Yahshua (Jesus) is set to fulfill the Fall Festivals when He returns.
These are the festivals of Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Succot (the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles) .
Yahshua told us we'll know the season. He also said we would not know the day or the hour.
To illustrate that point, a phenomenon occurred recently which gives partial and practical insight into His statement.
This phenomenon was silent. No one heard it. Few observed it. But it impacts the entire world.
What it revealed is amazing to think about...
Modern man can't decide what day today is!
Let me explain.
Most of the world uses the Gregorian calendar.
It's a Catholic calendar given to us by Pope Gregory XIII in 1578. He sought to revise and correct the drift of the ancient Roman calendar called the Julian calendar. He introduced it only to countries that were mostly Catholic.
What is curious is that the Protestant Reformation (sometimes called the Protestant Revolution) had already begun when Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, called for reopening of the debate on the sale of indulgences.
That was in 1517.
By 1536 the separation from Rome of the Church of England under Henry VIII was completed.
Notice the timeline.
Gregory's calendar did not appear until 42 years later - well into the heart of the Protestant Reformation - which supposedly rejected anything Roman Catholic.
Today, there's a 99% chance the calendar hanging on a wall in your house - whether you are Catholic or Protestant - is Pope Gregory's calendar.
( This is off the topic, but hopefully the Protestants reading this will see another example of how Protestantism of the 21st century is not that of the forefathers.
It has been re-absorbed or re-conquered by Catholicism - which was precisely Pope Gregory's driving purpose in life. Apparently he succeeded.
The practice of faith that once called for 'Sola Scriptura' -Scripture only- is so infused now with Catholic traditions it is more appropriately called "Catholic Lite." )
But, the Gregorian calendar adopted a solar cycle as it's basis. It abandoned any correlation between the moon cycles and the month which is the pattern of the Creator's calendar.
As a result, you'll find the Pope's calendar is no help when you want to determine Yahweh's set apart times.
However, if you want to know when all the man-made religious holidays are, such as Lent, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, Halloween, Christmas, etc., then this calendar is right on the money.
The Scriptural calendar has no date such as September 24th for Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets. In fact, even trying to correlate the Scriptural calendar with the Pope's calendars is difficult because the Scriptural day begins at sunset - not at midnight.
So, while you may say it is Tuesday according to the Pope, depending on the time of day it may still be "Monday", or could be already "Wednesday" according to the Creator.
Of course, the Creator doesn't glorify pagan deities by naming days or months after them. In fact, if you remember, He is a jealous G-d and gets quite upset with any glorification of false g-ds.
In Scripture the only days named are the Sabbaths. The rest are simply numbered. The same is true for the months.
But the Pope's calendar is the most popular in the world.
Even the Chinese have adopted it as their standard business calendar.
Nonetheless, it is not the Creator's calendar.
But, wait! What about the Jewish calendar?
It was created by a Rabbi Hillel II in the fourth century in order to keep the Jewish people scattered outside Israel unified.
The strength of the Gregorian calendar is still evident here as well.
When you buy a Jewish calendar you will see that it uses the Gregorian as a reference point. Under the large numbers of what looks like an ordinary calendar are the numbered days along with the names of the months of the Hillel calendar.
Take a note that this calendar is calculated.
That means that the days of the new moon - which are fundamental to the integrity of the Creator's calendar - are calculated when they should appear.
This is the curious part.
Recently, according to the Hillel calendar, the new moon was on Tishrie 1, or September 22nd. This day was calculated as the first day ( the new moon ) of the seventh month on the Creator's calendar, which Yahweh says is the time for the Feast of Trumpets.
If you check the US Naval Observatory you can indeed verify that astronomically speaking the new moon did occur on September 22.
From this can we conclude that the Jewish Hillel calendar is correct?
Hardly. We're missing one major detail.
The new moon for fixing the days and months doesn't start when modern astronomers say it does.
It starts when the new moon is actually observed.
In ancient times watchers waited on high places around Israel. When the moon was sighted, a bright fire was lit signaling to waiting Temple priests that the New Moon had been seen and that the new month had begun.
Determining the month was simple even for a poor shepherd.
