Feast of Trumpets
Numbers 19:1-6
Leviticus 23:23-25
March 27, 2022
We’re about to enter into the holiest of the Jewish holidays, called Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur. Maybe you’ve heard of the expression C and E Christians? That means Christmas and Easter church attenders. Well, Judaism has the same, and it occurs on these 2 holy days.
When I was growing up, we celebrated Passover, to a small extent, but we attempted it. We celebrated Chanukah, which is not one of the 7 feasts of Israel. It’s a holiday which occurs around Christmas time and is found in the apocrypha from the book of Maccabees.
But, we always, always celebrated Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur. As a Jew, you don’t play around with these holidays, because your very existence and life depends upon it.
In fact, let me give you an interesting side bar. Last week, I mentioned I had been talking to someone who believed they were an apostate. They read Christian literature which stated, once you are a Christian, then turn away from God, there’s no coming back. I believe that’s really, really, really poor theology for lots of reasons that I won’t get into.
Then this person sent me an article which stated once you’re an apostate, you can always turn back to God, because God is all about forgiving us. I was like, WALA! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!!
What was interesting about these articles is the first one was written by a Christian website, the one which spoke of God’s forgiveness was written by a Jewish rabbi. HMM!! Not sure what to make of it, but that’s the area where we are heading this week and next week.
So, let’s look at the 5th of the 7 feasts of Israel. I’m going to read from Numbers 29 to help us see what this feast day was about. It’s also in Leviticus 23, but the passage in Numbers gives us more detail.
1 “On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets,
2 and you shall offer a burnt offering, for a pleasing aroma to the Lord: one bull from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish;
3 also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, six quarts for the bull, four quarts for the ram,
4 and two quarts for each of the seven lambs;
5 with one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you;
6 besides the burnt offering of the new moon, and its grain offering, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering,
and their drink offering, according to the rule for them, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. - Numbers 29:1-6
So, that’s Rosh Hashonah. But, it’s never called that in the Bible. It’s always referred to as the Feast of Trumpets. Basically, because the people are told to blow the trumpets on that first day of the seventh month.
According to Jewish teachings, Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of ten days of judgment when all the people pass before the God. The righteous are written into the Book of Life, the wicked are condemned and those who are not wholly righteous nor wholly wicked are given ten days to repent and escape judgment.
This feast took place on the first day of Tishri, which was the seventh month on the religious calendar; but the first month on the civil calendar. Tishri would include the latter part of September and the first part of October on our calendar. This feast has come to be known in modern times as Rosh Hashanah, which means “Head of the year.”
This feast is the only one that occurs on the first day of the month, at the new Moon, when the moon is dark and the shape is that of a thin crescent. All the other Jewish holidays occur later in their respective months when the moon is shining brightly.
The final 3 feasts all occur in the Jewish month of Tishri. The Feast of Trumpets was on Tishri 1, the Day of Atonement was on Tishri 10 and the Feast of Tabernacles began on Tishri 15.
Like all Jewish holidays, they start at sundown of the day before the full day. For example, this year, it begins at sundown on September 25 and ends at sundown on September 27. It lasts for 2 days.
When you went to temple you would often hear the greeting of L’Shanah Tovah Tik-e-tay-voo! This means “May your name be inscribed for a good year.”
A more formal way to say it is L’Shanah Tovah Tik-e-tay-voo Va-tik-a-tay-moo - - - this means “May your name be inscribed and sealed for a good year.
You see, this second expression gets to the point of this high holy time for the Jewish people. Not only do we want you to have a good year and be inscribed in the book of life, but we also want you to be sealed. That’s the book ends of Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur.
In addition, for the Jewish people, they kind of have 2 different new years or calendars. In the Jewish calendar, the religious year starts with Passover. In Exodus 12:2 God told Moses, “this month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.” But the civil year started with the first day of the seventh month on the Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashonah.
In Romans 9-11, Paul was writing about how salvation had come to the Gentiles in order to make Israel jealous so that they would eventually be saved. It can be a very complicated section of Paul’s writings. In Romans 11:25-26, Paul wrote - - -
25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26 And in this way, all Israel will be saved … - Romans 11:25-26
The point is that during this time, God is bringing in the Gentiles. Remember, a Gentile is simply a non-Jewish person. That’s why Peter’s vision in Acts 10 was so startling and almost heretical to the Jewish believers. It opened the door for the non-Jew to embrace jesus as Lord and Savior.
This is period that many call the Church age. A time that will last until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets occurs 10 days before the Day of Atonement. This is the holiest and most precarious time for the Jewish people.
