Also called Rosh HaShannah which is literally the Head of the Year.
It is known by many names.
The Biblical Hebrew name for the 4th of our Heavenly Fathers’ 7 Appointed Times/ Moedim/ annual feasts in
Lev. 23:24 is
Zikaron T’ruah Miqra Kodesh
and is variously translated as:
a memorial of blowing of trumpets [shofars], an holy convocation (KJV);
a signaled holy gathering (Jay P. Green rough translation);
a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation (NAS);
a memorable acclamation, a holy gathering (Jay P. Green smooth translation);
a holy convocation announced with blasts on the shofar (CJB);
and a remembrance with shofar blasts, a holy convocation (ArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash/ASEC).
In Numbers 29:1, there’s a 2nd, and only other, reference to Yom Teruah in the Torah, where the Hebrew name for this day is translated into English as:
a day of blowing the trumpets [shofars] (KJV and Jay P. Green smooth translation);
a day for blowing trumpets [shofars] (NAS);
a day of blowing the shofar (CJB); a day of shofar sounding
it is Yom Teruah – the day of shouting an alarm.
(The 1st day of the 7th month)
A memorial of trumpet based on Numbers 29:1, the biblical name for the fourth feast is The Day of Trumpets or more literally, Yom Teruah, which is a direct translation from the original Hebrew.
Each month True Israel/Yisra’El is commanded to sound their shofars, and the priests are to blow their silver trumpets.
“Blow the trumpet /shofar at the time of the new moon, at the full moon on our solemn feast day. For this is a statute for Yisra’El, A law of the God of Jacob.” Ps. 81:3-4
“Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the slaughters of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am YHWH your God.” Num. 10:10
The reason for Yom Teruah being a day of shouting and alarm is: “There are only 10 days left” for the wicked to repent of their wickedness and join themselves to True Israel/Yisra’El. Throughout the year the monthly reminder, the warning cry, has been blown; the 7th month is coming and soon it will be too late to repent. So now is the time!
Sunset on Wednesday, 2nd October is the Gregorian calendar date for 2024. 29 Elul on the Hebrew calendar and Rosh Hashanah on 1 & 2 Tishri is Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th October. This is also the Civil New Year in Israel. 5785.
The Appointed Times of our Heavenly Father paint a picture of what we can expect to occur in these last days. However, mistakenly believing that any one of them has reached its’ complete fulfillment and therefore does not have any influence on future events, may be spiritually shortsighted. Our ways and thoughts are not the same as the Creator of the Universe. Who said:
“Whom will He teach knowledge? And whom will He make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” Isa. 28:9-10
Obviously babies cannot understand the message, it is rather for those who are mature in His word.
Our Father’s message for His people is the same beautiful message that the man on the mountain in Isa 52:7 brought, or that of John the Baptist, Jesus/Yeshua and Paul, which was simply: “the kingdom of Heaven is at hand, REPENT and believe the good news; our God reigns!”
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion,“ your Elohim (lawmaker, judge) reigns! ” Isa 52:7
“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying,‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ ” Mat 3:1-2
“Now after John was put in prison, Yeshua/Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying; ‘ The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of Elohim is athand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’ “Mar 1:14-15
True Yisra’El
Understanding the message and the Appointed Times/feasts cannot be done without understanding who True Israel/Yisra’El really is, and who they are not. There is a distinction between the state of Israel/the country, those who follow the laws of a man-made government with its statutes etc. And True Isreal/Yisra’El, those who have repented, left the king and kingdom of their birth and have started to learn and to do our heavenly Father’s statutes, judgments and ordinances and have now come into covenant with Him at Passover/Pesach.
To understand the Appointed Times/feasts of the Lord/YHWH, we must be aware that there is a difference between the 2 types of people who live in His kingdom.
One type is the Ger:
When a person repents and turns from their ways and the ways of the world, to follow Gods ways, they become a Ger. This means that the individual is no longer a citizen in any other kingdom on earth; they and their families have joined themselves to True Israel/Yisra’El becoming citizens of that holy nation, or commonwealth, through repentance and the next step would be a public declaration of that separation by water immersion (that is what was originally understood by baptism). The Ger then keeps all the statues, judgments and ordinances that True Israel/Yisra’El does.
