Rosh Hashana: Feast Of Trumpets

Review:

Turn to Leviticus 23:23-25.

We learned that Pentecost is significant to Christians because it marks the institution of the church - the institution where Jew and Gentile are both welcomed by God. No longer is there a middle wall that separates Gentiles from God and from His chosen people. In Christ, the head of the church, we are one.

Message

Next slide here

The seven God-appointed feasts of Israel

Passover - pictures redemption

In Jesus’ day, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits were celebrated as part of Passover.

Pentecost - the establishment of the church

Next slide here

Rosh Hashana

Read Leviticus 23:23-25.

So far in our study, you may notice that the Hebrew feast names do a good job reflecting what the feast is all about.

Passover - so named because the death angel passed over the Hebrew families in Egypt

First Fruits - so named because the first crops were just starting to come in

Feast of Weeks - so named because they would count seven weeks from Passover

That brings us to the Feast of Trumpets. Anyone want to guess what it was about? Blowing of trumpets.

Yes! Now the important question is, “why?”

Listen to this:

“The Hebrew phrase Rosh Hashana literally means, ‘head of the year’…” - Dr. Craig Hartman, page 107

Now think about that translation for a bit - “head of the year.” Does anyone want to take a guess at what “head of the year” might refer to? New Years - the beginning of the year

The phrase appears one time in the Old Testament near the beginning of Ezekiel 40:1. Notice how it is translated:

Next slide here

Ezekiel 40:1 KJV 1900

In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me thither.

The verse is not referring to this festival, but the phrase here is correctly translated as “the beginning of the year.”

The Feast of Trumpets occurs roughly September/October on our calendar. This holiday is the Jewish New Year. However, it is more than that.

Next slide here

The Observance of Rosh Hashana

When this day was first established, there were three key elements to the Feast of Trumpets: “a blowing of trumpets, a refraining from work, and an offering made by fire.” It was a day of worship, and the specific purpose for this day was to announce the coming Day of Atonement which was only ten days away. These ten days were to be a time of self-examination and repentance because on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would be entering into the Holy of Holies to make an offering for the sins of the nation.

Next slide here

The key to the observance of Rosh Hashana is the blowing of the shofar, the ram's horn.

This…hearkens back to the biblical importance of the trumpet sound. In the tabernacle, temple, and later the synagogue, excitement grew when everyone heard the blowing of the shofar because of its special significance. Though [Rosh Hashana was originally] celebrated as New Year's Day, the key today in worship, as it was…in the Bible, is trumpets.

Numbers 10 describes the significance of trumpets. They served several important functions in ancient times, including to call to assembly, to announce war, to strike fear, to sound an alarm, to announce the solemn feasts and the Sabbaths, and to announce the beginning of months. - Dr. Craig Hartman, page 110

The blowing of the shofar also reminds Jewish people of a precious promise that God has made to them.

Isaiah 27:12–13 KJV 1900

And it shall come to pass in that day, That the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, And ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, That the great trumpet shall be blown, And they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, And the outcasts in the land of Egypt, And shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

After Israel settled the Promised Land, they were not faithful to the Lord, but rebelled against Him. God brought the promised judgment and eventually they were scattered all over the world. This was exactly as Moses prophesied in Deuteronomy 30:1-9.

Here’s an important point: God is not done with Israel. Isaiah 27 prophesys that there is coming a day during the Tribulation period when a shofar will sound and Israel will be regathered back to the land.

When Jewish people gather to celebrate their new year, Rosh Hashana, and blow the shofar, it is a reminder to them that God will keep His promise to regather Israel to the land!

The Bible indicates that there will be great suffering and loss of life for the Jews during the Tribulation period, but Israel will be regathered back to the land, just as God has said.

Next slide here

Lessons from Rosh Hashana

We have seen that the blowing of trumpets is very significant to the Jews, but it is relevant at all to us? Can you think of anytime in Scripture that we are encouraged to listen for a trumpet sound? When?

First Thessalonians chapter four describes a trumpet sound for us as well.

First Thessalonians 4 describes a trumpet sound for the church, a different one from that which is predicted in Isaiah. The one Matthew [24] talks about deals directly with Israel, and the one in 1 Thessalonians is a wakeup call to those who are dead in Christ and a signal of the Lord's meeting them in the air, the rapture (see note 3, chapter 3) to take His bride to be with Him.

This trumpet sound for the church will take place first. We who are the bride of Christ will be snatched from the earth in an instant. The bride will then stay hidden [with the bridegroom in Heaven] for [the Tribulation period.]

Christians often look at the trumpet sound for the church in the wrong way. We tend to view the trumpet sound as an opportunity to cry, "We're out of here. Praise the Lord!" We tend to look at that moment a bit selfishly.

[No doubt, it will be a joyous time of reunion with our Lord.] But how would our lives be different if we reminded ourselves that the rapture not only marks the moment from which and forever we will be with the Lord but also marks the moment when our work on earth is finished and we will have no further opportunity to reach the lost? Our lives might also change if we consider that after the rapture we will give an account to God for what we did while we were here (2 Cor. 5:10). None of us will return with the Lord thinking that we did everything we needed to do when we were living on the earth.

At the rapture, every opportunity to reach the lost sheep of the house of Israel—our lost neighbors, our lost relatives, our lost coworkers— will be gone. Because we know the trumpet sound is coming, perhaps we should approach each day with the realization that we have a lot to do. After all, if the trumpet were to sound today, our job here would be finished.

When you expect to be away from home for an extended period of time, what do you do during the days before you go? You're up early in the morning and late at night because you have so much to do: bills to pay, garbage to take out. Not wanting to forget anything you will need, you make lists. You are leaving town at a fixed time and won't be able to do certain responsibilities when you are gone, so you do everything necessary before you leave.

Shouldn't this be our attitude if we truly believe the trumpet could sound today for the church? Snatched off this planet, we will no longer have opportunities to reach others. That's why we must make the most of every opportunity. - Dr. Craig Hartman, page 114