HAPPY YOM TERUAH

Leviticus 23













Today we are walking in: Happy Yom Teruah!!!!!







Today we look to the word- SHOUT- H7321 ruwa'--to shout, raise a sound, cry out, give a blast












The Torah testifies...............




Exodus 32:18




And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.





Numbers 23:21




He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.






Leviticus 9:24




And there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.










The prophets proclaim..................




1Samuel 4:5




And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted H7321 with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.





Isaiah 42:11




Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.





Jeremiah 31:7




For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.








The writings bear witness...........................




Joshua 6:5




And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout H7321 with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.





Psalm 5:11




But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.





Psalm 132:16




I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.










The Torah Instructions On Celebrating Yom Teruach




“And Hashem [The Most High Yah] spoke unto Moshe, saying,




Speak unto the Bnei Yisroel [Sons of Yisrael], saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Shabbaton [high Shabbat], a zikhron teru’ah mikra kodesh [remembrance of blowing; a holy convocation].




Ye shall do no melekhet avodah [laborious work] therein; but ye shall offer an offering made by eish [fire] unto Hashem.” (Vayikra/Leviticus 23:23)




“And in the Hashevi’i [seventh month] [i.e., Tishri] on the first day of the month, ye shall have a mikra kodesh [holy convocation]; ye shall do no melekhet avodah [laborious work]; it is a Yom Teruah unto you.




And ye shall offer an olah (burnt offering) for a reach hannichoach [sweet aroma] unto Hashem [The Most High Yah]; one young bull, one ram, and shivah [seven] kevasim (male lambs) of the first year temimim. [without blemish]




And their minchah [grain offering] shall be of fine flour mixed with shemen [oil], three tenths-ephah for the bull, and two tenth ephah for the ram,




And one tenth-ephah for each keves [lamb]of the shivat hakevasim [seven male lambs];




And one male of the goats for a chattat [sin offering] to make kapporah [atonement] for you;




In addition to the olat hachodesh [new moon ascension offerings] and its minchah, [grain offerings] and the olat hatamid [continual ascension offering] and its minchah, and their nesakim [drink offerings], according to the mishpatim [judgments], for a reach hanichoach [sweet aroma], a fire-offering unto Hashem [The Most High Yah].” (Numbers 29:1-6)




The above are the only two passages in the Torah proper where The Most High Yah speaks of this feast. As we read through the instructions given by The Most High Yah we are struck with one very peculiar point concerning Yom Teruah. It is to be held on the first day of the seventh month. This makes it a New Moon celebration. As we will see there is quite a lot of prophetic imagery to be had in this. Why? Because it is the time when the moon is at its smallest crescent. Therefore, the light on the earth is very dim. All of the other feasts occur when the moon is full. We will speak more about this later.




Yom Teruah: Raising A Noise




Yom Teruah is a celebration that signals the beginning of the end of The Most High Yah’s cycle of three fall feasts. Prophetically it signals the end of The Most High Yah’s six thousand year history of His dealings with mankind. It also heralds the beginning of the last 1000 years of time as we know it in The Most High Yah’s seven thousand years of redemptive history. It is the reign of The Most High Yah’s Kingdom on earth, the Millennial Kingdom. Therefore there is a raising of a noise as an alarm, a signal to wake up, be ready, the final curtain call for the earth is about to unfold.




If you notice within the word teruah is a familiar Hebrew word ruach, meaning breath or spirit. That’s because the noise that is being made on this feast is either by the blowing of the two silver trumpets, the sounding of the shofar, or if one doesn’t have an actual shofar, then one can release the breath through the internal shofar, the esophagus, which has been created by The Most High Yah in the very shape of a shofar! You may lift up your voice and SHOUT to The Most High Yah in praise. The actual meaning of teruah is to raise an alarm, a shout, sound a tempest, a blast of war or joy.




This tumultuous sound of praise is to be motivated by an extreme impulse of joy. It is the realization that we have overcome! All that The Most High Yah has ever promised is about to be realized. We exult in the victory He has, is, and will bring to us. Some have said this joy is beyond any thing comparable to human experience. It is JOY UNSPEAKABLE!




Sounding Of The Two Trumpets




The Torah specifically tells us that there are times when there is to be a sounding of either one or two silver trumpets. In Numbers chapter 10 we find the following times when the trumpet or trumpets are to be sounded:




1) Blowing two trumpets to gather the assembly of Yisrael (vss. 2-3)




2) Blowing one trumpet to gather the leaders of Yisrael (vs. 4)




3) Blowing an alarm with both trumpets to move the camp (vss. 5-6)




4) Blowing an alarm with both trumpets when going to war will cause The Most High Yah to remember Yisrael and save them in the battle from their enemies (vs.9)




5) Blowing both trumpets during days of rejoicing, feast days, offering of sacrifices (beginning of months) as a Memorial before The Most High Yah (vs. 10)




As we have shown above, the feast of Yom Teruah is the only one of The Most High Yah’s appointed times that falls on the beginning of the month. Therefore, the two trumpets are sounded as a memorial before The Most High Yah. It is for sure that the sounding of the shofar is part of Yom Teruah, but we also must observe The Most High Yah’s full instructions from His Torah. We will also be sounding the shofars during our praise and worship times too.




