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...begins with the new moon
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the Fall Feasts of Israel
Yom Teruah
by haRold Smith
a citizen of the Commonwealth (Ephesians 2:19)
"Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a holy convocation proclaimed with
blowing of trumpets." Leviticus 23:24
"But of that day and hour knows no man,
no, not the malak (angels) of heaven, but my Father only." Matthew 24:36-37, Mark 13:32
"...well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, '...in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
You leave the commandment of YaHoVeH and hold to the tradition of men... thus
making void the Word of YaHoVeH
by your tradition that you have handed down.
And many such things you do." Mark 7:6-13
Many spend time each year celebrating the Feast of Rosh haShanah without realizing IT IS NOT A SCRIPTURAL FEAST!! Most are not aware that Rosh haShanah DOES NOT EXIST IN SCRIPTURE! It has been hijacked by the rabbinical religion of Judaism and changed from the scriptural Yom Teruah to accommodate their own agenda. In the same regard, YaHoVeH never declared the determination of the beginning of the month to be the sighting of the crescent moon. Many say it is found in scripture, but it is not. What they are parroting is the man-made tradition of the religion of Judaism. It is only decreed that certain days of the month were to be observed, and some observances are at the "middle" of the month, (i.e., centered on the full moon - the "sign" of the middle of the month); therefore, it becomes very important to determine when the month should begin so the proper day of the full moon can be observed in the middle of the month! Even the patriarchs were smart enough to determine when the new month began and the sighting of the first crescent was nothing more than a celebratory confirmation that it had happened (See Maimonides, "Sanctification of the New Moon"). An actual lunar month is never exactly 29 or 30 days. It floats! So you will find a new moon always occurs sometime during the period between the last day of the month and the first day of the next month - whether the current month is 29 or 30 days or somewhere in between. To argue that the month cannot begin until a crescent is sighted, is to elevate the importance of the moon to an idol or a god instead of simply looking at the moon as a sign for the season
(Genesis 1:14 - click on highlighted words to view content).
Seeking only the new crescent leads people to revere the crescent above His instructions which YaHoVeH said
do not do."
Yom Teruah also goes by the name, "day that no man knows." While each of the other feasts listed in scripture can be known in advance because they all fall after the sighting of a new moon, the lone exception is Yom Teruah because this is the only feast that is determined by the actual sighting of the new moon - so "no man" can calculate the exact day when this feast day will begin. Thus, when we read Yeshua declaring that He would come at a time that "no man knows" above, how many of us understand that to be a Hebrew idiom referencing the events surrounding "Yom Teruah"? An idiom is an expression that does not make sense in any other language than the one being spoken. An idiom in English would be "It is raining cats and dogs outside!". This is a very confusing expression to someone not familiar with the culture associated with the English language. Such is the case with this Hebrew idiom Yeshua used for this Feast. Yom Teruah typology is found throughout the words of Yeshua haMashiach (the Hebrew Messiah of Israel).
In ancient Israel, the man-made religion of Judaism asserted that there would be "two witnesses" who would stand on the walls of Jerusalem and "watch" for the first sliver (crescent) of the new moon. Having "two witnesses" is derived from
Deuteronomy 19:15
which says that everything will be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses
(Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 2:5-6).
When the new moon appeared in the sky then these "two witnesses" would sound the shophar (ram's horn trumpet) and all the people in the city would immediately drop what they were doing and they would begin to move towards the temple for the celebration of "The Day of an Awakening Blast" or in Hebrew, "Yom
Teruw'ah."
Since this feast was a
convocation
(not a Shabbat, but to be treated as a Shabbat), the doors to the city were
only open
for a short period of time after sundown (the beginning of the Hebrew
"day")
- so, since the temple was located within the city, anyone failing to make it to the temple before the "doors were shut" were left out of the feast because once they were shut, no one could get in
(unless they humbled themselves).