In some ways, the Jews believe that these 10 days determines your fate for the next year. It’s as if you are living on a year to year contract, but you don’t know when your contract will expire.
On the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, God seals you or doesn’t seal you into the book of life. It’s as if God determines who will be safe for the next year. The Jews believe God has 3 books for all of us - one book is for the really righteous person. That book is for all the really, really good people, who are safe for the next year. Another book is for those who are really evil, who will not make it for the next year, and the third book is for most people who are somewhere in the middle.
And so during these 10 days between Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur, the Jews try to “do their best” and hope that it is “good enough” to have God consider them “safe” for another year. You do your best to be sorrowful for your sinfulness. That’s why they give the greeting - L’Shanah Tovah Tik-e-tay-voo Va-tik-a-tay-moo - - - this means “May your name be inscribed and sealed for a good year. They are hoping that they will be “good enough.” Now, this has lots of ramifications in Christian theology, which we’ll get into in a moment.
OK, let’s look and see where Jesus fits into this feast. Remember the first 3 feasts showed the life and death of Jesus, last week, was Pentecost - the Feast of Weeks, which signified the start of the church age with the coming of the Holy Spirit. And now, we’re looking at the post church age, or the second coming of Jesus.
The most obvious connection is the way that trumpets are mentioned frequently in the New Testament in relation to the return of Jesus. Let’s look at a few of them. We’ll begin with the words of Jesus. In Matthew 24, Jesus told the disciples - - -
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. - Matthew 24:29-31
Jesus told this to the disciples, showing how He would return. There would be a loud trumpet blast, which is exactly what occurs at the end of each day of the observance of Rosh Hashanah.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul wrote - - -
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
52 For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. - 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Again, there’s the image of the last trumpet. And at that time, the bodies of the dead who have placed their faith in Jesus will be raised and given new resurrection bodies. Paul gives us more insight into that “last trumpet” in another of his letters, when he wrote - - -
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. - 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
Again, Paul is describing the same event as in 1 Corinthians and in Matthew 24. He calls the trumpet the trumpet of God. Paul tells us that not only will the dead in Christ be raised, but the disciples of Jesus who are still alive at that time will also be gathered to Jesus. This is the “Rapture.” Even though that word is not in the Bible, it’s the Greek word for “being caught up.”
Now, we don’t know when this will occur. People have been trying to predict the date for 100's of years, but nobody’s been right yet. We don’t know when the end will come, in fact Jesus said when He was on earth, even He didn’t know. So, there’s no predictions.
Yet, on the other hand, we should not be caught off guard. We’re reminded to have enough oil in our lamps, to be ready for when Jesus does return. There will be signs, and we see signs all of the time, yet we don’t know, we simply don’t know. So we must continue living and preaching and teaching about Jesus.
How should we live then in light of what we’ve learned today?
So, what does all of this mean for us? Firstly, I believe we need to be preparing our hearts for Jesus’ return.
The period of Rosh Hashonah is for the people to evaluate their lives and to repent in preparation for the judgment that would occur during the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Paul reminds us of what kind of people we are to be, saying - - -
4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.
5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.
6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.
8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. - 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8
Paul reminds us to be prepared. Don’t be surprised when it happens. Instead be prepared, be ready be alert. Be ready. So, I guess the question begs - - - are you prepared? If Jesus came today or tomorrow, are you prepared to meet Him.
You know, the one sin which is not forgivable is a hard heart which rejects Jesus. Otherwise, everything, and I mean everything is forgiveable by God. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been, what you’ve done, how you did it.
If you ask God to forgive you, He will. That’s part of the power and beauty of faith in Jesus. The Jews are working to get in. They’re trying to be good enough.
But that’s the problem: NOONE’S EVER good enough! In Romans 3, Paul tells us
9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” - Romans 3:9-12
We recognize that none of us are good enough. Paul made that really clear none of us are righteous. He adds to that in verse 23, telling us - - -
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Yup, that’s who we are, but we have this great news which comes in the hope we have in Jesus. So, whether you think you’ve been an apostate, maybe you’ve backslidden. Maybe you’ve been mad at God for something in life, maybe you let life pull you further from Him, then know it’s never too late to come back to Him.
You see, Paul doesn’t let us wallow in our guilt. He then adds - - -
24 and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins.
And there’s the great news for us of what God has done for us. He’s rescued us! He’s redeemed us! He’s ransomed us! We can now rejoice because of the gift of life given to us through Jesus.
