Sunday, July 6, 2014

Yom Hakeseh: The Hidden Day

Yom Hakeseh: The Hidden Day
by Mark Copfer, 8/27/07

In Psa. 27:5 it is written, "For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock."
 Another name for Rosh HaShanah is Yom HaKeseh, "The Day of the Hiding" or "the Hidden Day."  The term keseh or keceh is derived from the Hebrew root kacah, which means to "conceal, cover, or hide."  Every day during the month of Elul, a trumpet is blown to warn people to turn back to God, except for the thirtieth day of Elel, the day preceding Rosh HaShanah.  On that day the trumpet is not blown, and is therefore silent. This is because much about Rosh HaShanah is concealed and shrouded in mystery.  The mystical aspect of Rosh Hashanah is indicated in Scripture:  "Sound the shofar on the New Moon, in concealment of the day of our festival" (Ps. 81:3).  Satan, the accuser, is not be given notice about the arrival of Rosh HaShanah, the Day of Judgement.  Hiding, because it was hidden from satan, the adversary.  The Bible says that satan comes to rob and to steal (John 10:10), and to confuse 1 Cor. 14:33).  Because it is the Day of Judgement, it is symbolically hidden from satan (satan did not know and understand the plan of the cross, 1 Cor. 2:7-8).  This was hidden from him as well.
One of the reasons most often given to disclaim that the resurrection of the dead and the catching away of the believers is on Rosh HaShanah is the statement given by Jesus in Matt. 24:36, "But of that day and hour no man knows, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."  Because Rosh HaShanah was understood to be the hidden day, this statement by Jesus is actually an idiom for Rosh HaShanah.  Thus it should be given as proof that He was speaking of Rosh HaShanah because Rosh HaShanah is the only day in the whole year that was referred to as the hidden day or the day that no man knew.
 Spiritual Application.  Rosh HaShanah takes place on the new moon.  Col. 2:16-17 says that the new moon will teach about the Messiah.  The Jewish (biblical) month is based upon a lunar cycle.  The moon can barely be seen as the cycle begins.  But then the moon turns toward the sun and begins to reflect the light of the sun.  The sun in the sky is a picture of Jesus (Mal. 4:2), and the moon is a picture of the believers in the Messiah.  The sun has its own light, but the moon's light is a reflection of the sun.  When we first become believers in Jesus, we can hardly be seen spiritually, and we know very little about God.  But then our lives begin to revolve around the Messiah as the moon revolves around the sun.  As we begin to turn more and more toward the center of creation, we begin to reflect that light (Jesus) more and more, just as the moon reflects the light from the center of the solar system.

Click HERE to read "When Is Rosh Hashanah 2007?" by Mark Copfer.
SOURCE: 5 Doves

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