Home 

“A MEMORIAL OF BLOWING OF TRUMPETS”
“THE DAY OF BLOWING THE TRUMPETS” (LEV 23:4; NUM 29:1)
© Orest Solyma
The Church of God in Williamstown
Web Site: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~sanhub/index_.htm

INTRODUCTION
The titles given to this sermon, in some deference to the past, are not entirely correct. They are taken from the common translations of Lev 23:24 and Num 29:1—A Memorial of blowing Trumpets and The Day of Blowing the Trumpets. The Hebrew does not have any words in Lev 23:24 and Num 29:1 that mean trumpets. The words, The Feast of Trumpets, also do not appear in Scripture. So what is the blowing and the memorial all about? I’ll attempt to answer that, but first….

This year, 2000AD [Ed: The year this sermon was written], will have many thousands observing what is commonly called, “The Feast of Trumpets,” a month and two days after us. Judaic tradition demands that if the new moon of the Jewish seventh month falls on a Wednesday, postponement is made to the weekly Sabbath so that the Judaic Yom Kippur does not fall next to the weekly Sabbath. This tradition could not have been extant at the time of Jesus Christ and the apostles, for the Mishnah (the writing down of the supposed Oral Law) is dated about 200AD, and the Talmud, comprising the Mishnah and Gemara (commentary on the vain imaginations of the Oral Law), was concluded about 600AD (See Jesus’ reactions to such traditions: Mt 15:6-9; 23:1-38; Mk 7:6-13). As with Catholic dogma and traditions, so also Jewish oral laws were introduced to counter the Divine power and good sense of early Christian practice and belief (A perusal of the Talmud, available in most theological libraries, is worth the effort to better appreciate Jesus’ abhorrence and rage at how God’s Word is subverted).

Rather than follow the anti-biblical way, we begin our sacred year where we should—at the time that the Lamb of God instructs us:
Ex 12:2 This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.
(see 34:18; Num 29:16; Dt 16:1; and as the millennial instruction shows in Ezk 45:21). Thus the seventh month of the sacred calendar begins with the seventh new moon after the first. And the first new moon is the one closer to the vernal equinox, i.e., it can occur before or after the spring equinox, as even Jewish practice today admits, e.g., in the years 1983, ’88, ’91, ’94, ’99, 2002, 2005, the Abib new moon is [was] before the equinox.

We do not follow invented practices that calculate for the annual calendar a seventh month, based on vain traditions, then pretend that 177 days earlier is always the beginning of the first month. It seems that traditions dictate to God, for whatever the rabbis decide the Council of God in Heaven must agree to and bind—and so the beginning of calculating their religious observances is when they determine the first of Tishri shall be; as the Talmud says:
Our Rabbis taught: ‘For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance for the God of Jacob’: this teaches that the heavenly Beth din [House of Judgment] does not assemble for judgment until the Beth din on earth has sanctified the month’ (The Babylonian Talmud Rosh HaShanah, trans. Maurice Simon; Ed. Rabbi Dr. I. Epstein)

This same reference source, The Talmud, informs us in RH 8a:
“R. Nahman b. Isaac [explained the Mishnah to refer] to the Divine judgment, as is written, From the beginning of the year to the end of the year {Deut 11:12}, [which means], From the beginning of the year sentence is passed as to what shall be the end of it. How do we know this takes place in Tishri?—Because it is written, Blow the horn at the new moon, at the covered time [keseh] for our feast day {Ps 81:4}. Which is the feast on which the moon is covered over [mitkaseh]? You must say that this is New Year {fn. The only feast which takes place when the moon is hidden}.”

Jacob Neusner, currently a renowned Jewish scholar, deals with this section of the Talmud in his The Talmud of Babylonia, An Academic Commentary, VIII, Bavli Tractate Rosh Hashanah (Scholars Press, 1994), p 54:
“It is written [Ps.81:3-5]: Blow the trumpet at the new moon, when the moon is covered, on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, [an ordinance of the God of Jacob]. He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out [over the land of Egypt].”

Please note that nearly all translators render Ps 81:3 as “Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.” So rabbinic authorities say that the new moon that falls in the seventh month must be at the time of the conjunction, when the moon is covered, is invisible. That’s certainly not the case for Judaism this year. Why? Because sometimes one must follow a certain tradition and sometimes follow a certain contrary tradition on the same issue. Some rabbis say the new year begins on 1 Abib, others say the new year begins with 1 Tishri. Both are right, other rabbis say. You need to be inspired to figure this out!

