YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. ‘You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to YHVH.’" Leviticus 23:23-25
Yom Teruah basically means a day of noise/blasts. Yom Teruah is known as the Feast of Trumpets in Christianity and is better known as Rosh Hashannah (the new year) in modern Judaism. But Yom Teruah isn't really the 'Jewish New Year,' in fact, it falls on the first day of Etanim, (also known traditionally as Tishri) which is the seventh month in YHVH's calendar. The real 'new year' is in Aviv (also known traditionally as Nisan) when Pesakh/Passover occurs.
Yom Teruah begins a ten-day period leading up to the holiest day of YHVH's calendar, Yom Kippur -- the "Day Of Atonement." These ten days are called the 'Days of Awe' in modern Judaism. In fact, modern Judaism also includes the preceding month of Elul also as a time to prepare for the upcoming Fall moedim (appointed times). The sounding of the shofar on Yom Teruah is a wake-up blast -- a reminder that the time is near for the Day of Atonement. It is time to teshuvah (repent, turn back to YHVH). Traditionally, these ten days are ones of heart searching and self examination -- the shofar warns us we need to examine our lives and make amends with all those we have wronged in the previous year, and to ask forgiveness for any vows we may have broken. So a main theme of the Fall Holy Days is repentance.
Hearing the shofar blow is a mitzvah (command). Most Messianic congregations follow tradition when it comes to 'how' to blow the shofar. Traditionally, the Baal Tekiah (shofar blower) begins with one held blast called Tekiah; followed by three broken blasts called Shevarim; followed by nine even faster broken blasts called Teruah. The Tekiah, Shevarim, and Teruah each last the same length of time. These are repeated three times. Then the Baal Tekiah concludes by blowing and holding a final blast as long as he can (basically, until he runs out of breath). This final blast is called Tekiah Gedolah. I am not convinced that this arrangement of blows is important to fulfill the biblical command of blowing the shofar, but I see nothing wrong if tradition prevails in this instance. Scripturally, no such blast arrangement is mentioned, but as long as the shofar is blown and people hear it, I would consider the mitzvah satisfied.
This will begin on sundown on the 12th Sept and last till sundown 14th September. Shabbat begins on sundown 14th September to sundown 15th September.
The Feast of Trumpets
September 25th is also known as Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets.3 Observed on the First and Second of Tishri, the celebration actually begins 29 days earlier: a series of over 90 trumpet blasts accrue for a final blowing of blasts on the climax of the celebration, the Teki'ah Gedolah, the Great Blowing.
In the rabbinical literature, there are many details that are quite provocative. Among the most significant is the use of the shofar, the ram's horn, instead of the usual silver Temple trumpets. (If you visit the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, you can see the silver trumpets that have been fashioned for use in the coming Temple.)
The shofar is associated with the Akedah, Abraham's offering of Isaac on Mount Moriah, as detailed in Genesis 22. Rabbinical tradition associates the left horn of the ram as the "first trump" and the right horn as the "last trump".
A distinguishing feature of the celebration is the last, climactic blast, the Teki'at Shofar. This is not the usual series of short bursts, signalling alarm or bad news. Rather, it is a long blast, signalling victory or good news. It is this last blast that is referred to as the last trump.
Paul's Mystery
In Paul's Resurrection Chapter, I Corinthians 15, he describes that strange event which has now become known as "The Rapture" of the Church:
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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.
What did he mean, "the last trump"?
Some have tried to link this phrase to the Seventh Trumpet Judgment in Revelation, but there is no basis for it. The Seventh Trumpet Judgment is not the final trumpet: for a thousand years (at least) there will be subsequent trumpets in services performed in the Millennial Temple.
So, just what is this "last trump"? Since Paul was of Pharisaical back ground, it has been suggested that he was alluding to the climactic trumpet of the Feast of Trumpets and that, perhaps, this feast is prophetic of the call of God's people (which he also refers to in Romans 11:2-5). Possibly. But there are other possibilities as well.
Jesus's Birthday?
If, indeed, Jesus was born on the 29th of September, 2 b.c., as some reckon, He would have been born on the Feast of Trumpets of that year.
Chuck Missler
Wake Up!
By Rabbi Label Lam
The sound of the Shofar
Woke me up from my sleep
Like the light of the Zohar
To a place dark and deep
Like a babyÂ’s crying
I looked for the source
I stood from my lying
With an uncommon force
I tripped and stumbled
In search of the sound
Until I was humbled
And then I was found
In the Schul Yom HaDin
As I started to weep
The sound from within
Was a sound so deep!
It was a sound of fear
Mixed with elation
That MoshiachÂ’s here!
Since the time of creation
He only waits to be woken
From his long deep sleep
By a sound long and broken
That sounds like a weep
HASHEM is our King!
ThatÂ’s the cry
Now, let MoshiachÂ’s alarm ring
And split the sky!
Shana Tova!