Days of Awe 2024

The Yomim Noraim or ‘the Days of Awe’ (also known as ‘the Days of Repentance’) are ten days at the beginning of the Jewish new year that span Rosh Hashanah, (the Feast of Trumpets) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). It is a time for serious introspection for Jewish people; a time to repent of the sins of the previous year and to put things right. 

In the ancient Jewish world, without clocks or computers, time was marked and announced by the blowing of the shofar. In Jewish communities today, the shofar is sounded as a clarion call; a reminder that the ‘books of God’ are opened on Yom Kippur for God to write in or blot out people’s names, according to Jewish tradition. For Jewish people, it is a time to think about sin and holiness; a time to repent, before these books are sealed for the year on Yom Kippur. This results in a tense season of prayer during the ten Days of Awe. Many Jewish people are earnestly hoping to change the decree of the books that God writes. They are actively seeking God.

This is therefore an opportune time for believers in Jesus also to pray. For this very reason, each year, CMJ produces a Days of Awe Prayer Guide. Our theme this year is The Redemptive Awe of Messiah. It contains ten daily devotions exploring the Root of Sin, the Redemption of Messiah and how we can Respond in Prayer for the salvation of the Jewish people at this time.

Let us petition God praying that Jewish people far and wide will turn to Him, have their sins wiped out and that times of refreshing may come from the Lord Jesus, even the appointed Messiah whom He has sent (Acts 3:19-20).