THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS

“These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of YHVH,
which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies”

(Leviticus 23:2)

09 / 27 / 08
(Comments in parentheses and emphasis are mine)

FIRST THOUGHTS:

When a king is ushered in or is anointed, isn’t there a trumpet sounded?” (2 Kings 9:13 and 1 Kings 1:34 … “There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’”)

Isn’t a trumpet used to wake people up or to warn them?” (Ezekiel 33:6 and especially Joel 2:1 which says, “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of YHVH is coming. It is close at hand”).

Isn’t the Son of God the King we are living for and are going to be ushering in? Aren’t we to be sounding the horn of the coming kingdom?

THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS IS COMING (And so is the King!?):

Although this week might be another dress rehearsal, are you ready to receive the King if it isn’t? Are we not to be preparing ourselves to be with the One we love? “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)” (Revelation 19:7-8)

Note: Our righteous acts are our obedience to God’s commands. We are commanded to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets. Recall from last week that sin is disobeying God’s commands.

THIS IS AN ACTUAL APPOINTMENT SCHEDULED BY GOD!

Original command: found in Leviticus 23:23-35 (verse 24 shown): “…On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.” (This is speaking of the seventh month on God’s timetable, not man’s seventh month of July.)

Spiritual meaning: God uses His appointments to reveal Himself. The Spring Feasts have already passed:

- Passover (The chosen Lamb)
- Unleavened Bread (sinless and the single kernel buried)
- Firstfruit (Overcoming the grips of death and being the first to rise)
- Pentecost (the giving of the Spirit to help us obey God’s Laws)

Although much of Christianity disregards God’s appointments and instead celebrates the man-made holidays of Easter and good Friday (and many simply ignore the giving of the Sprit), these appointments are eternal and cannot be changed (“All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.” – Psalm 119:160). The above are the Spring feasts, but what about the Fall Feasts? Are we not waiting for His return? Are we not waiting for judgment Day? Are we not waiting to be with Him forever? These things are yet to come and are all closely tied to the Fall Feast days, yet the modern day church has ceased from celebrating them! The Fall feasts reveal what the Messiah is going to do in our lives and in Israel (His family)! Since the Feasts are determined by the new moon, I will let you know when the new moon is spotted (setting the cycle of Feasts). The first of the Fall feasts is Trumpets. In short, it is a day in which we are commanded to blow the trumpet (shofar), get together as a body of Believers, and do no work. My friends … that is it! Blowing of the trumpet (shofar) and celebrating the Messiah! Can you see the symbolism of blowing the trumpet? Many believe it will be on this day that our Lord returns! We should be celebrating the feast of Trumpets out of a child-like faith (God said it – we do it). We celebrate this Feast in anticipation of His return (out of faith). Can you see the sound getting louder each year as more and more believers walk in the truth? One year, it will no longer be a dress rehearsal, but the actual performance.

New Testament findings: What did Yeshua (Jesus) do? Our Messiah celebrated this, as well as His followers … so why aren’t we?

- Matthew 24:31: “And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Isn’t this what we are all hoping for? Will you be celebrating and blowing the trumpet (shofar) on this day? Or will you be, like many at His first coming, simply going about your business on this day and doing the “routine” of life? Will you miss the Messiah? Can you imagine, while we are blowing our trumpet (shofar) He may actually return?)

- 1 Corinthians 15:51-52: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (Because many of us have been raised NOT to obey the Law and appointments of God, we all know the part of the phrase that says, “in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye” as well as being “raised imperishable” – but have no idea about the trumpet call!)

- 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (All I know is that my family and I (along with many others) will be celebrating and have already sent in our RSVP to the invitation. I guess there is limited seating: “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14). We should all desire to be found in obedience when He returns at His appointed time.)

- Revelation 1:10: “On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,” and again in 4:1: “After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’”

WHEN IS THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS THIS YEAR (We will have to wait until the new moon is spotted):

This year’s Feast of Trumpets will be on Wednesday (beginning the evening of 09/30) or Thursday (beginning the evening of 10/01), depending upon when the new moon is seen in Israel. Again, there are many who go by the calendar and man’s scientific guess, but what joy and anticipation there is in doing it the way God set up and the way our Master did. I admit it may be more of a “hassle” to do it this way, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy. God is NOT about our convenience in the flesh. Quite the opposite. Are we ready for His return or are we not? Are we really anticipating His return or just going through the motions? Waiting for the actual moon to be cited is very exciting and fulfills Matthew 25:13 which says, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour” regarding His return. So if we go by the calendar, we DO know the day and time. In actuality, though, we do not know until it is spotted. For it is also written that His return will not surprise those who are obedient to His commands: 1 Thessalonians 5:4 … “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. “ We anticipate His return on this day, but simply do not know when it is until the new moon is spotted.