Is it any wonder that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, by whom salvation begins, the Lamb of God, is not recognised? And is it also any wonder that so few want to live by every Word of God and recognise who the Lamb of God truly is (Jn 5:19,39,44,47,55; 16:3; Mt 4:4; 22:39; 2Pet 3:16; Rev 22:18-19)?

As Ps 2:3 prophesies: Let us break their bonds in pieces (i.e., destroy the understanding of the real relationship between the Father and His only-begotten Son [see Jn 1:14,18; Heb 11:17; 1Jn 4:9]), and cast away their cords from us (for the great mass of religious people prefer their own gods and idols rather than the Almighty God and the One to whom He gave His Name and all that it means (consider Ex 23:21; Is 9:6; Jn 5:26). It is better to base all relationships on human inspiration rather than the inspiration of the God of Scripture!

WHY THE COMMAND TO OBSERVE—IS IT TEMPORARY OR FOREVER?
We’re told in Heb 13:8 that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever! In Heb 1:12, which quotes Ps 102:27, God the Father, in speaking of the Son, says, “But You are the same!” And of course the Father does not change, as Mal 3:6 and Jas 1:17 tell us. We know Jesus always speaks and does the Will of His God and Father, and many NT verses attest to that: (e.g., Jn 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; 7:16; 8:26,28-29,38; 9:4; 12:49-50; 17:3-4; 20:17; 1Cor 15:24,28; Rev 1:1,6). God, because He is perfect in love, wisdom and judgment, cannot be whimsical nor capricious in any way. So why would God destroy cities and purge men, women and children through famine, barbaric war, and horrifying pestilence? And why would God punish the House of Israel with all kinds of terrible curses for desecrating His Sabbaths, yet know in advance that He would abolish those requirements of worship? Is the mind of God unstable and not omniscient, as many would like to believe?

Today starts the third festival season of the year, as God has determined, and as Ex 23:14-17; 34:23-24; Lev 23:4,23-25,37,44; Num 29:1 show!

We’re told in Lev 23:1-2 that
the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: “These are the feasts (mo’ade; derived from mo’ed) of the LORD which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, these are My feasts (mo’ade).”’
Lev 23:4 emphasises:
These are appointed feasts (mo’ade) of the LORD, holy convocations (gatherings), which you shall proclaim at the times appointed (mo’adim) for them.
We’ll look further at the meaning of mo’ed, the primary root, shortly—for it also means feast, appointed feast, assembly, appointed assembly, place of assembly, time for assembly.

Ps 74:8 in the LXX says: They have said in their heart, all their kindred together, “Come, let us abolish the feasts (mo’ade) of the Lord from the earth.”
Admittedly, it seems that it is outside enemies who conspired to burn all the meeting places (mo’ade) in the land (cf. Ps 74:7-8). However, the LXX, which the NT quotes more often than the Masoretic, suggests that it is internal enemies who turn to idolatry, and then God permits heathen to invade and destroy what is left.

Deviating from the Truth and turning to idolatry are the constant problems generally hidden from the perception of those who are taught by God, and they are then rejected by God in their blindness and rebellion (e.g., Gen 3:1ff.).

Let’s look at the two places where this feast day is commanded: Lev 23 and Num 29.
In Lev 23:24-25 Moses is ordered by the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ (cf. Ex 23:20-25): 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 [perhaps better rendered as: a memorial of shouting out, zikkaron teru’ah], a holy convocation. 25 You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.’

In Lev 23:24, the phrase blowing of trumpets does not have a Hebrew word for trumpet. There is one Hebrew word for the whole English phrase: teru’ah, which in fact means to signal, to alarm to, to sound (the trumpet is perhaps implied); generally it’s the shofar, as used in many Scriptures (e.g., Lev 25:9; Josh 6:5,20; Jer 4:19; Amos 2:2; Ps 105:3,5; Lev 25:9; Num 10:5,6; 23:21; 29:1; 31:6; 1Sam 4:5,6; 2Sam 6:15; 1Chr 15:28; 2Chr 13:12; 15:14; Ezr 3:12,13; Job 8:21; 33:3; Ps 47:6; 89:16; Jer 20:16; 49:2; Ezk 21:27; Amos 1:14; Zeph 1:16).

Lev 23:37,44 summarises all the feasts, including the weekly Sabbath:
These are the LORD’s appointed feasts (mo’ade), which you are to proclaim as sacred convocations for bringing offerings made to the LORD by fire—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day.
44 So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts (mo’ade) of the LORD.

