THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS    יוֹם תְּרוּעָה

by Avram Yehoshua

 

The Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah[1] in Hebrew; pronounced Yom Tih’ru’ah), is the first day of the seventh Hebrew month. It can fall anywhere from mid-September to early October. It signals the beginning of the end of the Holy Days that come in autumn. Nine days after this feast is the Day of Atonement, and four days after that, is the Feast of Tabernacles, the last feast of the biblical year. The Feast of Trumpets begins the autumn Feasts. Yahveh declares in Leviticus:

“Speak to the Sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a Sabbath, commemorated by the blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You must not do any regular work. You must present an offering by fire to Yahveh.’” (Lev. 23:24-25)

Yahveh didn’t give a reason for celebrating the day, but inherent in the description of it is the way that we are to celebrate it. The Hebrew for ‘blowing of trumpets’ is tih’ru’ah תְִּרוּעָה and the Interlinear translates it as, ‘trumpet blast.’[2] Benjamin Davidson says that the word can mean, ‘a shout, of joy, or of battle’ or the ‘sound of a trumpet.’[3] The Hebrew noun comes from the verb, ru’ah רוּעַ and means, ‘to make a loud noise…to cry aloud’ as in weeping, ‘to shout, in joy, alarm, or war…to sound a trumpet…an alarm…to shout for joy.’[4] The Theological Wordbook notes that,

“The primary meaning is ‘to raise a noise’ by shouting or with an instrument, especially a horn (Num. 10:7)’ (referring to the silver trumpets), ‘or the traditional ram’s horn, the ‘shofar’’” (Josh 6:5).’[5]

The Wordbook goes on to say that teruah תְִּרוּעָה can have ‘four distinct’ meanings. All of them revolve around the sound made by either a trumpet, a shofar, a human voice or a combination of the three:

1.  “It is used for ‘signal’ (Lev. 25:9), for the blowing of the trumpet on the day of atonement,

2.  for ‘alarm’ as in the ‘case of attack (Josh 6:5; Jer. 4:19),

3.  for ‘the tumult of the battle (Amos 2:2), and,

4.  for the exultation of praise to God (Psalm 150:3).”[6]

The Feast of Trumpets centers around ‘the exultation of praise to God’ with various musical instruments and voice, and not ‘the tumult of war,’ etc. This is because it’s a feast and because of the word ‘commemorate’ (other translations using words like, ‘memorial’ or ‘reminder’). The Hebrew word is zich’rone זִכְרוֹן.[7] It’s used in v. 24, ‘commemorated by the blowing of trumpets.’ It means, ‘to remember, recollect, call to mind.’[8] The Hebrew meaning for this word goes deeper than just ‘to remember’ in the typical sense of the word. It implies that the Israeli was to return to the former times of Yahveh’s great and mighty deeds for Israel when there was ‘Joy Unspeakable’ and ‘enter into it,’ placing himself back at the event, whether he was actually there or not. It’s ‘a living remembrance.’ This theological concept is seen throughout the Scriptures[9] and allows both the ancient Israeli, and us, to participate in past (and future) salvation events, with the very real help of the Spirit of Yeshua, the King of Israel.

The Theological Wordbook says that zichrone can be translated, ‘memorial, reminder’[10] and that it means, ‘an object or act which brings something else to mind.’[11] The sound of the trumpet was to remind Israel of something. They were to place themselves back at the events that initially caused them to shout and have great joy; the salvation of Israel from Egyptian slavery. The Israelis were to enter into the time and events when they,

1.  were freed from Egyptian slavery by the blood of the lamb,

2.  and when they stood at the Red Sea in fear, thinking they were going to die, but Yahveh split the Sea in two for them to walk across on dry ground (Ex. 14:16, 21-22, 29), and they saw their mighty enemy who wanted to murder them, destroyed by Yahveh.

3.  Also, when they stood at Mt. Sinai and heard the heavenly Shofar blasting[12] announcing the coming of the King of Israel, Yahveh, and they all saw the Fire and heard the Voice speak the Ten Commandments. These were their cause for rejoicing with Joy Unspeakable and this is what Yahveh desired them to enter into, especially on Yom Teruah (as well as all other Feasts and days).[13]

4.  When Yahveh led Joshua and Israel into the land of Canaan, the Jordan River, like the Red Sea before it, opened up so Israel could walk across it, on dry ground (not a minor miracle in itself).

The ‘living remembrance’ is what Yahveh had done for Israel; the Passover, Exodus, Covenant and Canaan. The joy and relief of being freed from slavery (Passover), the overwhelming scene at the Red Sea, where certain death turned into miraculous triumph, the awe of Mt. Sinai, and the gift of the land of Canaan, best convey the reason for the Day (Teruah) to be celebrated.[14]

The joy that Israel felt those days was divine Joy Unspeakable, Awe and Thanksgiving. It’s mirrored for us in what Yahveh has done for all those who love Messiah Yeshua in:

1.  the Second Passover, where the Lamb of God was slain, that we might be freed from the Kingdom of Satan,

2.  to be translated into the Kingdom of Yeshua. We are on Earth, but in the Heavens with Him, the Heavens ‘parting’ for us like the Red Sea, and all those who hate us, being destroyed, and[15]

3.  the giving of the Holy Spirit on the same day that the Hebrews saw the Holy Fire on the Mountain and heard the Voice speak the words of God (the Ten Commandments) from Mount Sinai.[16] Here, Israel would enter the very Presence of Yahveh (Ex. 24:9-11),

4.  which is a picture of the New Jerusalem, the ‘Promised Land’ that awaits us. The Apostles and the others were filled with the Spirit of the Holy One, a taste of the coming King and His Kingdom (Acts 2) and given the divine ability to walk in His Law (Jer. 31:31-34), as Yeshua walked in it.

These are the meanings associated with the day of Yom Teruah (along with seeing God as Creator, and His Creation, which also forwards one to the New Creation). We are ‘to enter into’ these themes of creation and salvation via His Word and the Holy Spirit. The sound of the shofar on Yom Teruah reminds us of all these past (and future) salvific times.

The word translated as ‘trumpets’ can also mean the breath one uses to shout very loud, as in battle, and in victory, as in blowing the shofar or the trumpet. The concept of joy mingled with this, what the Day is all about, is illustrated by King David shouting, rejoicing, dancing and swirling as the Ark of the Covenant entered Jerusalem:

2nd Sam. 6:15-16: ‘So David and all the House of Israel brought up the Ark of Yahveh with shouting, and with the sound of the shofar. Then it happened as the Ark of Yahveh came into the City of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul, looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before Yahveh and she despised him in her heart.’

The word for ‘shouting’ is literally ‘teruah’ and the word for ‘the sound of the trumpet’ (in most Bibles) should be translated, ‘the sound of the shofar’ as that’s the Hebrew word used there. King David was very happy that day, as well as all Israel. The Ark of the Covenant, where Yahveh dwelt above, was coming into Jerusalem. This reveals the attitude in which the Day is to be celebrated.

Another place where this account is recorded describes the joy of that day and reveals that other instruments accompanied the celebration:

1st Chron. 15:28: ‘So all Israel brought up the Ark of the Covenant of Yahveh with great shouting (teruah), and with the sound of the shofar and trumpets, cymbals, lyre and harp.’

The great rejoicing that we see King David and the entire House of Israel doing before Yahveh is the essence of what the Feast is all about. For us today, we are called to proclaim how grateful we are for what He has done for us, with Holy Spirit Joy and Shouting, the blasting of shofars and trumpets and other musical instruments, singing and dancing and of course, food! It’s a Feast you know. The pass­age in Lev. 23:23-24 should be translated:

‘Speak to the Sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first day of the month, you must have a Sabbath of living remembrance with tremendous shouting of joy unspeakable!, the blasting of trumpets and shofars in a holy assembly, for what God has done for you!’

This begins to bring out the meaning of the day. Trumpets and shofars are used interchangeably in Scripture to relate to the sound of ‘teruah.’ So, the first day of the seventh Hebrew month could also be called, ‘The Feast of Shofars’ as well as ‘The Feast of Trumpets.’

Additional Passages that use Teruah

Other passages that use teruah reveal how the word is used in its various meanings. In Num. 10:5-6, the silver trumpets sounded with a great blast when Israel set out on their journey:

‘When you sound a great blast (teruah), then the Camp must set out, the ones camping on the east. When you sound a second great blast (teruah), then the ones camping on the south will set out. The great blast (teruah) on the silver trumpets will signal their going forth.’[17]

Teruah is also used in association with the shofar and the shouting of the people, when the walls of Jericho literally came tumbling down:

‘And when you hear the blast of the shofar, then all the people must shout (yah-ree-ou), all the people must shout loudly (teruah), and the wall of the city will collapse under itself, and the people will go up everyone going straight forward’ (Joshua 6:5; yah’ree’ou is a word from teruah).

What faith Israel had in Yahveh that day! In 1st Sam. 4:5-7a, when the Ark of the Covenant is brought into the Camp of Israel just before their disastrous battle with the Philistines, it says,

‘When the Ark of the Covenant of Yahveh came into the camp, all of Israel shouted a great shout (yah-rih-ou and teruah) and it shook the ground. When the Philistines heard the sound of the uproar (teruah) they asked, ‘What is the sound of this great shout (teruah), in the Camp of the Hebrews?’ And when they learned that the Ark of Yahveh had come into the Camp, they were afraid.’

That must have been quite a shout for the ground to shake! God really wants His people to shout like that. To give full vent to how we feel about Him.

Teruah is also found a number of times in the Prophets, where it’s used in the sense of war and darkness. Against the Ammonites, Yahveh declares in Amos 1:14:

‘I will set fire to the wall of Rabbah and it will consume her fortresses amid the war cry (teruah) on the day of battle, amid violent winds on a stormy day.’

Yahveh comes against Moab in Amos 2:2 saying,

‘I will send fire against Moab that will consume her fortresses in Keriot and Moab will die in a tumult, amid war cry (teruah) and the sound of the shofar.’

Zephaniah 1:16 also speaks about the Day of Yahveh (the Day of Judgment) and says,

‘A Day of shofar and battle cry (teruah) against the fortified cities.’

The word ‘teruah’ encompasses the explosive energy that one needs for war. To understand that this same word is used in exultation and praise to Yahveh and His Messiah is to realize that we must praise God with all our heart, soul and strength on this holy feast day.

Some places in the Book of Psalms that bring this exultant joy out are:

1.  Psalm 27:6: ‘Then my head will be exalted above my enemies around me. And I will sacrifice in His Tent, sacrifices with great joy (teruah). I will sing and I will make music to Yahveh.’

2.  Ps. 33:3: ‘Sing to Him a new song. Play skillfully and shout for joy! (teruah)

3.  Psalm 89:15: ‘Blessed’ (very happy) ‘are the people learning to exalt (teruah) Yahveh. In the Light of Your Presence they walk.’

4.  Psalm 95:1-2: ‘Come let us sing to Yahveh, let us shout to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with thanksgiving. With songs let us extol Him’ (na-ree’ya both times; from teruah, it’s for ‘let us’ extol).

5.  Psalm 98:1-6: ‘Sing to Yahveh a new song, for He has done wonders. His Right Hand and His Holy Arm have made salvation for Him. Yahveh has made known His salvation before the eyes of the peoples. He has revealed His righteousness. He has remembered His forgiving-loving-kindness and His faithfulness to the House of Israel. All the ends of the Earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout for joy!, to Yahveh all the Earth! Burst forth!, and sing!, and make music! Make music!, to Yahveh with a harp, with harp and the sound of singing. With trumpets and shofars, shout for joy!, before the King, Yahveh’ (ha-ree-ou used both times, from teruah).

Don’t you just want to get up and sing and shout and praise the Lord?! I’m not talking about carnal shouting where self is exalted. I’m speaking of letting the Holy Spirit move upon you to shout and praise our God for all that He has done for us. The difference is like night and day.

This day could also be called, ‘The Day of Tremendous Shouting!’ or ‘The Day of Great Rejoicing!’

Why This Day?

I think there are two reasons why God chose this day, the first day of the seventh month, to be the day of joyful shouting unto Him. One, because the day begins the seventh month and seven is God’s number for holiness, perfection, wholeness and completion.[18] Two, because it just might be the day that Yeshua was born on, and will return on. Some of the places where we find both the number seven and a holy Sabbath day are:

1.  The 7th day of the week is the holy Sabbath of Yahveh, the God of Israel (Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 20:8-11: 31:12-17, etc.).

