| Rosh Hashanah The Feast of Trumpets Jewish Year 5770 Sunset September 18, 2009 |
| ...In the seventh month, on the first of the month, there shall be a sabbath for you, a remembrance with shofar blasts, a holy convocation. -Leviticus 16:24 Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first and second days of Tishri. In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means, literally, "head of the year" or "first of the year." Rosh Hashanah is commonly known as the Jewish New Year. This name is somewhat deceptive, because there is little similarity between Rosh Hashanah, one of the holiest days of the year, and the American midnight drinking bash and daytime football game. There is, however, one important similarity between the Jewish New Year and the American one: Many Americans use the New Year as a time to plan a better life, making "resolutions." Likewise, the Jewish New Year is a time to begin introspection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and planning the changes to make in the new year. More on this concept at Days of Awe. The name "Rosh Hashanah" is not used in the Bible to discuss this holiday. The Bible refers to the holiday as Yom Ha-Zikkaron (the day of remembrance) or Yom Teruah (the day of the sounding of the shofar). The holiday is instituted in Leviticus 23:24-25. The shofar is a ram's horn which is blown somewhat like a trumpet. One of the most important observances of this holiday is hearing the sounding of the shofar daily. A total of 100 notes are sounded each day. There are four different types of shofar notes: tekiah, a 3 second sustained note; shevarim, three 1-second notes rising in tone, teruah, a series of short, staccato notes extending over a period of about 3 seconds; and tekiah gedolah (literally, "big tekiah"), the final blast in a set, which lasts (I think) 10 seconds minimum. Click the shofar above to hear an approximation of the sound of Tekiah Shevarim-Teruah Tekiah. The shofar's sound is a call to repentance. The shofar is not blown if the holiday falls on Shabbat. No work is permitted on Rosh Hashanah. Much of the day is spent in synagogue, where the regular daily liturgy is somewhat expanded. In fact, there is a special prayerbook called the machzor used for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur because of the extensive liturgical changes for these holidays. Another popular observance during this holiday is eating apples dipped in honey, a symbol of our wish for a sweet new year. Another popular practice of the holiday is Tashlikh ("casting off"). We walk to flowing water, such as a creek or river, on the afternoon of the first day and empty our pockets into the river, symbolically casting off our sins. Small pieces of bread or stones are commonly put in the pocket to cast off. This practice is not discussed in the Bible, but is a long-standing custom. Religious services for the holiday focus on the concept of God's sovereignty. The common greeting at this time is L'shanah tovah ("for a good year"). This is a shortening of "L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem" (or to women, "L'shanah tovah tikatevi v'taihatemi"), which means "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year." More on that concept at Days of Awe. You may notice that the Bible speaks of Rosh Hashanah as occurring on the first day of the seventh month. The first month of the Jewish calendar is Nissan, occurring in March and April. Why, then, does the Jewish "new year" occur in Tishri, the seventh month? Judaism has several different "new years," a concept which may seem strange at first, but think of it this way: the American "new year" starts in January, but the new "school year" starts in September, and many businesses have "fiscal years" that start at various times of the year. In Judaism, Nissan 1 is the new year for the purpose of counting the reign of kings and months on the calendar, Elul 1 (in August) is the new year for the tithing of animals, Shevat 15 (in February) is the new year for trees (determining when first fruits can be eaten, etc.), and Tishri 1 (Rosh Hashanah) is the new year for years (when we increase the year number. Sabbatical and Jubilee years begin at this time). Leviticus 23: 1-2 the word of God says, And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: “The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, theses are my feasts” The feasts belong to the Lord. The feasts and their appointments originated with the Lord Not with the children of Israel; they are the Lord’s feasts They are His appointed times The Lord was the host and Israel was the guest They were invited to feast with Him They were invited to come and dine with Him – taste and see that the Lord is good! To celebrate with Him It was His desire to meet with His people, to fellowship with them. And that is still His desire today – Revelation 3:20 Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Hebrew 11:6 God said, “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” The Word of God is full of hidden treasures We must be willing to dig These treasures can not be found simply by skimming the surface – yet, that is exactly what most of us do, we skim the surface of God’s word, we read it but we don’t READ IT. Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.” In Jesus, Yeshua the believer is a king and priest As we search out hidden truths in God’s word we will see His glory revealed. These are not just Jewish Holidays These are appointed times that our God wants us to set aside and fellowship with Him. We are invited to come and dine with Him There are three major feasts broken up into seven feasts 1. The Feast of Passover The feast of Passover consists of: 1. Passover 2. Unleavened Bread 3. First Fruits The Passover feasts take place in the spring The first month of the Jewish religious calendar, this is usually our March or April; Remember we are dealing with two different calendars The civil and the religious Next comes Pentecost also known as the Feast of Weeks 4. Pentecost Pentecost usually falls in our May or June Then there is the Feasts of Tabernacles Consisting of; 5. Trumpets 6. Atonement 7. Tabernacles The Feasts of Tabernacles is the Feasts of the seventh month, the High Holy Days or the Fall Festivals. These feasts usually fall in our September and October. And of course we know that seven is the number of fullness, completion and maturity. Between Pentecost and Tabernacles there is a period of three months. Spiritually we can see this as the church age. These three months between Pentecost and Tabernacles were dry months. This was a time of very little rain There was still plenty of work that needed to be done. The labors were needed in the fields And it was a time of expectation for the coming rains and harvest. There was no time for rest. The labors would go out and work in the fields until the day would come of the sounding of the shofar. The High priest would go out-side of the Temple and blow the trumpet so that it could be heard in the surrounding fields. At the sound of the trumpet the faithful would leave immediately Even if there were more crops to bring in He would drop everything and go off to worship Adonai At the sound of the shofar he knew “Now is the time to worship” Not, let me get just a few more hours in and then I will go. No! Now is the time! Understand there were other workers working side by side, others who didn't believe worship should take top priority and they did not leave, they stayed behind to finish the work. Do you hear what I am saying? Worshiping the Lord wasn't on their priority list The Jews were familiar with the feast of Trumpets They knew all to well of the times that at the sound of the shofar they left what ever it was they were doing- while others chose not to. Even if the work wasn’t finished they left – they laid the sickle down and left Yeshua said to his disciples knowing they were already familiar with this custom. He said, “Where there are two working in a field, I’ll take one and leave the other.” They knew instantly He was speaking of the feast of Trumpets. For it will be one day on the Feast of Trumpets that 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. Israel experienced the feast of Passover in their deliverance from Egypt. They experienced Pentecost at the foot of Mt. Sinai They knew Passover and they knew Pentecost But only in Canaan land could they experience Tabernacles. Canaan was their Promise land Canaan was the land that they were going to be able to enjoy the very fullness of God Through rebellion and unbelief they rejected the promise Thus rejecting the greatest feast of all The Feast of Tabernacles For forty long years God allowed them to wander in the wilderness Due to their unbelief around and around in circles they went; complaining, murmuring amongst each other, complaining about God complaining about Moses. What they couldn't seem to get was that the miracle of the promise land was in their own mouth. Sometimes we need to understand that we just need to shut our mouths. That is why when the time came for the new generation to cross over and take the city of Jericho the orders were not to say a word, Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, ‘Shout!’ then you shall shout.” Joshua 6:10 Through church history we see the same thing. Due to unbelief of God’s promises the church has been wandering around in the wilderness. Refusing to believe in the promises of God Joshua and Caleb were the only two that lived to enter into the promise land with the new generation. The old generation kept them from going in. You ever think about that? They were prepared to enter both spiritually and naturally but yet because the rest of their congregation was not ready they could not enter themselves. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of wandering. I want to be a Joshua or a Caleb I want to be a part of a new generation One that takes God at His word One that knows the promises of God are Yes and Amen! I want to cross over the Jordan and into His promise land! I DON’T WANT TO STOP AT Passover and I don’t want to stop at Pentecost I want to enter in to all of His feasts I want to be part of a generation that is willing to move on with God! When we accept Yeshua Jesus as our own personal Passover Lamb We experience the Feast of Passover Then we are ready to move on to experience the Feast of Pentecost The baptism of the Holy Spirit Glory Hallelujah! I’m excited to tell you we can keep on moving Right into the Feast of Tabernacles The very fullness of God! This is a corporate anointing Just like Joshua and Caleb We must go together Colossians 2: 9-10 reads; for in him (Jesus) dwells all the fullness of the God head bodily; AND YOU ARE COMPLETE IN Him, who is the head of all principality and power. Since the cross every feast is in Yeshua There can be no feast outside of Christ Get Ready! Make way for a new generation Young and old A new generation that has experienced Yeshua