But recently the new moon was not observed in Israel until Sunday the 24th when Hillel's calendar says the new moon was two days old.
Therefore, Scripturally speaking, the Feast of Trumpets began Sunday evening and lasted until Monday evening of the 25th. It did not occur Friday as calendars everywhere said it did.
So, here's our problem.
The Gregorian calendar says it is 2006. It is no help determining the set apart times of Yahweh's prophetic calendar.
The standard Jewish calendar by Hillel says it is the year 5767 and it just missed the new moon by two days. A few years ago there was a controversy that offset it with another Jewish calendar by a whole month!
I should interject to my Jewish and Messianic friends that I realize you are likely to be upset with me for these statements.
As with the Christian church, you must come to admit how powerful tradition is. Its tentacles are everywhere. Sometimes the grasp it holds on people is almost insurmountable. It is very difficult to discard a tradition or even admit that your favorite tradition is flawed.
It's easy to admit someone else's tradition has problems - but not your own!
Anyway, to make this topic muddier, some groups claim that the sighting of the moon has to be local - not in Jerusalem. That could make a difference of up to 24hrs for the setting of the new month on the west coast of America.
Still the other Jewish calendar I mentioned says it is the year 6006. Is it correct? We'll discuss this calendar another time.
So, was the Feast of Trumpets on September 22nd and 23rd, Tishrie 1? Or, September 24th and 25th, Tishrie 3 depending on the time of day?
Is the year 2006, 5767, or 6006? The Chinese say it's 4704, but that's only measured from after the time of the flood.
To sum this up I hope you can see that while we can know the season, there is confusion determining which day is today.
And, while all this is an interesting phenomenon, it is not the worst part.
The worst part is the evidence is clear and revealing about us and the modern church. We are so busy making sure we succeed in this man-made world that we don't know what time it is on the Creator's clock and probably couldn't care less.
At the same time, we are well practiced making sure we fit in and can do business on time in this pagan world.
We have alarm clocks, beepers, cell phones, text messaging, and PDA's all just to make sure we are not late for an important business deal. Yet, we have no clue about and little interest in eternally significant prophetic appointed times Yahweh has set into Scripture.
Specifically, how many believers know the importance of the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Festival of Tabernacles? They are all at our doorsteps and are prophetic shadow pictures of things to come given to us by the Creator.
Yet, most believers are totally unaware of these events.
I know I was. I spent 30 years studying Scripture. Like most I was pre-conditioned to dismiss all this "old" stuff.
It reminds me of a true story about a farmer in South Africa whose land was littered with black rocks. He tired of farming and sold out to go around the world diamond mining. He died penniless.
The tragedy of the story was that years later someone discovered those black rocks were actually coal-encrusted diamonds. He literally had acres of diamonds on his property that he sold for pennies on the dollar. He gave up the fortune under his feet to die among beggars.
How many of us are that way? We've discarded the riches of Yahweh's instructions to follow after things of the world.
As with the Gregorian calendar, the ways of the world are more popular than the ways of Yahweh.
Where are our priorities?
You have at your disposal acres of Scriptural diamonds. Have they become hidden by the hardened black rock of tradition?
Perhaps you should look around you. Don't step over an acre of diamonds to look for treasure elsewhere.
Think about it.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Surprise Fulfillment of Daniel 9:11
There is much speculation concerning the events of 9/11.
Have you considered what Yahweh (G-d) says? Did He give us any Word in Scripture that can help discern the times in which we live?
When the children of Israel sinned and wouldn't turn back to Yahweh, He used heathen nations to bring the curse upon them. He used Assyria and Babylon to punish the people for their sins.
That's history.
There is a question we need to ask:
"Is Yahweh doing something similar again?"
Because of mankind's sin that we have forsaken and violated G-d's (Yahweh's) laws, is a curse poured out on the world?
Consider Islam.
Is it possible Islam and the terrorists are the curse?
Are they allowed to reek havoc on the world in order to drive people to repentance?
Could there be any connection between the events of 9/11 and Scripture?
Consider Daniel 9:11.
Daniel was a prophet who wrote concerning various end times events.
"Yea all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice, therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of G-d, because we have sinned against him."
Is Islam a fulfillment of this verse?
