Feast of Trumpets
In Hebrew called Yom Teruah – יום תרועה– Day of Blowing
God gave us an appointment book, and called them feasts. It is very important to know them.
Leviticus 23:1-2 (KJV)
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, [Concerning] the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim [to be] holy convocations, [even] these [are] my feasts.
The word feast is actually the word mo’ed (מועד) meaning appointed time. The first time this is used is in Genesis 1:14 where in the KJV it’s translated seasons, it’s literally appointed times. Speaking of the sun and moon, God said, “…and let them be for signs, and for appointed times, and for days, and years”. Seasons, spring, summer, fall, winter, didn’t even exist until after the fall, maybe even after the flood! Islam uses just the lunar cycle for their calendar, the West uses only the solar cycle for their calendar, but the Jews still follow the instructions of God and use both the solar and lunar cycles for their calendar. Yet, they still missed His signs!
These feasts are to be proclaimed forever because they speak of the Lord Jesus, a dress rehearsal (the meaning of the word convocation is literally dress rehearsal!) of His life, so all can recognize Him.
The seven appointed times are:
- Jesus was born on the Feast of Tabernacles, 15 Tishri
- Jesus died on Passover, 14 Nisan
- Jesus was buried on Feast of Unleavened Bread, 15 Nisan
- Jesus rose from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits, 17 Nisan
- God gave the Law to Moses and the Holy Spirit to the church on Pentecost, 6 Sivan
There are two feasts left, Feast of Trumpets, 1 Tishri and Day of Atonement, 10 Tishri. The Day of Atonement is when Jesus will do according to the meaning of the word: the reconciliation between God and man, and lift the curse and set up His kingdom on earth for 1000 years, Revelation 20:6. So what is the Feast of Trumpets?
Tishri is the name of the seventh month – originally was the first month until the Exodus when God changed the first month to Nisan, Exodus 12:2. Tishri 1 is when the calendar year changes number. It is not connected to any historical event, even after Jesus’ time on earth. The same is said for the Day of Atonement. Tishri 1 is also known as “the day in which no man can know the day or the hour” because it must be proclaimed. A hint from Jesus’ own words perhaps, Matthew 24:36. First, two witnesses need to see the new moon. Then the council will determine if the day (1 Tishri) falls on a Sabbath or causes any other feast day to fall on a Sabbath. If so, it is postponed until the next day or even a second day. Hence the reason no one can know the day or the hour! Now 1 Tishri, because of the diaspora, dispersing of the Jews to Babylon, this day is also called the One Long Day because they’d light fires to notify the next hill who’d like a fire to the next hill, all the way to Babylon. As such, no one knows the day or the hour in which it started. Even the devil doesn’t know when it begins, 1 Corinthians 2:8.
Leviticus 23:23-25 (KJV)
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first [day] of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work [therein]: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
The trumpet wasn’t the brass ones you see today, but a ram’s horn. Four distinct sounds, or calls, were made with it. The first one is called Tekiah, the Blast, and means Awake and to Praise God with the Tekiah, Numbers 10:3. The next one is called the Shevarim, three blasts, meaning Broken, as in True Repentance, Broken before God, Numbers 10:5. The third one is called Teruah and means Alarm, Numbers 10:9. The sound is intended to alert the hearer to danger or an event. The fourth sound is called the Tekiah haGadolah and means the Great Blast, and is to be blown until out of breath, the long blast, Exodus 19:16, 19. You can hear them here http://abdicate.net/shofar.mp4 . The shofar is blow 100 times. The three sounds are blown and repeated 3 times making a series of 9 blasts. This is repeated 11 times, making 99 and the end, the 100th is the Great Blast, blown with a full breath until it cannot be blown any more, and it is also known as the Last Trump! The last trump is Rosh haShanah, the First Trump is known as Pentecost, and the Great Trump is on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) because it is when the Year of Jubilee is declared with the silver trumpets, not the ram’s horn.
Notice the progression of the types of trumps: Awake, Repent, Pay Attention, Event! This is also the meaning of these three fall feast:
- 1 Tishri, Repent
- 10 Tishri, Redeem
- 15 Tishri, Rejoice!