as their Passover They have been empowered by the feast of Pentecost There is nothing stopping them They know there is more of God and they want it. There is a generation that is on the move and they’re moving right into God’s glory cloud The Feast of Tabernacles I’m here to tell you I’m part of that generation; HOW ABOUT YOU? I want to experience the very fullness of God Are you with me? It is up to you as to which feast you will stop at I challenge you to not stop at all! Remember you have as much of God as you want! Many believers are some where in between Pentecost and Tabernacles You have received the infilling of the Holy Spirit and things are great for a while But then come the dry months A dry season You search for the rain at every revival You try to live off of past experiences; yesterdays miracles But you can’t do it, because God is trying to move you He wants to move you into today’s miracles, today’s Holy Ghost experiences. Move On! Isaiah 43:18-19 reads; “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old, Behold, I do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth – shall you not know it? The church has denominations built on every feast And every denomination is built on somebody’s encounter with God – They say, “Ah! This is good let us build here” Like Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration Peter said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; IF YOU WISH LET US MAKE HERE THREE TABERNACLES” Stop trying to live off of someone else’s encounter with God and have your own! Keep moving! God wants to show you new things. Deeper seas Higher heights Many times we don’t recognize the new things of God because we don’t want to accept them. Each of these feast are important to know about because they are rehearsal for end – time events. Some have already been fulfilled while others are yet to be fulfilled. They will be the wrap – up of the ages And the coming of our Bride-Groom King People get ready! He is coming to take His bride home! The Feast of Tabernacles is introduced on the first day of the Jewish civil calendars 7th month. It is introduced by the blowing of trumpets. • Numbers 29: 1 This day was a festival of trumpets sounding through out the land calling the nation to prepare for the coming Day of Atonement, The day of National Cleansing. As believers in Yeshua we need to hear the warning sound of the shofar We need to focus on prayer and national cleansing. We are all familiar with the scripture in 2 Chronicles 7:14 but the question is; are we doing it? If my people who are called by name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will forgive their sin and heal their land. This is a time to examine our lives and see where we have departed from God. It is a time to examine our country and see where we have departed from God. Rosh Hashanah is time of repentance. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand Prepare the way of the Lord! Rosh Hashanah is a time of intersession; The shofar was an alarm to call the intercessors to humble themselves And weep between the porch and the altar Joel 2:15 reads; BLOW THE TRUMPET IN ZION; consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly. Verse 12-13; now, therefore says the Lord, “Turn to me with all your heart, with fasting and mourning. So rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. It is a time to not only look at your own life but to take time as well to intercede for your nation We need to lift up our leaders in prayer We need to lift up our service men and women, lift up our government. Pray for our cities, our towns and our schools Be a watchman in the tower Be an intercessor! Be watchful, be prepared, and be in tune to the things of God Through out the entire word of God we see how God always had a heart to warn people before He proclaims judgment. God warned the people before the flood And He warned the people of Nineveh And in the New Testament we see Jesus warning Jerusalem • Matthew 23: 37-39 Over and over we too can here the warning REPENT- FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND! The time to pray is now! Not after the destruction hits but now! BEFORE. We tend to wait after trouble arrives before we take time to pray. The time to pray is now! The time to worship is now!!!! But it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the son of man. • Matthew 24:38-44 If you are willing to tune yourself in to the things of God you could hear the warning sounds of the shofar. Many refuse to hear it, believers and non-believers have shut their ears to hear. Things are winding down; IT MAY NOT BE THIS FEAST OF TRUMPETS BUT WILL BE ONE SOON. • Matthew 24:12-14 God is saying awake from your slumber! Rather it is by the blast of the shofar or His supernatural voice God’s goal is to awaken us! For this reason it is written in Ephesians 5:14; Awake, you who sleep Arise from the dead And Christ will give you light Rosh Hashanah – The Feast of Trumpets is a time to wake up and examine oneself before a Holy God. When we committed our lives to Christ did we continue on that path Or did we stray away? We are moving into the time of trumpets When the prophets of God – the blast of the shofar cry out Get ready – GET BACK TO GOD! Get back to holiness! Are you doing what God has called you to do or have you grown cold This is a time to examine one-self What have we done for God and what are we doing The sound of the Shofar- the trumpet alerts us to the fact that every action