Scripture provides for us a historical understanding of the fulfilled Feasts of God (the spring feasts) and a prophetical understanding for those feasts which have yet to be fulfilled (the fall feasts). The first of the fall feasts is Yom Teruah or Feast of Trumpets, which just took place on September 15th this year.
24“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.” (Leviticus 23:24)
This verse tells us that the Feast of Trumpets was on the 1st day of the 7th month on the religious calendar. This is the Hebrew month Tishri, which corresponds with the Gregorian months of September-October. Tishri is also the 1st month on the Jewish civil calendar and is the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah – Hebrew for Head of the Year). In fact, the Jewish New Year is currently the most important aspect of the Feast of Trumpets to the Jewish people.
Before unpacking how the Feast of Trumpets was commemorated in ancient Israel, let’s take a quick look at some of the modern practices. The religious celebration is largely focused on repentance and preparation for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). Sometimes a tashlich ceremony is performed which started in the 13th century. Going to the nearest body of water, they empty their pockets into the water. Some throw in breadcrumbs and/or stones. This practice is based on Micah 7:18-19 and is said to symbolize the intent of the worshippers’ hearts to cast away their sins and achieve total purification from its effect.
Many Jews wear new white clothing to represent God’s promise to make scarlet sins “as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). Sweet foods such as dates, apples dipped in honey, or honey cakes are eaten to symbolize hope for sweetness in the coming year. Pomegranates, seasonal in Israel this time of year, are commonly eaten as their many seeds symbolize wishes for a fruitful year. Jewish tradition teaches that the pomegranate has 613 seeds, which is the same number of mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah. Challah bread is baked into round instead of oblong loaves, symbolizing the cycle/circle of life. The blasting of the shofar (ram’s horn) is a central observance, which heralds God as King of the Universe. The purpose of the sound of the shofar is to wake God’s people out of their spiritual slumber, to cause them to see the signs of the times, and to remind them to examine the spiritual condition of their lives. That stated, we could all use a loud blast of a shofar!
The sound clip is an example of a tekiah, a long held note which is one of four types of shofar blasts. In ancient times, apart from stating the day and that the event should be commemorated by the blowing of trumpets, not much else is provided in the book of Leviticus about this feast. We are told that no work was to be done and that an offering to the Lord by fire should be made. Looking elsewhere in Scripture helps us to understand why the trumpets were blown (Numbers 10:1-10).
The primary purpose of the Feast of Trumpets was to announce the arrival of the 7th month to prepare the people for the Day of Atonement which was 10 days later. The 7th month was special because it was the last month in the religious season. It was a time when God would complete His dealings with the people for that year. It was also the last time they were required to journey to Jerusalem until the following year at Passover.
The day was not marked by any special events other than blowing of trumpets and the offering of sacrifices (Numbers 29: 1-6). The Hebrews always blew trumpets on the first day of each month so everyone would know the new month had arrived (Numbers 10: 10). But on the Feast of Trumpets, they blew them extra-long and extra-loud throughout the day. The shofar was blown in remembrance of the ram that was sacrificed in place of Isaac (Genesis 22: 13). Jewish tradition teaches that God blew one of the ram’s horns at Mount Sinai at Pentecost and will blow another ram’s horn at the coming of Messiah.
God used trumpets in the Hebrew Bible as a means of communicating with His covenant people. God could not speak directly to the people without terrifying them (Exodus 20:18). The sound of the trumpet represented both the voice of God and the might of God in warfare. As God spoke to the people and used trumpets to fight their battles for them, the people began to call God the ‘horn of their salvation.’ By this they meant that God was their deliverer who would fight their battles for them and save them from their enemies.
Jesus is the true commander of the army of God (Revelation 19: 11-16). When’s Zacharias learned that the Messiah was to be born, he declared these words concerning Him: “blessed is the Lord God of Israel for He has visited and redeemed His people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the House of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets who have been since the world began that we should be safe from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us” (Luke 1: 68-71).
Zacharias referred to the Messiah as the ‘horn of salvation’ who would save them from their enemies. In the 1st century, the enemy the Jews wanted to be protected from was Rome so they were looking for a great deliverer who would overthrow the Empire and establish the kingdom of David. Yet, in His first coming, the will of the Father was not for His Son to destroy the Roman Empire, but to destroy the works of our greatest enemy, Satan; to save us from the sin of our hearts that made evil and oppression possible.
