Yom Teruah - Awaken!

Welcome!

As most of you already know this is an appointment with God.  God set forth at creation his pattern of time by the lights in the sky and told us that by these we would know our appointments with Him.

Genesis 1

¹⁴ And God 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: ¹⁵ And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

Today we gather to celebrate one of those appointments.  This one is of most particular interest.  We know that Yeshua fulfilled all of the spring feasts perfectly at his first coming.

He died on Passover as the sacrificial lamb.

He was buried on Unleavened Bread as that perfect unleavened bread of life without sin.

And as His people removed sin from their homes, he took on our sins through this death.

He rose again on the Feast of First Fruits as the wave offering of barley was lifted up to God, Yeshua lifted up off his death bed, as the first fruits of the resurrection.

And just as truth, the Torah, was given on Sinai during Pentecost, Yeshua gave the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit also on Pentecost. 

So what comes next? Yom Teruah.

 Our Jewish brothers and sisters believe, without the NT, that this holy day is Judgement Day.  Let’s examine the scriptures.

The Feast of Trumpets – Leviticus 23

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵ You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’ ”

The Feast of Trumpets – Numbers 29

29 ‘And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets.

One of things that we often see with these holy days is that God will not leave us wondering, without a reason why.  So why did He say that we are to celebrate and observe this holy day?

He said it was a memorial of blowing trumpets.  Where have we heard the blowing of trumpets thus far, up to this point?

Israel at Mount Sinai – Exodus 19

19 In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai. ² For they had departed from Rephidim, had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain.

³ And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ⁴ ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. ⁵ Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. ⁶ And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

⁷ So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. ⁸ Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. ⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.”

So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. ¹¹ And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ¹² You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. ¹³ Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.”

¹⁴ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵ And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not come near your wives.”

¹⁶ Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and ^[c]the whole mountain quaked greatly. ¹⁹ And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. ²⁰ Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

So what exactly do you think we are memorializing?  This is a moment of covenant.  The moment the people said I do, and betrothed themselves as the Bride.  This is when the Lord came down.  This moment of shouting, of trumpets, of thunder and lightning and quaking.  This holy moment is what we are to remember.

Knowing this, and knowing Yeshua fulfilled the preceding feasts perfectly, what do you think happens next?  Let’s go to the prophetic scriptures and see how they line up. But first, let’s also discuss the new moon.  As this particular feast falls on a new moon.

Two Silver Trumpets – Numbers 10

10 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² “Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps. ³ When they blow both of them, all the congregation shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ⁴ But if they blow only one, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall gather to you. ⁵ When you sound the advance, the camps that lie on the east side shall then begin their journey. ⁶ When you sound the advance the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall begin their journey; they shall sound the call for them to begin their journeys. ⁷ And when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but not sound the advance. ⁸ The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations.

⁹ “When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. ¹⁰ Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the Lord your God.”

Here we not only read about the observance of every new moon, but we also read about the purposes of the blowing.  We read the trumpets are called to gather His people.  The trumpets are blown at war time.  The trumpets are blown at the new moon and are blown over our offerings to the Lord. 

Let’s also look at the physical observations that we see at the new moon.

Below I’ve attached a screenshot for your consideration. These are the moon phases of this month. You’ll see the moon hides its light for about 3 days.  Now it’s not always three days.  Sometimes it’s two.  But here we see three days, the light is hidden before it comes again.

It’s also interesting to note that in ancient Israel, two witnesses had to confirm the sighting.  Are your prophecy bells and alerts ringing yet?

But for this reason, the feast of Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets or Shouting) is widely known in Israel as the Feast of the Day or the Hour that No One Knows.  Because it wasn’t just a scientific alignment of the moon, something easily calculated or planned for.  It also depended on witnesses of the sliver and atmospheric conditions such as weather and visibility.  So in other words, it isn’t something entirely easy to plan for.

Now that we have the foundational text.  Let’s read the prophetic scripture.  We have to let the text interpret itself.

Zechariah 9:14  Then the Lord will be seen over them, And His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord God will blow the trumpet, And go with whirlwinds from the south. The Lord of hosts will defend them; They shall devour and subdue with slingstones. They shall drink and roar as if with wine; They shall be filled with blood like basins, Like the corners of the altar. (war)

Isaiah 27: 12 And it shall come to pass in that day, That the Lord will thresh, From the channel of the River to the Brook of Egypt; And you will be gathered one by one,O you children of Israel. 13 So it shall be in that day: The great trumpet will be blown;They will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, And shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. (war against Leviathan and gathering of His people)

The Coming of the Son of Man – Matthew 24

²⁹ “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 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 His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together Hi ^]elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (gathering)

1 Corinthians 15 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (gathering)

1 Thessalonians 4 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. (gathering)

Seventh Seal: Prelude to the Seven Trumpets

8 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ² And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. ³ Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. ⁴ And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.

⁶ So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

Revelation Chapters 8-11.

Seventh Trumpet: The Kingdom Proclaimed

¹⁵ Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The ^[f]kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” ¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying:

“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,The One who is and who was ^[g]and who is to come,Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.¹⁸ The nations were angry, and Your ^[h]wrath has come,And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,And those who fear Your name, small and great,And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

¹⁹ Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of ^[i]His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

Do you see the connections?  Do you really think this is coincidence?  These similarities alone should cause us to dive deeper.  To show ourselves approved.  To be a Berean, to test everything.  To prepare ourselves, and to prepare others for the quickly approaching coming of our Lord.