“You shall have the same law for the stranger [Ger] and for one from your own country [Ezrach]; for I am YHWH, your God.” (Lev 24:22)
“One law shall be for the native-born [Ezrach] and for the stranger [Ger] who dwells among you .” Exodus 12:49
The Ger has left the country of their first birth and joined themselves and their families to the holy, but now invisible, nation of True Israel/Yisra’El. When the Pharisees asked Messiah when the kingdom of heaven would come, His reply was,
“The kingdom of heaven/God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of Elohim is within you.” Luke 17:20-21
The kingdom is within us when we repent and join ourselves to True Israel/Yisra’El.
The 2nd is the Ezrach
Each year the Ger has the opportunity to become:
‘as one born in the land’.
Whether or not the individual has ever even seen the land of Israel. This was the case with all those who ate of the Pesach/Passover back in Egypt, they became as ‘one born in the land’ even though the majority of them had never even seen it and never would.
In Exodus 12:48, the instructions for the Passover as concerned the Ger reads:
“And when a stranger /Ger dwells with you and wants to keep the Pesach/Passover to YHWH, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall become as a native of the land [an Ezrach]; for no uncircumcised person shall eat it.” Exodus12:48.
Passover/Pesach is the only feast where we as Gerim; which are those who have joined themselves to True Israel/Yisra’El by repentance and baptism; may now actually become ‘as one born in the land.’ This person/the new Ezrach; is True Israel/Yisra’El because they have eaten of the Pesach/Passover lamb and placed the blood on their doors. They are now the ones that are ‘Born from above‘ as Messiah said we all must be. The Ezrach are the people who are born, a second time, into a “spiritual” kingdom, the land of their second birth.
The Appointed Times of the Lord/feasts of YHWH are first on an individual basis for Israel/Yisra’El and then on a corporate basis. The Spring Appointed Times/feasts are for the individual and the Fall/Autumn Appointed Times/ feasts are for the corporate body of True Israel/Yisra’El.
Except for one Sukkot every 7 years, only Israel/Yisra’El seed and the males who dwell with them attend the feasts of the Lord.
“Three times a year all thy males זכורך , za·kur’] shall appear before YHWH, thy God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. Deut. 16:16 and Exodus 34:23
The Appointed Times of the Lord/ feasts of YHWH are not for everyone. They are only for True Israel/Yisra’El and those who have joined themselves to Israel/Yisra’El by coming into covenant with our Heavenly Father/YHWH! So we see from the scriptures that the Appointed Times of the Lord/the feasts of YHWH is not simply or exclusively a ‘Jewish’ cultural observation!
What does Scripture tell us about this festival and what commandments are given regarding it?
What are we to do and when are we to do it?
Looking at this moed and discovering what Scripture has to tell us about it, we should consider that the very same Creator God our Heavenly Father, Who granted favor and mercy by sending His Son to atone for our lawlessness, will send that same Son again to defeat His enemies and judge the world.
In the words of King David: oh, God, please “open our eyes that we might behold wonderful things from your Torah” and see our returning Messiah in this moed. Scripture was given to mankind to speak of Him and we should listen and hear its voice… His voice… especially during His appointed times.
What Scripture Says About Yom Teruah
Yom Teruah [יום תרועה,
Strong’s #3117 + Strong’s #8643] means
“day [of the] shout”.
“Speak unto the Bnei Yisra’El, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Shabbaton, a zikhron teru’ah mikra kodesh. Ye shall do no melekhet avodah therein; but ye shall offer an offering made by eish unto YaHuWaH.” Wayyiqra/Leviticus 23:24-25
Although translated as trumpet, teruah is not an actual trumpet as Westerns know it. Rather, it is a type of sound made with a ram’s horn: a shofar. A shofar is a ram’s horn that is hollowed out and used as a musical instrument. It is ‘played’ by blowing and vibrating pursed lips much like a modern brass instrument like a trumpet or trombone.
The NASB adds the words “of trumpets” in this passage. Teruah is used in Scripture to describe both the sounding of a shofar as well as people shouting; (e.g. the “great shout” mentioned in Joshua 6:5 when the walls of Jericho fell, is the Hebrew word teruah).