At your first look you may not see the connection. That's because most believers only read the English.
In the original Hebrew the picture becomes clear.
Before I tell you what it is, remember that Daniel wrote his words about 1100 years before Islam was founded. Of course, that means nothing to Yahweh, the Author of Daniel's words since He sees the end from the beginning.
In this verse the original Hebrew word translated as "curse" is:
allah.
Just in case you're new to this planet, allah is the false god of Islam.
There you have it. Scripture tells us that allah is a curse.
In light of the quickly unfolding prophetic events, the Feast of Trumpets and Yom Kippur, I thought you should know.
Have you considered what Yahweh (G-d) says? Did He give us any Word in Scripture that can help discern the times in which we live?
When the children of Israel sinned and wouldn't turn back to Yahweh, He used heathen nations to bring the curse upon them. He used Assyria and Babylon to punish the people for their sins.
That's history.
There is a question we need to ask:
"Is Yahweh doing something similar again?"
Because of mankind's sin that we have forsaken and violated G-d's (Yahweh's) laws, is a curse poured out on the world?
Consider Islam.
Is it possible Islam and the terrorists are the curse?
Are they allowed to reek havoc on the world in order to drive people to repentance?
Could there be any connection between the events of 9/11 and Scripture?
Consider Daniel 9:11.
Daniel was a prophet who wrote concerning various end times events.
"Yea all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice, therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of G-d, because we have sinned against him."
Is Islam a fulfillment of this verse?
At your first look you may not see the connection. That's because most believers only read the English.
In the original Hebrew the picture becomes clear.
Before I tell you what it is, remember that Daniel wrote his words about 1100 years before Islam was founded. Of course, that means nothing to Yahweh, the Author of Daniel's words since He sees the end from the beginning.
In this verse the original Hebrew word translated as "curse" is:
allah.
Just in case you're new to this planet, allah is the false god of Islam.
There you have it. Scripture tells us that allah is a curse.
In light of the quickly unfolding prophetic events, the Feast of Trumpets and Yom Kippur, I thought you should know.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
The Final Trumpet - September 24th ?
Whether you believe in specific prophecies about the end times or not, I can say without a doubt that the prophetic sounding of the Trumpet of the L-rd (Yahweh) occurs September 24th!
Whoa! George, are you another of those misguided deluded people who think they know the date and time of the Messiah’s return?
No, not at all.
But, you may be one of the many Christian believers who have never been taught the powerful end time significance of the Festivals of the L-rd (Yahweh).
Note that I don’t say “Jewish” festivals. They are not Jewish festivals. They are Yahweh’s (G-d) festivals, which He appointed. And, they are shadow pictures of the things to come.
By ignoring these Festivals, we in the church have been left to our own devices in interpreting the end time events.
But, Yahweh did not leave us in the dark. He gave us details about what would happen in the end times.
Unfortunately, we believers think that only the unsaved stumble in blindness. Yet, we too, have been partially blinded.
This is an attempt to help you loosen that blindness and see the glory of Yahweh as it is written in Scripture for our edification through obedience.
Oops! I shouldn’t use that word obedience. It causes so many believers to have a knee-jerk reaction.
They are the ones who think that so long as you "believe in Jesus" you don’t have to do anything but sit back and enjoy the ride. I hope that isn’t you.
Be aware, even satan believes in Jesus. But he and his followers are distinguished by their lack of repentance. Their quiver is full of excuses why you shouldn't be obedient to this or that Scripture - especially the "Old" Testament!
Anyway, this is the Scriptural season of repentance. It began on the 28th of August and ends October 4th. It is a 40-day period of reflection, reconciliation, and repentance that ends on the Day of Judgment known as Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement.
Indeed, the name for this season is called Teshuvah, or return, or repentance.
(How much I can teach here always depends on the time I can squeeze out to write to you. At this moment, it is 4:12 in the morning. I couldn’t sleep because this is such an important teaching.)
Between now and the 15th of October there are four different Scripturally appointed times you should know about. They are shadow pictures Yahweh gave to teach us of world shaking events which will unfold before us soon.
