: I thought that ELUL was the period of repentance, introspection, and preparation – for Rosh Ha’Shanah.  Thirty days of counting down and readying.  Now we have ANOTHER period of repentance, introspection, and preparation – for Yom Kippur?  Why?  It seems like a repetition of what we’ve already done, doesn’t it?

  “Celebrating the Biblical Feasts” (M. Zimmerman) says this:

  Yom Kippur… comes on the tenth day of Tishri.  It is the climax of the Ten Days of Repentance.  What was begun on Rosh Ha’Shana is about to be sealed.  “Prepare to meet your God, O Israel” (Amos 4:12)  This is the day the worshipper stands before [the throne]… bringing himself into harmony with God.

  Did you see that?  Bringing HIMSELF into harmony with God.  Elul prepared THINGS – our homes, cars, wills, relationships, returning things, etc.  But these ten days are to prepare OURSELVES.  After running around like chickens with our heads cut off, wrapping up everything and preparing our homes and lives, we get this final period of repentance, up to the Day of Judgment/Yom Kippur to center ourselves.  From the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Ha’Shana) for ten days, it’s like the 9th inning – the final chance to get right.  Once you hit the end of that period – The Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur, it’s sealed.  That’s it. 

  

  This was confirmed by my other ‘feast’ book.  In “God’s Appointed Days”(B. Kasdan), it says:
  
  

  Yom Kippur has long been considered the most holy day of the Jewish Biblical calendar… for it was on this day… that the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the nation.  …Yom Kippur is considered the logical extension of what was started on Rosh Ha’Shana.  …Services last most of the day for it is believed that judgment will come at the close of Yom Kippur.

  They both said the same thing – that what was STARTED on Rosh Ha’Shana HAPPENS on Yom Kippur.  It’s a period building up to the day the Book of Life is sealed up – no more names added! – and Messiah judges His own.  Now, I had always thought that Rosh Ha’Shana was the rapture (saints going up) – that’s what christchuns dabbling in Messianic Judaism (and a bunch of Messianics) teach.  They all say Rosh Ha’Shana is the rapture, and I believed them.  They told me that Yom Kippur was judgment day at a later time (ie., after Armegeddon) for the rest of the people (non-raptured folk) to be judged, and that Sukkot was the start of the Millineum period… eternity with God.  But this is NOT true.

  I’ve been flashing a chart around a little, here and there.  I’m sure you’ve seen it, but here it is, again – click to enlarge (it’s too big to fit on my blog):

  

  (click chart to enlarge)

  Please remember that I’m not just plugging these events into whatever slot I feel like – these things, by either scripture or Jewish tradition (sometimes BOTH!) happened ON THESE DAYS!  It appears that there is a ‘cycle’ in the Rosh Ha’Shana column… from ‘creation’ to ‘destruction’…  I noticed there was a pattern to it that just FIT what all the books (and scripture) presented – and that’s that things don’t HAPPEN on Rosh Ha’Shana… not on *our* plane of existence, anyhow.  So here I am, going CRAZY trying to figure out every year why nothing ‘happens’, when nothing is supposed to happen!  Not that we can mark/see, anyhow.  That’s not the way precedence has it set.

  Elul is a 30-day period of external repentance, but the Ten Days of Awe are a 10-day period of internal repentance for the individual.  It’s deeper, more serious, more somber.  I’m becoming convinced that these ten days are very symbolic, very important – moreso than Elul, even.  Elul was the time I got my ‘house’ in order – my world… finances, relationships with others, finished projects, etc.  But the Ten Days of Awe see me getting my heart and faith in order.  It’s inner preparation – far more weighty than what occurred during Elul.  And if you ad the 30 day prep to the 10 day prep, what do you get?  Forty days.  Talk about a number of great weight in the Bible!!

  This was originally part of a three-blog series (it’s on my sidebar), but because I learn more every year, things change… and I needed to ‘update’ the thoughts so that they were closer to Truth.  I’m growing, learning… and sharing, too!

  • 10:00 am
  • 2 Comments