Because this feast began at sundown, oil lamps had to be full so that they could find their way in the dark towards the temple. In
Matthew 25,
we find our Messiah telling us a parable about ten virgins. Only five of these virgins were wise and had their oil lamps filled when
the bridegroom
came. But the other five foolish virgins had not prepared themselves by filling their lamps with oil. When the "Day That No Man Knows" had arrived, the two witnesses sounded the "trumpet" and the five wise virgins were ready to go into the feast - but the foolish virgins had no oil in their lamps, so they could not see their way around in the dark. The foolish virgins went to buy oil for their lamps causing them to be too late for the feast. When the temple doors were shut, the five foolish virgins were left out. Many of these inhabitants would also be working in the fields or grinding at the mill
(Matthew 24:40-42).
so that when they heard the sound of the shophar they knew that their work was finished. Our Messiah was also speaking in the language of Yom Teruah typology when he said that we must "work while it is yet day, for the night comes when no man can work"
(John 9:4).
Those who were working in the fields had to hasten toward the temple before the doors were shut. The person who was alert and listening for the sound of the shophar was "taken" by the sound of the trumpet; this was his signal to make haste towards the temple. But the person not alert and not watching would not hear the sound of the trumpet and they would be "left" in the field or still grinding at the mill - unaware the day had come.
While the man-made religion of Christianity has attempted to re-define it as the "Feast of Trumpets," one of the unique things about Yom Teruah is that the Torah does not say what the purpose of this holy day is. The Torah gives at least one reason for all the other holy days and two reasons for some but, in contrast to all these Torah festivals, Yom Teruah has no clear purpose other than that we are commended to rest on this day. Nevertheless, the name of Yom Teruah provides a clue as to its purpose. teruah literally means to make a loud noise. This word can describe the noise made by a trumpet but it also describes the noise made by a large gathering of people shouting in unison as seen in
Joshua 6:5.
In this verse the word "shout" appears twice, once as the verb form of teruah and a second time as the noun form of teruah. Although this verse mentions the sound of the shofar (ram’s horn); in fact, in this verse, the two instances of teruah do not refer to the shofar but, rather, refers to the shouting of the Israelites which was followed by the fall of the walls of Jericho. In
Leviticus 23:24,
Yom Teruah is also referred to as Zichron Teruah. The word Zichron is seen translated as "memorial" in most English versions, but this Hebrew word also means to "mention", often in reference to speaking the name of YeHoVeH (i.e.,
Exodus 3:15).
The day of Zichron Teruah, the "Mentioning Shout", may refer to a day of gathering in public prayer in which the crowd of the faithful shouts the name of YeHoVeH in unison - thus, a time of gathering within the temple to praise His Name.
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...the Feasts of YaHoVeH
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In Judaism Yom Teruah has come to be popularly known as Rosh haShanah because the Hebrew word Rosh means 'head' or 'beginning', ha means 'the' and Shanah means 'year' - thus, "the beginning of the year". However, scripture clearly gives the distinction of the beginning of the physical year to the same month that Pesach (Passover) is celebrated. Scripturally, the New Year begins on the 1st of Nisan
(Leviticus 23:5)
while Yom Teruah is celebrated on the 1st of the seventh month
(Leviticus 23:24).
Consequently, Rosh haShanah has effectively replaced Yom Teruah to become the traditionally celebrated Hebrew "New Year" in an appeasement to other world cultures and thereby negating the Words of YaHoVeH - just as Yeshua said the tradition of men would do in the passage at the opening of this article. On the 1st day of the Seventh month (Tishrei) the Torah commands us to observe the holy day of Yom Teruah
(Leviticus 23:24,
Numbers 29:1-6).
As mentioned earlier, one of the unique things about Yom Teruah is that the Torah does not say what the purpose of this holy day is - making it easier for the rabbis to write into it whatever they need to fit their tradition. But as we have seen, scripturally, Yom Teruah has nothing in common with the beginning of a physical "new year"
(CLICK HERE
to find out how, when and why the name and significance of Yom Teruah was changed to Rosh haShanah).
While Yom Teruah is considered a feast day in scripture, it is NOT considered a High Holy Day by YaHoVeH. In the traditional, orthodox religion of Judaism, however, Rosh haShanah has become such! Even though Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur are two very important holidays in the Hebrew calendar, modern Judaism attributes far more importance to both of them than is actually warranted, justifiable or even defensible. Modern Orthodox Judaism considers Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur (and the days between them) to be "THE" High Holy Days whereas this is not YaHoVeH's opinion - for He has NOT declared either Yom Teruah or Yom Kippur a High Holy Day. The three High Holy Days established by YaHoVeH are:
•1) The first day of Matzoh (renamed Unleavened Bread) on 15 Nisan - the day after Pesach (Passover).
