Today we are entering into Rosh HaShanah or the Jewish New Year where the calendar will change from the year 5780 to 5781. This is one of four new years the Jewish people tend to observe, but so far as I understand this one is primary over all the others.
Biblically speaking, and more importantly, this is Yom Teruah or the Day of Trumpets and it’s on God’s Biblical calendar. After conversations with Christians of various denominational backgrounds I’ve come away understanding that the Day of Trumpets is the Appointed Time that is least understood – if they know it exists at all! Most know Passover and the Feast of First Fruits because of how our Master fulfilled these in such a literal way. With varying degrees of familiarity, they will usually at least recognize the names of the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. It really surprised me the first few times someone answered with a “what’s that?” when I said something about the Day of Trumpets. It’s actually a really important day when considering the prophetic foreshadowing and implications of this day.
This is a unique holiday within the Appointed Times of God for a couple of reasons.
It’s the only Appointed Time that seems to have an end date. I haven’t been able to find where God says “this is a statute forever, throughout your generations.” It’s as though this day is pointing to a singular event and it’s not meant to be an anniversary date after the event it’s looking forward to. I looked twice, but if I missed it please tell me.
The other exceptional element of this day is that it is the only one that lands on the first day of the month. That is, of course, a Biblical month which is tracked by the moon. Why is that important?
In the second Temple era they required two witnesses to report to the Temple to proclaim that they saw the first sliver of the moon. Until they had those two witnesses, they couldn’t blow the trumpets from the Temple to announce the new month. Therefore, the Jewish people were unable to obediently observe this Appointed Time until that happened. During these times, the entire nation sat at the edge of their seats waiting to shout to God and celebrate the feast day. They knew the timing was within about a 48-hour period, but until they saw the moon, the Holy Day that was Appointed by God was not celebrated. For that reason, the Feast of Trumpets received a nickname within Judaism.
What did they call it? Just a little thing known as “the day and hour that no one knows.”
When you follow the Trumpet through Scripture you come up with an interesting picture of Yeshua and the second coming. Try it sometime! In any case, due to the Day of Trumpets being an Appointed Time, we have a pretty good idea of the season in which Yeshua will return. It may not be a specific year, date or hour which we can nail down, but the hints that He dropped and the hints that the authors of Scripture shared with us give a pretty clear connection. Of course, be ready for any day all the time, but approach the special days that God appointed with a special awe. He didn’t just pick these days out of a hat. He has a purpose for them. Anyone that may study the events of Yeshua’s gift on the cross and its alignment with Passover should see that.
I hope and pray that this year is the year we receive our King, but there still seems to be a lot to accomplish in prophecy. After seeing the Land and watching Scripture lived out (I will share more on that in coming posts) I tend to take prophecy pretty literally. I know the allegorical understandings are the preferred method for much of the Body, but watching it all unfold in front of your eyes makes the case that God meant it literally – at least in most of the Bible.
I’m not adverse to watching for the metaphorical potential though. By keeping the mind open to the metaphors, I can say that this Yom Teruah makes for a unique event beyond its recurring characteristics.
Among many things we’re watching for in prophecy is the abomination of desolation that will put a stop to the sacrifices as spoken of in Daniel. In an allegorical fashion I can see that happening this year to some extent.
For the last 2,000 years the Jewish people have maintained the Temple service to the best of their abilities. Christianity tends to view their ways as nothing but traditions, but they actually do carry a lot of purpose. They pray three times a day to align with the appointed times in the Temple. They also have the weekly, monthly and annual celebrations and prayers that align with the Temple services. Through maintaining these prayer times, the Jewish people seek to continue the Temple service as best as possible through their hearts and prayers. How does it correlate? There seems to be a correlation to the sacrifices and prayers in Psalms 141:2, Hebrew 13:15, 1 Peter 2:5 and I believe several others.
Now how does this year allegorically align to the abomination of desolation? Israel is going into a nationwide lockdown. It began at 2:00 P.M. local time yesterday in Israel and it will go through the entire Fall Feast schedule to the end of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) and the 8th and Greatest Day. During this time prayer services will be minimized. They attempted to put a complete stop to them, but then they gave a little bit. I think everyone is still confused on how it will work.
Those imposing the lockdown claim that it is necessary to reduce the number of virus infections, but if you dig just a little more the details become pretty sketchy. They could have shut the country weeks ago because they knew where the numbers were projected to go. The virus may be spreading, but it’s got a death rate of 0.68% in Israel which is among the lowest in the world. The timing of it all, going after God’s appointed times, just seems too coincidental. They shut down during Passover previously and they couldn’t manage to find three weeks anywhere else in the year except this three weeks. Is it coincidence? The “red zones” within Israel are all areas of faithful communities. The more secular communities are supposedly not affected in the same way. Just as we see in Daniel, we see a pretense to force the worshipers of God Most High to stop their worship.
So, you see, in an allegorical sense, I can see the signs of the times. Personally, I suspect there will be something much more literal that we’re watching for, but it hasn’t escaped my attention that at least one family I know of felt the urgent need to depart Judea before the Holy Days in response to all this nonsense. That, again, harkens to the words of Yeshua urging those in Judea to flee to the mountains. Food for thought anyway!
All this to say, Yom Teruah is a special day that looks forward to the trumpet blast of Yeshua. We are entering the Bridal season. The season where the days all point toward a wedding. The season that all points toward Yeshua’s words “repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
We experience it in unique fashion this year, but nonetheless, we celebrate the days our Master has commanded. The Appointed Times are here. Are you participating?
One last thought – if you are Gentile (not Jewish) it is your calling according to Paul to make the Jewish people jealous in order for them to discover their Messiah. There is a growing movement in the Body to observe these days and the Orthodox Jewish community is beginning to take notice. In this article you can see in the last paragraphs where the Orthodox authors are questioning their calling in response to the Christians celebrating the days God has Appointed. Are you taking part in making the Jewish people jealous?
Shana Tova! Happy New Year!
Chag Sameach! May you have a joyous holiday season!