2.  The 7th year is a Sabbatical Year (Lev. 25:4f.).

3.  The 7th year times 7 is the beginning of the Year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:8f.).

There are also 7 annual ‘high Sabbaths’ every year within the Feasts of Israel:

1.  The Sabbath that is the 1st day of The Feast of Matza (The Feast of Unleavened Bread).

2.  The Sabbath that is the 7th day of The Feast of Matza (which is the 21st day of the 1st Month; Lev. 23:8).

3.  The Sabbath of Shavu’ot (Pentecost) is the 7th week, plus one day, after First Sheaf in Pesach (Passover; Lev. 23:15).

4.  The Sabbath that is the 1st day of the 7th Month: Yom Teruah (The Feast of Joy Unspeakable!).

5.  The Sabbath that is the 10th day of the 7th Month: Yom Kipor (The Day of Atonement).

6.  The Sabbath that is the 15th day of the 7th Month—the 1st day of Sukote (the Feast of Tabernacles).

7.  The Sabbath that is the 22nd day of the 7th Month: The ‘8th Day’ of Sukote.

These yearly Sabbaths can fall on any day of the week. They’re not confined to ‘Saturday.’ God’s use of the number seven revolves around the theme of Sabbath holiness and the first day of the seventh month is holy because it’s the beginning of the seventh month. It’s the only ‘first day’ (or New Moon; new month) of any month that is holy in the Bible.

As it is with the yearly cycle, so it is with the heavenly reality. The seventh month prophetically ushers in the Beginning of the End of Time. That’s why the first day of this month is holy. It’s not only the beginning of the end of the Feasts in the natural yearly cycle, but also the Beginning of what these last three holy times picture, the End of Time.I think it’s also the day when Yeshua was born in Bethlehem.

The Birth Day of Yeshua

It seems that Messiah Yeshua was born on Yom Teruah. This would certainly be additional cause for great rejoicing for what God has done for us. Luke writes that Zechariah the priest, one of the ‘sons’ of Aaron, came to the Temple to minister in his course called Aviyah.[19] This was sometime between mid-June to mid-July. He, along with the other priests in the course of Aviyah, would minister at the Temple for one week. Elizabeth conceived when he returned home and in her sixth month, which would be about mid-December to mid-January, Mary came to see her having just conceived herself:

Luke 1:36: ‘And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age. And she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.’

Luke 1:39-40: ‘Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.’

Mid-December to mid-January is the approximate time when Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy and Mary would be beginning her first month. Nine months later would be mid-September to mid-October for the birth of Yeshua,[20] which would correspond to the seventh biblical Hebrew month. Yeshua could very well have been born on Yom Teruah, the first day of the seventh Hebrew month, corresponding to sometime from mid-September to mid-October.[21]

Of course, Sukote (Feast of Tabernacles) occurs 14 days after Yom Teruah. Sukote begins the 15th day of the seventh Hebrew month (late September to late October), and some think that Yeshua was born during Sukote, but Yeshua could not have been born during the Feast of Tabernacles because He was born in Bethlehem, not Jerusalem. The Feast of Tabernacles is certainly a nice theological concept for Yeshua to have been born during, as ‘God was truly tabernacling’ or ‘dwelling’ with His people Israel ‘in Yeshua,’ but it doesn’t work out practically nor theologically. If Yeshua was born during the Feast of Tabernacles, Joseph and Mary would have been in Jerusalem for His birth, not Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Mt. 2:1, 5). Yahveh commands all Hebrew males to be in Jerusalem for the three great Feasts: Pesach, Shavu’ot and Sukote (Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles; Ex. 23:17; 34:23-24; Dt. 16:16; Zech. 3:2; 2nd Chron. 6:6). Since we know that Joseph was a righteous man (Mt. 1:19), he and Mary would have been in Jeru­salem for the Feast of Tabernacles and it would have been in Jerusalem that Yeshua would have been born, if it were the Feast of Tabernacles when Yeshua was born. Also, not to be overlooked, there would have been plenty of room in Bethlehem ‘at the inn’ for Mary (Lk. 2:7) if Yeshua had been born on the Feast of Tabernacles in Bethlehem; all Israel would have been in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles.

The theological concept of Sukote speaks of the final harvest or ingathering and ‘God dwelling with His people Israel’ (as He did with Israel in the Wilderness) and is reserved for the New Jerusalem (Rev. 20:1-6; 21:1f.). Yeshua will most likely return on Yom Teruah for His thousand year reign, after which comes Judgement Day, symbolized in the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement is ten days after Yom Teruah (Lev. 23:23-27f.), ‘ten days’ symbolically seen as the thousand year reign of Yeshua on this Earth. After Judgment Day there is eternity with Yeshua, pictured in Sukote, God dwelling with us, or more accurately, us dwelling with God in the New Jerusalem.

Also pointing to Yeshua being born on Yom Teruah were the angels that made a great teruah proclaiming His birth, and singing and exalting God as the shepherds looked on in awe (Luke 2:13-14).[22] The theme of Yom Teruah, joyfully shouting unto God for all the good things that He has done for us, is seen in Solomon, the son of the king, being crowned and proclaimed King of Israel to succeed his father, King David (while David was still alive). The shofar sounded and all of Jeru­salem gave forth with a tremendous shout of joy that was heard outside the city! (1st Kings 1:38-45f.)

About a thousand years later the Son of the King of Israel was born and the angels not only came to the shepherds in the field, announcing the birth of the Messiah, the King of Israel, a multitude of angels sang and gave praise to God (the Father, the King of Israel who was ‘still alive’), and it says that the shepherds glorified and praised God, too! (Lk. 2:8-20) It must have been a time of teruah (tremendous shouting with joy to God) for all of them, and this, too, points to Yeshua being born on the first day of the seventh Hebrew month…Yom Teruah…the Day of tremendous shouting with Joy to God for all that He has done for us. Can you imagine the sound (teruah) of a multitude of angels singing and praising the God of Israel for what had just happened? The King of Israel had just arrived!

It seems that when Yeshua returns it’ll also be on Yom Teruah. Paul speaks of the Lord returning in the Clouds (the Shekinah Glory Clouds; 1st Thess. 4:16) with a tremendous shout (teruah) and the blowing of the heavenly trumpet, which parallels the silver trumpets of the Tabernacle of Moses (Num. 10:1f.). Also, after Yeshua’s final ascension, the two angels spoke of Yeshua returning the same way that He had ascended—on the Shekinah Glory Cloud (Acts 1:9-11). Paralleling these two points is Ex. 19:16-19, where the heavenly shofar sounded louder and louder and louder as God, the King of Israel, descended upon Mt. Sinai, which is certainly a similar picture of Yeshua, the King of Israel, returning and descending to the Mount(ain) of Olives in the Clouds of Glory.

With Yeshua being born in Bethlehem, He couldn’t have been born during Sukote. On the eighth day of His life, while still in Bethlehem, Yeshua was circumcised (Gen. 17:10-14; Lk. 2:21). Bethlehem is about six miles (nine kilometers) from where the Temple was in Jerusalem.

With Luke giving us the date of Mary’s conception (via the course of Aviyah) it seems that Messiah’s birth would have been sometime in the autumn, around the seventh Hebrew month. With the angels announcing the birth of the King of Israel (the Messiah was seen to be the King of Israel; Ps. 2:2, 6-7; Mic. 5:2), the concept of Yom Teruah (a day of joyful shouting to God for what He has done), as seen with King Solomon being crowned king, points to Messiah being born on that day as the angels and shepherds joyfully sang unto God concerning the birth of the King of Israel. Yom Teruah is also seen with Yeshua returning on the Clouds of Glory, with the heavenly shout (teruah) and the blast of the trumpet, also similar to Solomon being crowned king amidst the shouts and shofar blowing.

Yeshua was born on Yom Teruah and will return on it. This is the reason why the day is holy and another biblical reason why the number seven is holy.. Yom Teruah is the only annual holy day listed in Leviticus 23 that doesn’t have a ‘reason’ for celebrating it (e.g. Passover celebrates the great deliverance from Egypt). Now we know the reason: the birth and return of our King. This is truly a day of tremendous joy and shouting unto our God and King for all that He has done for us.[23]

The Rapture of the Church

There are Christians who believe that on the Feast of Trumpets, Jesus will descend from the Heavens and take His Bride. Yeshua will come for His Bride, but not before, during or immediately after the dreadful time of the Great Tribulation. I believe in the ‘catching away’ of the Bride, as it’s spoken of in Scripture, but on Yom Kipor (the Day of Atonement, which symbolizes the Day of Judgement). What happens on Yom Teruah is the setting up of His earthly Kingdom for a thousand years in Jerusalem. The place where we see this ‘catching away’ is 1st Thess. 4:16-17:

1st Thess. 4:16: ‘For the Lord Himself will descend from the Heavens with a shout[24] with the voice of the archangel and with the Trumpet[25] of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.’

1st Thess. 4:17: ‘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.’

The fact that the dead in Christ will rise first indicates that this is the last ‘coming’ of the Lord, after His thousand year reign on Earth (Rev. 20:1-6). For only at His last coming will all the dead arise. At His first coming, only those who have been martyred in the Great Tribulation will come to life. More on this in a moment.

The Greek word translated as ‘caught up’ is hapra’gayso’meh’tha ‘απραγησομεθα and means,

‘to seize, as a wild beast, John 10:12; take away by force, snatch away, Matt. 13:19...to convey away suddenly, transport hastily, John 6:15.’[26]

There will be ‘a catching away’ or ‘a snatching away.’ The only question is, ‘When?’ Those that believe in a pre-Tribulation or mid-Tribulation rapture[27] are not standing on biblical ground. Many confuse and connect the trumpets sounded on Yom Teruah (The Feast of Trumpets) with ‘the last trumpet’ of 1st Cor. 15:52, but this is not correct:

‘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.’

Both 1st Thess. 4:16 and 1st Cor. 15:52 are speaking of just before the Final Judgment, as those that are dead will rise also (1st Thess. 4:16), and entry into the New Jerusalem is seen with the dead being ‘raised imperishable’ (1st Cor. 15:52). This will happen after the thousand year reign of Yeshua and not before, during or immediately after the Great Tribulation. This is clearly seen in Rev. 20:4-6:

Rev. 20:4: ‘Then I saw thrones and they sat on them and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Yeshua and because of the Word of God, and those who had not worshiped the Beast or his image and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand. And they came to life and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years.’

Those that will rise in the First Resurrection are those beheaded in the Great Tribulation. Obviously, they can’t be raptured out before then. They shall rise to glorified bodies and be priests and rule in the thousand year reign of Messiah. This is not the Rapture. The Rapture will take place on the Day of final Judgment. Rev. 20:5 says that there will be those that must wait until the thousand years are completed, in order ‘to come to life.’ This means both the righteous and the wicked, as verse four revealed, that only those beheaded came to Life at the first judgment:

Rev. 20:5: ‘The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the First Resurrection.’

Rev. 20:6: ‘Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the First Resurrection; over these the second death has no power but they will be Priests of God and of Messiah and will reign with Him for a thousand years.’

There are believers who won’t die in the Tribulation, but make it into the earthly Kingdom of Yeshua. They will most likely die when they reach the age of 400 to 900 years old (Is. 65:20, 22). Just as it was in the first thousand years of the Earth, so it will be in the last thousand years. The first ten generations of man lived an average of 912.2 years (not counting Enoch who ‘was taken’).[28]

The ones who are beheaded in the Tribulation and are resurrected will live forever with Yeshua in the thousand year reign and afterward, but eternal reality will have not come for all believers when Yeshua rules on this Earth. Placing the heavenly ‘Last Trumpet’ at the Feast of Trumpets in the pro­phetic time table, before, during or immediately after the Tribulation, is totally inaccurate, morally irresponsible and spiritually dangerous. Christians resting their hope that they will be ‘taken out’ before times get rough will not be prepared for the evil that confronts them.

First, the Tribulation must come upon the Earth. Satan will cause many believers to be beheaded. Then, on a Yom Teruah, Yeshua will return and deal with Satan. Yeshua will set up His thousand year reign in Jerusalem (Rev. 20:4). The thousand years is seen in the ten days from Yom Teruah to Yom Kipor (the Day of Atonement).

Another picture of teruah that we briefly touched upon, speaks of Yeshua returning on Yom Teruah to set up His thousand year Kingdom in Jerusalem, which parallels the coronation of Solomon  as King of Israel (1st Kings 1:38f.). Solomon is the son of the king and pictures Yeshua as the Son of the heavenly King of Israel.