has a consequence. We are responsible for every thought, word and deed. • Romans 14: 10-13 • 2 Corinthians 5: 10 Don’t question or examine my calling Or your brothers or sisters But your own You and you alone are responsible for what God has called you to do Have you walked worthy of the calling with which you were called? • 1 Corinthians 3: 13-15 The works of the believers in Yeshua will be judged by God, But not their salvation. This is a judgment of the believers only. This is not a judgment of your salvation; I repeat, this is not a judgment of your salvation. This judgment is on your rewards based on your works, yes based on your works. On this day God will open up the Book of Life and hold a trial. The crowns we receive are not for our glory but His. The time will come when we will lay all our crowns at the feet of Jesus For worthy is the Lamb of God Jesus wore the crown of thorns so that we may wear the crown of righteousness One day we will have the awesome and yet humble experience of laying down our crowns before His throne. Saying; YOU ARE WORTHY, O LORD, YOU ARE WORTHY TO RECEIVE GLORY AND HONOR AND POWER! I would hate to think that of having nothing to offer to the one who gave me His all. This life here on earth is but a vapor compared to eternity What we must understand is everything we do here is to prepare us for there. What treasures are you storing up in heaven? The trumpet was also blown to restore praise in the house of God And to destroy the enemy It is a Jewish custom to sound the shofar one hundred times on each day of the Rosh Hashanah service. They believed that the many blasts of the shofar would confuse the enemy, leading him to believe the Messiah has already arrived and his authority had ended. The Messiah has already come and He is coming again. Satan’s authority has already ended! He is a defeated foe Jesus, the mighty warrior, disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. He has won the victory And we are victorious because He is victorious! Jewish tradition teaches that on Rosh Hashanah, satan appears before the almighty to accuse Israel as the books of judgment are opened. We know that satan is the accuser of the brethren but Glory Hallelujah, Those who have been crucified with Christ now have a mediator a go between, our high priest makes intercession on our behalf daily! He stands in between God the Father and the accuser on our behalf So we see the shofar is a call to repentance A call to turn away from all that is evil A call to intercede for our nation Our friends And our loved ones. The shofar was also used to call the assemblies together This feast season is a corporate one As we come together corporately; IN ONE MIND; ONE ACCORD PUTTING ON THE MIND OF CHRIST Coming together to intercede on behalf of our loved ones We will see many coming back to the Lord Those that have been out of the church for years are coming back As we allow the Holy Spirit to draw us in to the feast of Tabernacles others will follow. Get ready church God is about to do a new thing And this new thing doesn't just include you but your loved ones too. Remember a Lamb for a household Household salvation “BLOW THE TRUMPET OF ZION AND GATHER MY SAINTS TOGETHER TO ME” The trumpet was blown to call the assemblies together and bring home the harvest The harvest of souls Remember intercession precedes the harvest of souls The sound of the shofar was an alarm A call to awake from slumber A call to be watchful Right now the feasts of the Lord are rehearsals for the end time events One day will come when rehearsal will be over. The sound of the shofar will blast And it won’t be a warning It will be the real thing Are you ready? The whole theme of Rosh Hashanah is that in spite of all our weaknesses The gates of repentance are always open. But one must be willing to come. Rosh Hashanah’s focus is mainly on repentance, but it does have a joyful side as well. It is the head of the New Year on the civil calendar making this feast the Jewish New Year. It is also known as the birthday of the creation of the world. There is so many truths hidden in these feast and we do not have the space for every treasure So I encourage you to study out the seven feasts of the Lord on your own. You will be blessed! Let’s look at the seasonal aspect of this feast. The feast of Tabernacles, consisting of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles is the only one of three feast seasons that has not yet been literally fulfilled in history. Both Passover and Pentecost literally happened. So there is no reason for us to believe that the feast of Tabernacles will not also be fulfilled. The seasonal aspect of the Feast of Tabernacles relates to the end-time events. When the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, With the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God 1 Thess. 