Rosh HaShanah is the beginning of the Jewish New Year. A prominent theme on this holiday is to celebrate Yehovah’s kingship over the world.
The main theme of Jesus’ ministry was to preach the
coming of the Kingdom [Kingship] of God - Yehovah, but it is a source of
confusion and misunderstanding to many Christians. Isn’t God -
Yehovah King already?
What would the coming of this kingdom look like? An ancient Jewish prayer named Aleinu (Ah-LAY-nu) can shed light on this question. Scholarly sources believe that this beautiful prayer predates Jesus, so that he himself would have prayed it.
The name, Aleinu, means, literally, “it is upon us,” which means “we must” or “it is our duty to.”
Even today this prayer is recited at the conclusion of every synagogue service. It is especially prominent on Rosh Hashanah, the New Year.
Through the prayer the worshiper exalts God –
Yehovah as
his or her king, and prays that all the world will repent and do the same.
(Note that in the third section, the word for “rule,” malchut, is
the same word for kingdom.)
Aleinu
It is our duty to praise Yehovah of all. To acclaim the greatness of the God of creation, who has not made us as the nations of the world, nor set us up as other peoples of the earth, not making our portions as theirs, nor our destiny as that of their multitudes.
For we kneel and bow low before the supreme King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, acknowledging that He has stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth.
His glorious abode is in the heavens above, the domain of His might in exalted heights. He is our God, there is no other, in truth our King, there is none else. Even thus is it written in His Torah [instruction]: “This day know and lay it to your heart, that Yehovah is Gaod in the heavens above and on the earth below. There is none else.”We therefore hope in you, Yehovah our God, soon to behold the glory of your might when the world shall be established under the rule of the Almighty, and all mankind shall invoke your glorious name. May they all accept the rule of your dominion, and speedily do you rule over them forever more.
Here is another version of the last section that is older and more literal, that talks about the “Yoke of God’s Kingdom.”
You, O Yehovah our God, soon to behold your mighty glory, when you will remove the abominations from the earth, and idols shalt be exterminated; when the world shall be regenerated by the kingdom of the Almighty, and all the children of flesh invoke your name [Yehovah]; when all the wicked of the earth shall be turned unto you. Then shall all the inhabitants of the world perceive and confess that unto you, every knee must bend, and every tongue be sworn. Before you, O Yehovah our God, shall they kneel and fall down, and unto your glorious name [Yehovah] give honor. So will they accept the yoke of your kingdom, and you shall be King over them speedily forever and ever. For your is the kingdom, and for all eternity you wilt reign in glory, as it is written in your Torah: ‘Yehovah shall reign forever and ever.’ And it is also said: ‘And Yehovah shall be King over all the earth; on that day Yehovah shall be One and His name be One.'”
Followers of the lord
Jesus should
be fascinated by how this prayer describes the Kingdom of God being established
on the earth, and how it desires that all the nations repent and worship the
true God of heaven and earth. It seems to be very much related to Jesus’ words about “the
coming of the kingdom of God” and Paul’s sermon in Philippians:
For this reason also, God - Yehovah highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name which is above
every name, so that at the name of Jesus - Yehoshua every knee shall bow, of those who are
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess
that Jesus - Yehoshua the Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God - Yehovah the Father.
(Philippians 2:9-11)
May
that day soon come!
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