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Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanah/Feast of Trumpets, Part 1

Posted in Fall Feasts, Prophecy, Rapture, Resurrection with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 7, 2014 by paulthepoke

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. 1) It is to be a day of rest or a Sabbath. 2) 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. 3) 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 in 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.

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???

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Genesis 2:2-3 The Sabbath

Posted in Creation with tags , , , , , , on December 27, 2011 by paulthepoke

Genesis 2:2-3 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

God has set the pattern of the work week. This pattern of a seven day week is wired into our being. The other facets of how we mark time have astronomical markers; the day (sun), month (moon), seasons (equinox) and year (completed monthly cycle). The week does not have an astronomical marker, it is different.

Our calendars work with seven day weeks, not five or eight or whatever. Man has tried to alter this concept of the seven day week. One example is the Soviets during the 1930’s. The comrades tried calendars with five day and six day weeks. The idea was for continuous work, 24 hours a day, non stop. The plan was for improved economic output. Somebody was working at all times, every day. The result was decreased productivity and more mechanical breakdown.

God did not rest because He was fatigued or exhausted. That tired argument is put to sleep in Isaiah 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. The Sabbath is a notification that the creation is completed. His work is finished.

The pattern of rest on the seventh day is repeated over and over throughout the history of Israel. Here are just two of many examples.

Exodus 20:8-10 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.” Note all people and animals are included. It is a universal concept.

Exodus 31:16-17 “So the sons of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.” Due to the everlasting nature of this covenant, one gets the idea that the Sabbath will be reinstated in the future when Christ returns. Based on this verse, we should be observing it today.

By the way, God takes the Sabbath very seriously. This is not a warm, fuzzy McDonald’s jingle “You deserve a break today” mentality. Exodus 31:15b …whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death. By this standard, how many of us would be around to read this? I know I would be gone. God is not asking us to do hard, physical labor or some unreasonable task. We are being asked “to rest” one time in seven days.

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Isaiah 1:12-15 Rest Means Rest!

Posted in Isaiah with tags , , , , , on October 18, 2010 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 1:12-15 When you enter my presence, do you actually think I want this – animals trampling on my courtyards?  Do not bring any more meaningless offerings; I consider your incense detestable!You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations, but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations!I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies; they are a burden that I am tired of carrying. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I look the other way; when you offer your many prayers, I do not listen, because your hands are covered with blood.

The focus of this study is the origin and intent of the religious works in the following verses. These include the burning of incense, new moon festivals, the Sabbath, and prayer. Again, these people are going through the motions and the Jews do not take these seriously. It is a broken record, but these folks are living a lifestyle of sin.

What is the relevance of incense? Revelation 5:8b makes it very clear what incense is. It is prayer. Each of them had a harp and golden bowls full of incense (which are the prayers of the saints). The imageryis the ascension of smoke is like a prayer being offered up to God. This same idiomatic language is noted in Psalm 141:2. Incense is the symbol for prayer. The directions for making and using incense are noted in Exodus 30:34-35. Incense is to be made in a specific manner and is to be used only in a sacred manner. If used inappropriately, the guilty party is to be cut off (DEATH!) from the people.

New Moon Festivals: These festivals were celebrated every month as prescribed by a lunar calendar. Sacrifices and offerings were a part of the festival and as noted in Numbers 28:11-15. Trumpets were blown (Numbers 10:10) and business was not conducted (Amos 8:5).

The Sabbath has taken on many meanings to the Jewish people. In Genesis 2:2-3, God rested on the seventh day after creation. The Sabbath is a reminder of the God’s rest. This day is practiced with rest and work is not to be completed. Exodus 20:8-11 “Rememberthe Sabbath day to set it apart as holy.For six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you,or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates.For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. That sounds a bit extreme in today’s culture. God takes this very seriously and he is interested in obedience. Look at Exodus 31:14. So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it must surely be put to death; indeed,if anyone doesanywork on it, then that person will be cut off from among hispeople. Just in case there is any confusion about the penalty, death is explicitly stated emphatically two times in the verse. The phrase “cut off” in the Hebrew is another way to express death.

The last of these is prayer. Plain and simple, prayer is a conversation or dialogue between a person and God. In verse 15, you can see the person stretching their hands out and leaning their head back and closing their eyes to the heavens (much the same way as viewed on television with today’s “miracle workers” and “healers”). God’s response, He literally closes His eyes and ears to the petition. Why, because their hands are covered with blood. In the final analysis, God hates religion.

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