God’s calendar is not the Gregorian calendar we use today but the Jewish religious calendar. By combining the two we see that this year the Feast of Trumpets (Hebrew Yom Teruah), which is to take place "on the first day of the seventh month" (Lev 23:24), will be 18 September 2020, starting at sunset. "You must observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets" (Lev.23:24). The Lord mandates rest and the blast of trumpets (the shofar), which seems so simple that one is forced to ask why? What were the children of Israel to remember when the trumpets sounded?

Appointed times

There are three important points made in Scripture about the Feasts. First, the Lord appointed specific days in each year as a reminder of events that had happened and as ‘dress rehearsals’ for events to come (Lev.23:1-2). The alignment and precision of these events, as shown in the Scriptures, is truly awesome. Suffice it to say that the Bible is its own 'evidence base' as is seen through the prediction and fulfilment of prophecies across the 66 books written over 3,500 years by at least 40 authors. Second, these Feasts are key anchors and ‘appointed times’. The Scriptures are clear that these are the ‘Lord's feasts’; they are not Jewish holidays introduced by custom and tradition. Third, Numbers 15:15-16 also makes it clear that these Scriptures apply to strangers living among the Jews; this is relevant to us as Romans 11 explains how as believers we are grafted into the commonwealth of Israel.

Reminding the Children of Israel

This particular feast is to remind them of the time when more than two million Israelites met God. "Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire ... and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder." (Ex 19:17-19). Just as the Exodus is remembered at Passover, so this meeting with God which was announced with a trumpet is remembered by the Feast of Trumpets.

A ‘dress rehearsal’ for a future event?

God implemented a feast day as a dress rehearsal to remind us of the significance of the loud trumpet call that will accompany the return of the Lord.

"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 shall rise first. 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..." (1 Thess 4:16-17). Here we learn that this future meeting with the Lord will also be announced by the sound of trumpets. Paul concludes by saying "encourage one another with these words" (v18). "And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." (Matt 24:31). God implemented a feast day as a dress rehearsal to remind us of the significance of the loud trumpet call that will accompany the return of the Lord.

The return of the Lord (which includes the rapture) is as certain as his first coming. We do not know the hour or the day of his return but we are instructed by Jesus to be ready for the "master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know" (Matt 24:50) and we are warned not to be like the five foolish virgins who had no oil left to refill their lamps and were excluded (Matt 25:11-13).

What should we do?

In addition to resting and blowing the trumpet what are we to do? We are to ‘proclaim it’, that is, we are to declare the Feast of Trumpets and remind others of what happened at Sinai and what will happen when the Lord returns. It is meant as an ‘awakening’.

The return of the Lord ... is as certain as his first coming.

We should also spend time in repentance. Yom Teruah initiates the Fall feasts the day of Atonement which in turn is followed by the feast of Tabernacles, topics in their own right . The ten days that follow this feast are known as the ‘days of awe’ or the ‘days of repentance’, a time of introspection, reflection and wholehearted repentance before the Lord. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Luke 1:15). When we repent the Lord forgives our sins and forgets them. As 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” What grace and mercy! What love!

It would be helpful, also, to learn to recognise the sound of the shofar. If you don’t have or know how to blow the shofar, find and play a recording of a one. All of this reminds us that, as the Bride of Christ (Rev 19:7), we must be ready for the bridegroom’s soon return. Like the Bereans (Acts 17:11), who with great eagerness examined the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true, please prayerfully consider researching the topics raised.

Lastly, to your Jewish friends you can say ‘Chag Samaech’ which translates to ‘happy festival’.

Chag Samaech, and may the sound of the shofar this Yom Teruah deliver a great awakening!