A Living Remembrance




The Hebraic mindset is truly a remarkable concept. Most of us who have grown up outside of a Hebraic lifestyle have been raised apart from the beauty of this integral state of conceptual reality. We have what can be defined as a Greek mindset. The Hebraic and Greek mindsets are worlds apart. That’s why Rav Sha’ul wrote to the Roman assembly that they needed to renew their minds. (Romans 12:1-2) What did that mean? Most of the teaching that surrounds Rav Sha’ul from within the theology of the church of Christendom has him divorcing himself from his Hebraic heritage and disciplines completely. While it is true he did encounter the risen Mashiach Yahusha on the Damascus Road. It did indeed cause a paradigm shift of immense magnitude. It is not true that he threw away all his Hebraic heritage. The love for The Most High Yah’s Torah, or the Hebraic mindset which had become such an integral part of his training remained. (see Acts 23:6) In fact, he taught all who came into contact with him the need to develop these same skills. The Most High Yah chose to reveal Himself using the Hebrew language and in a Hebraic mindset. The reason for so much of the confusion in religion is caused by removing The Most High Yah’s Word from its intended Hebraic setting and trying to force it into some other type of mindset.




One of the concepts of the Hebraic mindset is the understanding of generational connectedness. This is what is known as identification or corporate identity. It means that the experiences of one generation can and does affect the lives of those in generations not yet present. The Hebraic mind understands the realm of spirit. The Hebraic mind has the ability to see things in wholeness as opposed to the solely personal and fragmented concept of individuation which is a product of the Greek mindset. What one does affects the whole. What one does has ramifications not only on a personal level, but for those who will come afterwards.




We see this concept in the instructions of Moshe to the second generation of Yisrael that was about to cross the Yarden/Jordan river and begin the possession of Cana’an. Moshe had been reiterating many of the principles of Torah to this generation in order to renew and keep those things fresh in the hearts of these Yisraelites. Their ability to remember these concepts would be the difference between success and sure defeat. Yet, in the midst of this, The Most High Yah makes a very peculiar and profound statement.




“Neither with you only do I cut this [covenant] and this oath, imprecation);




But with him that standeth here with us today before The Most High Yah your Mighty One], and also WITH HIM THAT IS NOT HERE WITH US TODAY;” (Deuteronomy 29:14-15)




Did you get that last part? This covenant being made on the plains of Moab, before the Jordan, was not only made with the Yisraelites who were physically present on that day, but even with those who were not there. The implication is that the covenant being renewed with this second generation and the Torah that was embedded within it, was for All Yisrael for ALL time. In the Hebraic mind, every male Yisraelite that was present that day held within themselves as fathers a subsequent potential of possibility for successive generations. What they received was counted before The Most High Yah as though all of the potential generations had heard and received that same covenant and Torah that day too! Therefore, as each successive generation came into being, they had the ability to remember. The Hebrew word is zichron. They could literally by the Ruach HaQadesh, put themselves back into that very moment in time that their fathers had experienced! They could internalize that past moment into a present remembrance. Thus the Ruach HaQadesh could impart the power of that experience to them as though they had physically been there. It made The Most High Yah’s living Word a living remembrance.




This is what Moshe was and is saying to us today as we get ready to celebrate these last three fall feasts of The Most High Yah. Allow the Ruach HaQadesh to make this feast a zichron, a living remembrance. As we blow the shofars, and make our joyous cries of praise to The Most High Yah let us enter into the remembrance of each preceding generation of Yisrael who has ever celebrated this feast. Imagine ourselves as being there with Yisrael as they celebrated that first Yom Teruach before The Most High Yah. What a powerful and moving experience that would be. It can happen. Yet not only that, but we can even remember forward into the future. There is no distance in the realm of spirit. We can put ourselves ahead, to the day when that shofar blast will herald the time of our blessed Master Yahusha’s return. What a powerful conceptual reality the Hebraic mindset is. Nothing is impossible. Nothing is beyond the realm of possibility for those who believe with trusting faithfulness in The Most High Yah our King!