1 Tishri has many names:
- Rosh haShanah – Head of the Year
- Yom Teruah – Day of Blowing
- Yom haDin – the Day of Judgment
- Yom haKeseh – the Hidden Day
- Yom haKiddushin – Wedding Day
- Yom haMelech – Day of the King
- Yom Ziccaron Teruah – Day of Remembrance Blast
- Opening of the Books
- Opening of the Gates
- Day of the Awakening Blast
- Feast of Trumpets
No reason is given for this feast. Apparently, the reason was self-evident. In his book The Jewish Festivals, Rabbi S. M. Lehrman notes that Rosh haShanah is “…the picture of a Day of Judgment on which all mortals pass before the Heavenly Throne to give an account of their deeds and to receive the promise of mercy.” Just like the bailiff cries out “Hear ye! Hear ye! The Honorable Judge of the Universe presiding,” and beginning the ten days of trial. After which, man is reconciled to God, then God dwells with man! However, whereas this day is holy for His people, it is a gloomy day for those that reject God, Joel 2:1-2! Also check out Joel 1:15, Zeph 1:14-15, Amos 5:18.
For those that are His people, let’s look at the usage of the shofar (ram’s horn trumpet) in the scriptures:
Exodus 19:10-13 (KJV)
And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, [that ye] go [not] up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether [it be] beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
Exodus 19:16-19 (KJV)
And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that [was] in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
In Joshua, we see that the city of Jericho was shut up and Israel could not possess the land.
Joshua 6:2-5 (KJV)
And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, [and] the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all [ye] men of war, [and] go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long [blast] with the ram’s horn, [and] when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
What an amazing picture these verses depict! Notice where else the shout and trumpet is used:
1 Corinthians 15:52-53 (KJV)
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (KJV)
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
What a comfort!!! Paul is quoting this verse:
Psalms 47:5-9 (KJV)
God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God [is] the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. The princes of the people are gathered together, [even] the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth [belong] unto God: he is greatly exalted.
Shout: Teruah! Trumpet: Shofar! Last trump is called Tekiah haGadolah and is played only on 1 Tishri! Notice this:
Zechariah 9:14 (KJV)
And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
Psalms 89:15 (KJV)
Blessed [is] the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
Sound in Hebrew is the word Teruah! The signal, the alarm! Those that are His will hear it and know!
1 Corinthians 14:8 (KJV)
For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
But when this day of trumpet arrives for the lost, it is a day of judgment:
Zephaniah 1:14-16 (KJV)
The great day of the LORD [is] near, [it is] near, and hasteth greatly, [even] the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day [is] a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
A day of the trumpet and alarm: Yom Shofar and Teruah! Here’s Jesus’ parable of the Ten Virgins in the Hebrew Scriptures is found in Daniel 12:1-3 and in Matthew 24:7-8, the Greek word here for sorrows is birth pangs. So the day of the Lord is not a good day for those that do not know God, Amos 5:20.
Notice in Revelation 17:5 the woman is the mother of harlots. Speaking of the Antichrist Daniel 11:32 says he will corrupt the covenant with flatteries but the people of God will be strong and do exploits. Proverbs 7:1-3 says we’re to keep the teachings of God in our heart. Torah means teaching, not Law, and literally means to hit the mark. Sin literally means tomiss the mark. Now look at the rest, Proverbs 7:4-10, where it says it’ll keep you from the strange woman with flattering words! Also notice that the simpleton goes to her house in the black and dark night, the time of Jacob’s trouble, and met the woman dressed as a harlot. Now look at verses Proverbs 7:13-15 where she’s a religious person having finished her vows and sought after the simpleton.
Now look at Mark 13:34 where Jesus is like One on a long far away journey. In Matthew 25:14-15, where the kingdom of heaven is like as a man traveling into a far country, giving His servants money and authority. Matthew 20 shows where Jesus is the householder, the good Man of the house. Go back to Proverbs 7:18-20 and see what it says:
Proverbs 7:18-20 (KJV)
Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. For the goodman [is] not at home, he is gone a long journey: He hath taken a bag of money with him, [and] will come home at the day appointed.
Everyone is trying to figure out the times, yet here it is for all to see who wish to see. The devil has already changed the times (Daniel 7:25) by leading us to follow the Pope Gregory’s calendar – Gregorian calendar, (before that Julian and before that Roman calendars) rather than the Scriptural calendar where we can see the day appointed.
The words day appointed in Proverbs is Yom Kece meaning the day of the full moon. What feasts fall on the day of the full moon? The feast of the full moon, 15 Nisan, is when Jesus was buried. The other feast of the full moon is 15 Tishri, Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus’ birthday! In other words, Proverbs 7:20 states that when Jesus returns, He’ll set up His kingdom on 15 Tishri, the day appointed, feast of the full moon!
