The Appointed Times of YHVH—the Day of Trumpets and the Messiah
Every appointed time of YHVH is a footstep of the Messiah closer to the Creator. Every appointed time of YHVH is also a set-apart rehearsal for us. And so is the Day of Trumpets. As we walk in the footsteps of the Messiah, beginning with the sacrifice of the Pesach lamb in the spring, we rehearse all appointed times of YHVH and all events that will take place in their own time. And when there is a rehearsal, a real event will come—the Messiah of YHVH is coming back to the earth.
If we do not see the Messiah in the Torah, we have seen too little
The desire of the present author, as he ministers to YHVH’s people through Time of Reckoning Ministry, is to show that each of the appointed times of YHVH is a footstep closer to the Messiah’s return; that is to say, each of them has a Messianic fulfillment in its own time. And indeed, it is so as we go through the articles dedicated to the set-apart appointed times of YHVH. The resent author believes, he has not failed to demonstrate this connection between the Creator’s appointed times and the Messiah, as we walk in the footsteps of the Messiah, rehearsal after rehearsal. Because, if we do not see the Messiah of YHVH in His appointed times, we have seen too little. This devotion to the Messiah Yeshua, namely, to find Him in the Creator’s appointed time, the present author has taken very seriously.
We will continue to walk in the footsteps of the Messiah in the autumnal appointed times starting with the Day of Trumpets and the Messiah. In the preceding article, we studied that since the whole seventh month has been set apart in the first day, the Day of Trumpets or Yom Teruah, as the beginning of the month, so is the whole month raised to the status of being Shabbat to YHVH. And we indeed know that the Shabbat is a sign between Him and His people, as we read,
My Sabbaths you are to guard, by all means, because it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, to know that I, Yehovah, am setting you apart. (Exo 31:13)
And I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, to know that I am Yehovah who sets them apart. (Eze 20:12)
For this reason, the present author believes, the Creator has set apart the seventh month as a peculiar month, namely, to secure to Israel the complete atonement for all her sins and rebellions which separated her from YHVH.
The Day of Trumpets alluded in the parable of the ten maidens
The Messiah Yeshua has told a story in Matthew 25 of the kingdom of the heavens. In it he compared the kingdom of heaven to ten maidens—five of them were wise and five foolish. The foolish ones were not prepared for the coming of the bridegroom at the appointed time and while they went to get prepared in the last moment, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. The foolish maidens missed the wedding. The bridegroom was not pleased with them at all and said to them when they returned: “I do not know you.” This was the price they had to pay for disrespecting him—the bridegroom came, and the bride was not there at the appointed time for the wedding.
This is a remarkable parable in which the Messiah has warned us to examine ourselves and make sure that we are prepared for His coming, as the wise maidens were prepared. What this parable is teaching us is that we are to be prepared to enter into the closest union with the Creator through His Messiah, the Bridegroom of YHVH. Many are called to enter into that union through the Messiah, but few are those who approve themselves as chosen for the wedding. We cannot miss to see that as the Messiah Yeshua is walking through the appointed times of His heavenly Father, our rehearsals, we should walk as well, if we desire to take part in the real event—something no one wants to miss. The warning Yeshua is giving us at the end of the story is this:
Be careful therefore, because you do not know the day nor the hour when the bridegroom will come. (Mat 25:13, according to the Hebrew text)
This warning is in a full agreement with the parable’s lesson, namely, to be watchful for the day and the hour the Bridegroom will come for the wedding. The present author is fully convinced that these words of Yeshua have been extremely misconstrued and taught in a manner foreign to the real message He wants us to receive. The Messiah then continues His narrative with another story of a master and his servants to whom he gave his possessions—to each according to what was suitable for him he gave. To some he gave little, to others he gave more, all according to his will. And again, as in the story of the ten maidens and their bridegroom, some servants were found worthy of meeting their master and some not—the unworthy servants were taken out of the presence of their master. In this story we learn that we are servants who must give an account of our stewardship. Each bond servant has been entrusted with what is suitable for the Master to give. Our Master neither overtasks us with heavy burdens nor with too light ones.
So, are the appointed times of YHVH; they are given to us to live by, as the Messiah lived by as an example while He was among His brethren.
Can we know the day and hour of Messiah’s return?
