Did you know that God has a calendar? Did you know that He is still following it? It really saddens me, though, that most of Christianity has thrown out His calendar, and in doing so, they miss out on some of the beauty and richness and grace of God and His word.
What is this calendar? Well, it isn’t a secret. It is written about quite a bit in both the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ testaments. The calendar is marked by special occasions throughout the year. They are often called the “Jewish Feasts” but that isn’t what God calls them. He calls them His “appointed times” (this is the clear meaning of the Hebrew word used in the “old testament” when the ‘feasts’ are referred to.)
I know that many in Christianity will say that the feasts no longer apply as Jesus fulfilled them, but even the “new testament” proves that statement false. Yeshua (Jesus) himself said,
“For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass away until all is accomplished.” Matthew 5:18 (ESV)
“Do this in in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19 (ESV) – in context of celebrating the Passover.
There are many more verses showing Yeshua (Jesus) and the apostles (even Paul) celebrating the feasts. However, this article isn’t about that. It’s about the next feast in the yearly cycle, the ‘Feast of Trumpets’!
God’s year begins with Passover in early spring. Then there are a couple more, then a couple months pause. The feasts start up again near fall time, with the first in a short series being the ‘feast of trumpets’! For this feast we are told, among a couple other things, to blow trumpets (or shout)!
Now, considering the fact that Yeshua (Jesus) did something appropriate on each of the earlier feasts (died on Passover; gave the holy spirit on Pentecost; – are two examples), it easily follows that this is the next feast where something should happen. I wonder, if Paul wasn’t thinking of this when he wrote,
“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.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (ESV)
The feasts are the markers of God’s calendar, and give God’s timeline for things He has done and is yet to do!
And I must say that I am really looking forward to this coming Sunday night to Monday night (Sept. 9 to 10, 2018), which is the feast of Trumpets! I get to take the day off work and celebrate! In Judaism, the day is celebrated as the “Jewish New Year” and, being Jewish, I’ll celebrate that also, but that is just tradition.
I look forward to meeting God at his next ‘appointed time’, the ‘feast of trumpets,’ and hearing the shofar (ram’s horn). And I look forward to hearing that heavenly shofar calling, announcing the end of all things!
Shalom! – Yosef
Can’t wait
A post about the next feast, the day of Atonement, is now up on my blog. I hope you enjoy it!
– Yosef
Thanks Yosef. Great piece. I thoroughly enjoyed it while gleaning much understanding from your perspectives concerning feasts. Jesus was always present at such feasts. “At the last day of the feast, Jesus cried out to those who thirst to come to Him and drink freely”. This in itself signifies their relevance to the follower of Christ. I love the way you distinguished between God’s appointed times and tradition. More of these.
Thank you for your words!
More about God’s appointed times is coming shortly as there are two more feasts within the next two weeks. The Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles are coming up!
Yeshua (Jesus) did observe all God’s appointed times, as near as anyone can tell. And you are so right, that that in of itself should signify their relevance to every follower of the Messiah (Christ).
There is a difference between a shofar and a trumpet. There is also the same distinction in Hebrew. Since this is the day of trumpets why then do we blow the shofar? Shouldn’t we be trumpeting, not shofaring?
Quite correct: there is a difference between a shofar and a trumpet even in the Bible. The word ‘teruah’, which is the name of the feast, typically is associated with shouting or sounding the alarm. It can be associated with using the shofar. I do not know the history of when the day itself was associated with shofar blowing. I find that most Christians and Messianics only know the holiday as being associated with the blowing of the shofar, so I used that association in this post. This post was not meant to educate about the holiday, but to bring to light that God has a calendar and one of His appointed times is [or nearly is] upon us. In fitting His appointed times into a plan of things to come, the definition of this feast’s name as an ‘alarm of war’ (per BDB) actually fits better.
Honestly in trying to be Torah observant, this holiday has given me the most grief.
Having the Jewish tradition of making it a new year and calling it “Rosh Hashanah” instead of “yom truah”. It’s confusing. Definitely not helpful when you try to explain biblically why you are celebrating the new year in the 7th month.
Thank you for sharing that; it is an important point. The idea of ‘rosh hashana’, or ‘new year’ is a Jewish tradition. I wouldn’t bother trying to show Biblical support for calling this appointed time (feast) the ‘Jewish new year.’ Though it can, through some gymnastics, be supported that this is Biblically the start of the civil new year, that isn’t the point of God’s appointed time. And besides, if you are not Jewish, then celebrating the ‘new year’ isn’t really for you unless you are wanting to show support for the Jewish people by doing so. However, celebrating yom Teruah is for all of us! So, enjoy shouting, trumpeting, or blowing the shofar while meeting with our creator on His appointed time!
Just a correction. Sept 9 is Sunday and the 10 is Monday. I wish we all used Gods calendar, then we wouldn’t have this confusion.
Shalom
Good catch! I corrected the posting. The feast began on Sunday evening, the 9th.
A word about calendars for those reading these comments that may not know. The Gregorian calendar is the calendar that most western cultures use, including the USA. It is based on the solar cycle. The Biblical calendar is based on the lunar cycle and is ‘adjusted’ each year in spring according to the solar cycle; it is a lunar-solar cycle based calendar. Thus you have God’s feasts moving around a bit each year in comparison to the Gregorian calendar; and I’m with you – it would be nice if wall all used God’s calendar.
Then there is the Islamic religious calendar that is purely a lunar calendar. Thus the Islamic holidays cycle through all the months in the Gregorian calendar as the years go by. This is why this year the Islamic new year almost coincides with the yom Teruah (feast of Trumpets) this year.
– Yosef