Feast of Trumpets - Jesus Birth?

The Feast of Trumpets!
Luke 1: 5-27

God told the people of Israel to celebrate these feasts as “lasting ordinances.”

The seven feasts are patterns that describe the two comings of Jesus Christ, whose actual Hebrew name is Yeshua Ha Mashiach. In Hebrew, Yeshua means “Salvation” and Ha Mashiach (English: the Messiah) means “the Anointed One”.

The four Spring Feasts describe the first coming of Jesus. The practices of each of these Spring Feasts clearly depict the death and resurrection of Jesus.

· Jesus is the Passover Lamb of God. “behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” — John 1:29.
· Jesus is the Unleavened Bread of Life. “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.” — John 6:51
· Jesus is the First Fruits. “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep” — 1 Corinthians 15:20.
· Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost). “And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place... And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit...” — Acts 2:1-4

Because Jesus’ fulfillment of the Spring Feasts is so exact, it is beyond just a reasonable assumption that He will also fulfill the remaining Fall Feasts.

Remember, the Feasts Are Divine Appointments -
They are the “Shadows of Things to Come”!

How do we know that God intended the feasts to show His plan for salvation?

One of the clues that indicates the feasts have more significance than mere tradition and remembrance is found in Leviticus 23:4 where it says, “These are the appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them...”

The Hebrew translated as “holy convocations” actually means “rehearsals”.

These feasts then were appointed times of rehearsals for events that were to occur in the future.

Paul provides the same conclusion when he refers to the feasts as shadows of things to come and states that the true substance belongs to Christ in Colossians 2:16-17.

First century believers in Jesus understood that the feasts symbolized God’s plan for salvation of man through Jesus, the long awaited Messiah.

They continued to practice the celebrations, but with new joy and understanding of the substance that was the Messiah! They referred to Christ as “our Passover sacrificed for us”, they understood Him as the “unleavened bread that came down from Heaven”, and the Apostle called Him the “firstfruits of many that would follow”.

The accuracy in which Jesus fulfilled the spring feasts at His first appearance is inescapable!

Tonight we are going to continue to examine the Feast of Trumpets, since we didn’t exhaust the subject last week.

The Feast of Trumpets is called “Yom T’ruah” or “Day of Trumpets”. It is also called , “Rosh HaShanah” meaning –head of the Year (or new year’s day).

Numbers 29:1-6 says, 1 " 'On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets. 2 As an aroma pleasing to the LORD, prepare a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. 3 With the bull prepare a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah [a] of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths [b] ; 4 and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. [c] 5 Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. 6 These are in addition to the monthly and daily burnt offerings with their grain offerings and drink offerings as specified. They are offerings made to the LORD by fire—a pleasing aroma.

It is useful to understand the Hebraic mindset in order to better picture the symbolism of Jesus’ fulfillment of the feasts.

In Jewish eschatology, (which is the study of future events), the Feast of Trumpets is a solemn time of self evaluation.

On this day, it is said that God writes the names of those found completely righteous into the Book of Life, those found completely wicked are written into the Book of Death and those found neither completely righteous or completely wicked await the Day of Atonement for their judgment.

The Feast of Trumpets is traditionally a two-day feast, celebrated on the first and second days of Tishri (and we won’t explain that again except to reiterate that it is the only feast of which the Jews say that no man can know the day or the hour of it’s fulfillment!)

In Numbers 29:1-6, God instructed the Hebrews to observe a holy convocation or appointment on the first day of the seventh month by resting, blowing the trumpets and making offerings by fire to the Lord.

Jewish people celebrate this day as the day of the creation of the world, But there may be another reason to celebrate that is not talked about too much – because it kind of “throws off our Western Christian Holiday Schedule.”

Because, many Hebraic Roots Bible scholars believe that Jesus was born during the time of the Fall Feasts and the most logical day for His birth appears to be on the “Feast of Trumpets”!

In order to determine the time of Jesus’s birth, we have to first determine the time of the birth of John the Baptist.
Let’s look again at our text in Luke 1: 5-27, “5THERE was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
Elisabeth, John’s mother, was a cousin of Mary and the wife of a priest named Zacharias who was of the “course” of Abijah. (The Priests were divided into 24 courses and each course officiated in the Temple for one week, from Sabbath to Sabbath.)

