Habakkuk 1:5 Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. -LORD God
Leviticus 23:23-25 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord.’”
Numbers 29:1 ‘Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets.
The shofar is blown 100 times on the Feast of Trumpets. There are three different sounds (Tekiah, Shevarim, Teruah). Each is blown three times for a total of 9 blasts. This pattern is completed 11 times for a total of 99 blasts. The last blast is set aside. It is the longest and loudest. It is known as the “Last Trump”. References provided by (El Shaddai Ministries).
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The Feast of Trumpets is also known as the “Hidden Day”.
Psalm 27:5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.
Zephaniah 2:3 Seek the LORD, All you humble of the earth who have carried out His ordinances; seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the LORD’S anger.
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Remember, Jews visit cemeteries during the Hebrew month of Elul. Jewish belief and tradition are the resurrection of the dead will occur during the period of Teshuvah. Specifically, the resurrection of the dead is to occur on the New Moon holiday of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah/Yom Teruah/Feast of Trumpets.
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What is the Apostle Paul telling us in Colossians 2?
Colossians 2:16-17 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
This is not some Old Testament warm and fuzzy tradition. God has a point and a reason. He has not forgotten and He does not play dice. God has singled out this appointed holiday for a purpose. Judaism has been rehearsing this holiday for thousands of years since Moses.
Observations regarding the words of the Apostle Paul in Colossians 2.
Yom Teruah/Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah is a legal Feast per the Mosaic Law.
This is the only New Moon Festival.
The day is legally a day of rest or a Sabbath regardless, even if it is not Saturday, the legal Sabbath day of the week.
This Hebrew year, 5784 or 2023 on our Western Calendar, it is possible for the new moon to be seen on a Sabbath. The calculated day is for the new moon on Sabbath.
…things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
Of the seven times (number of completeness and perfection) the original Greek word skia/σκιά is used in the New Testament, it is consistently translated as “shadow“. Paul is telling us, something is coming on this day.
Jesus is the one casting the “shadow“. The shadow in the Greek has a looming presence. In the future, Christ is doing something on this day.
Be ready every day. Christ is doing the heavy lifting by raising believers to meet Him in the clouds. Resurrection and rapture on the Feast of Trumpets???
Nehemiah 6:15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.
Elul is mentioned one time in the Bible.
In Aramaic, the vernacular of the Jewish people at the time that the month names were adopted, the word Elul means “search”. Per Strong’s Concordance, Elul means “nothingness” in the original Hebrew. A month of searching, but there is nothing to be found. What are we looking for? Where did it go? It appears to be a paradox.
Elul is the last month of the civic calendar in Judaism. Elul is the sixth month of the religious calendar.
Elul 1 marks the beginning of Teshuvah. Teshuvah is a 40 day period that runs through the holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
On a Gregorian calendar in the year 2023, this would be around August 18th, depending on when the new moon is confirmed. There are some folks on the ground near Jerusalem who will be looking to verify the event and confirm the new month by seeing the little slice and crescent of the new moon.
Below is an updated video for those who have questions about the new moon identification and calendar considerations. Check out the original video as well.
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It is Jewish custom to blow a shofar (ram’s horn) one time every day during the season of Teshuvah. The trumpet is blown after the morning service. The trumpet is blown every day except Shabbat or the Sabbath (Saturday for us in western culture) and the last day of month of Elul.
The trumpet blast signified the beginning of the month.
Psalm 81:3-4 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. See Numbers 10:10 as well.
Some form of a trumpet blast(s) is used at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). A trumpet blast also signals the beginning of Jubilee (Leviticus 25).
The shofar blast was also a call to war and the prospect of danger.
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Last Elul, Gregorian year 2022, marked the end of a seven year period. The last year of the seven year set is a Sabbatical or Shemitah year. The end of the month of Elul marks the end of a Shemitah year.
The end of Elul can also mark the end of Jubilee year. This year, 2023, is eligible to be a Jubilee year. The 50th year of the set is also the first of the next Jubilee period.
With that thought of Jubilee, let’s read Jesus’ comments from His ministry.
Luke 4:17-21 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD. And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” -Jesus
Jesus read and spoke these words in the synagogue of His home town Nazareth (Luke 4:16). Jesus is reading Isaiah 61:1-2a. He reads verse 1 completely. Jesus then stops reading in the middle of Isaiah 61:2.