Adoniyah, a son of King David, took it upon himself to be king, but this was without his father’s consent. In this, he pictures Satan usurping the authority that has been given to Yeshua by His Father. When David learned of it, he gave instructions to Nathan the prophet and Zadok the High Priest to anoint Solomon as king. When that happened it’s written that,

“They blew the shofar and all the people said, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ All the people went up after him and the people were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy so that the earth shook at their noise. Now Adoniyah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. When Joab heard the sound of the shofar, he said, ‘Why is the city making such an uproar?’” (1st Kings 1:39-41 NASB)

A false claimant had come to be King of Israel, but the father arranged it so that the rightful heir took his place. Interesting, too, is the fact that Adoniyah lived for a season under King Solomon (1st Kings 2), as Satan will be bound in the Pit for a season, only to be released at the end for destruction (Rev. 20:1-3, 7). Because of wickedness being found in Adoniyah, Solomon had him executed.

A false claimant will present his credentials to Israel and Israel will make a covenant with the anti-Christ, thinking him to be the Messiah, the rightful heir, but our heavenly Father will send the rightful heir and He will rule for one thousand years. During this time, Satan is still alive, but will be taken care of after the thousand years.

We know that the Earth will shake when Yeshua returns to the Mount of Olives, for the mountain will split in two and waters will flow out of it. This is certainly cause for ‘teruah.’ Zechariah speaks of Yeshua’s return to set up His Kingdom and the mountain splitting in two:

Zech. 14:4-5: ‘In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, King of Judah. Then Yahveh my God, will come and all the holy ones with Him!’

Zech. 14:8-9: ‘And in that day Living Waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea. It will be in summer as well as in winter. And Yahveh will be King over all the Earth. In that day Yahveh will be one and His Name will be one.’

Luke records that when Yeshua returns, He will first touch down on the Mounr of Olives:

“And as they were gazing intently into the Heavens while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the Heavens? This Yeshua, who has been taken up from you into the Heavens, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into the Heavens. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.’ (Acts 1:10-12)

Adoniyah pictures the Messianic pretender, the anti-Christ. Having set himself up as King of Israel, Yeshua will deal with the anti-Christ when He returns in the anointing and glory of His Father. As Adoniyah was actually from the loins of David, the anti-Christ may also be from the loins of David. His ‘Jewishness’ must be established for Jewish people to believe in him and to be deceived by him. He won’t come proclaiming himself to be the anti-Christ, but the Messiah, the King of Israel.

The assumption that the Feast of Trumpets will usher in the Rapture (‘the last trumpet’) is unbiblical, as trumpets or shofars are sounded for all the Feasts:

Num. 10:10: ‘Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed Feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets[29] over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. And they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am Yahveh your God.’

Mixed in with all this is the great shofar blast that gathers the Jewish people back to Israel:

‘In that day Yahveh will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, Oh, Sons of Israel. It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet’ (literally, shofar) ‘will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship Yahveh in the holy mountain at Jeru­salem’ (Is. 27:12-13).

This is something that may have begun with the State of Israel being established in 1948, and obviously, is still something in the future (worship Yahveh in His holy mountain at Jerusalem).

The Feast of Trumpets is one feast of all the Feasts of Israel where shofars and trumpets are blown, but it isn’t the ‘last trumpet’ or shofar (1st Cor. 15:52). There are two other holy times after this (the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles) when trumpets and shofars are also sounded.

The Order of Events to Come

The following is an order of how events in the future may line up:

1.  The Tribulation (Rev. 6ff.) has begun. ‘Peace’ has been taken from the world with Muslim terrorism (Rev. 6:4).

a.   The anti-Christ comes and deceives the Jewish people and everyone who doesn’t believe in Yeshua. The anti-Christ (1st John 2:18; 4:3) will most likely be of Jewish descent in order to deceive the Jewish people and be a perverse reflection of Messiah.

b.   The Lamb’s Wife is ‘refined’ and made ready through the Tribulation (Rev. 19:7).

2.  Yeshua, the Word of God, comes on a white horse with the Army of Heaven (Rev. 19:11-16) and ends the Tribulation.

a.   The anti-Christ (Beast) and False Prophet are thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:20).

b.   Satan is bound for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3).

c.   Those beheaded in the Tribulation for the name of Messiah are resurrected and given glorified bodies. This is the first resurrection (Rev. 20:4-6).

d.   The ones glorified return with Messiah Yeshua on Yom Teruah to rule and reign in Jerusalem (Rev. 20:4-6).

1.   On this Yom Teruah the Jewish people see the Sign of the Son of Man returning (Mt. 24:30). All Israel is saved (Rom. 11:26; Is. 45:17) and Torah law, as Yeshua defines it, is instituted for His reign. Messiah takes the Throne of His father, King David (Luke 1:32-33). This is the fulfillment of Yom Teruah.

2.   Yeshua reigns as King of Israel in Jerusalem and rules for one thousand years (Rev. 19:11-16; 20:4-6). There is justice, peace and prosperity (Is. 9:6-7).

3.  After Messiah’s thousand year reign:

a.   Satan is released and has Gog and Magog to make war upon Jerusalem, but Gog and Magog are destroyed by God (Rev. 20:7-9).

1.   Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:10).

b.   The Rapture occurs (Rev. 20:11f; 2nd Thess. 4:16-17).

1.   The Great White Throne Judgment takes place (Rev. 20:11-15). This is the fulfillment of Yom Kipor (the Day of Atonement).

4.  After Judgment Day,

a.   the New Heavens and the New Earth appear (Rev. 21:1f.);

b.   the Marriage Supper of the Lamb takes place (Rev. 19:9; 21:1f.). This is the fulfillment of Sukote, God dwelling with His people Israel (Rev. 21:3-4).

5.  The Bride of Messiah Yeshua becomes His Wife:

a.   After the marriage of the Lamb and the seven day wedding Feast, the Wife spends eternity with Yeshua. This is the fulfillment of the 8th Day (Lev. 23:39), something ‘out of time’ (i.e. eternity; as there are only seven days in a week). The 8th Day is attached to Sukote’s seven days…there’s no gap between them, meaning that the Marriage–wedding feast blends seamlessly into the 8th Day (eternity). Even though it’s called the 8th day of Tabernacles, Tabernacles has only seven days (Lev. 23:39-40).

Another concept that is missed by the ‘rapture before, or mid-tribulation’ people is that they confuse trib­ulation with judgment. Noah being saved or delivered out of the Flood is a picture of Judgment Day. It wasn’t tribulation for Noah’s generation, but ‘final’ judgment. It was a picture of the time when all mankind will stand before the Lord. The righteous are saved and the wicked spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. Death in the time of the Flood was a picture of the eternal separation and punish­ment that await the wicked on Judgment Day.

Israel living in Egypt during all the plagues is a picture of us being in the world when the Lord’s trib­ulation or plagues come upon it. Israel wasn’t immune to the first three plagues, but after that, beginning with the fourth plague, Yahveh made a distinction between His people and the Egyptians. After the third plague the Hebrews weren’t effected. This will be the way it is for Israel, both Jew and Gentile who love Yeshua, in the days of the Great Tribulation. The plagues and mini-Judgment day in Egypt 3,400 years ago help us to understand not only what God has in store for the Earth, but also the difference between tribulation and judgment.

The Plagues of Egypt and the Great Tribulation

Of all the plagues that fell upon ancient Egypt, only two are not specifically mentioned in Revelation. First, I’ll list the ten plagues of Egypt in order to see them. Then I’ll arrange the plagues of Revelation around the ones of Egypt. I don’t know if the plagues of Revelation will follow this order, but just to make it easier for us to follow I’ve lined them up that way:

1... Ex. 7:20.............. The Nile river turned into blood
2... Ex. 8:2-3............. Frogs
3... Ex. 8:17.............. Lice
4... Ex. 8:21.............. Flies
5... Ex. 9:3................ Pestilence on livestock that kills them
6... Ex. 9:10.............. Boils
7... Ex. 9:18, 23-24... Hail ‘like never before’
8... Ex. 10:4.............. Locusts
9... Ex. 10:21............ Darkness
10. Ex. 12:12, 29-30. Death of the firstborn of Egypt

In Revelation the Two Witnesses have the same ability to turn water into blood as Moses did in the first plague of Egypt. They’re also able to unleash ‘every plague’ on the Earth as often as they desire:

Ex. 7:20-21: ‘So Moses and Aaron did even as Yahveh had commanded. And he lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. The fish that were in the Nile died and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile and the blood was through all the land of Egypt.’

•   Rev. 11:6: ‘These have the power to shut up the heavens so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying. And they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the Earth with every plague as often as they desire.’

•   Rev. 8:8-9: ‘The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea and a third of the sea became blood and a third of the creatures, which were in the sea and had life, died. And a third of the ships were destroyed.’

•   Rev. 16:3-4: ‘The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea and it became blood like that of a dead man and every living thing in the sea died. Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters and they became blood.’

The parallel between the first plague in Egypt by Moses, and the ability of the two witness (and the angels) to turn the waters into blood is quite striking. This is only the beginning of the parallels and should alert us to the probability that the Bride is still on Earth at this time, just as the Hebrews were still in Egypt. The Hebrews would stay in Egypt until the day of judgment (Ex. 12:12).

The second plague that Moses brought upon Egypt was the overrunning of the land with frogs. Frogs were worshipped by the Egyptians, as was the Nile River, which ‘gave them life.’ Without the Nile River as a water source Egypt would never have existed. The prophetic picture of the plague of frogs is that three demonic frogs come upon the Earth. The magicians imitated both the plague of frogs and the Nile (water) being turned into blood. As Moses brought up an overwhelming number of frogs, so too, were the Egyptian magicians able to do so. It would seem that they should have tried to get rid of the frogs instead of making more, but this only confirms that their wisdom was foolishness. In their ability to make frogs come forth may lie some insight into what we see arising in Revelation. First Egypt and then the Tribulation:

Ex. 8:6-7: ‘So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.’ And the magicians did so with their sorcery and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.’

•   Rev. 16:12-14: ‘The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates, and its water was dried up so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the Dragon and out of the mouth of the Beast and out of the mouth of the False Prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God the Almighty.’

This also reveals that this happens during the Tribulation and not after Yeshua’s thousand year reign because the Beast and the False Prophet are taken from the Earth by Yeshua when He returns to set up His Kingdom:

Rev. 19:20: ‘And the Beast was seized and with him the False Prophet who performed the signs in his presence by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the Beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire which burns with brimstone.’

Rev. 20:10: ‘And the Devil who deceived them was thrown into the Lake of Fire and brimstone where the Beast and the False Prophet are also and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.’

In-between Rev. 19:20 and 20:10 is the thousand year reign of Yeshua. Rev. 16:12-14 is part of the Great Tribulation before Messiah returns; the Beast and False Prophet are still working on Earth, but Satan, having been bound for a thousand years, will return for one final stand against Yeshua:

Rev. 20:1: ‘Then I saw an angel coming down from Heaven, holding the key of the Abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the Dragon, the Serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years and he threw him into the Abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed. After these things he must be released for a short time.’

In Rev. 20:7-10 it speaks of Satan being released from the Abyss. He then causes the nations to come against Jerusalem and the saints. This is known as the war of Gog and Magog. Satan will then be thrown into the fires of Hell and then the Rapture will take place. It’s the last thing that will happen on the Earth before the Great White Throne Judgment.

The third[30] and fourth plagues, of lice and flies (some say gnats instead of lice) have no specific parallel in Revelation, but this doesn’t mean that those plagues won’t be seen. Rev. 11:6 says that the Two Witnesses will be able ‘to strike the Earth with every plague as often as they desire.’

The fifth plague of pestilence[31] also has its counterpart in Revelation. First, the pestilence in Egypt:

Ex. 9:2-4: ‘For if you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them, behold! The Hand of Yahveh will come with a very severe pestilence on your livestock, which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds and on the flocks, but Yahveh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the Sons of Israel.’

•   Rev. 6:8: ‘I looked, and behold! An ashen horse and he who sat on it had the name Death, and Hades followed behind him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the Earth to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the Earth.’

•   Rev. 18:8: ‘For this reason, in one day, her plagues will come—pestilence, mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire, for the Lord God who judges her is strong.’

The sixth plague is boils. A number of English translations opt to use the word ‘sores,’ instead of boils, but the word in both Greek and Hebrew mean the exact same thing—boils:

Ex. 9:8: “Then Yahveh said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Take for yourselves handfuls of soot from a kiln and let Moses throw it toward the Heavens in the sight of Pharaoh.’”

