Applying 10 themes of Rosh Hashanah to my daily life! Day 9: God as Judge on Yom HaDin “The Day of Judgment.” This reminds us that we will all appear before the Judgment Seat of Messiah where we will held accountable for every thought, word, and action (Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor 5:10; Rev. 20:11-15). Those written in The Book of Life will be judged to determine the rewards they will receive or lose, but they will not be punished (Rev 20:15; 21:27). Jewish tradition tells us that our judgment is written on Rosh Hashanah, but the book is not sealed until Yom Kippur. Therefore, during the 10 days in between, we have the opportunity to influence God’s final decree. When we think about God as judge in either of these scenarios, what types of images or perceptions of Him come to mind?
Are you drawn closer to Him because He sees and cares about every detail of your life and nothing is hidden from Him (Ps 139:7-10;15)? Are you thankful that when your name is written in The Book of Life, God sees you as having Yeshua’s worth, wearing His robe of righteousness (Is 61:10)? Does knowing that God loves and accepts you as much as He does His son Yeshua (John 17:23) motivate you to good deeds (Rom 2:4)? Or — does the very thought of God as judge produce feelings of fear and dread of an angry, oppressive, heartless God that dwell up inside of you and cause you to want to run and hide from Him?
Oftentimes, it’s our strongholds that distort our perceptions of God. They cause us to “put someone else’s face on God.” No matter what we know in our heads is true about God from His Word, what we believe about Him in our hearts is what will drive our behaviors and form our view of Him. If we received messages from authority figures in our lives such as: “I’m bad, I’m worthless, I’m a failure, I’m a disappointment, I’m not good enough, I have to hide my true self, I don’t have a voice, I’m a bother, I’m not worth your time, I’m on my own, I deserve to be rejected, I have to hold all things/people together, I’m all alone, I have to be the strong one, I have to be perfect to be loved and accepted, I have to prove my worth, I deserve to be punished, I don’t deserve to be happy, I’m unprotected, I’m not worth protecting, I’m not important,” etc., etc.,” we are going to perceive that God is seeing us the same way.
The next time you find yourself feeling distant from God, or wanting to hide or run from Him, or alone and abandoned by God, it’s important to ask yourself:
Where is God in the picture/situation? Is He there? Is He with me? What is He doing? What messages am I getting from Him? How is He seeing me? What is He saying to me? Whose face am I putting on Him? Then confess whatever He shows you is not true of Him – for whatever is not of faith is sin. (Rom 14:23).
In the upcoming new year, ask God to show you the lies and misperceptions that you are believing in your heart about Him. Ask God to show you whose face you’ve been putting on Him. Confess those false beliefs to Him as sin, and ask God to help you to see Him as He truly is, and to see yourself as He sees you! Make this your new year’s resolution and you will experience an intimacy with Him and a joy like never before!
L’Shanah Tovah! “For a good year!”
I delight greatly in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness. (Is 61:10)
