The Feast of Remembering the Blowing of Trumpets - Zichron T'rua

by Daniel Yahav

'In the seventh month on the first day of the month, you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation...' ( Leviticus 23:24)

Every one of the Biblical Feasts has a prophetic meaning for us today. They were instigated as a shadow of the plan of Salvation for God's people and for all mankind.

Each of the spring Feasts, of Passover, Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Weeks, have already been very specifically fulfilled in the life of Yeshua and the birth of the bride of Yeshua 2000 years ago.

Passover

At the very hour the Passover lambs were being slaughtered for the ceremonial meal, Yeshua breathed His last breath on the cross.

'And about the ninth hour.....Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.' (Matt 27:46-50)

As in Egypt the blood of the lamb saved the children of Israel from the angel of death, so the blood of Yeshua, the Lamb of God, has overcome the power of sin and death.

'…..For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.' (1 Cor 5:7)

Unleavened Bread

On the morning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, while the Priest was waving the sheaves before the Lord as a sign of the first fruits of the harvest, Yeshua was raised from the grave as the first fruits of those who were dead.

'But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.' (1 Cor 15:20)

The Feast of Weeks

And on the day of Pentecost -The Feast of Weeks - which was the appointed time to celebrate the in-gathering of the harvest - the Holy Spirit fell on the 120. There followed an in-gathering of 3,000 souls and the bride of Yeshua (the believers in Yeshua) was born. (Acts 2: 1- 41)

In the Hebrew calendar there then follows a period with no Feasts, all through the long, hot summer. This is a time of drought and searing heat, when everything looks dry and dead. This period represents the two thousand years of Israel being in exile. In the year 70 AD the people were scattered throughout the world and remained with no hope until the present re-gathering began, signifying the end of the period of exile. The land had become empty and desolate but when God's people began to return from the four corners of the earth and cultivate it, slowly it began to blossom and flourish once again.

The next feast, which comes at the end of the summer, is called the Memorial of the Blowing of Trumpets. This is the first of the four autumn Feasts and each one of these Feasts has equally dramatic prophetic meaning as a shadow of things to come.

All four have yet to be fulfilled.

The Memorial of the Blowing of Trumpets itself is not linked with any particular historical event or occasion in the agricultural calendar. In order to understand its prophetic significance we need to look at the pattern already formed by the spring Feasts. As we have seen, at the fulfilment of each of these Feasts, dramatic events took place between Heaven and Earth:

PASSOVER Yeshua had come DOWN from heaven to die on the cross for our sins.
UNLEAVENED BREAD Yeshua rose UP from the grave and then went up to His father.
FEAST OF WEEKS The Holy Spirit came DOWN from heaven.

We should therefore be looking for a future event of the same measure of significance, a dramatic exchange between heaven and earth, either going up or coming down. The Hebrew name of the Feast means 'reminder of the blowing' it is to do with the sound of the blowing, not the shofar itself, and the emphasis is on remembering.

There is only one future event which is connected specifically with the sound of blowing the trumpet and it does indeed have to do with a dramatic exchange between heaven and earth:

'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 shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.' (1 Thess 4:16-17)

There is an interesting symmetry between the Spring Feasts (in the first month of the biblical year), and the Autumn Feasts (in the seventh month) regarding which dates they fall on. These are: the 10th day, and then theweek of the 15th to 21st days, withone extra day added to thebeginning of the week in theSpring and the to the end of the week in the Autumn.

However, it would seem that The Memorial of Blowing of Trumpets stands alone on the first day of the seventh month - until we look more closely at the first day of the first month. It was on this day that the Tabernacle was raised in the wilderness!

“On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.” (Ex 40:2)

"Now it came about in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was erected....' (Ex 40:17-21)

All the preparation had been done over many months and in one day it was all assembled and lifted up. So on the same way, on one single day the spiritual tabernacle, the Bride, will be gathered together and raised up to heaven.

The rapture is indeed the next major event to take place in the life of the bride of Yeshua (the believers), It is the glorious culmination of the divine plan, through which Yeshua's own death and resurrection purchased for Himself a Bride to be with Him forever. The Holy Spirit was sent to enable us to live a victorious life and to prepare us in holiness for His coming. This is only possible if the fear of the Lord is in our hearts, it will keep us from becoming stained by the sin in the world. We will not be perfect on this side of eternity and so we still need the cleansing power of Yeshua's blood, but we can make sure we draw away from anything that causes us to stumble. This feast is an important reminder for us to be on the alert and to be ready, for we do not know the day or the hour of His coming. Yeshua told many parables urging us to be ready.

'Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over those the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years' (Rev: 20:6)

How can you know that you will be part of the first resurrection?

If you have truly repented and believe in Yeshua and have given your heart and your life to Him; if you choose to call Him Lord, meaning 'not my will but Yours be done'; and if you walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh, taking up your cross every day, then you can know for sure that you are a child of God, and your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

'Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming... For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.' (Matt 24:42-44)

'And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. And later the other virgins also came saying, 'Lord, lord, open up for us.' But he answered and said, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.' Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.' (Matt 25:10-13)

Yeshua's message is that we must live our lives in anticipation of His imminent return. It does not matter whether the rapture will take place before, during or after the tribulation. We only know that it will be at a time we do not expect, and we need to be ready to live or to die for His glory. His one desire is to have an intimate relationship with us - to 'know' us, and that we know Him, not just know about Him.

Let us not be distracted by busyness or the temptations of this world, but let us walk in the fear of the Lord, in humility and holiness before Him. And if there is anything that needs to be put right before we would be ready for His coming, let us not hesitate to put it right - to repent, to turn away from sin, to ask forgiveness or to extend forgiveness - we cannot afford to delay. 'Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.'

For Further & deeper teaching on all the biblical holidays, look in the section "Biblical holidays" on this site.