The Messiah is coming to judge, in order to give to each one what he or she deserves according to what he or she has done, whether good or bad, as we are assured in 2Co 5:10. Every appointed time we keep is like a standing before the judgment seat of the Messiah to be reckoned wise or unwise, worthy or unworthy servant for His coming. Let those of us, whether entrusted with one talent or with many, be watchful for the coming of the Master, because we know not the day, nor the hour.
The degree of uncertainty as to when the Messiah will come is reminiscence of the degree of uncertainty as to when Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets, is expected to fall since this is the only appointed time of YHVH that falls on the first day of the month, when the sliver of the renewed moon is expected to be seen above the land of Israel. There is however a considerable number of prophetic pictures throughout the Scripture which show us that we can expect the return of the Messiah on Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets, more specifically at the end of the 6,000 years reckoned for man to live on the Earth.
Let us recall the words of the Tanna debe Eliyahu concerning the reckoning of time:
The world is to exist six thousand years. In the first two thousand there was desolation; two thousand years the Torah flourished; and the next two thousand years is the Messianic era, but through our many iniquities all these years have been lost [He should have come at the beginning of the last two thousand years; the delay is due to our sins].
And indeed, the Messiah of Israel did come at the beginning of the last two thousand years to establish the Messianic era, but because of our many iniquities that era was lost to us. Yeshua Himself alludes to Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets, when He said in Mat 24:31,
And He shall send His messengers with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. (Mat 24:31)
And His heavenly Father YHVH speaks of the same day and event that will take place when the counting of the 6,000 years will come to end with the blowing of a great horn (shofar) on Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets,
And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great horn shall be blown; and they shall come that were lost in the land of Assyria, and they that were dispersed in the land of Egypt; and they shall worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem. (Isa 27:13 JPS)
The present author has dedicated Part III, The Last 1,260 Days of This World of his book The Reckoning of Time to the soundings of the seven trumpets in the Book of Revelation, but it suffices now to say that there is strong evidence that the sound of the seventh trumpet, the great sound of the trumpet (in Mat 24:31), and the great horn that shall blow (in Isa 27:13) are one the same. The reader may refer to the chapters of Part III and the article “The Revelation of the Seven Trumpets: The Greatest Prophecy Ever Told, Few can Hear.” for more insight.
In Matthew Chapter 24, which is considered a condensed version of the Book of Revelation, we find repetitive statements of Yeshua concerning the uncertainty of the time of His coming. We are told, as we read from the HRV translation of Mat 24:36 that no one can know the exact day and hour of His coming, as Yeshua Himself says,
Until that day, and concerning that hour, there will be no man that knows, not even the angels in heaven, but My Father only.
These statements concerning His coming are coupled with the warnings to be watchful and ready for the coming of the Son of man; that is to say, to be found as trustworthy and wise servants. Notice the similarities between Chapters 24 and 25. We read,
Because of this, be ready too, because the Son of man is coming in an hour when you do not expect Him. Who then is a trustworthy and wise servant, whom his master set over his household, …? (Mat 24:44-45)
Note what the Messiah as saying here: the Son of man is coming in an hour when you do not expect Him. He is not saying we cannot know the hour of His coming, but He will come in an hour we do not expect Him.
The Day of Trumpets is unique to the appointed times of YHVH
The reason no one will know the day, or the hour of His coming is “hidden” in the Torah concerning the appointed times of YHVH: Yom Teruah. The Day of Trumpets is the only appointed time that falls on the first day of the month when the first sliver of the renewed moon is expected to be sighted. All other appointed times fall either in the middle of the month or close to it during the full moon when it is light. Therefore, the uncertainty comes not from the inability to discern the Creator’s reckoning of time and the time of His Son’s coming, but from the uncertainty of sighting the renewed moon over the Land of Israel when Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets, is anticipated.
It is a command in the Torah that we must have the new moon sighted first by two or three witnesses in Israel in order for this day to be declared. Until we do not sight the new moon, we will not know when the seventh month begins, hence, His return. This is what Yeshua meant when He said that only His Father knows. The Creator of the universe is the sovereign of the moon and the stars and everything visible and invisible in it. He is the only One who knows when the new moon will be visible and therefore when the Day of Trumpets will begin. However, in the Parable of the Fig Tree, Yeshua seems to tell us that we can know the general season of His return in advance, and be ready for His coming, and yet we cannot know the exact time in advance.
And learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that the summer is near. So you also, when you see all these, know that He is near, at the gates. (Mat 24:32-33)
By the same token, we can know when the autumnal festival season approaches, but still, we must wait for YHVH to show us the first crescent sliver of the new moon, which will be the beginning of the Day of Trumpets. Therefore, we are to wait and watch. So many today have misinterpreted Mat 24:36 to mean that we cannot know the day of the Messiah’s coming. This, however, is far from the truth, as we shall prove it in the following.
We shall know at what hour He shall come
There is a hidden message of YHVH in Rev 3:3 that states,
I shall come upon you as a thief, if then you do not wake up, and you shall not know at all what hour I come upon you.
How could this be indicative that we can know the day and the hour of His return? The hidden message in Rev 3:3 can be revealed to us, if we turn the negative form into positive and vice versa on both sides of the if-clause sentence and the meaning of the text will be preserved and will not change. When we do this, this is what YHVH is actually telling us concerning His Son’s return on the Day of Trumpets:
I shall not come upon you as a thief, if then you do wake up, and you shall know at what hour I come upon you.
Here again Yeshua, who revealed to His disciple this truth, is warning us that we need to wake up for His coming, thus alluding to the ten maidens who fell asleep before the bridegroom’s return. We need to be prepared; we need to be knowledgeable concerning His return. And if we are, then and only then, we will know at what hour He will come. And indeed, if we think about it, the seventh messenger would know when exactly to blow the seventh trumpet. Also consider what Daniel and the Apostle John have made clear to understand, namely, that the Messiah would come exactly 1,260 days after the abomination of desolation has taken place (see Dan 7:25; Dan 12:7; Rev 11:2-3; Rev 12:6; Rev 13:5). When the abomination of desolation prophesied becomes a reality, then His return is exactly 1,260 days away, not a day before or after the Day of Trumpets.
The prayer the Rabbis do not want you to know
The last but not the least, the Rabbis are very well aware of Yeshua being Sar HaPanim, the Prince of the Presence, lit. the Ruler of the Face of YHVH. Read and watch attentively! There is a Jewish prayer book called Machzor Rabbah for Rosh HaShanah which contains a remarkable prayer read on Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets, (Rosh HaShanah in the Rabbinical tradition) when the shofars are sounded. In this ancient Jewish prayer, the name of the Prince of the Face of YHVH is hidden. Below is Part 6 of an eye-opening video recorded by the Ultra-Orthodox Haredi Rabbi Simcha Pearlmutter who is speaking of his faith in Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah, revealed in ancient Jewish books. The present author wholeheartedly recommends that the reader watch the entire video of nine parts, but especially Part 6 where Rabbi Pearlmutter reveals the name Yeshua hidden in an ancient Jewish prayer. Note that this prayer is read in the synagogues between the soundings of first and the second shofars of the seven shofars blown on Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets, every year. Let us recall that the Book of Revelation speaks of seven trumpets which will be blown before the return of the Messiah. Note also why the Rabbis blow the shofars exactly when the name of Yeshua is read.
Unfortunately, this ancient prayer has been taken out of the new editions of the prayer book contrary to the very Rabbinic enactments that no one can change what the Sages have already enacted.
Let us again take a look at the chiastic structures of Leviticus 23, as to why Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets takes a pivotal place among all appointed times of YHVH. This time in the light of what we learned about the return of the Messiah Yeshua on the Day of Trumpets, in the day, that a great horn shall be blown. We read,
Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘The appointed times of Yehovah, which you are to proclaim as set-apart meetings, My appointed times, are these:
A. Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread) (Lev 23:6-8)
B. Bikkurim (First fruits) (Lev 23:9-14)
C. Chag Shavuot (Feast of the Weeks) (Lev 23:15-22)
D. Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets) (Lev 23:23-25)
C. Yom Kippurim (Day of Atonements) (Lev 23:26-32)
B. Chag Sukkot (Feast of Booths) (Lev 23:33-44)
A. Yom HaShemini (The Eight Day) (Lev 23:36-39)
This article is a part of series of articles dedicated to the Appointed Times of YHVH and how His Messiah Yeshua has fulfilled them. For the rest of the set-apart days of the Creator, please, visit The Appointed Times of YHVH.
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May we merit seeing the coming of our Mashiach speedily in our days!
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