Yom Teruah | Feast of Trumpets | Rosh Hashanah

Yom Teruah is the ‘Day of Shouting.’ It will be fulfilled when we receive our glorified, immortal bodies. We’ll definitely have something to shout about!

This article will explain:

What is Yom Teruah?
How God will fulfil Yom Teruah
Misunderstandings about Yom Teruah
Next Events After Yom Teruah is Fulfilled

Yom Teruah (also known as the Feast of trumpets and Rosh Hashanah) is a day of festive shouting, either by a crowd or by trumpet blasts. It’s a High Sabbath day, in which we’re to rest and have ‘a holy convocation.’

According to Leviticus 23:24 Yom Teruah is on the 1st day of the 7th month of the Hebrew calendar.

So, depending on whether you subscribe to a solar or lunar Hebrew calendar, the Gregorian date for Yom Teruah in 2022 is either September 21st, or from sundown 9/25 to sundown 9/27.

What is Yom Teruah?

God’s Appointed Times — His Moedim

Yom Teruah is 1 of 7 ‘appointed times’ Israel was commanded to keep each year.

These appointed times are an encoded message that reveal the method and sequence of God’s plan for mankind’s redemption. God’s moedim teach us His 7000-year sequence of events:

[Note: The Hebrew term moedim (pronounced moe-ed-eem) is the plural version of moed. A moed is a recurring ‘appointed time’ that God specified for His people to either (1) remember a past event, or (2) symbolically ‘rehearse’ a future event in His plan. So, the annual moedim in Leviticus 23 reveal the milestones and the sequence of His 7000-year plan.]

There are 7 annual moedim–4 in the spring and 3 in the autumn.

Three of these moedim are designated as feasts:

Unleavened Bread
Weeks (Pentecost)
Tabernacles

YHWH commanded all Israeli men to celebrate the 3 feasts in Jerusalem each year.

Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
Deuteronomy 16:16

Spring Moedim

The Spring moedim have all been fulfilled. Understanding how God fulfilled them will help us understand how Yom Teruah could be fulfilled in our future.

YHWH fulfilled the 4 Spring moedim through Jesus in the 1st century, exactly on their annual anniversary dates and times.

Autumn Moedim

As you can see below, the Day of Shouting (Yom Teruah) is next to occur on God’s timeline.

Day of Shouting (Yom Teruah)
Day of Atonement (and the Year of Jubilee)
Feast of Tabernacles (and the 8th Day)

Overview of God’s Appointed Times

God fulfilled the Spring moedim in the first Century, exactly on the days when the Jews were celebrating them. From these fulfilled moedim, perhaps we can learn some principles about how God used prophetic symbols (i.e., sacrificial lamb, unleavened bread, harvest firstfruit) to convey truths about His redemptive plan.

Spring Feasts

Passover – death passes over us

Today, Passover is a memorial of two historical events:

The night of the 10th plague, the death of the firstborn, is when the death angel saw the blood of a sacrificial lamb, causing him to pass over believing Israeli families in Egypt.
As the priests were slaughtering the Passover Lamb, Roman soldiers crucified our Savior, the Lamb of God, on Golgotha. Since then, with His blood applied on our hearts, the judgement of death will pass over us.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread – We receive perpetual spiritual life through the ‘Living Bread’

After the Passover lamb was killed and roasted, each family feasted on the lamb that evening. This feast includes vegetables and unleavened bread, or matzah.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is one of the two week-long feasts. (The other is Tabernacles in the autumn.) This 7-day duration symbolizes the perpetual nature of this feast’s fulfillment.

In the same way, our Savior is perpetually ‘the Living Bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die.’ (John 6:50)

The Day of Firstfruits – bodily resurrection and immortality

Yom ha Bikkurim literally translates as “the Day of Firstfruits.” It occurs during the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the day after the weekly Sabbath, 3 days and nights after Passover.

When is the Day of Firstfruits Celebrated?

From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you are to count off seven full weeks.
Leviticus 23:15

Or, to put it simply, it’s celebrated on Sunday (the day after the weekly Sabbath) in the middle of the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread.

This is the unleavened firstfruits of the barley harvest, waved as a sheaf before YHWH. This day also starts the 50-day timer for the Feast of Pentecost.