Actually the word used carries the meaning of rehearsal. When we celebrate these appointed times, our rehearsal helps us prepare for when the real festival takes place. Like actors in a play, we rehearse right up until the opening day.
So, let me focus first on Yom Teruah, known in English as the Day of Trumpets. Today it is known on the Jewish calendar as Rosh Hashanah or the Jewish New Year.
In places where something is specifically Jewish, I will tell you. Jewish sources have a lot they can tell us. They can help us place Scripture in context and they can help swing the pendulum back from our purely Western and Gentile points of reference.
Besides, as we read in Romans 3:2 “…unto them (the Jews) were committed the oracles of God.”
That said you should find it interesting and prophetically significant that Jewish eschatology or end time teaching says that on the Day of Atonement after six thousand years are complete, the Day of the L-rd (Yahweh) will come.
On that day, the shofar (not a trumpet as in a modern jazz band) will sound and the righteous will be resurrected!
I bet you thought that was a strictly Christian idea.
Immediately it comes to mind that so much of this would become obvious if we professed believers in the Hebrew (G-d) Yahweh of the Hebrew Scriptures weren’t so insistent on clinging to all our pagan gentile culture.
What I refer to specifically is our system of time keeping – the calendar. Both the Jews and the Christians cling to man-made calendars.
What has the Creator of the Universe to do with that?
Didn’t He establish His own calendar?
In Genesis 1:14 we read, “And G-d (Yahweh) 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.”
Just the discussion of calendars alone can open our eyes to the truth of the Messiah’s statement where He said no man would know the day nor the hour of His return.
You see, the Christian world follows a Roman calendar system revised by Pope Gregory in the 16th century.
It uses the names of pagan gods for the names of the days and months. The date for “Easter” was deliberately fixed so it would not coincide with the Scriptural festival of Passover – for the anti-Jewish bias of not wanting any connection with “Jewish” holidays.
The Christian calendar says it is 2006.
The Jews follow a calendar system developed by a Rabbi named Hillel in the 4th century. It is a mathematically calculated calendar that worked well for a long time but has ceased to be accurate. It also incorporates a pagan deity for one of its months.
This Jewish calendar says it is the year 5767.
Both calendars have a similar flaw that requires them to insert leap years.
In recent years, since the return to the Land, there has developed another Jewish calendar which is slightly different from the previous. It is called the Astronomically and Agriculturally Corrected Biblical Hebrew Calendar. It is also devised by a Jewish Rabbi.
According to this particular calendar - it is the year 6006.
So, are we at the six thousand years mark?
I'll bring you the evidence as soon as I can and let you decide. You may be shocked to know just how late it is on Yahweh’s prophetic clock.
I’ll discuss that in another teaching, but for now let’s focus on the importance of Yom Teruah, or the Feast of Trumpets.
For 30 days prior to the Feast of Trumpets the shofar is sounded in Synagogues around the world.
This is to remind the people – and that includes each of us - to prepare. Jews begin a time of reflection and confess their sins, seek forgiveness, and fix mistakes made during the year.
Sounds like something we all should do. May I remind you that repentance is not a Jewish idea, but a Scriptural one?
During the Feast of Trumpets itself, a series of 100 shofar blasts are sounded. The shofar acts like a call to awaken the conscience.
Among other things, it is blown to announce the beginning of the ten days of Teshuvah, or the Days of Awe.
It is to warn us: Let all who desire to turn in Teshuvah (repentance) do so now. Repent and be saved. If you do not turn away from your sins, you will have no reason to cry injustice.
Kings do the same. First, they warn the people in their decree, and whoever violates the decree after the warning will suffer the consequences.
You can see this in the example of Noah.
For 120 years he preached Yahweh's message of repentance to the people while he and his sons built the ark. None listened.
Then the final day came. Noah and his family entered the ark - because they obeyed, they were saved. And King Yahweh closed and sealed the door. The rains began.
No doubt many began to proclaim their change of heart. But the time for repentance had past.
This is the theme Yahshua (Jesus) preached.
Matthew 4:17
“Repent for the Kingdom of G-d is at hand.”
It is the same message the disciples preached.
Mark 6:12
“And they went out, and preached that men should repent.”