God’s word says that “The moon marks off the seasons (the Hebrew word for seasons is mô‛êd which means an appointment, or specifically a festival)” (Psalm 104:19). His word also says that the beast in the end times will “speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws.” (Daniel 7:25) These verses deserve some close attention and meditation.

Enjoy the day off this coming feast and let the sound of the horn get louder and louder each year. (Note: Let me know if you would like to be notified when we receive word of the new moon sighting in Israel where our Savior will be returning one year. (Zechariah 14:3-4 … “Then YHVH will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.”) Maybe it will be this week!

God wants us on HIS timetable, not fitting Him into our busy schedules. He doesn’t give a lot of advance notice, so we must always be alert and ready to change our plans for His:

- A day is determined by the sun setting on the horizon. A day to God is evening to evening, or dusk to dusk. This was set at Creation as written in Genesis 1:1-2:3 (and verified with Leviticus 23:32 speaking of the Day of Atonement: “It is a Sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your Sabbath.”)

- A month is determined by the first sliver of moon after the moon has been darkened due to the point of conjunction which occurs each month. Although tradition has us looking at man’s wisdom to determine when the new moon is (the dates on our calendars are based on scientific calculations which are good estimates of when the new moon will be spotted, but can be off 1 or 2 days each month.). We are now able (since 1948 when Israel occupied the land, again) to sight the new moon in Israel, again. (Think about it. By using the calendars, or man’s estimate, we are saying it is “close enough”. When our Messiah comes back, it will be according to HIS time using HIS method and not by man’s scientific guess.)

- A year is determined by the barley being ripe in Israel (called “Abib” which means the barely is ripened to the point of being able to be parched in fire and eaten.) This is God’s way of letting His people know when the year is ending and the new one is beginning. When the first crop of barley in Israel is “abib”, the following new moon is the 1st month of the year. In Exodus 13:3 it says, “Today, in the month of Abib (the barley being at the above defined state), you are leaving.” This passage is speaking of when they were leaving Egypt. In Exodus 12:2 the word for month in this passage is “Chodesh” which literally means new moon, and so should read: “This new moon is to be for you the first new moon, the first new moon of your year.” (Many of our translations have “month” in place of “new moon”). Thus, we see that when the barley is “abib” … the next new moon is the new year and begins the Appointment cycle of our God. Awesome! God determines it all!

Some notes on our study regarding the New Moon (Are we to “Sight it” or follow man’s calendar?”)
God’s calendar is clear and was given at the beginning and throughout Scriptures:

Genesis 1:14 … Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasonsH4150 and for days and years;

Psalm 104:19 … He made the moon for the seasonsH4150; The sun knows the place of its setting.

Leviticus 23:4 … ‘These are the appointedH4150 timesH4150 of YHVH, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the timesH4150 appointedH4150 for them.

H4150 is mô‛êd mô‛êd mô‛âdâh
mo-ade’, mo-ade’, mo-aw-daw’
From H3259; properly an appointment, that is, a fixed time or season; specifically a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose);

H3259 is yâ‛ad
yaw-ad’
A primitive root; to fix upon (by agreement or appointment); by implication to meet (at a stated time), set (a time).

Where is the New Moon and the sun set for times? In Genesis 1:14, Psalm 104:19 and Jeremiah 33:25-26 … “This is what YHVH says: ‘If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.’”
When is God’s New Month? The New Moon sightings tell us when the month begin. The New Moon gives us the dates of the Moedims (appointments).

When is God’s New Year? When the sun ripens the barley to the Aviv state, this signifies which New Moon begins the New Year. When they spot the barley being in the Aviv state, the following New Moon signifies the New Year. So, the sun determines the year and the moon, the month.