Historic documents tell us that when the Temple was destroyed by Titus on August 5, 70 A.D., the first course of priests had just taken office.

King David had divided the sons of Aaron into 24 courses or groups to create an orderly schedule by which the Temple of the Lord could be staffed during the year. This is seen in Ist Chronicles 24:1-4 and 1St Chronicles 28:11-13.

Luke tells us Zacharias was of the course of Abijah. The course of Abijah was the eigth course.

Since the course of Abijah was the eighth course, we can track backwards from the destruction of the Temple and determine that Zacharias ended his duties on July 13, 3 B.C.

If the birth of John took place 280 days later, after the eight course was finished, it would have been on April 19-20, 2 B.C., precisely on Passover of that year.
Also, John began his ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar.

The minimum age for the ministry was 30. As Augustus died on August 19, 14 A.D., that was the accession year for Tiberius.
So if John was born on April 19-20, 2 B.C., his 30th birthday would have been April 19-20, 29 A.D., or the 15th year of Tiberius.

This seems to confirm the 2 B.C. date and, since John was five months plus older, this also confirms the autumn birth date for Jesus.

John’s repeated introduction of Jesus as “The Lamb of God” is interesting if John was indeed born on Passover.
So Elisabeth, being both elderly and with child, hid herself for five months and then the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary both Elisabeth’s condition and that Mary also would bear a son, who would be called Jesus.

Mary went “with haste” to visit Elisabeth, who was then in the first week of her sixth month, or the fourth week of December, 3 B.C.

All of this is fitting together rather remarkably because it’s quite possible that Jesus came into the world during Hanakkuh - the miracle of the lights. It’s something to think that the “light of the world” came into the world during the festival of lights – which was in December.
If Jesus was born 280 days after Mary went to visit Elizabeth, it would place the date of his birth on September 29, 2 B.C.

If Jesus was born on September 29, 2 B.C., it is interesting to note that, in that year, it was also the First of Tishri, the day of the Feast of Trumpets.

When you learn about the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets, you can see how it would usher in the arrival of the King, the Messiah, the one who forgives debts and sets captives free.

The Feast of Trumpets occurs on September 19th this year, but in the year that it is believed Jesus was born it occurred on the 29th of September.

The "Trumpet" of course is actually a Shofar, or Ram's Horn. It was blown in Israel for several reasons.

When the Shofar was blown it signaled a new month was beginning, or a Holy Day (no work, buying or selling, a time of celebration and Holy Time) was beginning, the presence of G-d was stronger amongst the people and He had made special time in the calendar just to be with them, and them with He, without the distractions of commerce and daily cares.

It also signalled a call to battle. On the Sabbath and Jubilee years, it meant that when you heard the sound the 'Captives were set free, the chains broken, and the debtors forgiven", which was part of the mission of the Messiah.

The Shofar also signaled the coming of a King, either the King of Israel or Judah, and the coming of the Spiritual King on the Holy Days.

When Holy Time, the arrival of the King began, a Shofar was blown on one mountain top and then was heard on the next and blown by the people there, and it went all around the nation at the speed of sound, much like the scene in "Lord of the Rings" when the signal fire is lit and spreads from mountain top to mountain top, the main warriors also carry Shofars.

When the Shofar was blown at Jubilee the King declared debts were forgiven, family lands (inheritance and mansions) went back to thier original owners, slaves were freed, and no work was to be done on the fields for a full year so the land could be fertile and be productive/just like our Spirits, bodies, and mind need the weekly rest to be fertile ground for the Word and arrival of the King.

This is what the Feast of Trumpets meant.

In the Holy Days yet to be fulfilled, Trumpets not only teaches us about the Spiritual "Return of the King" at the Holy Days, but also the 1st Physical coming, and the 2nd Coming as well.

Did the trumpets in Jerusalem and those that followed resounding throughout the Land proclaim the Arrival of the King in the year of His Birth?