By reading these words, He was claiming to be the Messiah. In other words, “Here I am!!”
The stoppage of reading in the verse has lasted close to 2,000 years. At His first coming, Jesus was a suffering servant who died for our sins. His death freed us from the bondage of sin. Christ did not come in vengeance the first time, hence the pause.
And we wait for the remainder of Isaiah 61:2b-11. It describes the future conditions of the nation Israel under the leadership of the Messiah, Jesus. He returns the second time in wrath and judgment.
At this point, many have stopped their analysis. There remains another question. Who is the prophet Isaiah quoting?
…to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD…?
Isaiah is quoting Moses who received instruction from God.
Leviticus 25:10 You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.
The context of the verses quoted is a description of the jubilee year. Release the inhabitants and freedom for all the slaves.
Is Jesus leaving a clue about the timing of His second coming? Will He return in a year of Jubilee?
Here are some prophetic implications. The seven year peace covenant with Israel will likely be confirmed in God’s fall holiday season.
A jubilee year is proclaimed on the Day of Atonement, Tishri 10 after the end of a set of seven years per Leviticus 25:9. The Bible tells us a jubilee year is proclaimed after a Sabbatical or Shemitah year (Leviticus 25:8-11). This would allow for the culmination of the seven year Tribulation to occur one year after a Sabbatical or Shemitah year, a possible jubilee year by definition.
This author has ZERO% confidence in humanity’s ability to accurately mark time as directed by God. Just thinking out loud and asking some questions…
Are we finishing a Jubilee year? It appears to be possible and reasonable. As for the timing of a jubilee year… no one knows, only the Father.
These are highly controversial topics and understandings. I understand many will not agree with what is written and that is okay. Just making a sincere good faith effort. My eternal salvation does not depend on my nailing the timing of these events. For those who are interested in further study. Please click on the links below.
One Jewish custom of Elul is to visit a cemetery. This is quite interesting in light of the Jewish belief that the resurrection of the dead will occur during the period of Teshuvah. Specifically, the resurrection is to occur on the new moon holiday of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. Christians refer to this as the Feast of Trumpets. Orthodox Jews do not believe in Christ let alone the New Testament. Apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthians would confirm their tradition.
1 Corinthians 15:52b at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Resurrection first, then the rapture occurs. The question is the amount of time between the two events.
Am I saying the resurrection of the dead and the rapture is in approximately one month from Elul 1st per identification of the new moon of Tishri? No, but it is possible.
As believers, should we be ready for Christ to gather us into the clouds? Yes, just like any other day.
Do your homework? This is potentially a BIG Fall Appointment season on God’s calendar rapture or not.
Colossians 2:16-17 Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ.
Everything God did in regards to creation was already done before He created the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1:1. The Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. If the Lamb had already been slain before Jesus ever had a chance to be born through the womb of a woman, then so too was He also already raised from the dead, and so too was He also already glorified. All of that happened in eternity, outside of time and space. Same goes for us. It’s all already done.
Romans 8:29,30For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called he also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.
We are just playing out the movie. We can edit the film too and chop out the parts we don’t like and retake scenes that aren’t good. This is exactly what Jesus did on earth. He went about doing good and healed all who were oppressed by the devil.
Acts 10:38 …how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
Jesus also walked on water and changed weather patterns.
Mark 4:39 Then He (Jesus) arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. See also Matthew 8:26, Luke 8:24.
He operated in the glory of the Father, took authority over threatening situations and showed us how to do it. He wasn’t just showing off. He was teaching us how to operate in the glory He gave us from John 17:5,22,23 the same glory the Father gave Him, for the purpose of making us all one and so that we can know the Father loves us in the same way He loved Jesus.
John 17:5,22,23 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Without Christ we can do nothing.
John 5:5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
With Christ nothing is impossible.
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
There are seven God appointed holidays communicated through the Old Testament Law. The first three spring holidays were fulfilled on the appointed holiday by Jesus Himself. The names of the feasts are: Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits.