There is confusion, though, on “what is the New Moon” since “New Moon” is an unused Biblical term. Let us see what some say:

o Astronomers dubbed the point of conjunction to be the “New Moon”. This is when the sun is behind the moon, so no part of the moon (from the earth’s perspective) can be seen. Thus, “New Moon” = “No Moon”
o The Biblical “New Moon”, however, is the first sliver of light seen after the days of a dark moon (a dark moon, or the astronomers point of conjunction) can last between 1.5 to 3.5 days during conjunction. So, after having “No Moon” for a few days, the “New Moon” appears for the first time. This is also called the crescent moon. Why is the first sighting of the moon the Biblical way? “Hodesh” (New Moon) means to “make new” or “renew”. The Crescent New Moon is called “Hodesh” because it is the first time the moon is seen anew after being concealed for several days at the end of the lunar cycle.

- Each New Moon starts a month (Us Greeks have named the months like we named the days of the week). Actually, God’s Word has it “the third day of the second month” … meaning, “the third day after the sighting of the second moon since the barley was aviv.”

Verses that put new moon equal with the Sabbath and the feasts:

Nehemiah 10:33 “for the showbread, for the continual grain offering, for the continual burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the New Moon, for the appointed times, for the holy things and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God.”

Psalm 81:3 “Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;”

Isaish 1:13 “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New Moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies– I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.

Isaiah 66:23 “‘And it shall be from New Moon to New Moon And from Sabbath to Sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me,’ says YHVH.” (Note: this passage is speaking about the end days. Mankind will be celebrating the New Moon and the Sabbath)

Amos 8:5 “saying, ‘When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?’” (We use this verse to say that we do not buy or sell on the Sabbath, yet, we do not recognize the new moon. This passage continues by stating that they were waiting to use dishonest scales, as well. That is why they wanted the new moon and Sabbath to be over)

Colossians 2:16 “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a New Moon or a Sabbath day”

Let us search if we should use man’s predetermined way of determining when the New Moon is … OR … wait on God’s timing and actually sighting it.

- Those who walk in the Feasts, as our Lord and Savior did, have come to know and love the New Moon. But not using God’s way of deciding the new moon, but rather by using man’s way (a prediction). We simply have not thought about it and continue as it “always has been in our life time”

- Let us first investigate why using man’s way even started in the first place. In 359 AD, Rome issued a proclamation abolishing the Sanhedrin (The Sanhedrin were the governing body who declared the “New Moon” sightings and who governed Israel at that time). There is a question on whether the Sanhedrin is even “Biblical”, but we do have the 70 elders of Moses, as well as a need for a governing body. We will leave it at that. The Jews were being scattered throughout the world. Before they were scattered, a final convening of the Sanhedrin took place to establish the Hillel II calendar for use while they were not in the land. It was to be temporary until the Messiah returned and restored them to their land and rebuilt the temple … etc… This was a good estimate of the new moon, but is typically off by 1 or 2 days each month. It uses calculations for the average point of conjunction to predict the New Moon.

o Why the Sanhedrin? The commandment of identifying and declaring the New Moon was addressed only to Moses and Aaron (Exodus 12). If it were to be addressed to the whole community, the determination of the calendar would be arbitrary and subject to all sorts of discrepancies. For that reason, this commandment has always been regarded as a function of the governing body or a leader (The Sanhedrin and their Hillel II calendar is a man-made tradition. Although a good one, it should not keep us from obeying the commandment the best we know how). I am fine with having a governing body sighting the New Moon, but I will not keep the lack of it to keep me from obeying.

Regarding the leaders during the time of Yeshua (of which the Sanhedrin were part of):

Peter and the apostles were brought before the council and were questioned by the high priest. They had been told not to continue teaching in the name of Yeshua. Acts 5:29 says, “But Peter and the apostles answered and said, ‘We must obey God rather than man.’” So, if any rulers (i.e. Sanhedrein or any other leader) tell us to do something that goes against God’s clear word, then we must disobey the rulers and do what God commands. Peter and the apostles didn’t even tip-toe around this issue with the high priest. Peter and the apostles did not even compromise and to both (man’s way and God’s … just to “keep the peace”). When the Spirit reveals a truth, we must walk in it. We are not to accept both versions (If so, then Christmas would be okay, as long as we do the Feast of Tabernacles with it). Once we know the truth, have studied it, have discussed it, have prayed about it, we should stop doing what we used to do (no matter how large the crowd who disagrees).