Will the feast of trumpets declare His second coming in the day of the last trump and the first resurrection? Only time will tell!

If Jesus was born on the evening of the Feast of Trumpets (Tishri 1), it answers a lot of questions about his baptism and ministry.

As we said, in the Law, God established three very significant Holy Days in the autumn of the year.

They all occur in the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, the month of Tishri.

This correlates roughly with September or October of our modern calendar.

Again these Holy Fall Feast Days are:
(1) Trumpets (Tishri 1)
(2) Day of Atonement (Tishri 10)
(3) Feast of Tabernacles (Tishri 15-22)

In order to fulfill the whole Law, neither John nor Jesus was eligible for initiation into the ministry until they were fully 30 years old (Num. 4:3, 23, 30, 35, 39 all tell us that).

For instance, Numbers 4:3 says, “3From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.”

We can see that Jesus was baptized on the Day of Atonement (Tishri 10), five days before the
beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles.

If He had been born on the first day of Tabernacles, then He would not have come to John for baptism on the Day of Atonement, because He would have lacked a few days yet to his 30th birthday.

So the question is, how do we know Jesus was baptized on the Day of Atonement?

On that day the priests in the temple were supposed to choose two goats.

They were to cast lots over the goats to see which one would be killed and which one would be sent into the wilderness. (The full instructions are found in Leviticus 16.)

When Jesus came to John for baptism, He was presenting Himself as the “Scapegoat” – the Lamb that carries away sin according to the requirements of the Day of Atonement.

While the priests were carrying out these rituals in the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus came to John for baptism.

Those of you who have studied it know that John was the true High Priest in the eyes of God.

Caiaphas was the High Priest in the Temple, chosen by the Romans to cooperate with them.

John the Baptist is believed to be the rightful High Priest of Israel, ad Jesus was, in effect, presenting Himself as
the goat, which was to be “killed” for the cleansing of the sanctuary.

His baptism prophesied of His death.

Baptism represents death (according to Romans 6:4).

After His baptism, Matthew 4:1 says, “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted of the devil.”

In other words, He immediately fulfilled the pattern of the second goat, the scape goate, which at that time was being led “by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness” (according to Leviticus 16:21).

Remember as we taught before, the 2 goats at Yom Kippur were really viewed as the 2 aspects of the one sacrifice.

The Hebrew word translated “fit” here means seasonal, timely, or ready.

In the case of Jesus, we see that the “fit man” was the Holy Spirit, who always comes at the appointed time and
season to do the work. He was led of the “Spirit” into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil!

Look at John 4:1 and see it there, it says “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil.”

The Spirit led the one who would bear our sins out into the Wilderness!

And so we see that Jesus’ baptism and the Spirit’s leading Him into the wilderness ran directly parallel to the temple activities on the Day of Atonement.

This would seem to indicate that He was baptized on that feast day, nine days after His 30th birthday on the Feast of Trumpets.

Listen folks, there is so much prophecy associated with these Fall Feasts that we can’t cover it all, and really I don’t think anyone has exhausted the study of them!

AS stated, the “catching away of those who believe in Jesus”, commonly referred to as “the rapture”, is clearly associated with the sound of the trumpet, as can be seen by reading the following Scriptures:
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air...” — I Thessalonians 4:16-17

“Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the lasttrump; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” — I Corinthians 15:51-52

A lot of people don’t have any understanding of this, but Jewish eschatology is consistent with this view. They look at “Trumpets” through somewhat of a “prophetic lens”!

The Rabbis taught that when 6000 years (or six “days”) of human history are completed, the seventh day, the Day of the Lord will come.

They say that on the Feast of Trumpets, Tishri 1, the shofar will sound and all the righteous will be resurrected.

The righteous will go to the “gates” for the coronation of the King, the Messiah and then be united with the Messiah as His bride. So let’s take a few minutes and look at The Historic and Prophetic Implications of the Jewish Wedding As Pertaining to The Feast of Trumpets!
There are eight significant aspects of the Hebrew wedding, which for the sake of this study we will focus on.

Now when we study YHVH’s an¬nual appointed times (or “feasts”), we see an interplay between the numbers seven and eight.