In the Hebrew year 5783 or the Gregorian calendar year of 2023, the holidays occur as follows. Passover essentially begins at sunset on Wednesday, Nisan 14th (Hebrew calendar) or April 5th on a western calendar. The first day of Unleavened Bread is the next day at sunset on Thursday, Nisan 15th or April 6th. Lastly, the feast of First Fruits starts at sunset on Friday, Nisan 16th or April 7th. The holidays culminate and end at sunset on Thursday, April 13th. These are the mathematically calculated dates 21st century calendars.
As usual, there is not consensus on these dates within various studies of Judaism and Jewish Messianic believers in Yeshua or Jesus Christ. Granted, all of these folks are making good faith efforts to be accurate. Each group has good reason(s) for the dates selected. They are not all idiots. When in doubt, search for the new moon and full moon. Humanity struggles to keep time as God has directed. No one knows the day or the hour…
The first of God’s holidays is Passover or Pesach in the Hebrew. The holiday begins on the 14th day of the Hebrew month Nisan (March or April on a Gregorian calendar). There is a play on words in the original Hebrew. A “pesach” is an unblemished lamb which was required for the sacrifice. After the “pesach” was sacrificed, the blood was to be smeared on the wooden posts of the house. When God saw the blood on the door posts, He passed over or “pasach” and the house was spared judgment.
The original directions for the Passover were given to Moses and Aaron in Egypt. The statute and happenings are noted in Exodus 12. God defines the purpose of the holiday to Israel.
Exodus 12:26-27a “And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the LORD who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’”
The second of God’s holidays is Unleavened Bread or Chag haMatazt in the Hebrew. The holiday begins on the 15th of Nisan and runs for seven days.
The directions of Unleavened Bread are noted in Exodus 12:15-20. The focus of the week is to live a life without leaven, the symbol for sin. Leaven is not to be in the house. Leaven products are not to be consumed. Bread without yeast, matzah, is to be eaten.
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The third of God’s holidays is First Fruits or Reshit Katzir in the Hebrew. The one day holiday begins on the day after the Sabbath or Sunday on our calendar.
The directions for First Fruits are noted in Leviticus 23:9-14. The priest is to make a barley offering of the first portion of the harvest to the Lord. The priest intervenes on behalf of the people. The reality of the holiday for the people of Israel is this. The people bring their grain sheaf to the priest. They are to sacrifice a lamb without blemish. The offering is also to be presented with bread and wine.
Jesus was resurrected on First Fruits. He is the First Fruits or barley offering before God the Father. He is the High Priest who intervenes on our behalf for sin. He is the perfect offering.
In memory of Him, we participate in communion with the elements of bread and wine.
At some point in the future, as a pattern of history, will believers in Christ be resurrected on First Fruits?
Jesus Christ died. He was buried. And He was raised.
This is the gospel message of Jesus Christ, really “good news”.
Key verse: “And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately” (Luke 12:36).
Each time a conversation gets to the direction of the return of Jesus Christ, many people are either dismissive, amused or unconcerned. This is because they think it is unlikely or if it will happen at all, that it would be in the distant future. In the process, they miss the essential lesson of ensuring that the Lord’s coming does not meet them unprepared.
Jesus Christ assures His disciples that almighty God has reserved a place in heaven for them. Believers should therefore, not misplace their priorities but jettison anything, including love of money, that could hinder their love, obedience and service to the Lord. They must allow their lives to shine brightly, while living in constant expectation of the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ so that when He comes, they would be ready. In fact, He would come when most people are not expecting Him.
Great blessings await those He will meet ready at His return. But those who fail to prepare for His coming and are consumed by the rat race, revelry and oppressive activities of the world, would suffer eternal separation from Him. Those that are ignorant of His advent will also face punishment; while those that knew but refused to get themselves ready, will get a more severe punishment.
This is a timely warning, especially in our present age when all talk about the return of Jesus Christ seem like fable to many. To be ready, you must not condone even the slightest sin in your life but shun all evil distractions of the world. You must diligently follow the Lord, faithfully engage in the service of winning and preparing souls for heaven and growing daily into the nature and stature of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: How ready are you to meet the Lord?
In Matthew 27:50 we read “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.” The next 3 verses is all one sentence.
“And, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves AFTER His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” (Matthew 27:51-53)
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Mark 15:37-38 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
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Luke 23:44-46 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
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The veil is symbolic of Jesus’ flesh that was broken for us, and raised for us, and ascended to the right hand of the Father for us, giving us access into the Father’s presence, which is glory.
