The Fifth...

The Seven Festivals of the Messiah by Edward Chumney is our text. This is Festival five of seven. Introduction: I start by listing the seven festivals for review. The first four festivals are Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost. They teach us primarily about the first coming of Messiah and why these events were important part of God's redemption of man. The last three festivals are Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles. They give us important information and insight regarding the Second Coming. The Fifth festival--Feast of Trumpets A special season known as Teshuvah, which in Hebrew means "to return or repent" begins on the first day of the month of Elul and continues 40 days, ending with Yom Kippur. Thirty days into Teshuvah, on Tishrei 1, comes Rosh HaShanah. This begins a final ten-day period beginning on Rosh HaShanah and ending on Yom Kippur. These are known as the High Holy Days and as the Awesome Days (or days of Awe). The Sabbath that falls within this ten-day period is called Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath of Return. Five days after Yom Kippur is Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. Teshuvah begins on Elul 1, and concludes on Tishrei 10, Yom Kippur. Each morning during the 30 days of the month of Elul, the trumpet (shofar) or ram's horn is blown to warn the people to repent and return to God. This season of repentance is for everyone. God's people were to examine their lives according to scriptures and examine them regarding the Messiah. This is God's way to warn people before judgment falls. God warned the people before the flood. He warned Nineveh before it was ruined. God does not want anyone to receive the wrath of His judgment. The whole month of Elul is a month of preparation through personal examination and repentance for the coming High Holy Days. The shofar is blown after every morning service. Psalm 27, which begins with "The Lord is my light and my salvation," is also recited at the end of the morning and evening liturgy. The message from Elul 1 to Rosh HaShanah is clear: Repent before Rosh HaShanah. Don't wait until after Rosh HaShanah, or you will find yourself in the Days of Awe. Rosh HaShanah: Names, Themes, and Idioms 1. Teshuvah--repentance 2. Rosh HaShanah--Head of the Year the Jewish New Year (civil calendar) 3. Yom Teruah--the Day of the Awakening Blast/Feast of Trumpets 4. Yom HaDin--the Day of Judgment 5. HaMelech--the Coronation of the Messiah 6. Yom HaZikkaron--the Day of Remembrance or memorial 7. The time of Jacob's trouble--the Birthpangs of the Messiah 8. The opening of the gates 9. Kiddushin--the wedding ceremony 10. The resurrection of the dead--the rapture 11. The last trump--shofar 12. Yom Hakeseh--the hidden day. Messianic Understanding A theme and term associated with Rosh HaShanah in Hebrew is HaMelech (the King). The Shofar blown on Rosh HaShanah is known as the last trump which Paul mentioned in First Thessalonians 4:16-17. At this time, the believers in the Messiah who are righteous according to Yom HaDin (the Day of Judgment) will be taken to Heaven in the rapture along with the righteous who had died before this time. On Rosh HaShanah the coronation of the Messiah as King will happen in Heaven (Revelation 5). Jesus who had come to earth during His first coming to play the role of the suffering Messiah, Messiah ben Joseph, will be crowned as King over all the earth in preparation for His coming back to earth to reign as King Messiah (Messiah ben David) during the Messianic age, the Millennium, or in Hebrew eschatology, the Athid Lavo (Revelation 19:16; 20:4). One of the reasons for blowing the shofar is to proclaim the resurrection of the dead. In addition, the 13th principle of the Jewish faith is belief in the resurrection of the dead. The resurrection of the dead will take place on Rosh HaShanah (Talmud, Rosh HaShanah 16b). In first Corinthians 15:52, the apostle Paul tells us that the resurrection of the dead will be "at the last trump." Earlier, in First Corinthians 15:14, he wrote that without the Messiah rising from the dead, our faith is in vain. We cannot go to the Book of Revelation and say that the voice of the seventh angel (Revelation 11:15) is the last trump. In the first century, the last trump (shofar) meant a specific day in the year. In Judaism, there are three trumpets (shofarim) that have a name. They are the first trump, the last trump, and the great trump. Each one of these trumpets indicates a specific day in the Jewish year. The first trump is blown on the Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost). It proclaimed that God had betrothed Himself to Israel. The last trump is synonymous with Rosh HaShanah. The great trumpet is blown on Yom Kippur, which will herald the return of the Messiah back to earth (Matthew 24:31). The first and last trump relate to the two horns of the ram, which according to Jewish tradition, was caught in the thicket on Mount Moriah when Abraham was ready to slay Isaac and offer him up as a burnt offering. This ram became the substitute for Isaac even as Jesus became the substitute for us and provided life for us through His death. Isaiah 18:3 and First Thessalonians 4:13-18 speak of the resurrection of the dead. First Thessalonians chapter 5 continues with the day of the Lord and the birthpangs of the Messiah. First Thessalonians 4:16-17 says that the dead in Messiah will rise first, and that the catching away of the believers will immediately follow. The term Rapture comes from the Greek word Harpazo, which means "to seize, to catch away, catch up, pluck, pull, take by force" The Hebrew equivalent is the word Natzal. Psalm 27:5 says the righteous will be hid in the time of trouble. This Psalm is read every day during the 40-day period of Teshuvah. Second Thessalonians 2:1 says, "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him." The phrase, "gathering together" comes from the Greek word episunagoge, which means "an assembly." In Numbers 10:2-3, the trumpet is blown to assemble the people. The blowing of the trumpet and the assembling of the people also appear together in First Thessalonians 4: 16-17 and First Corinthians 15:51-53.