Lesson 8 — Feast of Trumpets

a. The Feast of Trumpets is a day of blowing of Trumpets (Lev. 23:24). The Hebrew signifies a memorial of shouting for joy with trumpets, Rituals requiring the blowing of trumpets daily, weekly, monthly, and annually were an important part of Israel’s worship of Yahweh (Num. 10:10). On this feast, trumpets were blown throughout the day to announce the morning and evening sacrifices, the New Moon and its sacrifices, the Feast itself and its sacrifices, and if it fell on the weekly Sabbath, separate blasts would announce the Sabbath and its sacrifices (see Ps. 81:3).

b. The Feast of Trumpets prohibits servile work (Lev. 23:25; Num. 29:1). The word “servile” is from the Hebrew word abodah and means “work of any kind.” Therefore, the Feast of Trumpets prohibits all work, not just work relating to our jobs. When the Jews returned from Babylonian Exile under the direction of Nehemiah, they were instructed not to buy or sell on a Sabbath or on a Feast Day (Neh. 10:31), including the Feast of Trumpets.

d. This Feast is observed during the seventh month. The name of the seventh month in Hebrew is Ethanim (1Kings 8:2). It usually falls during the month of September in our Gregorian calendar, but can range over both our September and October, thus allowing the Feast of Trumpets to be observed in October occasionally.

a. The Feast of Trumpets is observed on the first day of the seventh month (Lev. 23:24), and is the only Feast falling on a new moon day. The biblical new moon is the first visible crescent. The word for new moon in the Hebrew is chodesh, which is defined in Strong’s Concordance as “the new moon; by implication, a month.” The word chodesh is from the Hebrew chadash, which literally means to rebuild or to be new. Until the time of Yahshua the Jews confirmed each new month with the sighting of the first visible crescent, as we also understand the Scriptures to teach. After sighting the new moon, designated individuals would run to the Jewish court, or Sanhedrin, and report the sighting, thus the start of the new month was declared official. Judaism today observes the conjunction as the new moon. The conjunction is neither rebuilding nor new, but is the dark or invisible moon. This is the stage prior to the visible crescent. During the conjunction the moon lies squarely between the earth and the sun and cannot be seen here on earth, sometimes for a couple of days. The following authority details the Jews’ progression away from the actual sighting of the crescent to a purely calculated new moon: “The Hebrew or Jewish calendar had three stages of development: the preexilic, or Biblical; the postexilic or Talmudic; and the postTalmudic. The first rested on observation merely, the second on observation coupled with calculation, and the third on calculation only. In the first period the priests determined the beginning of each by the appearance of the new moon…” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, article, “Calendar”).

b. The term Ro’sh Hashanah means “head of the year,” which refers to the start of the civil year. This is not the start of the biblical or sacred year. The biblical year begins in the month of Abib, which is Hebrew meaning “young ears of grain.” The word Abib describes a specific state of maturity of barley in the Middle East during the first month of the biblical year. Since Ro’sh Hashanah scripturally is not the “head of the year,” we avoid this term when referring to the Feast of Trumpets. The Feast of Trumpets, as shown, is observed on the first day of the seventh month.

a. The Hebrew phrase yom teru’a means “day of blowing an alarm” of the trumpet. This phrase is found in Numbers 29:1: “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have an holy convocation: you shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.”

d. Seven lambs of the first year without blemish were offered on the Feast of Trumpets (Num. 29:2). The number seven symbolizes spiritual perfection. It is noteworthy that seven lambs of the first year without blemish were also offered on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the Feast of Weeks, the Day of Atonement, and the Last Great Day.

d. The Bible does not specify what trumpet was blown on the Feast of Trumpets. However, Jewish tradition states that it was the shofar. It is plausible that the silver trumpets were also blown on this day, but this cannot decisively be supported by the Bible. “The instrument to be used in the trumpeting is not specified in the Bible, but Jewish tradition decided in favor of the horn and not the metal trumpet” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia).

c. The Feast of Trumpets is fifteen days before the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23). The seventh biblical month is a special month of the year. Four out of seven annual Sabbaths are observed during this seventh month, i.e. Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Last Great Day. This seventh month completes the annual Feasts, and by keeping them one shows a desire to be spiritually complete.

a. In Ezekiel 33:1-6, Yahweh told the prophet to set a watchman at the borders of Israel to blow the warning trumpet should an enemy invade. Only those who heed the trumpet would survive. This applies to the warning message against evil in our day as well (see Joel 2:1-2 and Rev. 8-10, noting the seven trumpet sounds preceding each plague unleashed on this world). Just as Yahweh’s presence on Mt. Sinai was announced by a piercing trumpet blast (Ex. 19:16, 19-20), so the return of Yahshua to earth will be announced by the unmistakable sound of a trumpet (Matt. 24:30-31; 1Thess. 4:16-17; 1Cor 15:51-52).

a. Significant evidence shows that Yahshua could return on the Feast of Trumpets. Daniel 8:19; 11:27, 29 and 35 all say that the end of the age will occur at the “time appointed,” which in the Hebrew is moed and means a chosen season or feast. The trumpet blast announces that something significant is imminent, and this Feast is one of much blowing of trumpets. Trumpets also are a signal to gather, and Yahshua will gather His elect at His return at the trumpet sound (Num. 10:3; Matt. 24:31).

b. In Numbers 29:1 Yahweh commands, “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.” Convocation means gathering, from the Hebrew miqra meaning an assembly, public meeting.