4:16; When at the last trump the dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible, having put on incorruptibility, and the living changed, having put on immorality, both will together ascend to meet their Lord in the air. We know this as the rapture; THE GATHERING OF God’s saints at the sound of the trumpet. Ancient Jewish tradition is that the resurrection of the dead would occur on Rosh Hashanah Jewish grave stones were even engraved with a shofar • Matthew 24: 29-31 The day is coming in which the Lord will be coming on the clouds of heaven with power and glory God’s last trump will be blown and the day of the Lord will begin. The righteous in Christ will be delivered from the wrath to come. And He will gather an assembly to the Lord. (1Thessalonians 1:10) The righteous dead will be resurrected, and the living will be gathered “from the four winds” The last trump will sound God’s battle alarm against Satan and the wicked as He begins “The great day of His wrath” Revelation 6:17 The day of man’s rebellion will come to a close And finally, the last trump will announce the coming of the Messiah For He alone will be exalted in that day! Isaiah 2:17 says; the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low The Lord alone will be exalted in that day AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW EVERY TONGUE SHALL CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD! The message of Rosh Hashanah is very clear- Repent before Rosh Hashanah or you will find your self in the “day of awe” A well known Rabi sage use to say this; “REPENT one day before your death” AND HIS STUDENTS WOULD ASK, “Does any one know on what day he will die?” And the Rabi replied, “Then all the more reason to repent today” Isaiah 55:6 says; “seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near” Right now the gates of repentance remain open One day they will be closed We do not know the number of our days We do not know the day of His wrath So today is the day of repentance Today is the day of salvation When we look at the Feast of Trumpets We must ask ourselves this one question Are we prepared for the coming of our Bride Groom King? He shall come when we least expect it “As a thief in the night” For it is during the Feast of Trumpets that the Bride Groom is united with His bride It is during the Feast of Tabernacles the final feast that the King of kings will set up His millennial Kingdom • Revelation 19: 7-9 Notice in verse seven it said; and His wife has made herself ready That tells me that there are some things that I must do in order to prepare my self for the coming of my bride-groom. After all what bride would not prepare herself for her wedding day Ephesians 5:27 says; that He (Jesus) MIGHT PRESENT HER (HIS BRIDE) TO HIMSELF A GLORIOUS CHURCH, NOT HAVING SPOT OR WRINKLE OR ANY SUCH THING, BUT THAT SHE BE HOLY AND WITH OUT BLEMISH. We are made righteous through our Bride Groom Yeshua In Passover He is the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. By receiving Him as our Passover Lamb we experience “the new birth” Ready to move on to Pentecost Where we are filled with the Spirit and living in His power Ready to move on to Tabernacles Where we will experience the double portion anointing – the latter and former rains coming together It is in the Feast of Tabernacles that we will experience the very fullness of God And it is in the feast that we can enjoy the abundant life Living in victory and resting in His victory Remember each feast symbolizes a step closer to walking in the fullness of God The 5th Feast “Trumpets” is our 5th step in our Christian walk This step is learning how to live in the victory of Yeshua as the horn of Salvation Once we live in His victory we are able to enter into the “WONDERFUL REST OF GOD” • Ephesians 6: 10-12 your real enemy is not your supervisor at work Or the boss that you feel is always miss treating you Nor your neighbor Nor your in-laws No! Your enemy is Satan and all his cohorts You must understand that Jesus, the horn of our salvation has defeated the devil Our strength and power comes from God through the mighty blood of Jesus as the trumpet of God There is power in the blood! There is victory in the blood! 2 Corinthians 10: 3-4 Apostle Paul said; for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God for pulling down strong holds. Church understand we do not have to defeat the devil Praise God! He’s already defeated We must learn to stand in the victory that has already been provided for us. And when we’ve done all to stand We continue to stand! In Ephesians chapter six Paul speaks of the armor of God We must put on this armor daily in order to stand in the victory that belongs to us. In Romans chapter thirteen Paul tells us to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” Yeshua-Jesus is our armor We are victorious because He is victorious His victory becomes ours as we live in His Word And walk in His fruit – the fruit of the Spirit His victory becomes ours as we allow Him to live through us I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me. When we put on the Lord Jesus Christ we can truly enter into His rest The rest of God But all steps must be taken in the order of each feast You can not enjoy trumpets unless you have experienced Pentecost You can not experience Pentecost unless you've experienced Passover Get ready and get moving From glory to glory from change to change from feast to feast Jesus our Bride Groom King is coming back! When He comes He will be coming as the King of kings and Lord of lords. He will not be coming as a baby in the manger Church if you’re still worshiping a baby Messiah you’re in trouble Because He’s coming as a Mighty King! A Mighty Warrior! And He will be coming to make War! • Revelation 19: 11-16 He will crush the enemy and rule with a rod of iron Over a Kingdom that will never end. Yeshua is King He shall reign over all the earth He is the Trumpet of God and the Horn of Salvation He is our Bride Groom King! Be watchful! Be ready! He is coming back! Home |
| Rosh Hashanah and our Messiah “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.” |