“And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the keren hayovel, when ye hear the sound of the shofar, Kol HaAm shall shout with a teruah gedolah; and the Chomat HaIr shall fall down, and HaAm shall go up every ish charging straight in.” Yehoshua/Joshua 6:5
There are a number of reasons to sound the shofar aside from this festival. Two of the most common reasons given in Scripture are: the arrival of a king or the anointing of a king. For example: 2 Samuel 15:10, 1 Kings 1:34, 1 Kings 1:39, 2 Kings 9:13.
All of these mention a shofar being sounded as a person is anointed and proclaimed king. So, too, we can recognize the King who reigns over all Kings, when we hear the shofar being sounded on Yom Teruah.
Finding Messiah in Yom Teruah… as in His return.
After the spring moedim (Pesach, Chag HaMatzot and Shavuot) comes a long, hot, and dry summer in the Land of Yisra’El. But the moedim return in the Fall/Autumn and with them comes relief from the heat with cooler weather.
Like the spring moedim that foretold Messiah’s first coming, Yom Teruah marks the beginning of the fall festivals that foretell His second coming. In this moed we can see Messiah returning with a great trumpet blast and vanquishing His enemies in preparation for Judgment Day and the Day of Atonement.
The blessings of the moedim return with Yom Teruah which is the Feast of Trumpets, the first of the fall moedim.
Prophecy speaks of the Great Trumpet that will herald the return of the Messiah King following the long, hot, and dry centuries since His appearing.
We noted above that the Greek word used in the Septuagint for teruah was salpiggon (“trumpets”, singular salpigx). This word is used in the writings of the apostles eleven times including these prophetic passages:
“And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” Mattithyahu/Matthew 24:30-31
“And then will appear the Ot Ben Adam (the Sign of the Son of Man) in Shamayim. All the tribes of kol haaretz (all the earth) will see the Ben HaAdam Mashiach and his Bias, his Coming, on the ananim of Shamayim (clouds of glory of Heaven) with gevurah (power) and great kavod (glory). Mashiach will send his malachim with a loud blast of the Shofar, and the malachim will gather together Mashiach’s Bechirim from the four winds, from one end of Shamayim to the other.” Mattithyahu/Matthew 24:30-31
Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 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. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:51-53
“Hinei! I speak a sod (mystery) to you: we will not all sleep the sleep of the Mesim, but we will all be changed. In a rega (moment), in the wink of an eye, at the last shofar blast. For the shofar will sound, the Mesim (dead ones) will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For it is necessary for this perishable nature to put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature to put on the immortal.” Kehilah in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53
For the Master Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of Elohim, and the dead in Messiah will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air, and so we shall always be with the Master. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
“For Yahusha Himself, at the signal, at the bat kol /voice, of the Sar HaMalachim (the Archangel), and at the shofar blast of YaHuWaH, shall come down from Shamayim, and the Mesim in Mashiach shall stand up alive in the Techiyas HaMesim first. Then [next in sequence], we who are alive and who have been left behind simultaneously with them shall be snatched up in the ananim (clouds) to meet Yahusha in the air. And so always with Yahusha we shall be.” Kehilah in Thessalonika I 4:16-17
The day or the hour?
Yom Teruah is the only moed that falls on the first day of the month. All of the other moedim fall on a day that is well into the month: the fourteenth, the tenth, fifty days after Passover, etc.
It seems that Messiah Himself pointed to Yom Teruah as the day of His return using this well-known condition?
“And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” Mattithyahu/Matthew 24:31-36
“Mashiach will send his malachim with a loud blast of the Shofar, and the malachim will gather together Mashiach’s Bechirim from the four winds, from one end of Shamayim to the other. And from the etz teenah (fig tree), learn its parabolic lesson: when its branch has become tender already and sprouts leaves, you know that Kayitz (Summer) is near; thus also you, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the very doors. Omein, I say to you, that this dor (generation) will by no means pass away until all these things come about. Shamayim vHaAretz will pass away, but my Dvar will by no means pass away. But concerning that day and hour, no one has daas, not the malachim of Shamayim, but only HaAv (the Father) of me.” Mattithyahu/Matthew 24:31-36
Messiah uses a parable of a fig tree to indicate that there will be signals/signs of the season of His return. Then He uses an expression that points to Yom Teruah, the day of the shofar blast that announces the arrival of the King! We should be aware of the time and the seasons and stay alert and spiritually ready for Him. He tells us:
“Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. Luqas/Luke 12:35-38
A verse in Revelation says we cannot know the time of the Messiahs’ return. These are the words of the Master, Himself:
So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. Rev 3:3.