Jesus defeated the enemy of our soul and spoke of a physical kingdom as well as a spiritual one. The physical kingdom could only be established by accepting the spiritual kingdom. Although many Jews acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, the religious leaders rejected Him. Jesus offered the spiritual blessings of the kingdom of God to gentiles as well as believing Jews. We will experience the physical kingdom at the second coming of our Messiah. In the interim, we live presently in the spiritual realm of God’s kingdom.
From a prophetic interpretation, the Feast of Trumpets is highly debated. Is it the rapture of the church? Is it the regathering of Israel? Is it the 7th trumpet that is blown in the book of Revelation when the kingdom of this world becomes our Lord’s kingdom at His second coming? There is no definitive answer among religious scholars although each is resolute in his or her respective position. What is agreed upon is that this feast has yet to be fulfilled prophetically.
I tend not to believe that this feast will be fulfilled at the rapture of the Church, although I originally thought that to be the case when I started learning about the feasts years ago. The Feast of Trumpets was God’s feast for Israel to commemorate. Scripture does not indicate a promised rapture to Israel. It is an event unique to the Church, so it seems unlikely for it to be fulfilled on the date of a feast intended for Israel.
Romans 11:25 and Acts 15:13-15 indicate that the rapture will come on the day when the Church has reached its full number. From that perspective, the rapture could happen on any day, right? Jesus Himself states that no one knows the day or the hour, so to allocate this feast to the rapture suggests we know the day, although not the specific date. That is contradictory to Scripture. Although speculative and likely to be debated, I believe that the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets is more likely the second coming of Jesus at the end of the 7-year tribulation.
When God completes His time of calling the gentiles to Himself, He will once again turn His attention to the Jewish people on a national basis. The Jewish people as the nation will acknowledge Jesus as Messiah and King (Zachariah 12:10; Romans 11: 25-26). Jesus will then return to earth to defeat the enemy nations who will be seeking to destroy the Jews (Zachariah 14:1-9). At that time God Himself will rule as King over all the earth through Jesus. Both the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of David will be united in His rule (Isaiah 9: 6-7). With Israel being reborn as a nation in 1948, and with the witnessing of current events which seem to be the signs of the times, we know that the coming of Messiah is drawing increasingly near.
The Book of Revelation provides some insight on what could be the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets. John writes “after these things I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me saying come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this” (Revelation 4:1). John is then given a frightening vision of the use of trumpets to sound an alarm for war, the 7-year tribulation, and the restoration of the nation of Israel (Revelation 6 through 18).
The prophets in the Hebrew Bible also foretell this. In terms of the blowing of trumpets for warfare, Joel wrote “Blow the trumpet in Zion and sound the alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the lord is coming, for it is at hand” (Joel 2:1; see also Zephaniah 1: 14-18).
The ultimate fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets appears to be the return of Jesus as described in Revelation 19. This too will be announced by the use of trumpets. John writes: “then the seventh Angel sounded: and there were clouds voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of the world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11: 15). John goes on to say that when Jesus returns, He will be coming to make war (Revelation 19: 11). He will crush all His enemies and rule with a rod of iron over a Kingdom that will never end (Revelation 19: 15). Jesus is the Trumpet of God and the Horn of our salvation. He is our Great Warrior King, defeating the enemies of God and of God’s people.
To wrap up our time together on the Feast of Trumpets, it should be mentioned that Rosh Hashanah is also known as the Day of Judgment, the Day of the Sounding of the Shofar, and the Day of Remembrance. Together with Yom Kippur, it is part of the high holidays of Judaism. During this time an individual’s fate is inscribed and sealed on Yom Kippur and for the coming year. The 10 days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, which we are currently in, are considered the 10 days of penitence (Days of Awe) during which people are admonished to repent of their sins and perform good deeds to merit an inscription in the book of life for the coming year.
Judgment on Rosh Hashanah does not decide a person’s eternal destiny, but only for the coming year. The verdict is settled by opening three books: one for the righteous, one for the wicked, and one listing those somewhere in between. Those listed in the first book are inscribed for life in the next year. Those in the second book for death, and those in the third book are given 10 days to repent and perform enough good deeds to outweigh their bad deeds. How tragic that the Jewish people go through this every year and never really know the outcome.
The Bible teaches that the Lord desires to inscribe each of our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 21:27), not for a year but for eternity. God offers new life to all who will come to Him. Just as we personally receive new life by faith in Jesus, so also one day Israel as a nation will be restored to God through the Messiah. In the next post, Lord willing, we will dive a bit deeper into repentance and eternal destiny as we explore the next fall feast, Yom Kippur, the most solemn day of the year for the Jewish people. Until then…shalom, shalom!
Thanks for another great lesson ❤️