So how do we prepare?  Our greatest example is the one who was preparing the way.  We read in Isaiah 40 about him first.

³ The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

⁴ Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Then we read in Matthew 3, what exactly that means.

3 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:‘Prepare the way of the Lord;Make His paths straight.’ ”

And that is our message today!  Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. 

This was also echoed by Yeshua himself.  Matthew 4:17 – “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

We have standing appointments to meet with our Lord. We meet with Him in spirit every Shabbat, we meet with Him in spirit every feast day, and we meet with Him every time 2 or 3 are gathered in His name.  

How are we showing up to these meetings?

Are we really treating these holy days and gatherings as if the Lord is truly here? 

I want to challenge us to ask ourselves if we truly believe the Scriptures.   Do you believe? Or are we exactly like the Israelites in the wilderness, struggling with unbelief?

Do you believe Matthew 18 :20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”?

Do you really believe Proverbs 6?  ¹⁶ These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

¹⁷ A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

¹⁸ An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

¹⁹ A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

²⁰ My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

²¹ Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

²² When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

²³ For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

Speaking of lamps and light, let’s read from Matthew 25.

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins

25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ³ Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵ But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

⁶ “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom ^[a]is coming; go out to meet him!’ ⁷ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

¹¹ “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ ¹² But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

¹³ “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour ^[b]in which the Son of Man is coming.

I Never Knew You – Matthew 7

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

This all is so beautifully woven together.  The midnight call to the virgins.  They were all brides.  All believers in Yeshua.  They all knew the commandments, but only half of them followed them or allowed them to light their path.

The foolish ones ran out of oil, they didn’t keep enough commandments to light their path in the darkness to find their Messiah. 

But the trumpet had blasted.  The call had rang out. In this same manner in Jewish wedding custom the bride didn’t know the exact hour of the groom’s arrival. At midnight, a shout (or trumpet blast) would awaken the wedding party.

This holy day – These shofar blasts are holy wake up calls.  Will you be found wise when it rings out?  Or are you unready?

So I say again, if we aren’t properly preparing to meet with Him spiritually, how do you think we are going to fare meeting Him physically?

Are you really ready?

The Day of the Lord – Joel 2

2 Blow the ^[a]trumpet in Zion,And sound an alarm in My holy mountain!Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;For the day of the Lord is coming,For it is at hand:² A day of darkness and gloominess,A day of clouds and thick darkness,Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.A people come, great and strong,The like of whom has never been;Nor will there ever be any such after them,Even for many successive generations.

Isaiah 58 “Cry aloud, spare not;Lift up your voice like a trumpet;Tell My people their transgression,And the house of Jacob their sins.

I pray this Yom Teruah that we are jolted from our sleep.  That we remember the roots of our faith and hear the trumpet call of return, return to the Lord.  That we preach repentance, baptism and the remission of sins, but that we ourselves will also repent and return! We surely aren’t where we need to be yet.

Today we enter into the ten days.  These ten days between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur are commonly knows as the Days of Awe, or Yomin Norai’m (Days of Repentance).   Rambam (Maimonides) wrote:

“Awake, you sleepers, from your sleep! And you slumberers, arise from your slumber!

Examine your deeds, return in repentance, and remember your Creator.”

So the shofar is not only a sound — it is a spiritual alarm clock for the soul. It rouses us from spiritual slumber, shaking us awake to the reality that the King is on His throne and His day is drawing near.

As we step into these next ten days may these be for repentance, self-examination, and turning back to the Lord with our whole heart. These are not just ancient traditions; they are God’s mercy, calling us to prepare for the day we will stand before Him.

Now is the time to confess what’s hidden, lay down what hinders, forgive those who wounded you, and return to your First Love. Don’t waste these days. Let the trumpet’s cry pierce your heart and move you to action.

 “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:6-7).

My friends, we have seen this week on tv, on social media, that the harvest is ripe.  We saw 100 million streams of hours worship to our King and the Gospel being shared.  Even the leaders of our current administration are sharing the message the Lord and pointing others to Christ, even more so than some pastors.

 This is the turning point for repentance. I pray at this time, we enter the fields as laborers for the Kingdom, and not let this opportunity pass us by.  We may truly be embarking on the Days of Elijah. 

With that being said, I’d like to ask Ken & Chad to blow the shofars, and let’s end with two more songs. 

Shouts of Joy by Paul Wilbur.  May this season of shouting be shouts of Joy for us!  As we anxiously and readily await our bridgegroom.  May we meet him running towards him, as a our future husband who has been gone on a long journey.  May we not be found wanting to hide, or with weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Then we’ll end of Days of Elijah, as we set out to proclaim the message of John, who came in the Spirit of Elijah – Repent.  For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

(Chad & Ken blow the shofars)

Friends, the shofar has sounded. The books are open. The King is calling. Let’s repent, return, and be ready.

Join me outside, as we look for the sliver of the moon.  And look forward to the future return of our King and our Groom, praying for the awakening of our community and our nation.

Luke 21:28 (KJV):“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”