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near…” (Hebrews 10:19-22a)
The place of the Holiest (the Holy of Holies) is at the Father’s right hand of glory, not anywhere on the earth or still hanging on the cross. The cross is a way-point to the Father, and Jesus is the way. He is also the door allowing us entry into the Father’s house (His presence).
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:1-3)
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Jesus never meant for us to remain forever hanging on the cross that kills us. Rather we carry the dying of Christ in us which even daily puts to death the old nature, so that the life of Christ, which is the glory of the Father, might also be revealed in us. We died with Him and are raised with Him, and we are seated in Christ right now at the Father’s right hand. And Jesus gave us His garment, the glory, to wear right now, not after we die.
If someone only has Christ in them, the hope of glory, they aren’t living the new life yet and still struggling with sin, because their perspective is on the earth. We need to shift our perspective to where Christ is, coming all the way up to where we are seated in Him at the Father’s right hand. If someone can only see Jesus hanging on the cross, as if He said “I am the way to the cross” and not “I am the way… to the Father”, then they haven’t awakened the glory within them yet to shine on them. The cross is true and we were buried with Him, but it’s also true that we were raised with Him and seated in Him at the right hand of glory.
Jesus said to His disciples (including us who are also disciples), “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.” (John 16:25)
Notice how Jesus just revealed that all of His figurative speaking, parables etc., was doing one thing: telling the world about the Father—the place where He was taking us. And He was going to speak plainly to His disciples. So, if you’re a disciple Jesus will introduce you to the Father. Then notice how after Jesus told them plainly which was immediately, His disciples received revelation from the Father and understood all things.
“His disciples said to Him, ‘See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.’”
Then Jesus said, “Do you now believe?” And started telling them how they would all leave Him alone, but He wasn’t alone, because His Father was with Him.
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Once Jesus reveals the Father to us, this is how we are too. Even if everyone leaves us, we are never alone. We are strong because Christ, the glory, is the strength in our weakness, and we can endure anything because we have His joy. Joy and perfect peace are clear evidences of His glory radiating out of us—shining on us.
“All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, AND the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” (Matthew 11:27)
Let’s set our minds on things above where Christ is. Where is He? At the Father’s right hand. We died with Him already. Now we live in Him at the place where He is, where life is.
If we shift our focus to where Jesus is right now, the glory treasure that He deposited within us will wake up instantly! And we will know it because we will have instant joy and perfect peace.
“Wake up O sleeper! Arise from the dead! And Christ will shine (dawn) on you.” (Ephesians 5:14)
“Wake up My glory! Wake up psaltery and harp! I will awaken the dawn. (Psalm 57:8)
There is someone out there today whom God, our Father in heaven, wants to know that He can forgive you and He wants to more than anything. He already sees and knows every detail about your life all the way back to when He created you until now, even to the end of your life if you have an end.
He still loves you, immensely, intensely, more than you may ever realize in this life. Please do not give up. He can fix anything literally, no matter how bad, no matter how hurtful, no matter how impossible it seems. What seems unbearable and unforgiveable in this moment can change in an instant. No matter how many sins you have committed, especially the ones you think passed the threshold of God being able to forgive. All can be forgiven. Nothing is too hard for Him.
If you have written yourself off, God has written you back in. He is a good Father who will do anything to bring His son or daughter back home. Your sins which are many and too hurtful to even think about. Or perhaps you have lost feeling over them and that worries you, can be forgiven, all of them instantly. The entire weight of it all, no matter how heavy or ugly, is lifted off you. You will feel it go too. The weight of it gone, just like that.
Your Father loves you more than you can imagine. He is not condemning you. He wants to heal you completely, and He is the Healer. That is why He sent Jesus. That is why the Father walked this earth through His Son Jesus and took man to his worst end so that he can bring man to his best end, forever reconciled to Him.
Though it is a mystery, Jesus gave up His life so that the old nature of sin and the propensity toward sin can be put to death in you. He rose from the dead by the glory of the Father so that His life. The new nature of His own glory can be imparted to you. This is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
But He does not leave you in a state of only hope that can be disappointed. His glory wakes up within you as He fills you with His Spirit and the new nature of His own glory begins to operate in you.
