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!