Num 29:1-2 adds: 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 trumpet [better: a day of celebratory joy and shouting. As in Lev 23:24, the word for ‘trumpets,’ shophar or yobel or chasosra or qeren is not in the original Hebrew]. 2 You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the LORD: one young bull (symbolic of the royal leadership of Israel), one ram (symbolic of the priest’s leadership of the lambs of God), and seven lambs in their first year (symbolic of all the lambs of God throughout history), [all are to be] without blemish.
In view of the fact that today is called a memorial of blowing [of trumpets, is implied] and a day of blowing [of trumpets], what is it we’re told to remember and recall as memorials of this celebration, and why is this limited to a particular day? It would take a book to answer this thoroughly.

SOME HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN OF THE FEASTS
The paper Mankind and the Sabbath [Ed: Paper not on this website—see link above] proves that the Sabbath was instituted from the Creation and was made for mankind (Mk 2:27-28; Mt 12:8). The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT, Editors: Harris, Archer, Waltke; Moody Press, 1980; p 903) comments on Gen 3:1-3:
The heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation (the Hebrew words for seven, Sabbath, rest are linguistically related; See The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, IVP, Vol 3, p 1354; and TWOT, Items 2323 and 2318).
“Ex 20:8-11 connects observance of the Sabbath with the fact that God himself rested on the seventh day after six days of work (Gen 2:2-3). … The Sabbath is thus an invitation to rejoice in God’s creation, and recognise God’s sovereignty over time” (TWOT, p 903).

Since all the Sabbaths stand or fall together, and since the weekly Sabbath is a creation ordinance, it’s not surprising to find that the festivals and their sabbaths are from long before Moses. There are two amazing verses we must consider: Gen 1:14 and Ps 104:19. After the third day of the Adamic creation—
God (Elohim) said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs (otot) and seasons (mo’adim; same word in Ps 104:19), and for days (yamim) and years (shanim) (Gen 1:14).
We would expect Jewish scholars to support their own orthodoxy. Norbert M. Samuelson in The First Seven Days A Philosophical Commentary on the Creation of Genesis (Scholars Press, 1992) says that the mo’adim “are set times or seasons for special meetings. … Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures the word functions as a general term for all the festivals, most notably, Sukkot, Pesach and Shavuot” (p 78). Please note that this Jewish scholar of biblical issues placed the Passover after the Feast of Tabernacles. We will also note that numerous Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical scholars agree with this translation of Gen 1:14.

The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT, Eerdmans, 1997; Vol VIII) in the article mo’ed (pp 167-173) says in a few paragraphs:
“Though the moon plays an especially decisive role, the sun is also of consequence: “He made the moon for the mo’adim; the sun knows its (time for) rising” (Ps. 104:19). A similar sense is expressed by the famous passage Gen. 1:14, according to which the celestial bodies were created to be “for signs and for (regular) times of festivals and for days and years” (cf. Sir. 43:7). IQS 9:26-10:8 [see Geza Vermes’ The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls; Penguin, 1997; p 112, which translates this section] extensively discusses the relationship between the natural and cultic year from the perspective of mo’ed.
“Festival dates are thus inviolably fixed by the course of the stars as seasonally significant temporal divisions. Since in the earlier period this is emphasised especially regarding the Passover-Mazzoth festival, the festival itself must have been oriented since a very early period to the course of the celestial bodies, not only of the moon (full moon), but also of the sun according to the equinox. This probably refutes the thesis of a purely lunar calendar in ancient Israel, since at least the cult was given a lunar-solar orientation.
“However, it is not only as regards the natural cycle that these mo’ed-times are thrown into relief; at the same time, they represent those days when God approaches Israel as the Creator and meets with the cultic community. Such times are filled with holiness (qds, Ps. 74:2f.; Lev. 23:2ff. and passim [i.e., throughout the Scriptures]), and such times are marked by solemn [holy] convocations (qr‘, Lev. 23:2ff.; Nu. 16:2; Lam. 1:4,15; 2:22 and passim)” (p 170).
Ps 104:19 says God appointed the moon for seasons; the sun knows its going down.

Let’s see a few translations of Gen 1:14.
• James Moffatt (1935; an encyclopaedic scholar of the Free Church of Scotland):
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the Vault of heaven to separate day from night, to mark out the sacred seasons, the days and the years.”
• The NEB (1972; by a combined effort of Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist and other churches in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland):
God said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of heaven to separate day from night, and let them serve as signs both for festivals and for seasons and years.’
• The TEV or Living Bible (1976; by the United Bible Societies):
Then God commanded. “Let lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days, years, and religious festivals begin.”
• The (Catholic) New Jerusalem Bible (1985):
God said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of heaven to divide day from night, and let them indicate festivals, days and years.’