YHWH fulfilled this moed by resurrecting Jesus’ body out of death, transforming it into an immortal, incorruptible body.

As the priests were waving the barley sheaves before the Lord, the resurrected Messiah briefly revealed Himself to His disciples. Then He ascended into heaven as our High Priest to offer His blood on the altar in the temple in heaven.

The Feast of Firstfruits (Pentecost)

Exactly 50 days after the ‘Day of Firstfruits’ (Yom Bikkurim) is the ‘Feast of Firstfruits,’ (Chag Bikkurim.) Chag Bikkurim is also known as the Feast of Shavuot (Weeks) and Pentecost.

On this day:

God gave the 10 Commandments to Israel from Mount Sinai
Israel celebrated the firstfruits of the annual wheat harvest
Exactly 50 days after the resurrection on the Day of Firstfruits, while the Levitical priests were waving the firstfruits of wheat in the stone temple, YHWH poured the Holy Spirit into God’s new, living temple–120 disciples gathered in an upper room. (Acts 2)

Differences between Yom Bikkurim and Chag Bikkurim:

Yom means day. Chag means feast.
Pentecost (Chag Bikkurim) is one of the three major feasts that all men had to attend in Jerusalem.
Jesus’ resurrection is represented by an unleavened sheaf of barley, while the two bread loaves in the Feast of Pentecost are leavened.
- Jesus is unleavened–sinless and perfect.
- In contrast, we’re still leavened–prone to sin and imperfect–even though the Holy Spirit now resides in us.

And so, all the Spring moedim have been fulfilled.

Autumn Feasts

The Spring moedim were all fulfilled in a way corresponding to their symbolism, and exactly on their annual anniversary dates.

Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume YHWH will fulfill the yet-future Autumn moedim in the same way–corresponding to their symbolism, and exactly on their annual anniversary dates.

Principles Learned from the Spring Moedim

I wonder… if I were an Israelite living before the Spring moedim were fulfilled, would I be able to decipher their symbolism to understand how they’d be fulfilled? The puzzle pieces were all there in the Old Testament, but very few Israelites, if any, put this puzzle together.

Today, we have a huge advantage over the ancient Israelites. We have the already-fulfilled Spring moedim as examples.

So, what principles can we use from the Spring moedim to decipher how the Autumn moedim could be fulfilled in our future? To elicit these principles I’ll ask:

How were they fulfilled?
Who fulfilled them?
When were they fulfilled?

How Were the Spring Moedim Fulfilled?

God used natural symbols to represent spiritual, heavenly realities.
- The Passover Lamb represents the Lamb of God
- The first sheaf of ripe barley represents the first man resurrected
- Unleavened bread represents the pure ‘Bread of Life’
- Leaven represents the nature of sinfulness
- A week-long feast represents an ongoing spiritual reality, whereas the other Spring moedim (Passover, Day of Firstfruits, and Pentecost) represent one-time events.
YHWH orchestrated the unwitting actions of unbelievers to sacrifice the Lamb of God, i.e., Judas, Pilate, the High Priest and the Sanhedrin, false witnesses, the mob, soldiers, etc.
YHWH used the courageous actions of believers to keep the law by burying Jesus before sundown, i.e., Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. (John 19:38-42, Mark 15:42-46, Luke 23:50-54)

Who Fulfilled the Spring Moedim?

While many unbelievers and believers ‘played their parts’ in fulfilling the Spring moedim, YHWH perfectly orchestrated it. Just as God made a made a covenant with Abram while Abram slept (Genesis 15:8-19), YHWH fulfilled the Spring moedim without the conscious help of any man.
Just as Abraham bound Isaac and laid him on the altar of sacrifice (Genesis 22:9), YHWH laid His Son Jesus on the altar of sacrifice.
Just as Isaac submitted to being bound and sacrificed, Jesus willingly submitted to being bound and sacrificed.
All four Spring moedim center around Jesus:
- He is the Passover Lamb of God
- He is the (unleavened) Bread of Life
- He is the firstfruits sheaf
- His Spirit now resides in His disciples (1 Peter 1:11, Romans 8:9)

When were the Spring Moedim Fulfilled?

