Certainly, the Book of Revelation is one of the more challenging to read and comprehend. To be sure, there's a lot of bone chilling descriptions of God's ultimate judgement on mankind. Amidst the horror, however, there are pictures of hope.
We believe one of the most powerful of these involves Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets. Although widely known as Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, that’s not its scriptural name. In fact, all its biblical references use trumpets (or shofars), while none reference a new year.
While the Jewish religion has theories why Yom Teruah is really the New Year, we have a different view. The Book of Leviticus establishes the Feast in Chapter 23:23-25 with very little explanation other than it is to be, “a memorial of blowing of trumpets.” Our speculation is the ancient sages didn’t understand why the Lord would create a holy day just to blow the shofar, so they looked for another meaning.
Whether that’s the case or not, the shift of emphasis from trumpets to new year diminishes the prophetic truth. To be sure, blowing the shofar still has a major role in the traditional synagogue celebration. Typically, there will be a hundred blasts from multiple trumpeters at the main service. Yet the focus is overwhelmingly on the New Year.
Why would God institute a day just to blow the shofar? Only He knows for sure, but there is good evidence in the New Covenant of the aforementioned prophetic truth, the epitome of which is in Revelation 11:15.
The number seven is biblically seen as the number of completion. This gives additional significance to the 11:15 passage: “Then the seventh angel sounded (the seventh shofar): And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Messiah, and He shall reign forever and ever!’”
Compare this imagery with Joshua 6, where seven trumpets were sounded, and the huge walls of Jericho came down. The army of Israel then defeated the heathen city and claimed it for the righteousness of God.
Additional scripture references, including the Tanakh, give us an even clearer picture of the importance of Yom Teruah. Describing God’s defense of Israel, Zechariah 9:14 says, “Then the Lord will be seen over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord God will blow the trumpet, and go with whirlwinds from the south.”
Matthew 24:31 relates the words of Messiah describing His second coming, “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
The Jewish Apostle Paul made two references to the power of the trumpet. In 1 Corinthians 15:52, “. . . at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Then again in 1Thessalonians 4:16, “ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”
All these scriptures show us why God would set aside a Feast Day aimed at blowing the shofar. It points us to the return of Yeshua.
My childhood memories of Rosh Hashanah services at our synagogue are not so good. The ritual of the holiday seemed really long, basically lasting much of the day. The most interesting part of the ceremonies was the blowing of the shofar, but the best part was the Aaronic Benediction, which meant the service had ended.
The whole idea of the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah literally means Head of the Year), being in the fall never sat well with me anyway. I was quick to tell my Gentile friends I wasn’t in school because of it, but I didn’t really understand why January first was good enough for the rest of the world, and not for us. On top of that, we stayed up until midnight on December 31st to celebrate as well.
Since in my synagogue we didn’t really study the Tanakh (and when we did, I didn’t pay attention), I wasn’t aware of what God said about this holiday. I did know we Jewish people referred to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) as the High Holy Days. I also knew it was typical to get more somber at this time of the year.
What I didn’t know was the Torah was explicit in identifying the New Year as occurring in the spring, and not even ascribing it as a Feast Day. Referring to the time of the establishment of Passover, which is in the spring, Exodus 12:2 states, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.”
I also didn’t know there was a great deal of disagreement among ancient Jewish religious leaders about changing the time of the New Year from the spring to the fall. Indeed, the scriptural basis for the celebration of Rosh Hashanah in Leviticus 23 doesn’t say a word about a new year. Actually it doesn’t say much at all about the Feast, other than to blow the shofar.
There are a number of complicated theories and explanations concerning the changing of the Jewish New Year from the spring to the fall. The one that seems to have the most support is the tradition that God created on that day. Some others involve the influences of the years the children of Israel spent in Babylonian captivity, or the relationship to the timing of their deliverance from the bondage and slavery in Egypt.
But any of these conclusions require substantial interpretations which are simply not biblical. And therein lies the real problem. The Jewish religion has turned away from the true significance of the Feast Day as the Lord established it.
Properly, it should be called Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets. To be sure, as mentioned previously, the shofar will be sounded in synagogues all across the world on this day. Most will feature a hundred combined blasts. And while that will be an important part of the observance, it won’t be the main focus.
The message of the liturgy and the sermon will center on the new year, and being introspective about our standing with God for the next ten days in anticipation of the Day of Atonement. These ten days are called the Days of Awe, and while it’s a great concept, it is also not biblical.
