Rosh Hashanah

This year, September 18-19 will mark Rosh Hashanah or The Feast of Trumpets (also known as Yom Terua). This is one of the appointed days of the LORD. Here in the west, most of us do not know much about these days. You may hear that this marks the Jewish new year, but you may not hear much more than that. That is just the secular aspect of this day.

You may recall from our prior studies that this is one of the “appointed days” which have not yet been prophetically fulfilled. This means that something significant will occur one of these years on Rosh Hashanah. Personally, I believe it will someday usher in the tribulation period, but it certainly could be fulfilled in another way as well.

I think it is important that we begin to understand the “roots” of our Christian faith, and understand these appointed days as they are not just simply Jewish holidays.

Below is a description (in yellow) of Rosh Hashanah, from Jonathan Bermis of Jewish Voice Ministries (http://www.jewishvoice.org/):

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The Fall Feasts and the Messiah
Jonathan Bernis

Leviticus 23 reveals a yearly cycle of “appointed times” that God has ordained to meet in a special way with His People Israel and those who have been grafted in through faith in the Messiah of Israel.

Each of the feasts teach a different aspect of the nature of God and His plan for the world. Through these appointments or “mo’adim” we see God as our Redeemer, our Provider, and the One who sanctifies us by His grace.

The Feast of Trumpets
The Feast of Trumpets, first of the Fall Feasts, is also known as Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

In Leviticus chapter 23 the Bible reads, “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of complete rest, a holy convocation commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present an offering made to the LORD by fire.’ ”

Today during Rosh Hashanah a series of blasts are sounded at the beginning and ending of the celebration. According to the writings of the rabbis, the blowing of the shofar has many purposes and plays a symbolic role in the Jewish feasts.

First, it is a call to sacred assembly and used to bring people together for worship or special meetings.

The shofar was also used to summon people for battle. Different sounds were made for different occasions; one sound would warn the people that they were being attacked, while another sound would call them to meet with the LORD. The rabbis say the blowing of the shofar confounded Satan and sent confusion into the enemy’s camp.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:16, Paul writes about the blowing of the shofar, “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.” It is likely that the ram’s horn is an earthly representation of a heavenly shofar that will be sounded in the Last Days before Messiah returns (see Revelation chapters 8-9; 11:15). The sounding of the shofar will release certain prophetic events on the Earth that God has planned since the beginning of time.

It is also possible that the Feast of Trumpets is connected to the heavenly trumpet blasts that will bring in the time known as the Tribulation. This time signals the near return of Yeshua (Jesus) to this Earth. This Feast has yet to be fulfilled.