We don’t know exactly what year Jesus was crucified, and scholars don’t agree. Strong opinions range from 28AD to 33AD.
We do know that YHWH initiated and controlled events to fulfill the Spring moedim exactly according to His annual moedim schedule. Here are the details:
- On the 14th day of the 1st month, Jesus was crucified as our Passover Lamb at about 9am. At the same moment, priests in the temple sacrificed the Passover Lamb for the nation.
- Jesus died at about 3pm. Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus’ body before sunset, the start of the 15th day, the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
- YHWH resurrected Jesus’ body on the Sabbath, the 18th day, fulfilling Yom Bikkurim, the Day of Firstfruits.
- The disciples visited the tomb and witnessed the resurrection on Sunday morning.
- The resurrected Messiah appeared to the disciples for 40 days, speaking to them about the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:3)
- YHWH sent the Holy Spirit into the multi-membered Body of Christ on the Feast of Firstfruits (Pentecost), 50 days after the Day of Firstfruits.

Shouting + Trumpets

Next, to understand Yom Teruah let’s look at where shouting and trumpets are mentioned together in the whole Bible, grouped by how they’re used. The following verses combine shouting + trumpets:

As a Show of Loyalty or Rebellion

2 Chronicles 15:14 with shouting and with trumpets and horns. They shouted … their oath of loyalty to the LORD
Psalm 98:6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn- shout for joy before the LORD, the King
2 Kings 9:13 Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, “Jehu is king!”
1 Kings 1:39 Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!”
2 Samuel 20:1 He sounded the trumpet and shouted, “We have no share in David”

When Bringing Up the Ark of the Covenant

1 Chronicles 15:28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and of cymbals, and the playing of lyres and harps
2 Samuel 6:15 David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sounding of the ram’s horn.

In Worship

Psalm 47:5 God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.
Isaiah 58:1 Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.

In War

Amos 2:2 as the warriors shout and the ram’s horn sounds
Judges 7:20 The three companies blew their horns and shattered their jars. Holding the torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”
Jeremiah 4:5 “Shout to Judah, and broadcast to Jerusalem! … and proclaim in Jerusalem and say: Sound the trumpet throughout the land!
Joshua chapter 6 – see the Battle of Jericho section below

Future Jubilee and Harpazo (caught up together)

Leviticus 25:9 Thou hast caused a trumpet of shouting… your land. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound far and wide on the tenth day of the seventh month.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

Shouting Down the Wall of Jericho

Referring to the Battle of Jericho, Dr. Nehemiah Gordon writes,

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 (Numbers 10:5–6). For example,

“And it shall come to pass when the ram’s horn makes a long blast, when you hear the sound of the shofar, the entire nation will shout a great shout, and the wall of the city shall fall in its place, and the people shall go up as one man against it.”
– 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), the two instances of Teruah do not refer to the shofar. In fact, in this verse, Teruah refers to the shouting of the Israelites which was followed by the fall of the walls of Jericho.
Nehemiah’s Wall 9-18-22

Jericho’s Symbolism

The Battle of Jericho was Israel’s first battle in the Promised Land, after the whole nation crossed over the Jordan River on dry ground.

This battle is symbolic for us today. Here how I interpret some of the symbols:

Joshua (Yeshua) led the people after Moses’ death.
- Jesus’ name is Yeshua, and He is leading His people into the true, heavenly promised land.
The Jordan River represents the boundary between slavery and freedom, and between death and resurrection life.
- Crossing the Jordan is a metaphor for entering the spiritual realm, the true promised land.
Jericho is perhaps the oldest city in the world, perhaps as old as 9000BC. Its walls were impregnable, being so thick that Rahab’s house was built into it.
- I believe Jericho and its wall represents the Devil’s power over mankind.
  - His authority is ancient, since Adam’s fall.
  - The church has been ‘wandering in the wilderness’ for almost 2000 years. After 144,000 saints cross the Jordan, clothed in glory, their first objective will be to destroy Jericho–the Devil’s power over mankind.
  - Like Jericho’s walls, the Devil’s kingdom will collapse after the dragon and his angels are cast down to the earth. Revelation 12 says,

There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he hath but a short time.
Revelation 12:7-12

With these principles in mind, we have some clues to answer the question ‘How and when will YHWH fulfill Yom Teruah?’