Here Messiah is speaking to the believers in Sardis whom He declares to be “dead” Rev 3:1. It is these dead believers who, if they do not “wake up”, will be surprised at His coming.
Messiah uses common phrasing that points to the only well-known day of which “no man knows the day or the hour” to liken to His return, that being Yom Teruah.
When the shofar sounded in ancient Israel, it signaled that heaven and earth were about to meet, that divine power, the supernatural forces of heaven was about to break into the mundane affairs of men. It signaled that great things were about to happen.
Below are briefly the historical roots of our faith, the present relevance for believers and prophetic end-time implications.
looking at the following:
Yom Teruah or the day of blowing/shouting,
the shofar blasts prophetically,
the summer months between the spring feast of Shavuot/Weeks /Pentecost
and the fall feast of Yom Teruah
are a spiritual picture of what is often called the ‘Church Age,’ which is the period of time from the Feast of Pentecost/Shavuot in Acts 2 until the return of Jesus/Yeshua the Messiah at the end of the age and lasting for approximately 2000 years. For many, especially those living in a hotter climate, summer is a time of weariness and fatigue due to the excessive heat. In the same way, many believers have fallen asleep or are growing spiritually weary while waiting for the return of the Messiah. Jesus/Yeshua discusses this issue in the Parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25, who all grew weary and fell asleep awaiting the coming of the Bridegroom /Jesus/Yeshua.
This all changes on the 1st day of the 7th month of the biblical Hebrew calendar, when away in the distance the sound of a shofar blast suddenly pierces the atmosphere and wakes up those who have fallen asleep. Not only does this blast on the shofar signal the beginning of the 7th month when the new crescent moon is sighted, (the day and hour that no man knows); but it seems that it announces the return of the Bridegroom (Messiah) coming for His bride (the redeemed saints). As in the parable, the cry went forth that the bridegroom was coming and all woke up to prepare for His arrival. In these end days, that cry is going forth even now for all to hear, to awake and to prepare for the arrival of Jesus/Yeshua the Messiah.
In the biblical calendar, the visible sighting of the crescent new moon always marks the beginning of the month and is announced by the shofar blast Ps 81:3. Likewise, on the first day of the seventh month of the biblical calendar, the arrival of the new moon, called Rosh Chodesh, when the shofar sounds it marks the beginning of Yom Teruah. This is the first day of the fall/autumn moed/festival/harvest season and is the time when the call goes out for the spiritually sleepy to wake up, and to hear the voice of the Lord, to be invigorated by the breath or voice of the shofar, which is symbolic of His prophetic Word going forth across the earth in the last days.
The ram’s horn shofar is bent into a curved shape and it represents the repentant, humble hearts, of both the one blowing and those hearing. This is the season for the righteous to get right with the Father and bend our hearts in humility before Him and shake ourselves out of spiritual lukewarmness and instead to wake up to spiritual action and preparation. The fall/autumn Appointed Times/Moedim, point to last days events that will occur at some point in time in the very near future. It’s a time to be refreshed by the breath of God, His Ruach HaKodesh, and to be aware of a time of new beginnings. Let’s allow Him to breathe on us, to revive us and empower us as we enter into this prophetic season, and as every day we prepare ourselves so that when the moment comes for each of us, we are ready to meet our Savior, Lord, King and Redeemer, Messiah Jesus/Yeshua, in the air.
Yom Teruah also begins a season that prophetically speaks of war and battle, in ancient times in Israel, the shofar was a weapon of warfare, and in the last days it will be used again as such. It was used to call Israel to battle, to defeat her enemies with Gods’ help. The shofar was also used to proclaim victory after the battle was won and to worship our Heavenly Father who had given them the victory. Israel’s fight against her enemies still continues on even in these end times and no more obvious than right now. The enemies of the redeemed Israelites, us, are mostly spiritual, being the world, the flesh and the devil.
James 3:15; Ephesians 2:2–3.
Through faith in Jesus/Yeshua the Messiah who defeated death, hell and the grave, we can have victory over death, sin, the devil and this world. 1 Cor. 15:51–57; Rom. 8:27; 1 John 4:4; 5:4; Rev. 12:11.