This flies in the face of so much modern church teaching which avoids the use of the words sin and repentance. Today the emphasis is on “working through your problems to become a better you.”
Yom Teruah is Yahweh’s way of sounding the alarm. Just like we do with the horn on our car when someone is about to make a dangerous move with their vehicle.
It should get our attention!
Prophetic Scriptures of the end time involve the use of the shofar announcement.
As in Zephaniah 1: 14-16:
“Near is the great day of Yahweh, near and hurrying greatly, the noise of the day of Yahweh...that day is a day of wrath, a day of waste and ruin…a day of the shofar (ram’s horn) and alarm…”
Matthew 24:31
“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet (shofar) and they shall gather together his elect…”
1 Corinthians 15:52
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound…”
We could say that Yom Teruah is our wake up call.
On that note, it is a shame only a few within the body of believing Christians know what a shofar is, much less have actually heard one blown. I wonder how many will be expecting to hear the sounds of Louie Armstrong or Herb Alpert's trumpets?
At this point I know some of you are chomping at the bit to interject that we don't need to worry about all this because we cling to and trust in Yahshua the Messiah for our salvation.
Yes, it's true that Yahshua HaMashiach (Jesus, the Messiah) is our salvation.
But, the evidence of the validity of that salvation is manifested in our life changing repentance. We may come to salvation “just as I am” - but we’re not supposed to stay that way.
If we have truly repented, the evidence is that we bring forth fruit worthy of that repentance.
Let him who steals make restitution and steal no more. He who is mired in the cesspool of pornography, stop! Sin no more.
Repentance is an ongoing event.
We sin, we break fellowship. We repent, we restore fellowship.
Some preachers have an altar call every week urging you to repent and turn back. Yahweh - demonstrating His Grace and Mercy - built into His calendar each year a whole season specifically to urge us to turn back from our sins.
This alone should cause us to both fear and rejoice in the Feast of Trumpets.
We all deserve judgment.
Then we hear the warning of the shofar awakening us from our warm coziness with sin and we heed the message of Yahshua who said, “Repent”.
In place of judgment, we get mercy.
Ultimately, it should cause us to seek to live righteous lives - dare I say it, obedient lives.
It should also remind us of events soon to take place in Yahweh’s prophetic calendar.
The Spring Festivals of Yahweh were fulfilled in the first coming of the Messiah. The Fall Festivals will be fulfilled when He comes again.
Will the heavenly trumpet sound on September 24th this year?
I don’t know.
It depends on which calendar you look at. In fact, some of you who are currently following a Jewish calendar may notice a few days difference between the dates I used earlier and the ones found on your calendar.
But I do know that for almost 3400 years Yom Teruah has been a shadow picture of what is to happen in the last days.
Remember, Yahweh is the One who picked the date on His calendar. I don’t see any indication that He intends to change things now.
Don't you find it sad that most in the church are so comfortable with their gentile and pagan ways, that they won’t even notice there is such a thing as the Day of Trumpets?
Nonetheless, whenever the final Yom Teruah occurs we need to be fully prepared.
The prophetic Scripture of 2 Peter 3:9 gives us an appropriate final thought. Take careful note that this epistle is written not to the unsaved, but to believers!
“The L-rd is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Hallel Yah!
Whoa! George, are you another of those misguided deluded people who think they know the date and time of the Messiah’s return?
No, not at all.
But, you may be one of the many Christian believers who have never been taught the powerful end time significance of the Festivals of the L-rd (Yahweh).
Note that I don’t say “Jewish” festivals. They are not Jewish festivals. They are Yahweh’s (G-d) festivals, which He appointed. And, they are shadow pictures of the things to come.
By ignoring these Festivals, we in the church have been left to our own devices in interpreting the end time events.
But, Yahweh did not leave us in the dark. He gave us details about what would happen in the end times.
Unfortunately, we believers think that only the unsaved stumble in blindness. Yet, we too, have been partially blinded.
This is an attempt to help you loosen that blindness and see the glory of Yahweh as it is written in Scripture for our edification through obedience.
Oops! I shouldn’t use that word obedience. It causes so many believers to have a knee-jerk reaction.