The former number in Hebraic thought represents perfection or completion, while the latter number represents new beginnings or eternity.

This we see in the feasts when we realize that there are seven Feasts of the Lord and then the last great day or the Eighth Day as it is called!

In doing so, we technically have eight steps, although there are really only seven annual appointed times with Passover being the first one and Unleavened Bread being the second one and so on.

This numbering system fits well within the biblical numbering system of seven representing completion or perfec¬tion as pertaining to the steps of redemption/salvation humanity must take from initial redemption all the way through to ultimate glorification.

But eight also works as a significant number since the last of the seven festivals of YHVH closes with the Eighth Day, which, as we shall see later, represents the bride and groom living happily forever in a state of wedded bliss.

This represents YHVH-Yeshua living with his glorified Saints in the New Jerusalem.

This can be represented by the number eight since in consideration of the New Heaven and New Earth along with the New Jerusalem, and the Saints possessing glorified bodies for this spiritual existence called eternity, it truly is a new beginning.

So in a sense, perfection and completion (represented by the number seven) give way to new spiritual beginning and eternity (represented by the number eight).
This spiritual picture is wonderfully represented in both the Hebrew wedding and in the annual appointed times or “feasts” of YHVH.

There are seven (or eight) stages of the Jewish or Biblical wedding, which correspond with the seven feasts or appointed times of YHVH Elohim as listed in Leviticus 23.
I want to show you These seven stages, which also correspond with the stages in the Tabernacle (Mishkan) of Moses, but I will mention one significant happening and call it stage zero because sometimes it did not exist in the pre-arranged weddings where the parents made the deal without the children’s involvement…….
So stage Zero is Intent: The groom and bride see each other for the first time; interest is sparked. They begin to “fall” in love. YHVH fell in love with Israel choosing her to be the nation through which he would offer redemption to the world (Ezek. 16:4-14). This occurs outside the linen walls of the Tabernacle. Likewise, the potential bride/Believer is drawn to Yeshua the Savior and Redeemer when she hears the Gospel/ Good News of redemption (Isa. 52:7; Rom 10:15–17). This is represented by the four-colored door of the Tabernacle/Mishkan (picturing the four Gospels), which are the revelation of the Work, Word and Person of Yeshua who is the door to life and spiritual marriage.

After having said that, here we go, stage 1 is the Redemption: The Bride’s Price (dowry) is paid.
The young man commits to lay down his life for the young maiden. This is the message of redemption of Yeshua at the cross. The death of the red heifer at the Altar of the Sacrifice of the Red Heifer speaks of this. This is also a picture of Passover.

Stage 2 is the Acceptance: The cup of wine is drunk (called the Cup of Acceptance), which corresponds to the third cup of the Passover Seder (Cup of Redemption).
The betrothal is legally established. At this point, the betrothed bride chooses to follow him (as pictured by Ruth saying your Elohim will be my Elohim, your people my people, wher¬ever you go I will follow, Ruth 1:16).
Believers drink of this cup and eat the unleavened bread on the evening portion of Passover on the fifteenth day of the first month, which is on the first high Sabbath and first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Altar of Sacrifice inside the Tabernacle is a picture of this.

Stage 3 is the “Set-Apartness” or sanctification: The bride takes a ritual cleansing bath (immersion or mikveh). Here the bride immerses herself to signify that she is ritually clean and totally set apart for her groom to the exclusion of all others. She not only has accepted the groom and the terms of the marriage agreement (or ketubah), i.e., the four Gospels, which are the revelation of the Work, Word and Person of Yeshua, but chooses to identify with her bridegroom by conforming her life to the terms of the ketubah.

Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks/Shavuot is a spiritual picture of this. This step is represented in the Tabernacle by the Bronze La¬ver where one is ritually purified (a picture of baptism for the remission of sins, Rom. 6:3-6) and washed in the water of the Word of Elohim (Eph. 5:26), which is the Believer’s ketubah. The last high Sabbath or seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzot) pictures this, for it was then that Israel was immersed in the Red Sea and put leavening out of their homes (leavening is a picture of sin).