The truth of Yom Teruah is borne out in the Scriptures which point to the last days and fulfillment in Messiah Yeshua!
Matthew 24:31 relates the words of Messiah describing His second coming, “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Zechariah 9:14 says, “Then the Lord will be seen over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord God will blow the trumpet, and go with whirlwinds from the south.”
The Jewish Apostle Paul made two references to the importance of the trumpet. In 1 Corinthians 15:52, “. . . at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Then again in1Thessalonians 4:16, “ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Messiah will rise first.” Perhaps the most conclusive passage is in Revelation 11:15, “Then the seventh angel sounded (the seventh shofar): And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Messiah, and He shall reign forever and ever!’”
Changing the emphasis of Yom Teruah to Rosh Hashanah clearly changes God's intent for the Feast Day.
It is biblically very clear: the beginning of the calendar year the Lord established is in the spring, fourteen days before Passover. He told Moses in Exodus 12:2, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.”
Yet the Jewish religion celebrates Rosh HaShanah, the Head of the Year, on the first day of the seventh month of Tishrei on the Hebrew calendar. Furthermore, that day is scripturally Yom Teruah, the Day of the Blowing of Trumpets (Shofarim or Ram’s Horns). Leviticus 23:24 establishes the Feast, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.’”
Unlike the six other Feasts He ordains in that chapter, God doesn’t tie in any other basis for it, such as the harvest, or honoring His deliverance from the Egyptians. Nope, just blow the shofar (although some linguistic analysis suggests shouting as well). Literally, there is nothing else of significance in the entire Bible about this Feast, other than prescribed offerings and sacrifices, except to make a loud noise with the trumpet.
So what happened? How did Yom Teruah become Rosh HaShanah? Okay, nobody knows. But there are several theories, none of which can be proven. However, there is a back-story involving the Babylonian captivity which does seem to shed light on the issue.
Exiled to a foreign land, it became difficult for the Jewish people to maintain their identity, and over the decades there was some assimilation into Babylonian customs. In fact, the names of the months on the Jewish Calendar are all of Babylonian origin. There is evidence the Babylonians celebrated two new years, one in the spring (interestingly correlating to Exodus 12) and another, to a lesser degree, in the fall. The second new year occurred in the 7th month of Tishrei, which is translated “beginning.” Connecting the dots, we can see how the Babylonian influence may have changed the way Yom Teruah was understood.
Given the removal of the Jewish influence of Jerusalem, the cultural impact in the exiled land, as well as the perplexing simplicity of the Feast of Trumpets, it is easy to imagine how a switch may have taken hold. Perhaps the ancient rabbi’s just couldn’t grasp why God wanted a holy day solely for blowing the shofar.
Amongst the other theories, and the one Judaism accepts today, is the concept that God created the world on the first day of Tishrei. Perhaps He did, but not only is there nothing in the Bible to suggest that, there is also no association in Scripture between the words creation or new year, and the first of Tishrei.
But there is a directive to blow the shofar (and shout) on that day. So while nobody knows exactly why Judaism embraced a new year celebration in the seventh month, no one also knows when it became official. Early references to Rosh HaShanah as a Feast seem to have started to appear after the destruction of the Holy Temple in 70 AD. Obviously, the loss of the Temple created quite a crisis for the Jewish religion, causing a re-calculation of many customs and traditions.
To be sure, modern day Jewish celebrations of the Feast include a significant place for the blowing of the trumpets. Typically, the religious services on that day will include several shofar blowers who accomplish at least 100 blasts. But, the emphasis still remains on the new year.
Here’s why that’s a problem. First, it changes God’s Word. Secondly, and just as importantly, it removes the anticipation of God’s ultimate fulfillment of the Feast - His day of ultimate victory. In both the Tanakh and the New Testament, there are powerful images of God’s Kingdom featuring the sounding of the trumpets. For example, God unleashed His force to knock down the walls of Jericho when the children of Israel blew the ram’s horn and shouted.
Other end time passages also focus on the trumpet. The final event is detailed in Revelation 11:15 where the seventh angel sounds the seventh trumpet, “And there were loud voices (shouting) in Heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Messiah, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
It doesn’t matter who changed the Feast from Trumpets to New Years, or when it happened. God’s Word says it’s a day to blow the shofar, and it points directly to the return of our Messiah Yeshua!