Ex. 9:9: ‘It will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt and will become festering boils breaking out on man and beast through all the land of Egypt.’

Ex. 9:10: ‘So they took soot from a kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it toward the Heavens and it became festering boils breaking out on man and beast.’

Ex. 9:11: ‘The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians.’

•   Rev. 16:2: ‘So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the Earth and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the Beast and who worshiped his image.’

•   Rev. 16:11: ‘and they blasphemed the God of the Heavens because of their pains and their sores. And they did not repent of their deeds.’

The Greek word for sore in Rev. 16:2 is hel’kos ‘ελκος. In Rev. 16:11, hel’cone ‘ελκων[32] is used for sores. It means, ‘an ulcer, sore.’[33] The Septuagint, in Ex. 9:9-11, uses the Greek word hel’kay ‘ελκη[34] for boils. It’s the plural of the Greek word in Rev. 16:2 for sore. The ancient Jewish sages who translated the Hebrew Bible into the Greek Septuagint about 250 BC used the Greek word for sore and sores that we see in Revelation. The slight difference in sound and spelling comes from them being different parts of speech, but they all come from the same word. They mean the exact same thing, ‘a boil, a festering, ulcerous sore.’[35]

The Hebrew word that is used in Ex. 9:9-11, translated as ‘boils,’ is shih’heen שְׁחִין.[36] It means, ‘boil, sore, ulcer.’[37] From both the Hebrew and the Greek texts of Exodus, the meaning of the Greek words in Rev. 16:2, 11, where ‘sore’ and ‘sores’ is used, lines up identically with the boils that came upon Egypt in the sixth plague. No wonder the Egyptian magicians didn’t want to stand before Moses. The Great Tribulation is going to be a repetition of the Plagues that fell upon Egypt, only on a grander scale.

The seventh plague upon the land of Egypt was hail like they had never seen. It’s counterpart is waiting ‘in the wings’ of the Tribulation:

Ex. 9:23-24: ‘Moses stretched out his staff toward the Heavens and Yahveh sent thunder and hail, and fire (lightning) ran down upon the Earth. And Yahveh rained hail on the land of Egypt. So, there was hail and fire (lightning) flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very severe, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.’

•   Rev. 8:7: ‘The first’ (heavenly shofar) ‘sounded and there came hail and fire mixed with blood and they were thrown to the Earth. And a third of the Earth was burned up and a third of the trees were burned up and all the green grass was burned up.’

•   Rev. 16:21: ‘And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from the Heavens upon men. And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail because its plague was extremely severe.’

The eighth plague upon Egypt was locusts. It, too, shall be replicated in the Great Tribulation:

Ex. 10:12-13: “Then Yahveh said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt and eat every plant of the land, even all that the hail has left. So, Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt and Yahveh directed an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. And when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.’”

Ex. 10:14-15: ‘The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled in all the territory of Egypt. They were very numerous. There had never been so many locusts, nor would there be so many again. For they covered the surface of the whole land so that the land was darkened. And they ate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Thus, nothing green was left on tree or plant of the field through all the land of Egypt.’

•   Rev. 9:3: ‘Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the Earth and power was given them, as the scorpions of the Earth have power.’

•   Rev. 9:7: ‘The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. And on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold and their faces were like the faces of men.’

The locusts in Revelation don’t seem to be of the same variety as the ones that came upon Egypt. With faces like men and the power of a scorpion, they’re a new breed. Their ancestors left their mark upon the Egyptians and I’m sure these will have a similar effect upon their spiritual brethren (i.e. those in the world that, like the Egyptians, cursed God instead of bowing in humble repentance).

The ninth plague of darkness also has its counterpart in the Great Tribulation:

Ex. 10:21-22: “Then Yahveh said to Moses, ‘‘Stretch out your hand toward the Hea­vens that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt.’ So Moses stretched out his hand toward the Heavens and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.”

•    Rev. 6:12: ‘I looked when He broke the sixth seal and there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair and the whole moon became like blood’.

•    Rev. 8:12: ‘The fourth angel sounded and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it and the night in the same way.’

The sun becoming black and darkened, so that it wouldn’t shine for a third of the day (a third of the Earth?) is very similar to what it must have been like in ancient Egypt. Yeshua also affirms that there will be darkness during the Tribulation when He says, ‘But in those days…the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light’ (Mark 13:24).

Before Yeshua was crucified on the tree, darkness came over the land of Israel for six hours.[38] On the tree He took our just punishment upon Himself, dying to experience our judgment. As there was darkness before Yahveh struck Egypt’s first born, so there was darkness before Yahveh stuck His First Born Son (Is. 53:10). Perhaps this is the reason why the Earth experiences that darkness? It refuses to accept what the Father has done for it in sending His Son to take their just punishment and judgment (Rev. 9:20-21).

The tenth and final disaster brought upon Egypt, although categorized with the plagues, is actually a mini-Judgment Day. The plagues of tribulation have stopped with the ninth plague of darkness, and judgment, final Judgment upon Egypt, is about to take place with the death of the first born sons of Egypt. After that, the Sons of Israel will no longer be in the land of their slavery. The plagues of Egypt seem to be a forerunner for the plagues of the Great Tribulation and the setting up of Messiah’s Kingdom of a thousand years. The tenth ‘plague’ upon Egypt is not really a plague in the traditional sense of the word, but as Yahveh Himself says, a time of judgment:

Ex. 12:12-13: ‘For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and  will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments, I am Yahveh. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live and when I see the blood, I will pass over you and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.’

Ex. 12:29-30: ‘Now it came about at midnight that Yahveh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead.’

The first nine plagues of tribulation were a time for the Egyptians to turn away from their idols and worship the Living God. It was Pharaoh’s opportunity to humble himself and bow down before the God of the Hebrews. The tenth ‘plague’ was a mini-Judgment Day, as Yahveh could have destroyed all the Egyptians, but choose to restrict the judgment of death to only the firstborn. The firstborn represent all the people. They are the ‘cream of the crop.’ Yahveh left the others alive so that His Name would be magnified (Ex. 9:16). After the Great Tribulation will come the thousand year reign of Messiah and then the Great White Throne Judgment. Before this time though, as in the days of Pharaoh, God will give the peoples of the Earth who have not humbled themselves before Him, a chance to do so, and then the Judgment:

Rev. 20:7-10: ‘When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations, which are in the four corners of the Earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war. The number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the Land (of Israel) and surrounded the Camp of the holy ones and the beloved City’ (Jerusalem) ‘and Fire came down from the Heavens and devoured them. And the Devil who deceived them was thrown into the Lake of Fire and brimstone where the Beast and the False Prophet are also. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.’

Rev. 20:11-12: ‘Then I saw a great white Throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose Presence the Earth and the Heavens fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the Throne, and books were opened, and another book was opened which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.’

Rev. 20:13-15: ‘And the sea gave up the dead, which were in it and Death and Hades gave up the dead, which were in them and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death, the Lake of Fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire.’

Many have misconstrued the Great Tribulation as the time when the Church will be taken out of the world, thinking that tribulation and judgment are the same, but Yahveh allowed His people Israel to be in the tribulation of plagues upon Egypt and even allowed them to be effected by the first three plagues. With the fourth plague though, Yahveh made a distinction between Israel and Egypt. It seems that something similar will happen in the Great Tribulation.[39]

The parallels between the plagues in Egypt and the plagues upon the Earth in what is known as the Great Tribulation are more than coincidental. The plagues of Egypt establish a pattern that Yahveh will follow before He establishes His Messiah-King upon Mount Zion (Ps. 2:2, 6-7). The stubborn­ness that Egypt displayed will once again be seen during the Tribulation, as men and women, not wanting to worship their Creator-Savior, choose to openly defy and rebel against Him.

The Distinction

By the fourth plague in Egypt, Yahveh began making a distinction between His people and the people who were in the kingdom of darkness. Egypt is a mini-picture of this present perverse and sinful world called Babylon (Rev. 14:8, etc.). Pharaoh, with his very hard and stubborn heart, is a picture of Satan. Yahveh, in His mercy and grace, did not allow the fourth through the ninth plagues to come upon Israel. Of course, with the tenth plague of judgment, Israel was saved by the blood of the lamb. The distinction begins with the fourth plague upon Egypt and points to believers being in the Trib­ulation. This distinction is also seen in the fifth, ninth and tenth plagues upon Egypt:

Ex. 8:21-23: ‘For if you do not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and on your servants and on your people and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies, and also, the ground on which they dwell, but on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen where My people are living so that no swarms of flies will be there in order that you may know that I, Yahveh, am in the midst of the land. I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow, this sign will occur!’ (The fourth plague)

Ex. 9:4: ‘But Yahveh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the Sons of Israel.’ (The fifth plague)

Exodus 10:23: ‘They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the Sons of Israel had light in their dwellings.’ (The ninth plague)

Ex. 11:7: ‘But against any of the Sons of Israel, a dog will not even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may understand how Yahveh makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ (The tenth ‘plague’ of judgment)

Even though plagues six, seven and eight are not specifically mentioned as a ‘distinction,’ it would seem reasonable to think that the Sons of Israel continued to enjoy their advantage. This distinction between God’s people and the Egyptians is very similar to what we read about in Revelation during the time of the Great Tribulation concerning the locusts:

Rev. 9:1-5: ‘Then the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star from the Heavens which had fallen to the Earth and the key of the Bottomless Pit was given to him. He opened the Bottomless Pit and smoke went up out of the Pit like the smoke of a great furnace and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the Pit. Then, out of the smoke came locusts upon the Earth and power was given them as the scorpions of the Earth have power.’

‘They were told not to hurt the grass of the Earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the Seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months. And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man.’

As it was in the days of Moses, so it will be in the days of the Great Tribulation. The people of Yahveh, those that have the Seal of God upon their foreheads, will not be effected by those locusts. There will be a distinction between God’s people and the wicked. I think that the Seal of God is the Name of Yeshua, written in His blood, placed upon the forehead by the Finger of God, the Spirit of Yahveh. As the blood of the lamb protected Israel in Egypt from the sting of death, so too, will the blood of the Lamb protect those from the sting of the scorpion:

Rev. 14:1: ‘Then I looked, and behold! The Lamb was standing on Mount Zion and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Name and the Name of His Father, written on their foreheads.’

A strong parallel exists between the plagues of Egypt and Revelation, and a conceptual framework also exists for believers to be protected from much of God’s wrath to come in the Great Tribulation.

The Refiner’s Fire

As it was in the days of Moses, so it will be in the End of Time. First the plagues of Tribulation and then the Judgment. The reason why the Bride of Messiah must go through the Tribulation, and not be taken out of it before it starts, is because Yahveh will use this time to purify Her:

Zechariah 13:9: “And I will bring the third part through the fire and refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My Name and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘Yahveh is my God.’”

Malachi 3:3: ‘He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the Sons of Levi[40] and refine them as gold and silver, so that they may present to Yah­veh sacrifices in righteousness.’

Interesting to see is how the use of the phrase ‘the third part’ going through the fire mirrors ‘de­struction’ in Rev. 8:7:

‘The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the Earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.’[41]

For the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth to ‘take out’ the Bride before the fire gets hot (the Great Tribulation) is not in line conceptually with how Yahveh refines His people Israel. Scripturally, we’ve seen that God allowed Israel to experience the first three plagues upon Egypt, but with the fourth, He made a distinction between His people and those of darkness, but Israel remained in Egypt until Judgment Day.

Yeshua will be with us in the Tribulation, protecting us as He did those three Hebrew young men in Babylon. You might know them by their Babylonian names, given to them by their captors, but their Hebrew names were Azariah, Hananiah and Mishael. Their names mean, ‘Yahveh is my helper…the grace of Yahveh,’ and ‘one who is what God is,’ respectively. You don’t want to know the meaning of the names that the Babylonians gave them.[42] These young men went through a time of testing and great tribulation, also.

The King of Babylon had made a gold image of himself and commanded all his subjects to worship the image (Dan. 3:1f.). Anyone who failed to worship the image was to die. The Hebrew young men respectfully refused to bow down to his image in gold. We pick up on their discourse with the king as they are about to be thrown into the blazing fire:

Daniel 3:17-18: ‘If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and He will deliver us out of your hand, Oh king, but even if He does not, let it be known to you, Oh king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the image of gold that you have set up.’

Dan. 3:19-21: ‘Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire. Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their turbans and their other clothes and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.’

