Shanah Tovah!  Jewish holidays begin at sundown the day previous to the actual day of the holiday.  Thus, Rosh Hashanah began yesterday at sundown and Israel celebrates their new year today.  Rosh Hashanah means “Head of the Year.”

However, Leviticus 23:23-25 describes a feast that the Jews were told to celebrate.  It is the Feast of Trumpets, the first of three major Biblical events beginning before the end of September.  (Yom Kippur and Sukkot will follow.)  The Feast of Trumpets really has nothing to do with the celebration of a new year.  In fact, God intended Passover (Pesach) to be the beginning of the year, and that is actually the first of the seven major feasts God ordained for the Jews.

So, what is The Feast of Trumpets all about?  Numbers 10:1-10 provides some detail not included in the Leviticus command to celebrate the feast.  There, we learn that Moses was to make two silver trumpets used to summon the people.  1 Corinthians 15:51-52 tells us that in the twinkling of an eye, a trumpet will sound and we will be changed.  That is “rapture talk,” and refers to the day when we will be snatched away to meet Jesus in the air!  Indeed, the Feast of Trumpets prophetically describes that day when we, as believers, leave this planet to begin our eternal existence in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  One day soon, that trumpet will sound!

Click here to discover how Jesus is the fulfillment of every Jewish feast!

If you are following our study, Looking for the Blessed Hope, click here for Let’s Get in the Game, first posted in Spring 2015.

“Shanah tovah” is the Hebrew expression wishing someone a good year.  May this civil new year in Israel bring peace and security!  So, to all my Jewish friends, “Shanah tovah!”