Rosh Hashanah means literally head of the year. It is the anniversary of creation. The Jewish New Year occurred When Israel became a nation at Passover. In ancient times Trumpets would blow on the anniversary of when a King ascended his throne. Rabbis teach that one of the reasons we blow the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah is to remember the King & His creation.  This morning I want to consider one of the key Scriptures that speaks of the Lord as King, Psalm 2. The Psalms were the song book of Israel.  The Levites led Israel singing these songs in the Temple in Jerusalem. Ps. 2 is about the King and His work in the nation of Israel and His rule over the Gentiles (nations). We see Messiah portrayed as the King of kings and His impending judgment on the nations.  The twelve verses of Ps. 2 can be divided into four sections of three verses each, and in each section, we hear a different voice speaking.  I.     The Voice of the Nations (2:1–3) Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!” This is a voice of rebellion.  The nations are rebelling against God and His anointed, the Hebrew word is Moshiach.  This rebellion is against the Lord and His Messiah.  This voice of rebellion has been heard through the centuries, and we hear it today. What do the nations want? Freedom from God’s rule! “Let us cast away their cords!” The rule of God and His Messiah. God divided the nations into their lands; This occurred after God’s judgment over the Tower of Babel. (Deut. 32:8) “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of Israel. History shows that the Nations have rejected God’s people (Israel), God’s Word, The Scriptures, and God’s Messiah whom he appointed to rule. The nations do not want to submit to God’s rule.  Like Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel’s day, kings want their own way, and they refuse to admit that God is sovereign over the affairs of men.   But God asks the same question to each of us every Rosh Hashanah.  Do we want His rule over our lives.  Our fathers rejected God rule when they asked Samuel for a King. They wanted a King they could see. (1 Samuel 8:5-7) and Israel said to Samuel, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” {6} But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. In these last days most of mankind including the “kings of the earth” fight against God’s reign over His creation. This is one of the reasons the world is like it is today. II.     The Voice of the Lord (2:4–6) He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” How does God respond to the threats of men? He laughs! God is on His Throne and does not fear or worry about the pride and conspiracies of kings or men. Man is dust before God. God’s voice today is not in judgment; In this era, He is speaking in His love and grace. This is seen through His provision for the world’s sin in Messiah’s atonement in Jerusalem two thousand years ago.  God put on Yeshua the sin of the world, this is why the Son cried out “why have you forsaken me” He who knew no sin, became sin on our behalf. But like the Passover lamb in Egypt, the sacrificial blood must be applied personally. Yeshua bore the punishment we deserved. But the day is coming when God will judge those who have not believed and applied God’s provision for sin. Today while we live, we have a chance to escape judgment if we choose God’s solution.  This Rosh Hashanah when we hear the blast of the Shofar, we are reminded that God the King, and He is coming to judge the world. Every knee will bow as every synagogue recites in worship.  Today God is not speaking in wrath; He is speaking through His Son in grace.  (Hebrews 1:1-2) God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, {2} in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. Today we can echo the words Peter spoke to our fathers in Jerusalem two thousand years ago in (Acts 3:12-19). “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? {13} “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Yeshua, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.  “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. “And on the basis of faith in His name, the name of Yeshua which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all. “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Messiah would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. “Therefore, repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; The time is coming soon when God will send His wrath on the nations of the world and bring Israel into “Great Tribulation” as Jeremiah describes it (Jeremiah 30:7)  ‘Alas! for that day is great, there is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s distress. This is the tribulation, described by Daniel, Jeremiah, Zechariah and in detail in Rev. 6–19. It will be a time of judgment on the people and nations of the world. Millions will die in plagues and disasters that God will send as He did in Egypt. During this time Israel will be prepared to receive their returning King and Messiah and He will establish His kingdom in Jerusalem.   