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| Yom Teruah new moon over Jerusalem Photo by Nehemia Gordon http://www.facebook.com/NehemiaGordon |
Last night the new moon was sighted in
Jerusalem, which means it’s Yom Teruah! Chag Sameach! If you have no idea what this means, let me
explain…
My family has been celebrating the
Biblical feasts for several years now, and each year we learn a little bit
more, and it is a new and insightful experience for us. This year we decided to try to celebrate
these holidays when the Bible says, and determine when they are by the moon
cycles. Genesis 1:14 says, “And 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.”(ESV) The word translated
“seasons” here is “mo’ed”, which more accurately means “appointed times for
assembly” (Strongs 4150) This is the same word used in Leviticus 23:4, “These
are the appointed Feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall
proclaim at the time appointed for them.” And also in Psalm 104:19, “He made
the moon to mark the seasons, the sun knows its time for setting.” So, the
appointed times, the Feasts of the Lord, were created from the very beginning,
and the moon helps us determine when they are!
Yom Teruah, also known as Rosh Hashanah,
is called the Day of Trumpets or the Day of the Awakening Blast. It begins “in the seventh month, on the first
day of the month”, and is “a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with
blast of trumpets, a holy convocation.” (Lev. 23:24) Because it is the only Holy Day that falls on
the first day of the month, no one knows exactly when it will be, because the new moon must be
sighted for the new day and month to begin.
A common Jewish idiom for this day is “the day and hour which no man
knows”. As a believer in Yeshua (Jesus),
this language is very familiar to me! In
Matthew 24:36, Yeshua spoke of his return on “the day and hour no one
knows”!!! Will Yeshua return on the Day
of Trumpets, the day and hour no one knows? I think so!
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, Paul
writes about the “times and seasons”, and how the believers are fully aware how
the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night to the people who are
in darkness. But as believers, we are
children of light, and it should come as no surprise to us! Will Yeshua return today, or maybe on this
day next year, or the year after?
Matthew 24 tells us to watch and be ready! This year, watching for the
moon has reinforced that concept for me.
We’re having a Yom Teruah celebration at
our house today, and one of the songs we will sing (Days of Elijah) keeps going
through my head: “Behold, he comes,
riding on the clouds, shining like the sun, at the trumpet call. So lift your voice, it’s the year of Jubilee,
and out of Zion’s hill salvation comes.” So perfectly fitting for this day!
Chag Sameach! Happy Holiday! Watch and
be ready to hear that trumpet blast!