Dan. 3:22-23: ‘For this reason, because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, but these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.’

Dan. 3:24-25: “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste. He said to his high officials, ‘Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?!’ They replied to the king, ‘Certainly, Oh king!’ He said, ‘Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm and the appearance of the fourth is like the Son of God!’”

What marvelous faith Azariah, Hananiah and Mishael had in the God of Israel, and what godly respect they had for the King of Babylon, the chief authority on Earth at that time. The Hebrew young men were not rebelliously defiant toward the king. They submitted to his authority and voiced their reasons for choosing death over worship of an idol. May we be like them when our time comes.

The worship of an image in Babylon is identical to what we read about in Revelation. The pattern is the same. Those who won’t bow down to the image of the Beast, or take his mark upon their hand or forehead, will not be able to buy or sell.[43] Their punishment will also be death:

Rev. 13:14-15: ‘And he deceives those who dwell on the Earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the Beast, telling those who dwell on the Earth to make an image to the Beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the Beast, so that the image of the Beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the Beast to be killed.’[44]

Rev. 13:16-17: ‘And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the Beast or the number of his name.’

The Beast will destroy many of God’s people at that time, as is evident from Rev. 20:4, but those that die at the hands of the Beast will have their reward, as well as those who serve the Beast:

Rev. 15:2: ‘And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with Fire, and those who had been victorious over the Beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God.’

Rev. 16:2: ‘So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the Earth and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the Beast and who worshiped his image.’

Rev. 20:4: ‘Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Yeshua and because of the Word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand.[45]And they came to life and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years.’

In the Babylon of King Nebuchadnezzar there was an image that everyone was commanded to worship. Anyone who didn’t would die. In the Babylon of Revelation[46] there will be an image that men will be commanded to worship, with death being the penalty for disobedience. As it was in ancient Babylon, so shall it be in Babylon at the End of Time.

As the three Hebrew men were delivered by the Lord Yeshua, there will be many believers delivered by the Lord again. That doesn’t mean that many won’t give their life for His Name (Rev. 20:4). Those placing their hopes in a rapture before the Tribulation may not be prepared to die for His Name. They will be ‘caught off guard,’ so to speak, having swallowed a false teaching. They may not be able to resist the overwhelming temptation to deny Him, so they and their family might live for a few more days. Without the ability to buy food staring them in the face, many will take the mark of the Beast.

Yeshua came and walked with those three Jewish men. He didn’t take them out, He made a way for them to live in the midst of the fire. It’s so very natural, carnal actually, for us not to want to get hurt. We want an escape route so that we don’t have to deal with pain, whether in our everyday lives or the Tribulation, but this is not the Way of our God and Savior who was brutally beaten to within an inch of His life and then pierced to a wooden pole. His dying like that didn’t make those who followed Him any less susceptible to pain and death. The history of the martyrs, and all those who have been persecuted for carrying His Name, show us that. Belief in Yeshua is not a magic charm that protects us from pain, suffering and death. His death and resurrection give us a real hope that in our death, we will find Him our Friend on the Day of Judgment.

Yom Teruah is going to be fulfilled with great shouting and praise to the Lord. Many think that it symbolizes the ‘catching away’ of the Church before the Great Tribulation, but this isn’t Scriptural. It cannot be found conceptually, or specifically, in any Scripture. On the contrary, the Father will use the Tribulation to purify His Son’s Bride.

Yeshua will return on Yom Teruah and set up His thousand year kingdom in Jerusalem. This is when the Temple of Ezekiel (Ezk. 40-48) will be built, with Yeshua as the Prince (Ezk. 46:4, 12; 45:16, 22).

The Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb

First tribulation, then judgment, and then new life. This new life was seen in the days of Moses when the Sons of Israel stood on the other side of the Red Sea and saw their enemies dead. The concept of what happened in the days of Moses, to Egypt and Israel, sets in motion a pattern for the Great Trib­ulation, the Final Judgment, and new life for Israel in the New Jerusalem. This is further seen in what is sung by the Bride of Messiah Yeshua in Revelation:

•   Ex. 15:1-2: “Then Moses and the Sons of Israel sang this song to Yahveh and said, ‘I will sing to Yahveh for He is highly exalted! The horse and its rider He has hurled into the Sea! Yah is my strength and song and He has become my Salvation. This is my God, and I will praise Him! My father’s God! I will extol Him!’

•   Exodus 15:3-5: ‘Yahveh is a Man of war. Yahveh is His Name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the Sea and the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea! The deeps cover them! They went down into the depths like a stone!’

•   Ex. 15:6-8: ‘Your right hand, Oh Yahveh, is majestic in power! Your right hand, Oh Yahveh, shatters the enemy and in the greatness of Your excellence, You overthrow those who rise up against You! You send forth Your burning anger and it consumes them as chaff!’

•   Ex. 15:8-10: “At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up. The flowing waters stood up like a heap. The deeps were congealed in the heart of the Sea. The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil! My desire shall be gratified against them! I will draw out my sword; my hand will destroy them!’ You blew with Your breath and the Sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters!”

•   Ex. 15:11-13: ‘Who is like You among the gods, Oh Yahveh?! Who is like You majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?! You stretched out Your right hand and the Earth swallowed them. In Your forgiving loving kindness,You have led the people whom You have redeemed. In Your strength, You have guided them to Your holy habitation.’

•   Ex. 15:14-16: ‘The peoples have heard, they tremble. Anguish has gripped the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. The leaders of Moab, trembling grips them. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them. By the greatness of Your arm they are motionless as stone until Your people pass over, Oh Yahveh, until the people pass over whom You have created.’

•   Ex. 15:17-18: ‘You will bring them and plant them in the Mountain of Your inheritance. The place, Oh Yahveh, which You have made for Your dwelling. The Sanctuary, Oh Yahveh, which Your hands have established. Yahveh shall reign forever and ever!’[47]

The Song of Moses at the Red Sea[48] is filled with glorious praise to Yahveh. He delivered the Hebrews from the brutal slavery of Pharaoh, vanquished Israel’s enemy in the Sea, and brought Israel to His holy Mountain where His Presence dwelt. It’s there that the ‘marriage vows’ were exchanged, as each promised to be faithful to the other. This is called covenant and it’s the common Jewish (and biblical) understanding of what transpired at Mt. Sinai.[49]

This is a picture of the End of Time. The Red Sea, where all Pharaoh’s chariots and army drowned was known to the ancients as ‘the Sea at the End of the World.’ The ancients believed that the world was created out of the waters, which is what Scripture says:

Genesis 1:9-10: “Then God said, ‘Let the waters below the Heavens be gathered into one place and let the dry land appear’ and it was so. God called the dry land Earth and the gathering of the waters He called seas, and God saw that it was good.”

Before the Creation, though, to the ancients (and unlike our concept of time and space) the waters were known as ‘Chaos.’[50] They saw that beyond the Red Sea, toward the south, lie Chaos or ‘utter nothingness.’ If a man were to go there, he would not only lose his life, but also his very soul and existence. He would have no ‘after-life.’

The Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea symbolized total annihilation. They weren’t only dead, but their ‘names’ were no more. To not have one’s name continue was to be as if he had never existed.[51] This is very similar to what will happen to the wicked as they try to cross over to the ‘other side’ on Judgment Day (the Song; Ex. 15:14-16).

The Song of Moses reinforces the concept that the Bride will go through the Great Tribulation, be judged as righteous at the Great White Throne, and then enter into Eternity with our God and Savior. The next place that Israel goes after the Red Sea, after the final judgment upon Egypt, is the Mountain of Yahveh, Mount Sinai. It’s here that they actually ‘meet’ Yahveh, see Him, hear His Voice amidst the Fire, the Smoke and the Cloud, and eat in His Presence.[52] The Covenant was sealed with blood (Ex. 24) and Israel was married to Yahveh. This is a picture of what awaits us in the New Jerusalem.

Yom Teruah in the Days of Yeshua

The center of the celebration for Yom Teruah in the days of Messiah would have been the Temple in Jerusalem. Yahveh commanded all the males to present themselves to Him there for the three great Feasts (Ex. 23:17, Dt. 16:16). Even though Yom Teruah isn’t one of the three major Feasts, it falls only 15 days before Tabernacles and many would have already come to Jerusalem from all over Israel, and the other nations (where the Jewish people were scattered; Acts 2:7-11).

In ancient Jerusalem the shofars and the trumpets would be blasting and the cymbals and other musical instruments would be playing at the times of the daily sacrifices; morning and late afternoon. The sacrifices would be made with their grain and wine offerings:

Num. 29:1-2: ‘Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you must also have a holy assembly. You must do no work. It will be to you a day of Joy unspeakable. You must offer a burnt sacrifice as a sweet aroma to Yahveh: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without defect,’

Num. 29:3-4: ‘also their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs.’

Num. 29:5-6: ‘Sacrifice one male goat for a sin sacrifice, to make atonement for you, besides the dedication sacrifice of the New Moon and its grain sacrifice, and the continual dedication sacrifice and its grain sacrifice, and their wine sacrifices, according to their ordinance, for a sweet aroma, a sacrifice made by fire to Yahveh.’

The dedication sacrifice of verse two was pleasing to Yahveh in that it pictured Yeshua being totally submitted to the will of His Father. It also pictured Israel in that they were called to be totally dedicated to Yahveh. Because of His blood sacrifice, Israel can now walk in that total dedication by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The accompanying grain sacrifices (vv. 3-4), picture Yeshua as being crushed (His crucifixion), because grain has to be crushed in order for it to be used as bread. Yeshua is the Bread of Life (Jn. 6:47-59). He’s the true heavenly Bread or Manna from the Heavens. Within the grain sacrifice, pure olive oil was required, which pictured the Holy Spirit within Yeshua. When He was crushed, like an olive, the oil of the Spirit came forth for Israel (Jn. 16:7).

Ancient Israel saw the grain sacrifice as an offering to Yahveh that spoke of Him bringing Israel into the Land that He swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and giving them food to sustain their lives. This was the heart of their provision for food. Grain which would become edible bread, after it was crushed and put in the fire (a picture of Yeshua as the Bread of Life, crushed in order to be eaten; Jn. 6:53). Israel was thankful for the continual provision, as we are.

The wine sacrifice (libation or drink offering) would have been done for these specific sacrifices, and also, for the daily sacrifices (Num. 28:7), and the monthly sacrifices (Num. 28:14). The wine, like the grain, must first be crushed so that Israel could drink it. Israel saw this as an additional blessing, wine being a symbol of both sacrifice[53] and joy:

Psalm 104:15: ‘And wine which makes man’s heart glad, olive oil to make his face shine, and bread which sustains man’s heart.’

The sin sacrifice of Num. 29:5 portrays Yeshua dying for our sins. Verse six calls Israel to remember that both the daily sacrifices and the New Moons, were also to be made.[54]

In the morning at sunrise, Psalm 81 would have been sung by the Levites during the time of the sacrifice. It speaks of salvation from Egypt. In the late afternoon sacrifice, Psalm 29 would be sung. It speaks of Yahveh’s power and ability to give Shalom (True Peace). All the people would be singing and worshiping Yahveh, the shofars and trumpets, etc., would be playing, calling the people to enter into the Joy of the great salvation that Yahveh had given them. When they weren’t at the Temple they would be feasting among their brethren in the City of the great King (Ps. 48:2; Mt. 5:35).

How Judaism Celebrates the Day

With no Temple, the Jewish people don’t have sacrifice today, although some Orthodox Jews who under­stand the importance of the blood sacrifice will sacrifice a chicken on the ninth of the month, a day before the Day of Atonement.[55] Many will go to Jerusalem for the feast. It will also be celebrated all over the world, as there are Jewish communities in almost every nation under the sun.

In Judaism, Yom Teruah is better known as Rosh HaShannah (lit. ‘Head of the Year’) or New Year’s Day. On this day the (civil) year in Judaism changes. For instance, Wednesday night at dark, Sept. 22nd, 2010 (Rosh HaShannah) became the year 5771 in Judaism.[56] In the Talmud this day is seen as the first day of Creation, although not all the ancient Rabbis considered it as such.[57] Seeing Yom Teruah as the beginning of God’s Creation is rabbinic tradition. There is no Scripture to support it.

Interestingly enough, there are five New Year’s days:

1.  The first of Aviv (Ex. 13:4; etc.) is called the 1st of Nisan today. The first of Aviv is the day that Yahveh established for the beginning of the New Year for Israel in Ex. 12:2: ‘This month shall be the beginning of months for you. It’s to be the first month of the year for you.’ It corresponds from mid-March to mid-April. This is the biblical New Year. The Rabbis call it the re­ligious new year.