Many Jewish sources, including the various Targums, understand Gen 1:14 as described in these translations. The Targum, Pseudo-Jonathan, says: (The Aramaic Bible - The Targums (which are a combination of translation, amplification and interpretation) - translated by Michael Maher; Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1992):
God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate day from night, and let them serve as signs and festival times, and for counting the reckoning of days, and for sanctifying the beginnings of months and the beginnings of years, the intercalations of months and the intercalations of years, the solstices, the new moon, and the cycles (of the sun).”
Admittedly, this Targum is more interpretative than any of the others, but they express much the same ideas—that the cyclical orbits of the earth, sun and moon are to reveal religious seasons.

The German theologian, Edmond Jacob, says:
“Yahweh’s dwelling in the sanctuary is a function of time and the sacred places [and] only exist as a function of sacred times [and these are determined by what God has created in the heavens]. Everything in the cult [i.e., in the religious practices and rituals] was determined by time and at first by cosmic time [and not by time tampered with by traditions]. … the year, with its regular rhythm of seasons and lunar phases, provided the cult with its framework and gave assurance that, in the unfolding of time [which God has foreordained prophetically], there would be fixed points [the Lamb of God was foreordained from before the Creation; 1Pet 1:19-20; 2Tim 1:9; Tit 1:2-3], the mo’adim without which it ran the risk of falling back into chaos (Gen. 1.14)” (Theology of the Old Testament; London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1958; pp 263-264). Do we grasp what Edmond Jacob is suggesting? That unless the religious practices are purely in line with what God has foreordained, religious chaos will follow!

Since the festivals, like the weekly Sabbath of creation week, reflect what creation reveals in the natural cycles of seasons, and since we are all physically affected by these cycles and seasons, then the prophetic aspects creation reveal affect our spiritual lives (i.e., the prophetic sequence of the Lord’s Supper, Passover, Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, and the last Great Day). It is not surprising then that the apostle Paul picks up on the fundamentals of creation and states:
Rom 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature (theiotes), have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse [in failing to believe the existence, the power and divinity of God].
Just as we should perceive the power and nature of God’s divinity—and there is no excuse— and just as we should also respond to how the cyclical order of creation reflects the order of spiritual life and prophecy, so are our lives to be governed by what God reveals and determines, and not by what contrary and vain traditions say against the Word of God.

MEMORIAL
Let’s consider the meaning of memorial, which in Hebrew is zikkaron, as used in Lev 23:24 (See TDOT, Vol IV.64-82).

One of the earliest uses of the word is in Ex 3:13-15
Moses said to God, “When I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His Name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 Elohim replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “This is what you will say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me (i.e., Moses) to you (Israel).’” 15 Moreover God said to Moses, “This is what you’ll say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’

Ex 13:9 uses the phrase as a memorial between your eyes. God wanted Israel to observe the days of Unleavened Bread, as a memorial between your eyes, so that they would never forget that they were miraculously rescued from Egypt by the mercy and power of God through Christ, who was the Rock who guided and protected them (1Cor 10:4; Ex 23:20-23; and see 1Cor 5:7-8 about NT observance of this Feast and the kind of memorial Jesus Christ still desires).

When the hate-driven Amalekites (a type of Satan’s demonic forces) were defeated during the Exodus, the LORD, through the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, who was given that title of His Father (Ex 23:20-23), said to Moses:
Ex 17:14 Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
One of the great sections of Scripture about the Father’s omniscience is in Is 46.
Is 46:9-10 Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, I declare the end (of all history) from the beginning (from before the creation of the universe), and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure’ (i.e., that which delights God’s perfect will and purpose).

In a section of Hosea that verifies that it was the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ who wrestled with Jacob, as recorded in Gen 32:22-30, we have a most significant use of the word for memorial from the OT Hebrew.
Hos 12:3-5 He (i.e., Jacob) took his brother by the heel in the womb (i.e., Esau; Gen 25:26), and in his strength he struggled with God (Elohim; see again Ex 23:21). 4 Yes, he struggled with the Angel (the Messenger of the LORD; Mal 3:1b) and prevailed; He wept and sought favour from Him. He found Him in Bethel (lit. the House of the Almighty), and there He spoke to us; 5 that is, the LORD God of hosts, (i.e., the Father, the LORD of hosts, spoke to us through the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, and said of His Son:) The LORD is His memorable Name (i.e., never forget who Jesus Christ is!).

