Rabbi Schneider - Understanding The Feast of Trumpets
The appointed days of the Lord or the Lord's holy days are divided into two different seasons: we have the spring holy days, and then we have the fall holy days. It's interesting to note that the time between the ending of the spring holy days, and the beginning of the fall holy days is approximately four months, and it represents a relatively long time period. This four-month silent period between the spring and fall holy days, we believe represents prophetically the time gap between the Lord Yeshua's first coming and his second coming.
The first of these fall holy days connected to the Lord's second coming is called Rosh Hashanah (Yom Teruah) or the Feast of Trumpets in English. We believe that it represents the return of the Lord. Why? Because the Bible says the Lord Jesus will descend from heaven with the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God.
We read in the Book of Revelation that when the seventh trumpet sounds, the kingdom of the world will be transformed into the Kingdom of God and of his Christ. And so, every year God's saints gather together to celebrate the return of Jesus which is drawing nigh. Yeshua's last words were to us, "I am coming quickly".
But before I make final comments about this, I want to just talk about this holy day from a simply Hebraic viewpoint. Rosh Hashanah is a Hebrew a term that means the head of the year. Jewish people celebrate this day as the Jewish new year. They believe that the Lord created the world and Adam and Eve on this day. And so, it's a very happy time for Jewish people. Just as non-Jewish people would celebrate the new year on January 1st, and it would be a time of celebration, where we would be exchanging each other on new year's greetings, Jewish people do this on the Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashanah. Happy new year, and it really is a great family time.
We also come to the synagogue, even non-religious Jews come to the synagogue for the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah, because it's a holy day that's preparing us for the next special day on God's calendar, the most sacred day of the year: Yom Kippur. So, when we come to the synagogue on the Feast of Trumpets, we blow the shofar, and the blowing of the shofar begins what is known as the ten days of all. The ten days leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which is the next day on God's sacred calendar. And when that shofar blows on the Feast of Trumpets, on Rosh Hashanah, it is a call for us to examine our hearts and to repent in whatever areas are needed, so we can be ready for Yom Kippur.
Even as when you and I celebrate the Feast of Trumpets, we prepare ourselves to meet Jesus face to face. It's a good thing for God's people to be cognizant of these holy days, because they remind us of the great themes of redemption. And we need to be continually reminding ourselves that we're going to meet Jesus sooner than we think. He's coming quickly!