In Ps 2:6 God’s voice declares that He has set His “anointed” King on His holy Mountain. This is Messiah. Though He is not yet seated on the throne of David in Jerusalem, He is seated at God’s right hand. His throne is as certain as God’s word! Today, Messiah is a priest-king like Melchizedek as the Psalmist wrote: (Psalms 110) The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”  The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”…The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. The blast of the Shofar is a reminder to us all that one day soon God’s Messiah will return and sit on His throne to judge and rule the nations. III.     The Voice of the Son (2:7–9) I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’” In this third portion Messiah, the Son speaks and tells us what the Father said to Him in His eternal decree. What God has declared will be done; nothing men can do will hinder God’s work from being done.  “You are My Son, today I have begotten You.” The Hebrew for begotten is “yalad” to bring forward. When did the Father say this to the Son? This occured when He rose from the dead.  (Acts 13:28-33) “And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed. “When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. “But God raised Him from the dead; and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Yeshua, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’ Because He conquered sin and death through His atoning death, at his resurrection Messiah God the Father brought Him forward.  Yeshua has all the nations as His inheritance because of His faithful work on the cross in obedience to the Father. Satan offered Him the same kingdoms apart from the cross in Matt. 4:8–10: Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’”   Even Peter tried to prevent Him from going to Jerusalem where he was going to suffer and die. Yeshua could have received the nations without suffering had He yielded to the devil, but then He would have stepped outside the Father’s will.  You and I are regularly tempted to avoid God’s will and receive something satisfying apart from dying to our own will and obeying the Will of God revealed in His Torah, prophets and New Covenant. Adam and Israel were created to rule over the nations, but both failed. God brought forth Yeshua to do what Adam and Israel failed to do. Even though He was the King, he came in flesh and earned the right to be King. Yeshua will receive His Kingdom when He returns to the earth in His second coming. Psalm 2:9 is referred to in Rev. 12:5 and 19:15; It will be at that time when those who obey Him now will reign with Him.   IV. The last Voice is the Holy Spirit (2:10–12) The third Person of the One true God. It was the Spirit of God who led Israel through the wilderness to the Promised Land. He points the way to God. Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him! It is the Holy Spirit that gently speaks to mankind in Love and tenderness. He speaks to the heart and minds of men. He takes God’s Word and instructs men in the ways of God.  The closing three verses are an appeal from the Spirit to Kings and princes to submit now to Yeshua the Messiah. The Spirit appeals to every area of who they are: In v 10 the Spirit speaks to the mind of man. “Be wise…be instructed!” In Psalm 1 The “counsel of the ungodly” leads the ungodly astray. The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God (1 Cor. 1:18–31).  Our world has more knowledge today than ever, yet it seems that there is less wisdom. God’s wisdom is found in God’s Word, yet the kings and rulers do not want the Word of God and grieve the Spirit of God. In v 11 God, the Holy Spirit speaks to the heart of men inviting them to “worship Him” Instead of rebelling and resisting, people should bow down to God’s Anointed and serve Him. We who do now experience God’s peace in the midst of all the chaos we live in. And in v. 12 God’s Spirit speaks to our will. “Kiss the Son” implies paying homage to Him, showing loving surrender to Him. A kiss speaks of love and reconciliation.  God has reconciled the world by what Yeshua accomplished on the Cross (Ps. 85:10). Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Righteousness requires justice. When evil goes unpunished governments fail their citizens. God put the sin of the world on the cross. But it is only effective if we apply it. We must believe his death was for our sin. Lovingkindness is found in God’s Son taking the punishment in our place. It is in this way that God punishes sin and still uphold His holy law. We all have broken God’s Law.   This is what Rosh Hashanah is all about preparing for the day of Atonement. When Yeshua returns, all men will bow before Him (Phil. 2:10–11), but then it will be too late. In that day God will come in judgment and those who failed to keep God’s commands will perish!  Ps. 2 closes with a blessing to those who will come to the King: “Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.” “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved”. Both now and forever.