A Divine Rehearsal




All of the Feasts of The Most High Yah are spoken of as being a holy convocation. Another meaning of the word is a rehearsal. Our blessed Master Yahusha told us,




The Most High Yah is Ruach (Spirit) and it is necessary for the ones worshiping Him to worship in Spirit and Truth” (John 4:24)




Now what does that mean, to worship The Most High Yah in spirit and in truth? It means that our impetus or strength to worship must come out of a realm beyond finite human capability…the realm of The Most High Yah…the realm of spirit. However, the guide for such worship is to be found in Truth. What is Truth? Master Yahusha told us plainly in His prayer to Abba The Most High Yah for His talmidim/disciples in the Garden just before His death,





Abba The Most High Yah has shown us how to worship Him in Truth by His loving instructions in the Torah. The seven feasts He gave Moshe for all Yisrael to shomer, guard and keep. This is how we worship Him in Truth. When we keep these feasts, we are allowing the Ruach HaQadesh/Holy Spirit to put us on The Most High Yah’s prophetic timetable. Our spirit becomes tuned to the frequency of His voice. As we keep and celebrate each feast we are learning more and more about how to please Him. We are preparing for the day when our blessed Mashiach returns and the Kingdom of The Most High Yah is established on the earth. Are we doing everything right? No, but in our heart we desire to. The more we rehearse, the better we will become. Finally, when that last shofar sounds for real, we will know how to respond. We will know what it means, and we will be able to take our place in joyous expectancy as Abba has taught us by His Ruach through His loving instructions, the Torah.




Beloved, the first four feasts have been literally fulfilled. The last three will just as surely be fulfilled by our blessed Mashiach. Let us learn The Most High Yah’s Truth. Let us allow the Ruach to teach us how to walk that Truth out. Our rehearsal time will not be in vain.




The Purpose Of The Shofar




We spoke earlier of the Hebraic concept of remembering as revealed in the word zichron. There is another part of the concept of remembering that is a part of the process. The act of remembering in the Hebraic sense is usually associated with an object or action that triggers that memory. In our case, it is the shofar and the sound it makes when we play it. The sound stirs our spirit and we are able to enter into the remembrance with all of Yisrael. We blast. We shout. The holy One of Yisrael, blessed be He, goes up from His people with a shout!




The shofar is unique in at least two ways. First, there is its shape. It is curved. This is to cause all who see it to remember that we should bow to The Most High Yah our Redeemer in humility. He alone is able to straighten out the crookedness of our ways. The sound of the shofar calls us to repentance, to make teshuvah to The Most High Yah with all our heart, soul and strength. Secondly, the shofar’s sound of broken and whole notes when played, should remind us of our own brokenness and that it is The Most High Yah alone, blessed be He, which can make us whole.




The sound of the shofar heralds the Manifest Presence (Sh’kinah) of The Most High Yah. When Yisrael was gathered at Mt. Sinai, we are told in the Torah that they heard the sound of the shofar as The Most High Yah drew near. The closer He came, the louder the shofar became.




“And Mt. Sinai was altogether smoking, because The Most High Yah descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of the furnace, and all the mountain shook violently.




And when the sound of the shofar was moving [closer], and grew louder and louder,




Moshe spoke, and Yah answered him in thunder.” (Exodus 19:18-19)




Traditionally there are four sets of shofar blasts that are to be heard on Yom Teruah.




The four sounds are:




1) Tekia




– one long unbroken blast. A call to examine one’s heart.




2) Shevarim




– a broken sound, like sighing, in three short, trembling notes. A call to those who hear to let sorrow for their sins rise up and cry for The Most High Yah’s forgiveness.




3) Teruah




– up to nine very short staccato like blasts. It is a call for the Yisraelite to remove himself from all that offends The Most High Yah and stand by His banner




4) Tekiah Gedolah




– the last and final blast. It is held as long as possible, or until the breath runs out. It is The Most High Yah’s final call for all who hear to enter into His gift of repentance and find atonement, covering for their sins.




While I do believe that Yom Teruah does testify of the return of our blessed Master Yahusha, I do not believe in the rapture as is taught by most of Christendom. A pre-tribulation catching away simply is not a true Hebraic concept. There most definitely will be a catching away and, as we will see, we must allow the Ruach HaQadesh to put it in its proper place in The Most High Yah’s prophetic timeline of end time events. The Second Coming of our blessed Master Yahusha is just that. He will return to earth just as He promised, and just as the Scriptures have foretold. This event will set the entire world as we know it on its ear. Master Yahusha’s return will bring an end to what we know as The Great Tribulation/Jacobs’s Trouble. Yisrael will look upon Him, just as Zechariah said, and they will weep and receive Him as their King (Zechariah 12:10). The Millennial Kingdom will be set up, and a thousand year reign with King Messiah will begin. The nation of Yisrael and Jerusalem will be the centerpiece among all the nations of the earth.




Now comes the next phase of The Most High Yah’s plan. Between the last day of Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur there is a ten day period known as the Days of Awe. I believe that this period is the Great Shabbat otherwise known as the Millennial Kingdom. At the end of that time will come the final judgment. Hasatan [may his memory be blotted out forever], will receive his final judgment, the books will be opened and mankind will face its final judgment.