Next is stage 4, Separation and Consecration: Preparation of the Bride for the return of the Groom from his Father’s house. While the groom is away building their marital home (“their room”) the betrothed bride walks out a set-apart or consecrated life. She keeps herself from any other lovers. She walks in the spiritual light of the Word as led by the Spirit of Elohim and in the fruits and gifts of the Spirit, which is evidence of her sanctified life. The Menorah pictures this step as does the Feast of Pentecost (Shavuot). Others see the light of her righteousness, joy and peace and are drawn to it.

Next comes stage 5, the time of Preparation, Regathering and Reunion: Now betrothed, the Groom and bride separate for him to go to his father’s house.
But the “separation” is for a time of preparation, he goes home to prepare a “room” for his bride. In the mean time, the Bride, while staying in her family home, puts on robes of righteousness, makes certain that her lamp is full of oil, stays awake through the night (while others sleep) waiting for the return of the groom.

Spiritually, this is a picture of Yeshua leaving his betrothed bride after his resurrection, and preparing for her a spiritual inheritance. When he returns at the end of the age, he will reunite with her, and com¬plete the wedding ceremony.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25 is a picture of this. Prior to the Bridegroom’s return the shofar and a shout is made announcing to the bride that the groom is on his way, and for her to be ready for his arrival. Spiritually, this is the call to l (Believers) to awake spiritually, to regather and to prepare to meet the Messiah, her Groom.

Even now, a spiritual Elijah and John the Baptist call is going forth to wake up sleeping Believers to their Messiah’s promised return, and for many to turn their hearts back to the spiritual fathers of their faith as Malachi prophesied would occur just before Messiah’s return (Mal. 4:4–6).

This is pictured in the Tabernacle by the Table of Showbread (Table of the Presence or Face of YHVH) upon which are twelve loaves of unleavened bread picturing the twelve tribes of Israel in a sin-free (righteous) state.

This stage of the Hebrew wedding is pictured in The Day of the Awakening Blast/Yom Teruah).

Next is stage 6, the The Return of the Wedding Party to the Father’s House: At this time the wedding party makes final preparations to return to the father’s house where the marriage will occur and married life will start.

The Altar of Incense and the prophetically pictures this event marking the adorned, prepared and perfumed Bride.

7 The 7th stage is the Wedding Feast: The Holy of Holies (Kadosh haKadoshim) at the Ark of the Covenant, the place of God’s glory as He dwells with His people is a picture of this, as is the Feast of Tabernacles or simply, The Feast (Sukkot), which is a 1000-year long celebration referred to as the Millennium or Messianic Age.

Some writers include stage 8 as mentioned, Life Happily Ever After: Yeshua and his bride will live together in the New Earth/New Jerusalem forever (the Olam Haba).
The Eighth Day (Shemeni Atzeret pictures this. And again, the glory cloud (Shekinah) above the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacles is a picture of the glory of the New Jerusalem when heaven and earth unite and YHVH lives with his redeemed and glorified people (bride) forevermore. This is recorded in Revelation 21 and 22.

As we have seen then, Yom Teruah, though being the fourth festival of YHVH’s seven annual feasts, is in real¬ity the fifth step in the biblical Hebrew wedding.

As we have just shown you above, prophetically Yom Teruah is a very significant festival of YHVH that is rich in meaning for Believers in Jesus the Messiah.

Yom Teruah clearly speaks of end-time events that are yet to occur.

It also speaks that we are living in a time when Believers in Yeshua must prepare themselves for his return. This day has neither been fulfilled (done away with) nor is irrelevant to the modern Believer.

We, therefore, encourage you to celebrate this day and take to heart the full ramifications of its spiritual and prophetic implications. If you consider yourself to be the bride of Yeshua, then you will want to let the message of Yom Teruah sink deeply into your heart and adjust your life accordingly.

We are now in the 40 days of repentance and preparation for the return of the Bridegroom!

We are now supposed to be sanctifying ourselves, preparing ourselves, and watching and waiting for His return. The cry will go forth, “Behold the Bridegroom Cometh”!

The only question for you is this – will you be watching and waiting for Him when He returns?

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