•    The first of Aviv is the day from which the Passover and all the Feasts are calculated. That’s why it’s important to know when the new moons occur in Israel because they determine the first of any biblical month. The Rabbis don’t follow this any longer, and so, about 85% of the time their new moons (months) and feast dates are wrong. The Rabbis don’t go by the actual sighting of the new moon, which is the biblical way a new month begins, but by an antiquated, calculated calendar from the third century that is off by one to two days every month.[58] That’s why we don’t follow the traditional rabbinic Jewish calendar for the dating of the new moons or the Feasts.

2.  The first of Elul, the sixth month. This was the new year for tithing on all animals born during the past year. This corresponds from mid-August to mid-September.

3.  The first day of Aetanim (Ethanim; 1st Kgs. 8:2) called Tishri today, the seventh month.[59] This is the day of Yom Teruah, which the Rabbis call Rosh HaShannah instead (from the Talmud). It’s more than just a name change. The Rabbis have turned the day ‘upside-down.’ More on this in a mo­ment.

4.  The tenth of Tishri in the seventh month. The Sabbatical Year and the Year of Jubilee[60] begin in this month on the Day of Atonement (the tenth day of the seventh month). This corresponds from mid-September to mid-October. Although the sabbatical and jubilee years don’t occur every year, when they do (the 7th and 49th years) they begin a new sabbatical or jubilee year, which actually runs for a year and a half, until the first of Aviv

 5.  The fifteenth of Shevat, the eleventh month: This is the new year for planting trees.[61] This corresponds from mid-January to mid-February.[62]

The traditional Jewish people observe Rosh HaShannah for two days. This is because in ancient times the communicating of the new moon for the seventh month to all the Jewish people outside the Land would have been hard to do. The sighting of the new moon was made from Israel and relayed to all the Jewish communities from Rome to Babylon. Therefore, a tradition arose of observing it for two days, which goes against Scripture, and no amount of reasoning and modern technology (emails) will change that now.

Many wear white clothing when they to the synagogue, which symbolizes purity and humility, as the central theme of the day is prayers of petition. It has long been seen by the Rabbis as the Day of Judgment for all the world, ‘when the fate of each man for the coming year is inscribed in the Book of Life.’[63] This is not biblical, but very perverse because it changes God’s theme for the day (rejoicing for all that He has done) to repentance, a noble concept, but totally out of place on Yom Teruah. It’s not seen as a day of tremendous Joy, but distorted to deal with one’s personal sins; a form of judgment, as seen in that any rash vows must be nullified on this day. The Rabbis say that the sin of ‘having spoken and not performed’ is to go no further than Rosh HaShannah.

The Rabbis state that one must free himself ‘of the sin of such violations before being judged on Rosh HaShannah.’[64] Yom Teruah, the day of unspeakable joy, has been made into a mini-Day of Atone­ment, or Judgment Day, by the Rabbis.[65] This is not biblical and corrupts the true meaning of the day. This is not only Man dealing with his sins in his own way, but also chokes the holy joy out of the day that Yahveh established. The Day of Atonement is the day that Yahveh made to deal with the sins of Israel, not Yom Teruah.

In the synagogue on Rosh HaShannah, the shofar will be blown 100 times (a rabbinic tradition). Upon hearing it the Rabbis say that one is to remember that Yom Kipor is just nine days away, on the tenth of the month. It’s seen as a time ‘to get right’ with one’s friends and neighbors and prepare to stand before God on ‘Judgment Day,’ the Day of Atonement. It’s a time of repentance or allowing God to search the soul for any wrong doings over the previous year to one’s fellow man.[66] The need to remember that Yom Kipor, the Day of Atonement, is nine days later puts a rabbinic monkey wrench into the day.

The 100 blasts of the shofar are not to remind one of joy. The Rabbis say that the sounds of the shofar are a call to those asleep. It’s time to wake up from the illusion because the Day of Judgment draws near. It’s a great concept, but totally out of place for Yom Teruah. Maimonides, a revered rabbi, also known as the Rambam (1135–1204 AD), wrote that the Scriptural precept to blow the shofar on this Rosh HaShannah means this:

‘Awake, you sleepers from your sleep, and ponder over your deeds. Remember your Creator and return to Him in contrition. Be not of those who miss realities in their pursuit of shadows and waste their years in seeking after vain things, which cannot profit or deliver. Look well to your souls and consider your acts. Forsake each of you his wrong ways and improper thoughts and return to God so that He may have mercy upon you.’ (Hil. Teshuva 3:4)

This would be wonderful for the Day of Atonement. It’s certainly a profound concept. Unfortunately, Yahveh didn’t intend that Yom Teruah should be seen as such. The Rabbis go on to say that it’s a time to re-surrender one’s life to the Lord, as the Fathers of the faith, Abraham and Isaac, had to do on Mt. Moriah. The connection between those Fathers and Yom Teruah is the ram lamb caught in the bush by its horns.[67]

The ram’s horns (“shofars”) held the lamb-ram in the bush for Abraham to sacrifice in place of his son, Isaac, after the Messenger of Yahveh (Yeshua; commonly misnamed in English the Angel of the Lord), stopped the sacrifice from taking place.[68] In hearing the shofar the Jewish people are to see them­selves called up to Mt. Moriah to surrender their lives anew. Genesis 22, the account of Abraham ready to sacrifice Isaac, is read every day for the nine days leading up to the Day of Atonement. The theme for the Jewish community is repentance. The Rabbis say that it’s also a time for God to remember the faith of Abraham and to have mercy upon His children Israel, which is pitiful because we can only stand before God on our faith, not the faith of our Fathers.

Isaac, the ideal Jew, reveals a man who willingly surrendered to the will of his father. Of course, he’s a picture of Yeshua fully surrendering to the will of His Father. Because Isaac allowed his father to be the authority in his life, Isaac experienced teruah, joy unspeakable. He saw God’s provision for his life as he laid his life down. Because Abraham obeyed God, even at the cost of his most precious posses­sion, he, too, experienced teruah and became the Father of the faith (Rom. 4:16), a model to all of us concerning faith and trust in God.

The shofar is also a picture of meeting God (Ex. 19:16ff.). An angel blew the heavenly shofar as Yahveh, the King of Israel, descended upon Mt. Sinai. It’s also a picture of freedom, the shofar being blown in the Year of Jubilee to announce freedom to all (Lev. 25:9-10), and in Isaiah 27:13 it speaks of the heavenly shofar being blown when God gathers the House of Israel to Himself in the Land He gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob:

‘It will come about also in that Day that a great shofar will be blown and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt, will come and worship Yahveh on the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem.’

In the month of Elul, the month preceding Rosh HaShannah, Jews will greet one another with, ‘May you be inscribed for a good year’ (in the Book of Life). It can be shortened to, ‘A good year.’ Every day in the synagogue the shofar is blown to remind everyone that they need to repent because they are getting closer to Rosh HaShannah and the Day of Atonement.[69]

In the synagogue on Rosh HaShannah, and in the home, sliced apples will be dipped in honey and eaten. The blessing that people say to one another is, ‘May you be inscribed for a good and sweet year.’ It’s believed that on Rosh HaShannah the events for the coming year are written in God’s Book. This, of course, is also unscriptural.

From the second through the ninth days of Tishri (the days before Yom Kipor: the Day of Atonement), Jewish people greet one another with, ‘May the final seal for you be for good.’ The Rabbis believe that on Yom Kipor the events for the coming year will be sealed. These ten days, from Yom Teruah to Yom Kipor, are known in Judaism as the Days of Awe because one is compelled to look at their standing with God, another good concept, but not something for Yom Teruah.

Tishri is the Jewish name given to the seventh biblical month. It was taken from the Babylonians when Judah was in Babylonian captivity. It means, ‘beginning’ in the Babylonian language[70] and is probably where the Rabbis got the idea to make the seventh month of the biblical year, the month for the beginning of Creation. The biblical name for the seventh month is found in 1st Kings 8:2. There it’s called Ethanim (Aetanim אֵתָנִים). Aetanim means, ‘constancy of streams,’[71] most likely from the amount of rainfall at that time of year.

There is a special bread that is made called challah (pronounced hal’lah). It’s eaten every Friday evening of the seventh day Sabbath. It’s braided and made with eggs, flour and sugar, etc. The challah that’s used for Rosh HaShannah is round, symbolizing the return of a ‘new year.’

In many Sefardic and Ashkenazic homes the head of a sheep or a fish will be served and eaten.[72] This is supposed to picture the biblical statement that if Israel follows the commandments of Yahveh, they will be the ‘head of the nations’ and not the tail.[73] Also, the head of a fish is eaten so that one can be ‘fruitful and multiply like fish.[74] Superstition plays an important part in these rituals. Eating the heads of fish or sheep is not commanded in the Scriptures to be the ‘head of the nations.’ Following the co­mmandments are what God is concerned with.

There are many other foods that are eaten for symbolic and superstitious reasons in the Ash­kenazic community. Carrots and pomegranates are eaten so that God might increase their good deeds or merits.[75] The gourd[76] is eaten so that the decree of their judgment for punishment be ‘torn asunder’ and that their merits (good deeds) would be displayed before Yahveh.[77] Dates, beets, leeks or cabbage are eaten so that enemies and adversaries can be ‘decimated and removed.’[78]

Dates, figs and pomegranates are also part of the celebration for those in Israel because they ripen in September. Yeshua would have eaten them on Yom Teruah, as well as King David. Aside from thank­ing God for the good things that He provides, I don’t think that either one of them would have attach­ed symbolic significance to the food.

Tashleek—Bread Crumbs on the Water

In the Ashkenazic Community there’s a ceremony called Tashleek that’s performed in the afternoon of Rosh HaShan­nah. Tashleek means, ‘to cast’ or to throw:

‘Prayers are recited near a stream or body of water, preferably where there are fish, symbolizing protection against the evil eye. Originally, bread crumbs were thrown to the fish as part of the ritual. The prayers derive chiefly from Micah 7:10-20 (‘Thou wilt cast their sins into the sea’). Scholars believe that the ritual originated in Germany during the 14th cent., possibly adopted from the non-Jewish environment.’[79]

The fish that devoured those bread crumbs were seen as taking away their sins (forgiveness of sin). The Lord stating in Micah that He would ‘cast their sins into the sea’ has nothing to do with fish swallowing crumbs of bread, but is a way of saying that their sins would not exist anymore through Messiah Yeshua.

Among the Philistines, the fish god was known as Dagon (although in most every other country he would have a different name). It was Dagon the Fish god who was credited with saving mankind and taking away their sins.[80] Of course, thinking that this magic ritual of tashleek would deal with the ‘evil eye’ is pagan in and of itself. Using it to deal with one’s sins is a gross perversion of God’s Word.[81]

The Rabbis have also fabricated a story that when Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac, on their way to Mount Moriah, Satan caused ‘a raging flood’ to act as an impediment so that they wouldn’t be able to carry out God’s commandment. They ‘ignored’ this and continued on. Because of their great devotion Jews should pray ‘at the waters edge’ to ‘recall the merit of the Patriarchs’ and try ‘to emulate their righteousness.’[82] There is nothing wrong with seeking to emulate the faith of our Fathers Abraham and Isaac, but praying at the water’s edge on Yom Teruah, because of a fictitious flood, is not one of them. Tashleek is paganism dressed up in religious Jewish clothes.

How to Celebrate Yom Teruah

Of course, it would be great to have a congregation of people to celebrate Yom Teruah with. A special service would be held to praise and worship the Lord Yeshua, with many shofars and trumpets and other musical instruments playing and people singing unto the God of Israel. After that, everyone would feast together and study His Word, having entered into the heavenly joy that this Sabbath day brings.

If you only have yourself, and possibly some family members or friends, you might consider going to a place where you can have some relative privacy; a park or a backyard, and praise and worship the Lord there. Shofars can be bought from many places on the web. Just place shofar in a search engine and you’ll have more than you can blow.