But, you say, Jesus comes as a thief in the night. I say not to those watching and alive in Christ, but only to those dead in the church. Revelation 3:1-3 states that if the dead church does not watch, I will come unto you as a thief! The same warning to the church of Laodicea who don’t even know they are poor, blind, naked and miserable! Jesus warns again:
Revelation 16:15 (KJV)
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed [is] he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
In the Jewish tradition, the High Priest was called the one that would come as a thief in the night because he’d sneak up to the night watchman and if he found them asleep, he would go and get coals and set their garments on fire, they’d wake up and throw off their garments and run away naked!
Now read Matthew 25:8-13 and Luke 12:37-48! Peter asked if this was for the world or for them. Jesus plainly states it’s for the Man’s servant who is not watching! Matthew 16:3 shows that the Jews didn’t see the signs nor understand them, Luke 19:44. 1 Chronicles 12:32 shows that Issachar knew the times. Seeing all these links, now read what Paul says to the faithful!
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 (KJV)
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
We as Christians are to help the Jews see these appointed times, Ezekiel 33; Jeremiah 6:10, Acts 7:51.
Isaiah 58:1 (KJV)
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
Remember the old paths, the appointed times.
Jeremiah 6:16-17 (KJV)
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where [is] the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk [therein]. Also I set watchmen over you, [saying], Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
The rest of the chapter talks about the tribulation period!
Notice what happens to the faithful, those that are watching and waiting:
Daniel 12:2 (KJV)
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt.
Isaiah 26:19-21 (KJV)
Thy dead [men] shall live, [together with] my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew [is as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
If that’s not understood as the Rapture, then you just don’t want to believe the scriptures.
Psalms 98:4-9 (KJV)
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap [their] hands: let the hills be joyful together before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
So let’s go back to the beginning where God set up His schedule:
Genesis 1:14 (KJV)
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
The first thing the sun, moon and stars are for is for signs. This word signs can be translated sign, signal, a distinguishing mark, banner, remembrance, miraculous sign, omen, warning, token, ensign, standard, miracle, and proof. Do not think for a moment this is astrology (interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world) but only for what God has said signs.
1 Tishri also marks the beginning of the Sabbatical year (shemita) and the year of Jubilee, and the trumpet is sounded on 10 Tishri, Leviticus 25:8-9, mark that that year is the year of Jubilee. And in Jewish tradition 1 Tishri was the day in which Abraham bound up Isaac to sacrifice him. When Abraham proved himself to God, God provided a ram who was caught by its HORN!! The shofar is a ram’s horn! Who is Isaac a symbol of? Jesus! So when the shofar is blown on 1 Tishri it’s to remind God of the promise (which the Jews missed) and to us of the finished work of Jesus as He moves from the seat of judgment to the seat of mercy, Numbers 10:10; Isaiah 44:23-24; Psalms 32:10-11; Psalms 47:1-9!
Note an interesting word. The first word of the scriptures is בראשׁית and means in the beginning, and literally means in head [of time] mark, as in Genesis, in beginning, in source, in onset, in inception. Like when NASA says, “Start the countdown, mark!” Rearrange the letters and you get תשׁרי בא, Tishri Come! If you put a space after the tav (ת), you have Mark [and] Abide [the] Coming! Philippians 1:24 and 1 John 2:24-25! Tav (ת) is what God said in Ezekiel 9:4 would be what is used to mark the worthy, Revelation 7:3 and 9:4! Tav is also the symbol that is portrayed when the lamb’s blood is put on the sides and lintel of the door!
We know this day is also the day when the Lord comes to rule the earth because on a 30-day monthly calendar, from Passover to Feast of Trumpets is 1260 days! Jesus died on Passover, so too will the Antichrist kill the Two Witnesses, and execute the abomination of desolation on Passover, and then in 1260 days Jesus returns to rule for 1000 years. The Two Witness preach for 1260 days, Revelation 11:3, and Israel is to flee to the mountains and abide there 1260 days, Revelation 12:6. Add the two together and you get 7 years. 2520 days after the arrival of the Two Witnesses, Jesus returns. 1 Tishri is a dual meaning day!
Psalms 102:13 (KJV)
Thou shalt arise, [and] have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.
Time in this verse is mo’ed, Appointed Times.
Psalms 102:18 (KJV)
This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.
The words generation to come is literally last generation.
Job 24:1 (KJV)
Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?
Whether the Lord comes on this day or not, always look up! Maranatha – Come Lord! 
Luke 21:28 (KJV)
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.