•2) Shavu'ot (renamed Pentecost) - very late in spring, fifty days from the first day following Pesach.
•3) The first day of Sukk'ot (renamed Tabernacles) on 15 Tishri - 5 days after Yom Kippur and 15 days after Yom Teruah.
These three Elohim-ordained High Holy Days are the ONLY ones on YaHoVeH's ecclesiastical calendar - there are NO OTHER High Holy Days listed anywhere!
(Exodus 23:14-17,
Deuteronomy 16:16).
There actually are NO "Hebrew" Holy Days either, for there are only YaHoVeH's Holy Days which the Sons of Israel were commanded to faithfully observe as their form of worship of The
Elohim
of Abraham (Leviticus 23:1-2).
The Holy Days spoken of in scripture were ordained by YaHoVeH as "Appointed Times" which He considers Holy unto Himself.
The following are modern Judaistic "BELIEFS" about Rosh haShanah, man-made traditions and customs that were not derived from the Torah and Tanakh (OT) but emerged during and have evolved since the Babylonian Diaspora - and have been greatly expanded upon in the
Talmud
(which are the oral Rabbinical commentaries). On Rosh haShanah, Hebrews from all over the world gather in synagogues to celebrate the day haShem (the Name) created Adam and Chavah. BUT, in the scriptures, Chavah (Eve) was created at some later date following the creation of Adam
(the first Hebrew
- not the first of mankind). Rosh haShanah starts on the first day of Tishri and lasts two days which are the beginning of the Yamim Noraim, the ten days of atonement. BUT, in the scriptures, Yom Teruah lasts for only one day, and Yom Kippur is the only (solitary) day of atonement. According to the scriptures, there is NO special significance to the eight days between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur.
Within the religion of Judaism, it is IMAGINED that on Rosh haShanah, all mankind is judged. That haShem (The God Of Abraham) writes the judgment for each person in
the Book of Life.
It is IMAGINED that this judgment is based on people's lives for the year before, and is the decision of what will happen to each person in the coming year. It is further IMAGINED that the judgment is not final. That the days between Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur give people a time to change the judgment for good. It is IMAGINED that each person is given the chance to improve their coming year through Teshuvah (asking forgiveness), Tefillah (prayer), and Tzedakah (charity). On Rosh haShanah it is customary to wish each other "L'Shanah Tovah Tikatevuh" - may you be written in for a good year. But, it is only IMAGINED that Rosh haShanah is not the end of the judgment, and it is further IMAGINED that only on Yom Kippur is that judgment is made final. These are ALL man-made practices, traditions and customs - but, they are NOT reflective of YaHoVeH's Words. These examples give cause to suspect that modern Orthodox rabbinical religious authorities have never even read their OWN scriptures because they give undue precedence to Rabbinical commentaries (Talmud, et al) while ignoring the Torah and the Tanakh.
So, how are the feasts contained in
the 613 ordinances
of the Torah to be kept? Are they to be observed by the legalistic tenets of the religion of Judaism? Or, should they be
elevated
to the higher level of Spirit Yeshua spoke of? I keep all the feasts - just not in the ritualistic manner to which most are accustomed. I worship the Father in Spirit and Truth - not substituting one for the other
(John 4:23-24).
He has become my Teruah because I am consistently listening for His trumpeting (voice); I don't live for a week out under the stars because YaHoVeH has become my Sukkot where I constantly abide; He is my Shavu'ot, daily filling me with His Spirit; He has become my Pesach (redemption); He is my Kippur (atonement); etc. So, while acknowledging these events by my elevation of them in Spirit in this generation (as with
His Temple)
and not abolishing
them, I have found the ritualistic manner in which most celebrate the feasts to not be necessary.
???Questions???
Please feel free to email me at harold@hethathasanear.com.
While not claiming to have all
the answers, it would be an honor to partake with you of what Spirit is uncovering.
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