Last Wednesday evening (August 23, 2000), on the Jim Lehrer Newshour on SBS TV, in the report on the self-destruction of the Russian nuclear submarine, the “Kursk”, the wife of the captain, Oksana Dudko, was interviewed. She said with passion, perhaps prophetically, of the President, Vladimir Putin, “He should be a father to us and to the nation!” However, with his cultural background in atheistic communism, and his life immersed in the lies and murderous ideology of the KGB, the president is incapable of love, compassion, fatherliness. The prophet Malachi says that all the world is filled with the antithesis of the hearts of the fathers turning to the children (Mal 4:6; Lk 1:17). Since the LORD has sent neither apostle nor prophet in these last days to do this work, then the world is faced with utter destruction. Nevertheless, in this age of massive spiritual devastation and alienation, some few turn to the God of Scripture, as Malachi 3:16 declares:
Those who feared the LORD spoke to one another (willingly communicated with one another), and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His Name.

BLOWING OF TRUMPETS
Let’s look at the meaning of the word translated as blowing in Lev 23:24 and Num 29:1.
zikkaron teruah is the word-combination translated as memorial of blowing [of trumpets] in Lev 23:24. teruah is from the root rua, which has the primary meaning “to raise a noise” by shouting or with an instrument (in alarm, warning, or joy, or celebration; TWOT 2135), especially a horn (Num 10:7), and especially the traditional ram’s horn, the “shofar” (as used by the priests in the Passover season of the fall of Jericho; Josh 6:5).

teruah also means alarm, signal, sound of trumpet. It’s a feminine noun formed from the root rua which occurs 36 times in the OT, mostly in the singular. There are four distinct senses in which it is used. It is used for “signal” (Lev 25:9), the “sound of the trumpet” for the blowing of the shofar on the Day of Atonement. It is also used for “alarm”, as in case of attack (Jer 4:19), “I hear the sound of the trumpet (shophar), the alarm (teruah) of war.” It is used for the trumpet in the tumult of the battle, “Moab shall die amid uproar, amid shouting (teruah), and the sound of the trumpet (shophar)” (Amos 2:2).

It is used in rituals of the Israelite tabernacle to describe the exaltation of the people of Israel when the ark of the covenant was brought to the camp (1Sam 4:5). The same root is used to describe the exaltation of the people when David brought the ark to Jerusalem. There are examples encouraging the praise of God by the whole earth (Is 44:23) and the shout of victory over an enemy (Jer 50:15; Zeph 3:14).

The song of praise in Job 38:7 uses this root to describe the shout of joy given by the “sons of God” and “the morning stars” when they (the angelic host) saw the foundations and Cornerstone of the earth laid.

The root rua is also used for cries of complaint and distress (Is 15:4). However, the most common usage of all is in signals for war (Num 10:7) and war-cries (Josh 6:10). As an extension of this last usage, it is also employed for shouts of alarm (1Sam 17:20).

Psalms 95 and 98 use the word in great encouragement:
Ps 95:1-3 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 3 For the LORD is the great God, and the great King above all gods.
Ps 98:4-6 says to us: Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. 5 Sing to the LORD with the lyre (lute or harp), with the harp and the sound of a psalm, 6 with trumpets (chasosra) and the sound of a horn (shophar); shout joyfully before the LORD, the King.

CONCLUSION
May I conclude with a reading from Scripture that I think beautifully summarises what today is about. Please think about what has been said. Please review the Scriptures given and any you cross-reference from your own research and meditations.
Ps 89:6-19 from The New American Bible (verses 5-18) The heavens praise your marvels, LORD, your loyalty in the assembly of the holy ones. 7 Who in the skies ranks with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the gods? 8 A God dreaded in the council of the holy ones, greater and more awesome than all who sit there! 9 LORD, God of hosts, who is like you? Mighty LORD, your loyalty is always present. 10 You rule the raging sea; you still its swelling waves. 11 You crushed Rahab with a mortal blow; your strong arm scattered your foes. 12 Yours are the heavens, yours the earth; you founded the world and everything in it. 13 Zaphon and Amanus you created; Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your Name. 14 Mighty your arm, strong your hand, your right hand is ever exalted. 15 Justice and judgment are the foundation of your throne; love and loyalty march before you. 16 Happy the people who know you, LORD, who walk in the radiance of your face. 17 In your name they sing joyfully all the day; at your victory they raise the festal shout. 18 You are their majestic strength; by your favor our horn is exalted. 19 Truly the LORD is our shield, the Holy One of Israel, our king!