Jesus went to be with the Father, and He showed you the way to the Father, and He sat down at the Father’s right hand on the very throne of glory, so that you can be seated there with Him right now and forever.
Allow yourself to be forgiven. Dare to see just how far God’s grace and glory can reach and transform. What have you got to lose? The very moment I decided to give God a 100% chance show me who He is, is the very moment He showed up. He was always there, but He showed me that He was there. He did not wait to interact with me. He only briefly waited for me to show a genuine attempt to know Him.
If this is for you, know that you are not alone, and that I am praying for you. Your Father in heaven does love you and can fix literally anything. All suffering is meant for His glory. The greater the suffering the more His glory is about to be released. It is at the point of being released. Please give Him that chance. In fact, the more you have sinned, the more you will be able to love God, because the depth of our ability to love corresponds to the depth of His forgiveness toward us.
Luke 7:45-47 Jesus said, “You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore, I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
If this is for you, pray this with me,
“Father in heaven, thank you for giving me this chance to be forgiven. My sins, which are many, I give to you. Thank you for giving your Son Jesus to die for me on the cross and take my place. Thank you for raising Him from the dead by your own glory and raising me from the dead with Him. Thank you for seating Jesus at your right hand on the throne of glory and seating me there with Him. I know I do not deserve that and there is no way I can earn that position in Christ, but I receive it by faith. Your word says that I have access into your presence through the door of Christ and through your promises to me. Thank you that you loved me so much that you died for me even while I was still a sinner. You believed this day would happen when I would come to you and finally surrender my life to you. Without Christ I know that I can do nothing, but with Christ nothing is impossible, and all things are possible. I am trusting that your word is true and that you can make something wonderful of my life. I promise that if you give me all of you then I will give you all of me to the best that I know how. Baptize me in your Spirit and fill me with your glory Father. I believe that Jesus died for my sins and that Christ in me put to death the old nature in me. I believe that Jesus rose from the dead by the glory of the Father and raised me up with Him. I believe that Jesus went to be with the Father and brought me there with Him. I choose You Papa because You first chose me. I love You Father because You first loved me. Thank you for your wisdom. Thank you for your favor. Thank you for giving me your Spirit and making me perfect on the inside in the inner man. Thank you for the daily transformation of my mind that is to come as I make your word my home and you teach me how to be your child and to operate in your glory, which is Christ in me that I am learning to wear on me on the outside. Thank you for eternal life and for all that you will do in me from here on out. Thank you that you are strength in my weakness, that you are filling me with joy and taking away my sorrow, that you are imparting to me your vision for me so that I can know my life has meaning. I give you all of me because you gave me all of you. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray, Amen.”
The context of this series of posts is the course of the Jewish people for the initial 49 years of the 483 year period communicated from the angel Gabriel to the prophet Daniel. The city of Jerusalem has been rebuilt post exile. These events are covered in Nehemiah 8-13. Israel is returning to God’s Law. The focus is on God’s appointed holidays. This week, the Feast of Trumpets or Yom Teruah is the topic. Many know the day as Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish civil New Year. This is the first of three posts on the initial Fall Feast.
Leviticus 23:23-25 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord.’”
Numbers 29:1 ‘Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets.
And blow the trumpets they do. This holiday has many names. It is called the Feast of Trumpets by Christians. It is recognized as the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. In Judaism, it is called Yom Teruah which means the “Day of Blowing”.
The directions for the holiday are straight forward.
It is to be a day of rest or a Sabbath.
The day is a holy or separate day. It is a convocation. The Hebrew word for convocation is miqra’. Per Strong’s Concordance it means: rehearsal, convocation, a reading, a calling together, or sacred assembly.
It is a memorial and reminder to blow or shout. The Hebrew word is teruah. It means: alarm, signal, a sound of tempest, shout of joy, blast of war, alarm, joy, war-cry, or battle-cry.
Judaism recognizes three trumps: first trump, the last trump, and the great trump. Each one of these named trumps represents a specific day. The “first trump” is blown on the Feast of Pentecost (Exodus 19:19). The “great trump” is blown on Yom Kippur and signals the return of Christ to Earth (Matthew 24:31). The “last trump” is synonymous with Yom Teruah or Rosh Hashanah (1 Corinthians 15:52). Resources: Festivals of the Jewish Year, Theodore Gaster; The High Holy Days, Herman Kieval.