One of the things that I like about being in Israel is that the whole country gears up for the holy days, even if more than half just use this day as a vacation, not knowing or caring about its biblical signi­ficance, or the fact that most of the time they celebrate them on the wrong dates, there is still the sense of all of us going in the same direction. Everyone knows it’s a special day. Just as the USA gears up for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so the people of Israel get ready for the holy days. Of course, Sun­day, Christmas and Easter and are just ordinary days of the week here. That’s very refreshing![83]

Why celebrate Yom Teruah? Because Yahveh commands His people Israel to celebrate it. What we eat, when we assemble, what days we celebrate as holy and what attitudes we walk in, should all revolve around the God of Israel. At least for those who take Him seriously. He is our God and He determines the way that we should walk if we are truly following Him. With the blood and Spirit of Messiah Yeshua we can walk in the holy days and all the other commandments that pertain to us, as Yeshua did. As we keep His Ways we are proclaiming to ourselves first, and then to the world, that we are His chosen people.[84]

Yom Teruah is a Sabbath where Yahveh commands us to cease from our daily activities, rest in Him, and rejoice with Joy unspeakable. This is because of what He has done for Israel in delivering us from Egyptian slavery and in sending Yeshua to die for us, that we might have life now and joy forever.

We are to trust Him for provision, both in the physical and in the spiritual. The chief theme of this day is to exalt Papa God and Yeshua in praise through the Holy Spirit, in a mighty and awesome way; a way that befits what They have done for us. We also look forward to the End of Time as this day prophetically ushers in the Beginning of the End.

Yahveh said to Moses,

‘Speak to the Sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first day of the month, you must have a Sabbath of living remembrance with tremendous joyful shouting!, the blasting of trumpets and shofars, in a holy assembly. You must not do any regular work.[85] You must present a sacrifice by fire to Yahveh.’[86] (Lev. 23:24-25)

 

May it be a Day of Unspeakable Joy for You!

 

END NOTES:

[1]      The Hebrew name for the day, יוֹם תְּרוּעָה (Yom Teruah) is found in Num. 29:1. In Lev. 23:24, it’s called זִכְרוֹן תְּרוּעָה (zich’rone teruah),’ remembrance (with) teruah.’

[2]      John Kohlenberger 3rd, Editor, The NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament, vol. 1. (Grand Rapids, MI, USA: Zondervan Corporation, 1979), p. 340.

[3]      Benjamin Davidson, The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979), p. 679.

[4]      Ibid.

[5]      R. L. Harris, editor; Gleason Archer, Jr. and Bruce Waltke, associate editors, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 2 (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), p. 839.

[6]      Ibid.

[7]      Kohlenberger, The NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament, vol. 1, p. 340.

[8]      Davidson, The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, p. 238.

[9]      The concept is called ‘corporate identity’ by theologians and means that Israel, past, present and future, is one Body. Paralleling this is ‘the Body of Messiah.’ There is one Body of Messiah, past, present and future. The concept is found in Ex. 13:8, where the father is commanded to say to his son, when asked about the Feast of Matza (Unleavened Bread), that he, the father, was delivered from Egypt (whether he was alive at that time or not). The father is seen to be ‘in the loins’ of those who were there, linking both him and his son to the Event.

     The New Testament picks up on this concept when it says that the Priesthood of Melchizedek is greater than that of Levy. Why? Because Levy is seen as giving tithes to Melchizedek while in the loins of his Father, Abraham. Heb. 7:9-10: ‘And so to speak, through Abraham, even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his Father when Melchizedek met him.’ Abraham, giving his tithe to Melchizedek, proves that Melchizedek is greater than Father Abraham, and also Levi, who was yet to be born. (See Gen. 14:18-20) This concept also allows us to place ourselves back at that Passover Table where Yeshua gave the Apostles His Body and His Blood, to eat and to drink (as well as at the Red Sea, etc.). In this understanding, Yeshua Himself is giving us His Body and His Blood. This is what Passover is all about, and the essence of what some call communion.

[10]    Harris, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 1, p. 242.

[11]    Ibid.

[12]    Ex. 19:16, 19 usually have translations of the Hebrew word as ‘trumpet,’ but the word is shofar in both places, the heavenly ram’s horn.

[13]    Dt. 16:3: ‘You must not eat leavened bread with it. Seven days you must eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life, the Day when you came out of the land of Egypt.’ This ‘Day’ incorporates the four pronged reality of the Passover, the Red Sea, Mount Sinai and entry into the Promised Land. For us it also includes Yeshua’s Death and our Hope of Life in the New Jerusalem with Him.

[14]    Covenant would also entail that Yahveh would be their God and that they would be given the Land of Canaan as their inheritance; certainly more cause for Joy.

[15]    See Kingdom Violence, www.seedofabraham.net/nltr27.html to see the parallel between the Red Sea parting and the Resurrection of Messiah Yeshua.

[16]    See Shavu’ot (Pentecost), under Feasts of Israel, for a fuller explanation: http://www.seedofabraham.net/pentecst.html.

[17]    In Num. 29:1; 31:6 and 2nd Kgs. 11:14 we see some other places that trumpets are used in relation to teruah.

[18]    There are seven days in a (complete) week and there were seven days in Creation. The seventh day of Creation was the holy Sabbath.

[19]    Luke 1:5 states, ‘There was in the days of Herod…a certain priest name Zacharias, of the division of Abijah (Hebrew: Aviyah). Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 25th printing, 1976), p. 5 states that Aviyah was ‘one of the twenty-four courses or orders into which the whole body of the priesthood was divi­ded by David (1st Chron. 24:10, 19). Of these, the course of Abijah was the eighth.’ 

[20]    The birth of Yochanan haMatbeal (John the Immerser/Baptist) would have been sometime in March or April. He could have been born on or near Passover. This would have been about six months before Yeshua was born on Yom Teruah. Because of Mal. 3:1-4; 4:4-6, the Rabbis rightly say that the Elijah figure would come at Passover to announce the coming of the Messiah because the Messiah, like Moses (Dt. 18:15-18), would free us from slavery, and what better time to be freed from slavery to Rome than at Passover, which commemorates deliverance from Egyptian slavery. (Yeshua actually died at Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread to free us from slavery to Satan.) It seems that John was both born around Passover, and 30 years later, began proclaiming the Messiah to Israel at Passover. Six months later, Yeshua would be immersed by John. Yeshua would have turned 30.

[21]With Yeshua being born on Yom Teruah, His date of conception within the womb of Miryam would be sometime in the winter months of December or January. For a theological reason why the Son of Man would be conceived ‘in the dead of winter,’ in ‘spiritual darkness,’ see The Mosaic Sacrifices and the Blood of Jesus at http://seedofabraham.net/mosessac.html.

[22]    There have been attempts to validate Dec. 25th as the time when Yeshua would have been born, as the lambs in the Bethlehem area, slated for Temple sacrifice, would be in the fields even during the winter time. This might be true for the daytime, but certainly not the night time. Shepherds would not be staying out overnight in the fields with their flocks in December. Luke 2:8 has, ‘In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.’ This means that it wasn’t December.

[23]    After I wrote this paper I saw a website, that confirmed through a Bible code, that Yeshua was born on the Feast of Trumpets on September 11th, 3 B.C. Read about this at http://ad2004.com/prophecytruths/Articles/Yeshua/yeshuabirth1.html.

[24]    Wesley J. Perschbacher, editor, The New Analytical Greek Lexicon (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publications, 1990), p. 237. The Greek word kelous’matee κελευσματι is primarily translated as, ‘a word of command; a mutual cheer; hence, in N.T. a loud shout, an arousing outcry, 1 Thess. 4:16.’

[25]    The Greek word for ‘trumpet’ in 1st Thess. 4:16 (and 1st Cor. 15:52) is salpingee σαλπιγγι, which is the word the Septuagint uses for shofar in Ex. 19:16, 19; Zech. 9:14, etc. Therefore, the Apostle Paul’s use of salpingee seems to mean that he’s speaking of the heavenly shofar, not a trumpet. This is further affirmed in Hebrews 12:19, which speaks of the Mt. Sinai (shofar) experience of Exodus 19:16ff. The Greek word in Heb. 12:19 is also salpingee, the word for the Hebrew shofar in the Septuagint account of Ex. 19:16, 19. This same Greek word for shofar is also used on the lips of Yeshua, speaking of the End Times (Mt. 24:16), and is seen in all the accounts of Revelation where ‘trumpet’ is written in English. The translators should use shofar instead of trumpet in Rev. 1:10; 4:1; 8:13; 9:14.

[26]    Perschbacher, The New Analytical Greek Lexicon (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publications, 1990), p. 53.

[27]    J. M. Sinclair, general consultant, Diana Treffry, editorial director, Collins English Dictionary, Fourth Edition (Glasgow, England: HarperCollins Publishers, 1998), p. 1279. Rapture means, ‘the act of transporting a person from one sphere of existence to another, esp. from earth to heaven.’ The term, ‘rapture’ is not found in the Bible, but the concept is seen in 1st Thess. 4:17.

[28]    Gen. 5:5f. The next ten generations only lived an average of 317.1 years (Gen. 5:32; 11:10f.).

[29]    The Hebrew word here is for the silver trumpets that God commanded Israel to make (Num. 10:2f.).

[30]    By the third plague of lice, the Egyptian magicians were not able to reproduce it (Ex. 8:18). With that they acknowledged that it was the ‘Finger of God’ (Ex. 8:19) that was causing the plague. This expression is only seen one other time in the Tanach (Old Testament), at Ex. 31:18 (and Dt. 9:10 speaking of the same event), where God Himself wrote, with His finger, the Ten Commandments on the Two Tablets of Stone. The expression is used only once in the New Testament (Luke 11:20), where Yeshua speaks of casting out demons by the ‘finger of God,’ therefore, aligning Himself and His ability to cast out demons with God, not Satan, as some Pharisees (Mt. 12:24f.) had accused Him of.

[31]    Sinclair, Collins English Dictionary, p. 1159. Pestilence is defined as, ‘any epidemic outbreak of a deadly and highly infectious disease, such as a plague.’

[32]    Robert K. Brown and Philip W. Comfort, translators, J. D. Douglas, editor, The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990), p. 892.

[33]    Perschbacher, The New Analytical Greek Lexicon, p. 135. (With specific reference made to Rev. 16:2, 11.)

[34]    Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton, The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English (USA: Hendrickson Publishers, sixth printing, February, 1997, originally published in London, 1851), p. 80-81.

[35]    Walter Bauer, augmented by William F. Arndt, F. W. Gingrich and Frederick Danker, A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (London: The University of Chicago Press, 1979), pp. 317-318: ἕλκος, ους, τό…sore, abscess, ulcer…a foul and vile sore Rv 16:2…they reviled (God) because of their sores vs. 11.

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, n.p. “a sore, an ulcer: Rev. 16:2; plural…Rev. 16:11.”

Johannes Louw and Eugene A. Nida, editors, Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains, vol. I (New York: United Bible Societies, 1989), n.p. “a painful, ulcerated sore resulting from infection—‘sore, ulcer.’”

[36]    Kohlenberger, The NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament, vol. 1, p. 168.

[37]    Davidson, The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, p. 709.

[38]    Matt. 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44.

[39]    We literally see this distinction in the plague of locusts who are told not to touch those who have the seal of God upon them (Rev. 9:4).

[40]    The Sons of Levi that God will refine could very well refer to believers in Yeshua as priests during the Tribulation. God speaks of making some Gentiles into priests at that time (Is. 66:19-21).

[41]    See Rev. 8:9, 12 for two other places where ‘a third’ is used in reference to plagues.

[42]    All their names, including Daniel’s Babylonian name (Dan. 1:6-7), were derived from the names of Babylonian gods.

[43]    Of course, this will cause much fear and panic in the world. Without the ability to buy or sell, one will not be able to secure food to live, or so it seems, yet, God is faithful. This is one test that will come upon God’s people. As God provided for Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael and Israel in the Wilderness, etc., He will provide for us, but even if He chooses not to, we must not bow to Satan. Also, in God’s Kingdom we don’t buy and sell. Our Father freely gives us what we need.

[44]    This may be believers and also unbelievers. There may be unbelievers who will rebel against the Beast. Rebels rebelling against the Rebel.

[45]    Note the similarity between the mark on the forehead or the hand, with what Yahveh desires for His people Israel in Ex. 13:9: ‘And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, that the Law of Yahveh may be in your mouth, for with a powerful hand Yahveh brought you out of Egypt.’ This refers to the law of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In Dt. 11:18 it says of those observing the Law of Moses that it will act as a sign upon their hand and upon their forehead: ‘You must therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul and you must bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead’ (also Ex. 13:16 and Dt. 6:8). To bind them upon the hand and head wasn’t meant to taken literally, as Judaism does, but figuratively. See Tefillin: To Wear or Not to Wear at http://seedofabraham.net/tefillin.html.

[46]    Rev. 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 21.