Today, commonly known as the Feast of trumpets, the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles' season which prefigures prophetic revelation yet to come, is also a day of great celebration by the saints who assemble to shout out and sing the glories and promises of God. It’s a time of alarming the people of God for the next stages of prophetic unfolding. It’s time for the assembling of the church to ready the children of God for the Coming of Jesus Christ. This and more must be vividly remembered and celebrated!

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
Edited from Feast of Trumpets sermons of September 21, 1998 and September 10, 1999
A new moon signifies new beginning, another cycle, the start of special renewal, coming out of darkness into increasing light in a world of night and spiritual darkness. Christians, as disciples of Jesus Christ, are to be lights in the world (Jn 8:12; Matt 5:14-16). That’s reminiscent of the Passover season. Indeed, the Day of Atonement, nine days from today, speaks very strongly of this theme. As children of light and of the day—as Paul says in 1Thess 5:5, in the context of Christ’s Second Coming—we need to see things in the way the Light of the world, Jesus Christ, sees them. That’s the direction we struggle and strive for, and seek help and inspiration towards.

So let us look at the various meanings and overtones to the blowing of trumpets.
• The Feast of Trumpets—what does this mean? If we blow a shofar, if we circumcise the flesh, if we offer literal burnt offerings of unblemished lambs, do we really do what God wills?
Lev 23:1-2 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak unto the children of Israel, and tell them, about the feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to as holy convocations; yes, these are My feasts.”
Lev 23:23-5 The LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath, a memorial (i.e., do something meaningful which is the will of God, that you must remember) of blowing of trumpets; a holy convocation. 25 You shall do no servile work on that day: but you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.
How do we do the will of God in this? It’s easy to find out how to do the will of men who lay down traditions non-conformant with the Scriptures (Matt 15:3,6-9)?

Lev 1:7-9 and Num 28:1-8 describe the burnt offerings which we today cannot do as described and required by the sacrificial law. So we do as Paul tells us in Rom 12:1 Present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy, and acceptable to God; and as Peter tells us in 1Pet 2:5 The holy priesthood in the House of God must offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul makes wonderful references to the sacrificial rituals and their symbolism: Phil 2:17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. Phil 4:18 But I have received everything in full, and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. 2Tim 4:6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. Heb 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His Name.

But what about the blowing of trumpets? That’s the symbol we shall look at in more detail. Num 10 gives about a dozen reasons for the meanings of blowing of trumpets. Let’s not forget that not one jot nor one tittle of the Law shall pass away until all is fulfilled (Matt 5:16-20). The Law is spiritual, holy, righteous, and good (Rom 7:12,14). What good we know to do we must do as God would have us do.
(NIV) Num 10:1-10 The LORD said to Moses: 2 “Make two trumpets (chats’o’tser’ah, used 29 times in the OT) of hammered silver, and use them for (1) calling the community together and (2) for having the camps set out. 3 (3) When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 4 (4) If only one is sounded, the leaders—the heads of the clans of Israel—are to assemble before you. 5 (5) When a trumpet blast is sounded, the tribes camping on the east are to set out. 6 (6) At the sounding of a second blast, the camps on the south are to set out. (7) The blast will be the signal for setting out. 7 To gather the assembly, blow the trumpets, but not with the same signal. 8 The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come. 9 (8) When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the LORD your God and rescued from your enemies. 10 (9) Also at your times of rejoicing—(10) your appointed feasts and (11) New Moon festivals—you are to sound the trumpets over your (12) burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the LORD your God.”

Heb 12 speaks of the blowing of trumpets which called the nation together, as described in Ex 19.
(NIV) Heb 12:18-9 You have not come to a mountain (for we have come to Mt Zion; v 22) that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it (Israel in the wilderness lacking faith) begged that no further word be spoken to them (whereas the Israel of God begs God to speak to it).

• Lev 25 describes the blowing of the trumpet (v 9 shophar) on the Day of Atonement in the Jubilee Year—the year in which all land debts are forgiven and in which those who have lost land in the Promised Land have their debts written off and may go back to possess what is theirs. It is the year in which liberty is proclaimed through the Land on the Day of Atonement.

• Coronations were celebrated in a way that included the blowing of the shophar, as is described in the coronation and anointing of Solomon by Zadok the high priest and Nathan the prophet, as recorded in 1Kings 1:34 (also 2K 9:31; 11:14; 2Chr 23:13).