This God appointed holiday is the only new moon observance. This is not some Old Testament warm and fuzzy tradition. God has a point and a reason. He has not forgotten. The Apostle Paul makes note of this holiday.
Colossians 2:16-17 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
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God has singled out this appointed holiday for some big time fireworks! Judaism has been rehearsing this holiday for thousands of years since Moses.
Has the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed) connected the dots… (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.)
Resurrection and rapture on the Feast of Trumpets???
So, what if Jesus was not raised from the dead? What’s the big deal about the resurrection? Who cares? We are wasting our time with Christianity and the Bible if the resurrection is not true. Without the resurrection, we physically die and our bodies are eternally buried. Death wins. We are dirt and worm food. Our bodies become the byproduct of worm digestion…
Job 21:26 Together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them.
The gospel is not a New Testament phenomenon as some critics would have us believe. How many times have we heard, “The God of the Old Testament is a mean, cruel killer!” God is not an oppressive ogre who wants to crush you with His thumb. He has always been merciful, gracious, and forgiving. Honestly, if God smashed us like a bug any time we screwed up…would there be any humanity left? The good news has always been there. His redemption for humanity was promised from the beginning of time in the Garden of Eden. God delivered the “good news” to Satan.
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.
Just in case anyone is wondering, the message of a sacrificial death for sin rings loud and clear in the Old Testament. The best example of the gospel in the Old Testament comes from the Prophet Isaiah about 700 years before Jesus Christ walked the earth. Look at the detail of these verses. It reads as a narrative of the events along with the accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Isaiah 53:3-12 He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.
This book the Bible, says His Son, Jesus Christ, is physically coming back in the clouds to get His people the church, at the resurrection and the rapture. Then, He will return later to establish His kingdom on earth.
And that is good news. Jesus is the Messiah, just believe it.
John 20:31 But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name.
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
If someone isn’t experiencing much change in their behavior and thinking after giving their lives to Jesus, then it’s because they stopped somewhere along the Way, but didn’t make it all the Way to glory—to the Father.
They thought perhaps Jesus was the Way to the cross, or the Way to the resurrection. They never understood that those are only “points” along the Way.
But the destination is the Father. Jesus is the Way to the Father. Jesus never said He was the Way to the cross. He went to the cross, and we too have to go through the cross as we die to the old nature, but Jesus didn’t stay at the cross. The glory of the Father raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 6:4), and the same glory raises us too…right now, not some day.
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)
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We are seated in heaven in places in Christ now. Jesus always said His destination was the Father, and that is where He went to make our place so that we can be with Him where He is…right now. It’s not only a place for when we die and leave this earth, but a place where we are to live NOW while still here (John 14:3).
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:3)
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It’s okay if we didn’t know that; God is not condemning anyone. But it’s time to see everything from the position of Christ, the One who already overcame the world and even death.
“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Revelation 3:21)
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Even just knowing this begins to activate the glory of the Father in us and it activates the new nature. We will feel it happening and hope will rise up within us that all things truly are possible. The imagination of the child is restored instantly (Matthew 8:13).
And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. (Matthew 8:13)
Everything in our lives now begins to change, beginning with our perspective from above rather than beneath (Deuteronomy 28:13).
And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them… (Deuteronomy 28:13)
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We are seated in Christ right now where He is on the throne of glory, restored to the Father. No one can take us out of Jesus’ hand or the Father’s hand (John 10:28-30).
…and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30)
Nothing can separate us from His love whom have been separated unto Him (Romans 8:38-39, John 17:19).
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. (John 17:19)
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His throne is in you (Acts 2:3), His power is in you (Ephesians 3:20), His kingdom is in you (Luke 17:21), heaven is in you; therefore your ability to accomplish anything already lives in you and is awaiting your command.
The Spirit of glory living in you will teach you how to separate darkness from light in every situation you encounter, even the secret ones in your mind, and you will help Him divide the old nature from the new through your spoken words. He may also show you something that you need to do in some cases. His words and works weigh the same and both will release His glory.
…but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”(John 10:38).