As we hear the sound of the shofar calling us to rise up from our spiritual slumber, our Heavenly Father is telling His people to be the over-comers He has called us to be, so that we may be worthy to partake of the glories of his eternal kingdom.
Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21.
Yom Teruah is also the time of the reaping of the summer harvest. Spiritually speaking, this period will be the time of the reaping of the righteous to their reward Rev. 14:4. and the harvest of the wicked to the great winepress of Elohim’s wrath Rev. 14:14-20
It is the time of the resurrection of the dead in Messiah Yeshua at the end of the tribulation, Matt. 24:29 and the beginning of the Lord God’s wrath being poured out upon the nations. Joel 3:11-13. This begins the wrath of God pictured by Yom Kippur /the Day of Atonement, which occurs 10 days after Yom Teruah; before which time the dead saints will have been resurrected and given their spiritual, glorified bodies.
During the month of Elul, our focus has been on repentance/teshuvah, restoration and preparation for the coming of the Messiah. In order to repent one must understand that Scripture defines sins as the violation of our Heavenly Father’s Torah, or instructions or teachings in righteousness 1 John 3:4.
The letter Sin or chet in Hebrew, loosely means:
a failure in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Our goal should be to continually move closer to Him, but chet is behavior that causes us to move away from Him.
If our Heavenly Father requires His people to turn away from sin and turn to righteousness, which is called repentance, then what is involved in repentance?
Repentance or teshuvah in Hebrew, means: to return.
In the biblical context, it means:
to return to Elohim”and to behavior He requires of us, in other words, return to obedience to his commandments.
While we deeply regret having moved away from the Father, we must not despair, for He has provided the WAY for us to return to Him promising us that when we repent, He forgives without delay.
The shofar’s blowing is a call to awaken out of spiritual sleep, lethargy, stagnation, slumber and to repent of sin. No man knows the day or the hour of the new moon’s arrival each month, however, according to scripture, one who is alert can certainly know the season and year. Sadly, human tendency is to grow weary in waiting, and begin to slack off in one’s obedience to the Lord’s righteous commands. When the new moon is sighted and the shofar sounds, this is the signal for those who are slumbering to wake up, for hope to arise in our hearts. This is time for renewal and spiritual revival to occur and action to be taken to put off sin and to draw closer spiritually to our Heavenly Father.
The awakening sound of the shofar blast is the Hebrew word teruah
Strong’s G8643, see Lev 23:24 and Num 29:1 where the phrase
blowing of trumpets is teruah), which means:
the shout or blast of war, alarm, alarm of war, war cry, signal, and sound of tempest.
Teruah derives from the Hebrew root word ruah meaning:
alarm, signal, sound or blast of the shofar, to raise a shout.
The name Yom Teruah could therefore have several literal meanings:
“the day of the shout,
the day of the war alarm
or the day of the shofar blast.”
When we understand the significance of this day from a biblical stand point, we realize that Yom Teruah is:
a day of shouting with exultant joy or
as a shriek in alarm, or
a day of shofar blowing.
Shofars were blown in biblical times to rally the people together, to alert the people in time of war, to warn the people, or as an instrument, along with shouts, to express the people’s joy, or to praise the Lord God.
Yom Teruah prophetically involves all these concepts, it’s a day when God’s people will shout with joy as they gather to meet Yeshua in the air, after having been bodily resurrected at the sound of the last shofar blast, but it is also a time of alarm and shrieking on the part of the wicked; because a time of war and terror are brought on by the judgments and are about to come upon the earth.
Additionally, Yom Teruah is:
a day of new beginnings or renewal,
to wake up from lethargy and slumber, to be broken out of that sleepy, comfort zone state and to be awakened to action.
Again, remember the ten virgins of Matthew 25 who slept in anticipation of the bridegroom’s arrival? When the shout went forth that he was coming they were all awakened. Some were prepared to go into the marriage supper of the bridegroom and some were not. Our Bridegroom is Yeshua.
Take to heart the full ramifications of its’ spiritual and prophetic implications. If we consider ourselves to be part of the bride of Yeshua, then we will want to let the message of Yom Teruah sink deeply into our hearts and adjust our lives accordingly.
Are we laboring in vain?
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