• Special Restorations included the blowing of trumpets:
a. When the Ark was being brought toward Jerusalem by David—1Chr 13:8;
b. When the Ark was successfully brought into the Jerusalem tabernacle—1Chr 15:28;
c. When the Temple was completed the Ark was brought in with the blowing of 120 trumpeters, using the silver trumpets—2Chr 5:12-3;
d. When Hezekiah re-opened the Temple—2Chr 29:28.

• Trumpets were blown as a call to war, as a declaration of war, as a prophecy of divine victory in war.
a. Joshua 6 tells us that 7 priests each had a ram’s horn as they led Israel around the walls of Jericho during the 7 days of Unleavened Bread. On the last day they marched around the city 7 times. At the command of Joshua (typifying Christ), the 7 priests (typifying the 7 angels of the last plagues poured upon the world in Rev 8) blew their horns, all Israel shouted, and the city walls collapsed.
b. Judges 7 describes Gideon’s 300 mighty men with ram’s horns, pitchers with lit torches inside, and a sword. The symbolism is frightening and awesome, indicating the full backing of the LORD of hosts.

The Return of Jesus Christ is normally the sole significance and emphasis we have been given for our celebration, as exemplified in the following verses:
Matt 24:30-1 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 His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
1Cor 15:51-2 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.
1Th 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.
There is, in the context of the proper use of various spiritual gifts, this remark from Paul:
1Cor 14:8 For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for battle?

THE TRUMPETS OF ZION
Let’s recall some OT prophecies that have to do with the role of the church and her servants. We know that the church is described as Zion, as in Heb 12. So Scriptures like Amos 1:2 might puzzle us: “The LORD roars from Zion, and utters His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.”

At the beginning of Amos 3 (vv 3-8), ten questions are listed. The first is Can two walk together unless they are agreed? The last five are:
Amos 3:6-8 (6) If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? (7) If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it? 7 (8) Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets? 8 (9) A lion has roared! Who will not fear? (10) The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy?

In Isaiah 40, after the prophecy about John the Baptist, we read:
Is 40:9-11 Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might, with His arm (i.e., Jesus Christ) ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. 11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs, and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
Is 58:1 Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

Jeremiah too speaks of proclamation:
Jer 4:3-7 For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My wrath go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds. 5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, “Blow the trumpet in the land; cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities.’ 6 Lift up a standard toward Zion! Seek refuge, do not stand still, for I am bringing evil from the north, and great destruction. 7 A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone out from his place to make your land a waste. Your cities will be ruins without inhabitant.”

SERMON OF SEPTEMBER 10, 1999
It may be worthwhile to review our paper, Aspects of God’s Time, which is to be further amplified. The Jewish philosopher and head of the Talmudic Academy in Baghdad, Saadia Gaon (gaon=eminence; 882-942AD), “went so far as to suggest that visual observation never did regulate the calendar and that the fixed calendar, which does not depend on observation and visibility, goes back to Moses, if not even to Adam. In the eyes of Maimonides [philosopher and medical doctor; 1135-1204; who served in Cairo at the court of Saladin, who took Jerusalem by defeating the crusader Richard I in 1188], however, such a view amounted to flagrant rejection of the Oral Law” (The Code of Maimonides Book Three Treatise Eight Sanctification of the Moon, translated by Solomon Gandz; Introduction by Julian Obermann; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1956; p lvii).

What is the meaning of this first day of the third sacred season of the biblical year—the Passover season and Pentecost being the first two? Whatever attempt I make in showing the biblical meaning of today, the Feast of Trumpets, it will be incomplete, for the subject is ever so vast. Nevertheless, what I wish to expound is driven by a perception of urgent spiritual needs.

IMPACT OF HEARING THE TRUMPET CALL
What should be and what is the impact on those called to hear the trumpet call of God?
• Mt 24:31, as part of the Olivet Prophecy, says that Jesus Christ will send His angels with the great sound of a trumpet; the angels will gather the Elect together from the four corners of the earth.
• 1Cor 15:51-52, as part of the resurrection chapter written by Paul, states that all the saints will be changed (from a natural body to a spiritual body, v 44)—at the last trumpet—becoming changed and incorruptible.
• Rev 8:2 records part of John’s vision: Seven angels are each given a trumpet and each sounding of the trumpet will announce a judgment upon the earth. Judgment upon the House of God is now!
• And when the seventh angel blasts out the trumpet call, the rejoicing response of the angelic host in heaven is, as recorded in Rev 11:15: “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our LORD and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever!”

Since these things are certain, and despite any seeming delays in the flow of history—not falsified history, which false prophets want to impose upon people—what are we doing and what will we do about our spiritual condition? God’s inevitable prophecies affect the world and each of us! This leads us to again ask, What are the meanings of the Feast of Trumpets?

