Yom Teruah, commonly called Rosh Hashanah, falls this year on September 25. Today we are one day closer to the return of Yeshua than we were yesterday. Tomorrow we will be even one day closer. It is my prayer that this year finds Yom Teruah's prophetic fulfillment in Yeshua's return for his bride.
Yom Teruah and The Rapture
Psalm 89:15 – "Happy are those who hear the blessed sound of the Shofar, the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of the presence of Yahweh."
Rosh Hashanah's official Hebrew name is Yom Teruah (יוֹם תְּרוּעָה). Rosh Hashanah is also called The Feast Of Trumpets, The Feast Of Blowing, The Feast Of Repentance, or the Feast Of The New Moon.
The word Teruah (תְּרוּעָה H8643) means: a shout or blast of war, alarm, or joy; a loud noise of rejoicing; the voice of a trumpet. Teruah is most frequently linked in scripture to the blowing of the Shofar and secondly as the noise of a joyful shouting.
The word Yom (יוֹם H3117) simply means: day.
Other Names for Rosh Hashanah include:
• Yom Teruah: Day of the Awakening Blast, or Day of the Sounding of the Shofar
• Yom Ha'Din: The Day Of Judgment, The Day Of Opening The Books, The Opening Of The Gates. The trumpets declare the solemn warning that the gates of heaven are open and that the Court in Heaven is in session.
• Yom Ha'Keseh: The Hidden Day, The Day of Hiding or Concealment.
• Yom Ha'Kiddushin / Nesu'im: The Wedding Day Of The Messiah.
• Yom Ha'Melekh: The Day Of The Coronation Of The Messiah.
• Yom Ha'Natzal: The Day Of The Resurrection of the Righteous Dead and the Taking Up of the Living Righteous.
• Yom Ha'Akedah: The Day Of Abraham's Offering of Isaac, wherein the Ram's left and right horns symbolize the Shofar's First Trump and Shofar's Last Trump.
Rosh Hashanah celebrates the Resurrection of the Righteous, Kingship of the Lord, and Marriage of the Lamb. Only when two witnesses see the edge of the moon, can the festival start. They had a two day period in which they knew it would happen, but not the exact day or time. Hence, the expression Yeshua used: "You do not know the day or the hour" (Matthew 24:36). By using this expression, Yeshua also references the Kiddushin / Nesu'im, and the Yom HaKeseh.
This day is a day of blessing, or as Paul puts it in Tutus 2:13 – "Our blessed hope". Peter says the same in 1 Peter 1:13.
Leviticus 23:24 – "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation."
Numbers 29:1 – "On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets."
Matthew 24:31 – "And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other."
Rosh Hashanah, The Feast of Trumpets, is indelibly linked with the blowing of trumpets. The Feast of Trumpets uses 100 distinct shofar (שׁוֹפָר H7782) blasts but only four different types of blasts during the festival. They are the single Tekiah (תקיעה) blast which signify the sound of the King's coronation, the three short Shevarim (שברים) blasts which signify repentance, the nine staccato Teruah (תרועה) blasts of alarm which signify the call to awaken the soul , and the great long Tekiah Ha'Gâdôl (גָּדוֹל –תקיעה) blast which signifies the voice of Yahweh. The fourth and final type, the Tekiah Ha'Gâdôl, is known to the Jews as the "Last Trump" or as the "Trump of God".
Yom Teruah: The Day Of The Resurrection of the Righteous Dead and the Taking Up of the Living Righteous
Daniel 12:2 – "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt."
Isaiah 26:19 – "Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy!"
In Exodus 19, when the trumpet was sounded, God came down and Moses went up! In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, the apostle Paul writes that "the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God . . ." Paul states that when the trumpet of God sounds, "those who have died believing in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive will be gathered up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And we will be with the Lord forever."
In 1 Corinthians15:51-52, Paul tells us: "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; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed." The last trumpet is referring to the Feast of Trumpets and reveals the day of the resurrection of the Saints and catching away or rapture.
Yom Ha'Din: The Day of Judgment, The Day Of Opening The Books
Psalm 33:15: – "He who fashions the hearts of all observes all their deeds."
Revelation 20:11-12 – "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened."
This day brings together all those who are about to be judged, based on the fact that all have sinned, all have made mistakes. It is the day when all must pass before Yahweh to be judged for their actions of the last year, when the books are opened and He determines their fate for the next year. Rosh Hashanah is not a trial before a cruel or unknown judge on arbitrary charges, however, but a summing up of our deeds by a righteous judge who judges rightly.
On this day Rabbinical teachings tell us that three great books will be opened and that all men will be put into one of three classifications. The totally righteous are sealed and separated for life with God. This is called the natzel, or the rapture. The totally wicked are sealed to face the wrath of God during the tribulation period and then will be separated from God throughout all eternity. The fate of the people that are neither totally righteous nor totally wicked is not yet sealed at this point.