There are some people that say they agree that we should go by the sightings of the moon, but for the sake of the “community” and for the sake of the “larger body of Israel” we should ignore what the Spirit reveals and stick with the majority and their traditions. I would cite Exodus 23:2 … “You shall not follow a multitude in doing evil…” (Anything that goes against God’s Word is evil.) What would I have done before Israel was a nation again and came to this truth? I would have actually looked for the New Moon myself … where I am at. THAT would have been closer to obedience than following man’s way.

The Hillel II calendar, I believe, was an attempt to obey the New Moon citing while away from Israel … but … we cannot ignore our ability to site the New Moon in Israel because the Sanhedrin didn’t authorize it again.

- Luke 12:11 says, “And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and authorities, do not be anxious …” (This verse is Yeshua speaking about the religious leaders calling them rulers and authorities – now look at Colossians 2:15 which uses the SAME words.) Colossians 2:15 … “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him (lit. the cross).” (This verse shows that by His death on the cross, Yeshau made a public spectacle of their teachings and triumphed over them. This does not sound as though, there was a high opinion of them from the Son of God (or Paul). It also said that Yeshua disarmed them – would that mean that He took away their power? Why are we giving it back to them? I am NOT against leaders and direction. But it is clear that if there is a way to obey the command, then we must do it, no matter how many may disagree.)
- Matthew 15:2-3 … “Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread! And He answered and said to them, ‘And why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?’” (The tradition of the elders that we are dealing with today is the Hillel II Calendar. Should we follow that tradition or follow God’s command as best as we can?)
- Matthew 23:2-3 in the Shem-Tov Hebrew Matthew reads as follows: “saying, the Pharisees and sages sit upon the seat of Moses. Therefore, all that HE says to you diligently do, but according to their reforms and their precedents do not do, because they talk but they do not do.” (In other words, do what Moses says and do it diligently. But as far as the Pharisees and the sages, even though they have placed themselves in Moses’ seat, do not do their reforms and precedents. Some say that the Hebrew Matthew comes after the Greek. In both cases, we must simply continue to read the passage. Yeshua followed by blasting the Pharisees and sages for their actions and wickedness. That alone would tell us that Yehsua is NOT complimenting them simply because THEY sat themselves (God did not) in the seat of Moses.

- In 1948 Israel became a nation again. Today, Israel has the largest Jewish community in the world. Yet, they have not gone back to the Biblical calendar of spotting the New Moon. They continue using the “traditional way” of the Hillel II calendar. About 20 years ago, some people began using the Biblical methods, again. So we do have a source … just not the Sanhedrin.

Questions:

- If we have the means to do it the way God intended … then why don’t we?
- Many say, “for the sake of the majority and uniformity, let us use what they majority uses … the Hillel II calendar. Funny, if we were to care about the majority and uniformity, then why wouldn’t we stay in the church doctrines? Are we not to forsake man’s traditions to obey God?
- We know that God’s appointments and times are set on the New Moon. Question: Would Yeshua return on Trumpets based on the man-made time table or on the actual sighting of the New Moon? I believe His return would be based upon the sighting and not on a calendar.

As mentioned, we have those sighting the New Moon and the internet to declare it throughout the world within seconds. In the past (we have documentation how they declared the New Moon) they lit fires on mountain tops.

Like all the Laws … we do the best we can (not for salvation, but to please God and show Him we love Him). We are confidant that the new month starts with the sighting of the New Moon, but now we are struggling with “when” to start celebrating it. At Israel’s sighting or the coming night in our land (knowing that it has already started in Israel). We are saved by faith!

The feast days are specific appointed days God gave to His children and they knew when they were based on the New Moon as sighted in Israel. (Although the children were scattered outside of Israel, it was based on Israel’s sighting.) This is God’s calendar for His children. When the Moon was first sighted by enough witnesses and it was declared, then the word would go out (via fires on top of mountains).

If the New Moon is not sighted on day 29th (due to clouds or some other conditions that God alone allows) it is automatically day 30th. For it is never more than 30 days.

If the barley is not Aviv by the 13th new moon, THAT determines the leap year!! NOT man’s calendar!

Is it harder to plan ahead? YES it is! But when your life is centered around God, then changing it to please HIS calendar is that much easier.

We must start obeying God His way. We should not care what others are saying or doing … we must follow God the best we are able!

Conclusion:

o a day is determined by the sun going down
o a week is determined by the Sabbath
o a month is determined by the sighting of the New Moon
o a year is determined by the barley being Aviv