They are the ones who think that so long as you "believe in Jesus" you don’t have to do anything but sit back and enjoy the ride. I hope that isn’t you.
Be aware, even satan believes in Jesus. But he and his followers are distinguished by their lack of repentance. Their quiver is full of excuses why you shouldn't be obedient to this or that Scripture - especially the "Old" Testament!
Anyway, this is the Scriptural season of repentance. It began on the 28th of August and ends October 4th. It is a 40-day period of reflection, reconciliation, and repentance that ends on the Day of Judgment known as Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement.
Indeed, the name for this season is called Teshuvah, or return, or repentance.
(How much I can teach here always depends on the time I can squeeze out to write to you. At this moment, it is 4:12 in the morning. I couldn’t sleep because this is such an important teaching.)
Between now and the 15th of October there are four different Scripturally appointed times you should know about. They are shadow pictures Yahweh gave to teach us of world shaking events which will unfold before us soon.
Actually the word used carries the meaning of rehearsal. When we celebrate these appointed times, our rehearsal helps us prepare for when the real festival takes place. Like actors in a play, we rehearse right up until the opening day.
So, let me focus first on Yom Teruah, known in English as the Day of Trumpets. Today it is known on the Jewish calendar as Rosh Hashanah or the Jewish New Year.
In places where something is specifically Jewish, I will tell you. Jewish sources have a lot they can tell us. They can help us place Scripture in context and they can help swing the pendulum back from our purely Western and Gentile points of reference.
Besides, as we read in Romans 3:2 “…unto them (the Jews) were committed the oracles of God.”
That said you should find it interesting and prophetically significant that Jewish eschatology or end time teaching says that on the Day of Atonement after six thousand years are complete, the Day of the L-rd (Yahweh) will come.
On that day, the shofar (not a trumpet as in a modern jazz band) will sound and the righteous will be resurrected!
I bet you thought that was a strictly Christian idea.
Immediately it comes to mind that so much of this would become obvious if we professed believers in the Hebrew (G-d) Yahweh of the Hebrew Scriptures weren’t so insistent on clinging to all our pagan gentile culture.
What I refer to specifically is our system of time keeping – the calendar. Both the Jews and the Christians cling to man-made calendars.
What has the Creator of the Universe to do with that?
Didn’t He establish His own calendar?
In Genesis 1:14 we read, “And G-d (Yahweh) 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.”
Just the discussion of calendars alone can open our eyes to the truth of the Messiah’s statement where He said no man would know the day nor the hour of His return.
You see, the Christian world follows a Roman calendar system revised by Pope Gregory in the 16th century.
It uses the names of pagan gods for the names of the days and months. The date for “Easter” was deliberately fixed so it would not coincide with the Scriptural festival of Passover – for the anti-Jewish bias of not wanting any connection with “Jewish” holidays.
The Christian calendar says it is 2006.
The Jews follow a calendar system developed by a Rabbi named Hillel in the 4th century. It is a mathematically calculated calendar that worked well for a long time but has ceased to be accurate. It also incorporates a pagan deity for one of its months.
This Jewish calendar says it is the year 5767.
Both calendars have a similar flaw that requires them to insert leap years.
In recent years, since the return to the Land, there has developed another Jewish calendar which is slightly different from the previous. It is called the Astronomically and Agriculturally Corrected Biblical Hebrew Calendar. It is also devised by a Jewish Rabbi.
According to this particular calendar - it is the year 6006.
So, are we at the six thousand years mark?
I'll bring you the evidence as soon as I can and let you decide. You may be shocked to know just how late it is on Yahweh’s prophetic clock.
I’ll discuss that in another teaching, but for now let’s focus on the importance of Yom Teruah, or the Feast of Trumpets.
For 30 days prior to the Feast of Trumpets the shofar is sounded in Synagogues around the world.
This is to remind the people – and that includes each of us - to prepare. Jews begin a time of reflection and confess their sins, seek forgiveness, and fix mistakes made during the year.
Sounds like something we all should do. May I remind you that repentance is not a Jewish idea, but a Scriptural one?
During the Feast of Trumpets itself, a series of 100 shofar blasts are sounded. The shofar acts like a call to awaken the conscience.
