On September 26, the Jewish New Year will be celebrated.
From Wikipedia…..
Rosh HaShanah (Hebrew: רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, Rōʾš hašŠānā, lit. “start of the year”) is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (יוֹם תְּרוּעָה, Yōm Tərūʿā), literally “day of shouting or blasting.” It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (יָמִים נוֹרָאִים, Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm; “Days of Awe”), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25,[2]that occur in the late summer/early autumn of the Northern Hemisphere. The High Holy Days comprise both Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
Now Yom Kippur is Biblically known as the Day of Atonement.
So Rosh Hashanah is specifically, Leviticus 23:23-25 (NKJV) “Then 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 shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.'”
The Day of Atonement is on October 5th, 2022 just as it says in Leviticus 23:26-32 (NKJV) “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.”
Should born again Christians participate in any of these Jewish celebrations?
Look at Matthew 27:45-51 (NKJV)
“Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!” Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.
The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom…”
Why do you suppose that the veil was ripped in two pieces after the death of Christ?
It was a supernatural event that marked that the OT Covenant was fulfilled in Christ.
Galatians 3:13 (NKJV) “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),“
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”).“
Romans 10:4 (NKJV) “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Hebrews 10:8-10 (NKJV) “Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Hebrews 10:19-22 (NKJV) “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
And if this isn’t enough, after the death and resurrection of Christ, the Temple was destroyed by the Roman general Titus in AD 70 as told by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 24:1-2.
So with Christ dying for the sin of the world, should we celebrate?
There’s no need to celebrate Jewish Feasts and there’s no NT commandment from Christ that we should.
However, as a note, there’s two things we do celebrate or perform as sacraments.
The celebration of His death when we do Communion just as the Lord did during The Last Supper, and Water Baptism which was a Jewish ritual before entering the Temple Mount.
Christ commanded Water Baptism in Matthew 28:19-20 and Communion in Matthew 26:17-30.
These sacraments are solid Christian ordinances.
Remember. The Lord Jesus fulfilled everything that the first four feasts represented.
- The Passover. (Death)
- Feast of Unleavened Bread. (Sanctification?)
- The Feast of Firstfruits. (Resurrection)
- The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
The final three feasts yet to be fulfilled is….
5. Feast of Trumpets
6. Day of Atonement.
7. Feast of Tabernacles.
It’s conceivable that the Lord will come and fulfill the rest of these feasts but we have to remember that the Father is the only One that already set the date upon which the Lord is to return after He pours out His wrath on the earth.
For anyone to take the liberty to speculate and establish a date is foolish. We may speculate, guess, and wish that certain things would happen, but it’s foolish to set any dates by any Jewish Feasts on the Jewish Calendar.
The wisest thing to do is to live righteous and holy, and be about our Father’s business.
But we know that people will do foolish things like celebrate Jewish Feasts because people are people. We have to do works. Not because we can earn anything but because of what’s already done by the Father, through His only Son.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (NKJV) “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
We don’t do works to establish our own righteousness. We do works because He ALONE made us righteous, with His righteousness.
Titus 3:4-7 (NKJV) “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
As another note, we mustn’t condemn Jews for their feasts, and we must respect God above everyone else. If born again believers celebrate with Jews on these Feast, just let them know that we’re not under the law but under grace.
Don’t mistreat them, hate them, or argue with them if they participate with the Jews, but we don’t have to celebrate Jewish Feasts because of what Christ had done for all.
He paid for the penalty of sin, and if anyone repents and place faith in Jesus ALONE, there’s no need to establish righteousness by the law.
So should any believer be duped into wearing a “prayer shawl,” build replicas of the Ark of the Covenant, and other Temple artifacts and act Jewish according to Jewish traditions, just remember, the Lord Jesus did everything for us and Matthew 28:19-20 is our orders in hand.