Feast of Trumpets—Rosh Hashanah 2015
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe
Leviticus 23:23-24 "Then the Lord
spoke to Moses saying, "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."
Psalm 81:1-3 (NKJV) “Sing aloud to
God our strength; Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob. Raise a song and
strike the timbrel, The pleasant harp with the lute. Blow the trumpet at the
time of the New Moon, At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.”
The Feast of
Trumpets begins at sunset on September 13 because the biblical day goes from
sunset to sunset. The Jewish name for
this holy convocation is Rosh Hashanah which is usually translated "the
beginning or head of the year." Actually the Hebrew word “shana” means to
change. Rosh Hashanah implies that
something in the spiritual world is changing. It is the beginning of a new
season in our walk with the Lord. God
works in seasons. “To everything there is a season, A time for every
purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)
Ten days
after Rosh Hashanah is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Five days later, Sukkoth, the Feast of
Tabernacles begins.
According to
Jewish tradition, Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of Adam and Eve and
the fall into sin. It is a reminder of
the covenant relationship between God and mankind. It is a time of new beginnings.
Rosh Hashanah is observed with the sounding of
the trumpet. The traditional trumpet is
the shofar, the ram’s horn, which also represents the trumpet blast of the
coronation of the king. The sounding of the shofar is a call to repentance
because Rosh Hashanah is also a reminder of man’s first sin and repentance for
that sin.
Likewise,
the shofar also commemorates the sacrifice of Isaac which occurred on the day
that God later established as Rosh Hashanah. The sounding of the shofar reminds
us that a ram took Isaac’s place as an offering to God. Abraham named the place,
"Jehovah-Jirah", God is our provision. Abraham understood that in ages to come God
would provide the means of our salvation, His Son, Jesus Christ.
Because
Rosh Hashanah is the Feast of Trumpets, we should remember the importance of
trumpets in our relationship with God.
In Exodus 19, people were to wait for the
sounding of trumpet before going near Mt. Sinai where God spoke to
Moses. (Exodus 19:3b) "When the trumpet sounds
long, they shall come near the mountain." (Exodus 20:18) "Now all the people
witnessed the thundering, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and
the mountain smoking; when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar
off." God was beginning a new
season as He molded a band of ex-slaves into a mighty army.
It
was with the shouting of the people and the sound of the trumpets that God
brought down the walls of Jericho and gave the Israelites their first victory
in the Promised Land. The defeat of
Jericho was a new beginning for the people of God.
The
Lord will again bring a new thing with the sound of the trumpet when Jesus
returns. (Matthew 24:29-31) “Immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then
shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the
tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather
together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the
other.
(1 Corinthians
15:52) "In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed."
Remember
the Feasts of Trumpets by sounding the trumpet, blowing a horn, ringing a
bell. With joy in our hearts, we
remember the trumpet soundings of the past and look forward to the sounding of
the trumpet when Jesus returns.
Rosh
Hashanah is a time for speaking blessings for the season to come. A simple blessing is "Shana Tovah",
which literally means "Happy Change” or “Happy New Season " in
Hebrew.
Celebrating the Feast Days is not
required, but a powerful blessing can come to us when we more fully understand
what has been accomplished in our lives and in the Kingdom of Heaven because of
the atoning, redemptive ministry of Jesus, our Messiah. Whether our celebration is elaborate or
simple, our remembrance should include thanksgiving, worship and joy. God is
giving a party and He has invited us.
Shana Tovah!
Shana Tovah! Because of Jesus, our new season is blessed.
Because of Jesus, we are
changed; we are renewed. Let us walk
into this new season changed, renewed and recharged for the Kingdom of God.
Baruch HaShem Hamacsiach Yeshua;
Baruch HaShem Adonai.
Blessing in the name of Messiah
Jesus.
Blessing in the name of the Lord.
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