Is 18:3 All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth: When He lifts up a banner on the mountains, you will see it; and when He blows a trumpet, you will hear it.
But it will be too late—for the demand is that the saints must grow and become perfect!
Jer 6:1-4 “O you children of Benjamin (the people immediately north of Jerusalem who have fled the northern invader), gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet (shophar) in Tekoa (stockade), and set up a signal-fire in Beth Haccerem (house of the vineyard; both were northern suburbs of Jerusalem); for disaster appears out of the north, and great destruction. 2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a lovely and delicate woman. 3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her (foreign leaders and their soldiers). They shall pitch their tents against her all around. Each one shall pasture in his own place. 4 Prepare war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are lengthening.
10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the LORD is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.
Do we wholeheartedly love God and all the things He asks us to do?
17-19 Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet (shophar)!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’ 18 Therefore hear, you nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. 19 Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people; the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not heeded My words, nor My law, but rejected it.

THE WATCHMAN IN EZEKIEL
Ezekiel and the last king of Judah, Jehoichin (from whom came the lineage of Christ), and his sons were taken to Babylon in 597BC. Daniel was taken captive in 605.
Ezk 33:1-8 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people (which I have personal responsibility to also do: To blow the horn of alarm in Zion!), 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5 He who heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life.
6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand. 7 So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.’”

A few prophecies expressing similar warnings and injunctions are:
Hos 8:1-4 “Set the trumpet to your mouth! He shall come like an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My Law. 2 Israel will cry to Me, ‘My God, we know You!’ 3 Israel has rejected the good; the enemy will pursue him. 4 They set up kings, but not by Me; they made princes, but I did not acknowledge them. From their silver and gold they made idols for themselves; that they might be cut off.”

Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet (shophar) 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:
11-13 The LORD gives voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it? 12 “Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. 13 So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm.”
17 Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

Zeph 1:14-17 The great day of the LORD is near; it is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; there the mighty men shall cry out.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness.
16 A day of trumpet (shophar) and alarm against the fortified cities an against the high towers.
17 I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like refuse.

Edited from the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Vol 1; Item 878c; pp 388-9):
mo’ed means appointed sign, appointed time, appointed season, place of assembly, set feast. This masculine noun occurs 223 times. It may be the time for the birth of a child (Gen 17:21; Gen 18:14; Gen 21:2), the coming of a plague (Ex 9:5), the season of a bird’s migration (Jer 8:7), an appointed time (1Sam 13:8; 1Sam 20:35), the time for which a vision is intended (Hab 2:3), the times of the end (Dan 8:19), or the time for the festivals (Lev 23:2) and solemnities (Deut 31:10). The heavenly bodies are for determining the seasons (Gen 1:14; Ps 104:19). Each festival is a mo’ed, but collectively they are the “feasts of the Lord” (mo’ade YHWH, Lev 23:2; etc.). Appearing at times (Hos 9:5) with hag (which designates the three great annual festivals), mo’ed must be thought of in a wide usage for all religious assemblies. Jerusalem became the city of assemblies (Is 33:20; cf. Ezk 36:38) which were characterised by great rejoicing and were deeply missed during times of exile (Zeph 3:18; Lam 1:4). Once mo’ed is an appointed sign (Jgs 20:38) by which men should act. The Lord met with Moses at the “tent of meeting” (ohel mo’ed). He appeared in the cloud at the door of the tent and spoke to him as “a man speaks to his friend” (Ex 33:7,11; Num 12:8). The purpose of Yahweh's meeting Moses and Israel is revelation (Ex 29:42; 33:11; Num 7:89). According to some passages, the tent was outside the camp (Ex 33:7-11; Num 11:24-30), but according to others it was located in the middle of the camp (Ex 25:8). It is, however, entirely possible that there were two successive tents called ohel mo’ed. The first was Moses’ tent, which was used before the completion of the tabernacle, which was also called ohel mo’ed, as well as mishkn. mo’ed also designates an “assembly” in such a phrase as “picked men of the assembly” (Num 16:2). The King of Babylon dreams of a seat in the “mount of assembly” (har mo’ed) in the north (Is 14:13), a term similar to the Ugaritic expression for the council of the gods. Scholars have seen a parallel between these terms and the words for the court surrounding the Lord or the gathering of the officers of God, which is described as the “assembly of El” (adat el; Ps 82:1) in which he stands and judges. mo’ed is also the worshipping assembly of God’s people (Ps 78:4).