|
"In the
seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a
rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy
convocation. You shall not do any laborious works but
you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord."
Leviticus 23:24-25
The Feast of Trumpets is
the fourth high Sabbath of the year and the first Holy
Day Festival of the fall season. It is a one day
celebration which falls on the first day of the seventh
month on the Hebrew calendar - in September or early
October on the Gregorian calendar.
Unlike our
Gregorian calendar which is a solar only calculation
with 365 days in a year, the Hebrew calendar is a
lunar-solar calendar based on a 19 year time cycle with
each month having 30 days. Every month begins with the
first small crescent in the lunar cycle. 12 years out of
the 19 year cycle have 12 30- day months and the
remaining 7 have 13 30-day months. Leviticus 23:4 says,
-"These
are the appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations
which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for
them."
God set the times for these
divine appointments before He even made man, notice
Genesis 1:14, -"Then God
said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens
to separate the day from the night, and let them be for
signs and for seasons and for days and years." God
inspired this to originally be written in Hebrew and the
Hebrew word translated "seasons" is "moed" meaning, "a
divinely appointed time for a festival celebration - a
fixed appointment for assembly." The
lights in verse 14 set in the heavens to determine the
timing for these appointments are primarily the sun and
the moon.
Israel signaled the
beginning of each month with the blowing of the shofar,
a trumpet made from the horn of a ram. The Feast of
Trumpets starts when the seventh trump of the year is
sounded. The sounding of the trumpets is associated with
two important occasions, war, and the coming of a king.
In the case of this
festival it means both - Jesus coming as the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords, and He comes to wage war with
the nations of the world, -"Then
the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in
heaven saying, ‘The kingdoms of the world has become the
Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ: and He will reign
forever and ever." (Rev.11) "For the Lord Himself will
descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in
Christ will rise first." (1 Thes.4)
Keeping this Festival has
been a blessing to me and my family for more than 30
years. It is a yearly reminder that one day Jesus will
come in glory and rescue the world from Satan’s grip, -"We
know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in
the power of the evil one." (1 Jo.5)Then
there will be true peace as the kingdoms of this world
become the Kingdom of King Jesus.
|