It is also a day of Repentance. Repentance, or Teshuva, consists of several steps in the Jewish tradition including recognition and admission of the wrong doing, and renunciation of the action. Teshuva also requires restitution to the wronged party and a promise not to repeat the offense. Those who are neither totally righteous nor totally wicked will have until Yom Kippur to repent. In other words, they would go through the tribulation period however unlike the totally wicked, many would repent and turn to God. Their fate is then determined after the seven year tribulation.
Yom Ha'Keseh: The Hidden Day, The Day of Hiding or Concealment
Psalm 84:3 – "Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the concealed time, on our feast day."
Yom Ha'Keseh can be interpreted several different ways. Firstly, it references the day when the moon is just coming out of hiding, in other words, a day of a concealed moon. Secondly, Satan is not be given notice about the arrival of Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgment. A hidden day because it was hidden from Satan, the adversary, in the same manner that the resurrection of Yeshua on the third day was hidden from his knowledge.
On Rosh Hashanah, Israel diminishes itself and conceals its greatness in awe of the Day of Judgment. The Almighty, too, places a cover of concealment over His People's sins and accords them forgiveness. All that transpires on this day is characterized by concealment, and is applied in the individual's behavior. Like a newborn with no past history in terms of relations to others, no resentment, grudges, or unhappiness, we are instructed to avoid anger, any expression of arrogance, or any negative thoughts, deeds, or words; the hope is that concealment of the negative will lead to its eradication, and to the cleansing of our souls.
Isaiah 26:20 speaks of a time when concealment or hiding is essential – during the time of wrath: "My people, go into your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide in your rooms for a short time until God's anger is finished." Psalm 27:5 speaks of a similar hiding: "For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me." Song of Songs 2:10-13 tells of the bride who has "come away" hidden in the secret places of the rock. Chapter 6 confirms that she is hidden, unable to be found by those who seek her. Her bridegroom, Yeshua, asks them "why do you look for the bride since she has been stolen by me?" These passages reference Rosh Hashanah, albeit in a hidden manner!
Yom Ha'Melekh: The Day Of The Coronation Of The Messiah
Psalm 98:6 – "With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King."
The blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah also links this day to Yeshua's sovereignty and Kingship over the world. Judgment and Kingship are closely linked. The coronation ceremony of Kings was ripe with the blowing of trumpets, noisy celebration, and a seven sealed document being opened and read to all in attendance. Because Rosh Hashanah is a coronation of Yahweh / Yeshua as king of the universe, one of the most famous and familiar prayers of this season is Avinu Malkenu ("Our Father, Our King").
1 Kings 1:32-46 speaks of such a coronation, as does 2 Kings 11:12-13. Psalm 47 is called the Coronation Psalm, and references the blowing of the shofar in celebration of His coming with a shout and the sound of the trumpet. Psalm 98 confirms that the shofar is blown to inform us that the King is praised and the fullness of the sea is present. Isaiah 12:1-6 puts the shouting in the context of the exaltation of His name being known throughout the earth. Isaiah 44:23-28 mentions shouting in relation to the Messianic era, as does Jeremiah 31:7 and Zephaniah 3:14-20. Revelation 4 tells us that the Bride of Christ has been raptured, the King is on His throne, and the seven sealed scroll is opened.
These passages reference the coronation of the Messiah and its part in the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, albeit also in a somewhat hidden manner!
Yom Ha'Kiddushin / Nesu'im: The Wedding Day Of The Messiah
Joel 2:15-16 – "Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet."
The Jewish wedding ceremony gives us our final picture of Rosh Hashanah, including the escape theme in which God causes His people to escape wrath, and the concept of concealment behind a closed door. Only the father could determine the day and hour when the bridegroom would show up unannounced to take his bride home. Once the groom and betrothed were together, they proceeded to the groom's new home, which was the same home as his father's. Once back at the father's home, the groom and bride then would be concealed in the Chuppah for seven days. Again, the image of a celebration that is hidden.
Conclusion
Yom Teruah's three main themes are Resurrection of the Righteous, Kingship of the Lord, and Marriage of the Lamb, all rapture images. There is a two day period in which they knew it would happen, but not the exact time. Only when two witnesses see the edge of the moon, can the festival start. Hence, "You do not know the day or the hour." Rosh Hashanah is a day of hiding – a day whose importance is hidden from Satan and in which Yeshua's Bride is also hidden. Those who wait for the rapture expect to be hidden in Heaven during the tribulation period. The blowing of the shofar easily portends the both a kingly coronation and a resurrection and rapture.
Combined, all these images present Yom Teruah as one of the premier representations of the Rapture event and therefore is one of the major candidates for the day of the Rapture. No one, I repeat: NO ONE, can say that any particular Rosh Hashanah is that day, however! All we can do is stay alert and look forward to that day when our blessed hope is realized.
Prophecy continues to unfold as foretold by the Hebrew prophets. The stage is being set. That being said, one can only ask: "How imminent is the return of Yeshua Ha'Mashiach?"
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