Ten Days of Repentance

A Jewish co-worker recently asked me what name I call the time in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The Jews call this time the Ten Days of Repentance. This time holds special meaning and is a long standing tradition in their culture.

The time in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, ten days, are a time when Jews find special favor and access to God. It is a time when they seek to repent of the sins that keep them from moving to higher levels of repentance in hopes that their names will be inscribed into the Book of Life. The phrase “while He may be found” is of special importance as they believe that the Ten Days of Repentance is this very time – a time when access to God is increased and amplified. They take this from Isaiah 55:6, “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.”

What about the true Christian? Does the time in between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement signify a time to draw near to God and to focus on repentance so that sins; past, pervasive, and persistent sins, can be purged resulting in a dramatic change of heart, mind, and attitude? Is it a time to focus on repentance, prayer, and spiritual vigilance?

Although the Jewish understanding of the time between two of God’s annual Holy Days, High Days designed for all mankind (Mark 2:27, Exodus 12:14, 17), these Ten Days of Repentance, is not mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, it is an interesting concept to ponder to glean a renewed focus and passion for ridding our lives of those past, pervasive, and persistent sins and, through repentance and prayer, return to a state of spiritual vigilance in our Christian walk with God.