Among other things, it is blown to announce the beginning of the ten days of Teshuvah, or the Days of Awe.
It is to warn us: Let all who desire to turn in Teshuvah (repentance) do so now. Repent and be saved. If you do not turn away from your sins, you will have no reason to cry injustice.
Kings do the same. First, they warn the people in their decree, and whoever violates the decree after the warning will suffer the consequences.
You can see this in the example of Noah.
For 120 years he preached Yahweh's message of repentance to the people while he and his sons built the ark. None listened.
Then the final day came. Noah and his family entered the ark - because they obeyed, they were saved. And King Yahweh closed and sealed the door. The rains began.
No doubt many began to proclaim their change of heart. But the time for repentance had past.
This is the theme Yahshua (Jesus) preached.
Matthew 4:17
“Repent for the Kingdom of G-d is at hand.”
It is the same message the disciples preached.
Mark 6:12
“And they went out, and preached that men should repent.”
This flies in the face of so much modern church teaching which avoids the use of the words sin and repentance. Today the emphasis is on “working through your problems to become a better you.”
Yom Teruah is Yahweh’s way of sounding the alarm. Just like we do with the horn on our car when someone is about to make a dangerous move with their vehicle.
It should get our attention!
Prophetic Scriptures of the end time involve the use of the shofar announcement.
As in Zephaniah 1: 14-16:
“Near is the great day of Yahweh, near and hurrying greatly, the noise of the day of Yahweh...that day is a day of wrath, a day of waste and ruin…a day of the shofar (ram’s horn) and alarm…”
Matthew 24:31
“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet (shofar) and they shall gather together his elect…”
1 Corinthians 15:52
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound…”
We could say that Yom Teruah is our wake up call.
On that note, it is a shame only a few within the body of believing Christians know what a shofar is, much less have actually heard one blown. I wonder how many will be expecting to hear the sounds of Louie Armstrong or Herb Alpert's trumpets?
At this point I know some of you are chomping at the bit to interject that we don't need to worry about all this because we cling to and trust in Yahshua the Messiah for our salvation.
Yes, it's true that Yahshua HaMashiach (Jesus, the Messiah) is our salvation.
But, the evidence of the validity of that salvation is manifested in our life changing repentance. We may come to salvation “just as I am” - but we’re not supposed to stay that way.
If we have truly repented, the evidence is that we bring forth fruit worthy of that repentance.
Let him who steals make restitution and steal no more. He who is mired in the cesspool of pornography, stop! Sin no more.
Repentance is an ongoing event.
We sin, we break fellowship. We repent, we restore fellowship.
Some preachers have an altar call every week urging you to repent and turn back. Yahweh - demonstrating His Grace and Mercy - built into His calendar each year a whole season specifically to urge us to turn back from our sins.
This alone should cause us to both fear and rejoice in the Feast of Trumpets.
We all deserve judgment.
Then we hear the warning of the shofar awakening us from our warm coziness with sin and we heed the message of Yahshua who said, “Repent”.
In place of judgment, we get mercy.
Ultimately, it should cause us to seek to live righteous lives - dare I say it, obedient lives.
It should also remind us of events soon to take place in Yahweh’s prophetic calendar.
The Spring Festivals of Yahweh were fulfilled in the first coming of the Messiah. The Fall Festivals will be fulfilled when He comes again.
Will the heavenly trumpet sound on September 24th this year?
I don’t know.
It depends on which calendar you look at. In fact, some of you who are currently following a Jewish calendar may notice a few days difference between the dates I used earlier and the ones found on your calendar.
But I do know that for almost 3400 years Yom Teruah has been a shadow picture of what is to happen in the last days.
Remember, Yahweh is the One who picked the date on His calendar. I don’t see any indication that He intends to change things now.
Don't you find it sad that most in the church are so comfortable with their gentile and pagan ways, that they won’t even notice there is such a thing as the Day of Trumpets?
Nonetheless, whenever the final Yom Teruah occurs we need to be fully prepared.
The prophetic Scripture of 2 Peter 3:9 gives us an appropriate final thought. Take careful note that this epistle is written not to the unsaved, but to believers!
“The L-rd is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Hallel Yah!
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