[47]    This Sanctuary which Yahveh has made with His hands can only be the New Jerusalem. The Song of Moses is also prophetic.

[48]    Some think that the Song of Moses that Rev. 15 speaks of, is the Song that is found in Deut. 32 but this cannot be. It’s not a Yom Teruah song! Deut. 31:19, in speaking of the Song that will follow in Deut. 32, has Yahveh specifically saying that this Song will be, ‘a witness against the Sons of Israel’ because they will forsake Him (Duet 31:16-21). It would hardly seem appropriate that the ones singing in Rev. 15, would be inditing Israel at the End of the Age, telling them that if they don’t keep the Commandments of Yahveh, that He will cast them out of the Land of Israel. David H. Stern, Jewish New Covenant Commentary (Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Covenant Publications, 1992), p. 832, also sees the Song of Moses as Ex. 15.

[49]    Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (Accordance electronic ed. Altamonte Springs: OakTree Software, 2006), n.p. Yahveh “as the bridegroom, meets His Church at Sinai (Psa 68:7; Pirke di R. El. 41).…the bridal pair on the marriage-day symbolised the union of God with Israel…Yalcut on Isa. 61:10 (vol. 2, p. 57d) Israel is said to have been ten times called in Scripture ‘bride’ (six times in Canticles, three times in Isaiah, and once in Jeremiah).”

The Greek εκκλησια (eklaysia), generally translated into English as ‘church,’ literally means ‘an assembly’ or congregation, but it also speaks of those ‘called out.’ Originally, it pictured the Greek ‘town meetings’ of free men called out of the populace to vote on city matters. The spiritual aspect relates to believers being ‘called out of darkness into His marvelous Light’ (1st Pet. 2:9) and may be one reason why Paul chose to use this word instead of synagogue. Christians are the ‘Called Out Ones,’ the Greek equivalent of the Hebraic ‘Chosen People.’ Where it says, ‘to the church at Corinth,’ it should read, to the assembly (or congregation) at Corinth or ‘to the called out ones of Corinth.’

Paul’s use of eklaysia in no way opposes Israel. The word was first used of Israel about 300 years earlier in the Septuagint. It speaks of the Congregation or ‘the Church of Israel’ at Mt. Sinai (Dt. 4:10; 9:10; 18:16, see also Acts 7:38). This was most likely the reason why Paul used eklaysia over synagogue.

The Church (Assembly of those called out) didn’t begin in Acts 2 on Pentecost (the Hebrew holy day of Shavu’ot; Lev. 23:15-21; the Feast of Weeks). Jewish believers were filled with the Holy Spirit on that day (see Acts 2:46-47; 5:11-12, 42, where ‘the Church’ met in the Jewish Temple). Paul’s churches were ‘house assemblies’ (1st Cor. 16:19; Philem. 1:2, see also Rom. 16:5, 10-11, 14-15, 23), which Jews would call ‘house synagogues.’

[50]    James B. Pritchard, The Harper Atlas of the Bible (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1987), p. 92. The Atlas depicts a seventh century BC Assyrian clay tablet with a ‘cosmological map of the world. Mesopotamia is surrounded by a broad ring representing the cosmic ocean, beyond which lies chaos.’

[51]    Yahveh declares that for those who keep His Sabbath, they will have a name that is better than having sons. With sons, one’s name lived on; Is. 56:4-8: “For thus says Yahveh, ‘To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths and choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My Covenant, to them I will give in My House and within My walls a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an eternal name, which will not be cut off. Also, the foreigners who join themselves to Yahveh, to minister to Him and to love the name of Yahveh, to be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the Sabbath and holds fast to My Covenant, even those I will bring to My holy Mountain and make them joyful in My House of Prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My Altar. For My House will be called a House of Prayer for all the peoples.’ The Lord Yahveh who gathers the dispersed of Israel declares, ‘Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.’”

[52]    Exodus 19:16-20:22; 24:9-11.

[53]    The color of red wine was seen to be similar to the blood sacrifice.

[54]    The daily sacrifices are listed in Ex. 29:38-43 and Num. 28:1-8. The sacrifices for each new moon are found in Num. 28:11-14. For a fuller explanation of both the Mosaic sacrifices, and sacrifice in the New Testament, see the two articles, Mosaic Sacrifice and the Blood of Jesus, and Sacrifice in the New Testament at http://www.seedofabraham.net/sacrific.html.

[55]    Rabbi Nosson Scherman and Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, general editors, The Artscroll Siddur (Brooklyn, N.Y: Mesorah Publications, Ltd., January, 1987), p. 772.

[56]    Many believe this dating to be short by about 200 years.

[57]    Geoffrey Wigoder, editor in chief, The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia (New York-Oxford: Facts on File, 7th Edition, 1990), p. 807.

[58]    Sinclair, Collins English Dictionary, p. 1693. Vernal equinox is ‘the time at which the sun crosses the plane of the equator towards the relevant hemisphere, making day and night of equal length. It occurs about March 21 in the N hemisphere (Sept. 23 in the S hemisphere).’ The new moon either on or after the vernal equinox is the new moon for the first biblical month.

[59]    The names of the months in Judaism today come from the time when Judah was taken into captivity to Babylon. It was in Babylon that Judah adopted the Babylonian names for the months. That’s why today the first month in Judaism is called Nisan, but in the days of Moses and King David it was called Aviv. Nisan comes from the Babylonian Nisannu. Tishri, the current seventh month in Judaism, came from the Babylonian month Tash’retu and means, ‘beginning’ (Wigoder, The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 187).

Only four names for the biblical months survive, and that, from Scripture. Three are found in 1st Kings in relation to the building of Solomon’s Temple. Aviv is the name of the first month (Ex. 13:4; 23:15; 34:18 twice; Dt. 16:1 twice); Ziv is the name of the second month (1st Kgs. 6:1, 37); Aetanim is the name of the seventh month (1st Kgs. 8:2); and Bul is the name of the eight month (1st Kgs. 8:2).

[60]    Lev. 25:9f: ‘You must then sound a shofar on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you must sound a shofar all throughout your Land.’

[61]    Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, p. 1097. Also, The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 858.

[62]    It might seem strange that the Jewish people have more than one new year, but in the United States there are a number of new years: 1. The first of January: this goes back to ancient Rome. 2. The thirtieth of June: the new fiscal year. 3. The new school year: it used to be right after Labor Day in September, but now has been moved up into August in some places. I might also include here a more modern ‘new year’ of the opening of the football season in the United States. As you can see, the term, ‘new year’ is not restricted to the changing of the date on the calendar.

[63]    Wigoder, The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 807. Also, the Book of Life is mentioned seven times in Rev. (3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27; 22:19), once by Paul (Phil 4:3), and once in Psalm 69:28. The concept goes back as far as Moses (Ex. 32:32) in that there is a Book in which God writes the names of all those who will spend eternity with Him in the New Jerusalem.

[64]    Scherman, The Artscroll Siddur, p. 762-764.

[65]    Rabbi Nosson Scherman and Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, general editors, The Chumash, 2nd edition: 2nd impression (Brooklyn, N.Y: Mesorah Publications, Ltd., Feb. 1994), p. 687 for Lev. 23:24, ‘Ramban explains that a remembrance before God is needed because Rosh HaShannah inaugurates the ten-day period of judgment and repentance.’

[66]    It’s a great idea to ‘get right’ with those we have offended during the past year, in those days leading up to Yom Kipor, so that we can deal with the Lord concerning ourselves, and not have to be distracted by relational sins to others, but to make Yom Teruah the day to begin that is not biblical and totally distorts the intention of the day.

[67]    The biblical shofar is made from the horn of a ram.

[68]    See We Jews don’t believe that a Man can be God! at www.seedofabraham.net/nltr7.html for more on why this ‘Angel’ is Yeshua and why he should be referred to as the Messenger of Yahveh in English.

[69]    Wigoder, The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 187. Again we see a correlation between the Babylonian name and meaning for this month, and what the Rabbis have the Jewish people doing in Elul—repenting. The Babylonian name was Ululu and means ‘purification.’

[70]    Ibid.

[71]    Davidson, The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, p. 363.

[72]    Scherman, The Artscroll Siddur, p. 768-769. The two major cultural sets of Jewish people are Sefardic, who hail from Arab countries, Spain and France, and the Ashkenazic, which are from European countries like Germany, England, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Russia, etc.

[73]    Dt. 28:13: ‘Yahveh will make you the head and not the tail and you only will be above and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of Yahveh your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully’.

[74]    Scherman, The Artscroll Siddur, p. 768-769.

[75]    Ibid.

[76]    Sinclair, Collins English Dictionary, p. 665. A gourd is ‘the fruit of any various cucurbitaceous or similar plants, esp. the bottle gourd and some squashes, whose dried shells are used for ornament, drinking cups, etc.’ Cucurbitaceous means, ‘any creeping flowering plant of the mainly tropical and subtropical family Cucurbitaceae; p. 383, listed under, ‘cucurbit’ includes the pumpkin, cucumber, squashes, and gourds.’ I had no idea what it meant, either.

[77]    Scherman, The Artscroll Siddur, p. 768-769.

[78]    Ibid.

[79]    Wigoder, The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 906-907.

[80]    Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, 2nd American edition. (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1959; originally written in 1862), p. 242f. See also pp. 108, 129-130, 144-145, 164-165, 174-176.

[81]    I realize that I have come against a number of traditional Jewish practices and concepts as unbiblical or pagan. Some might think that I am being too harsh or even anti-Semitic. This couldn’t be further from the truth. I raise these ‘red flags’ in an effort to alert Jewish and Gentile believers not to observe these things, thinking that they are ‘getting back to their Hebrew roots.’ I love my Jewish people, but I hate the pagan things that enslave them.

[82]    Scherman, The Artscroll Siddur, pp. 770-771.

[83]    Unless one lives in Nazareth, which is predominantly Moslem, but has a sizable Arab Christian population, or the Christian section of the Old City of Jerusalem. Both these places keep the pagan days of Sunday, Easter and Christmas, in the Land of Israel. It’s a perverse ‘witness’ to the Jewish people, and I don’t think God is too pleased with it, either.

[84]    The concept that the Jewish people are the ‘Chosen People’ comes from the Hebrew word bahar בָּחַר and means, ‘to choose, elect, select.’ This is the exact conceptual equivalent of the Greek verb, eck’kleh’go εκλεγω which means,‘to pick out…choose, select…to choose out as the recipients of special favor and privilege,’ which we find in John 15:16: ‘You did not choose Me, but I chose you.’ Gentiles who believe in the Messiah of Israel are just as ‘chosen’ as the Jewish people. The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, p. 77; The New Analytical Greek Lexicon, pp. 127-128.

[85]    In the Ten Commandments, where Yahveh demands that no work be done on the seventh day Sabbath (Ex. 20:10; Deut. 5:14), the word for ‘work’ is mih’leh’ha מְלֶאכָה. In Ex. 12:16, concerning Passover, it’s the same word for ‘work.’

It says of Passover, ‘On the first day you must have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day. No work at all shall be done on them except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be Please change to this: prepared by you’ (Ex. 12:16). In the first and seventh day Sabbaths of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, mentioned in Lev. 23:7-8, the word for ‘work’ is also mih’leh’hah, teamed up with another word for ‘work’ or ‘labor,’ ah’vo’dah עֲבֹדָה, but the understanding that one can prepare food on these two feast Sabbaths is not stated. From this, the Rabbis say that all the annual feast Sabbaths of Israel in Lev. 23 may have food prepared on them (The Chumash, p. 683), except Yom Kipor (the Day of Atonement) because the annual Sabbaths mentioned (Lev. 23:7-8, 21, 25, 35-36), including Yom Teruah, have the identical wording for no ‘regular work’ to be done that is found in Lev. 23:7-8.

We know, now, from Ex. 12:16, that food may be prepared on this day. God has seen fit to allow food preparation and cooking on His feast Sabbaths that do not fall on the weekly seventh day Sabbath. This is the distinguishing feature of the annual Sabbaths from the seventh day Sabbath, and of course, the Sabbath of the Day of Atonement (when no one eats any food, so, there would be no need to prepare food for the day).

[86]    The concept of an offering or ‘a sacrifice by fire’ speaks of the dedication sacrifice (Lev. 8:18-21, called the whole burnt sacrifice), union with God (called the peace sacrifice; Lev. 3:11), and consecration to God’s work for us (Lev. 8:22-29, esp. v. 28). On Yom Teruah, the Lord would like us to rededicate, be in union with Him, and consecrate ourselves to the work that He has called us to do.