How God Will Fulfil Yom Teruah

Yom Teruah – a Holy Convocation

The Bible doesn’t give us a purpose for Yom Teruah, other than to say it’s a ‘Memorial of Shouting” and we’re to meet together in a “Holy convocation.”

In the section below I’ll give reasons why I believe Yom Teruah is the ‘day of shouting’ when:

The Lord Jesus will descend from heaven. His Commanding Shout and the Trumpet of God will call us up to meet Him.
We’ll be instantly ‘caught-up’ to meet the Lord in the air. This is our “Holy Convocation”
We’ll be clothed with immortality.
We’ll be adopted as immortal sons of God

Is Yom Teruah the Day of ‘the Rapture?’

Many Messianic and evangelical believers today believe ‘the rapture’ will happen during Yom Teruah.

But ‘No One Knows the Day or Hour’

Immediately, another will challenge this belief by quoting Jesus’ statement that ‘no one knows the day or hour’ of His return. (Matthew 24:36)

A Hebrew Idiom?

Yom Teruah is the only moed that occurs on the first day of a Hebrew month. Therefore, because the Jews rely on the sighting of the new moon to determine the first day of a month, Yom Teruah is idiomatically known as the moed where “no man knows the day or hour.”

This Hebrew idiom agrees with Jesus’ statement that ‘no one knows the day or hour’ of His return, so it seems to fit.

So, instead of saying ‘you cannot know’ the time of His return, Jesus may have used this idiom to tell His disciples exactly which moed will correspond to His return.

Rapture?

Regarding the English word ‘rapture,’ it is not used (in the context of resurrection) in the Bible. Rather, it’s a commonly-used slang term to describe the ‘catching-up’ of the saints, as in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.

Caught Up

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:17

The words ‘caught up’ is from the Greek word harpazo.

Clothed with Immortality at ‘the Last Trumpet’

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
1 Corinthians 15:51-53

Adopted As Sons

The ‘redemption of our bodies’ signals the completion of our ‘adoption as sons’ of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see? But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently.
Romans 8:22-25

In Summary: Yom Teruah Is Our Holy Convocation In the Air

Based on the scriptures and reasoning above, Yom Teruah is the ‘day of shouting’ when:

The Lord Jesus will descend from heaven. His Commanding Shout and the Trumpet of God will call us up to meet Him.
We’ll be instantly ‘caught-up’ to meet the Lord in the air in a “Holy Convocation”
We’ll be clothed with immortality.
We’ll be forever adopted as immortal sons of God

Misunderstandings About Yom Teruah

Yom Teruah – the Most Misunderstood Moed

In my opinion, Yom Teruah is the most misunderstood of God’s seven annual moedim. In the quote below, Hebrew scholar Nehemiah Gordon gives a couple reasons why this is so. (emphasis mine)

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…In contrast to the other six Torah festivals, Yom Teruah has no clear purpose other than that we are commended to rest on this day.
In Leviticus 23:24, Yom Teruah is also referred to as Zichron Teruah. The word Zichron is sometimes translated as “memorial”, but this Hebrew word also means to “mention”, often in reference to speaking the name of Yehovah. For example, Exodus 3:15; Isaiah 12:4; Isaiah 26:13; Psalms 45:17
Nehemiah’s Wall article, 9-18-22

And so, Yom Teruah is frustrating because the Bible doesn’t tell us Yom Teruah’s purpose, and it doesn’t tell us what it’s a memorial for.

As a result, to fill this vacuum people invented the following alternative names and purposes for Yom Teruah.

Yom Teruah Misnomers

Yom Teruah is commonly (but incorrectly) referred-to as the ‘Feast of Trumpets,’ or “Rosh Hashanah.’ Both of these names are more popular than the moed’s Biblical name of ‘Yom Teruah.’

Feast of Trumpets?

Yom Teruah is not a Feast

Yom Teruah is a moed, an ‘appointed time,’ but it’s not one of the three annual feasts (Hebrew = chag) that all Israelite men were commanded to keep in Jerusalem every year.

Trumpets?

While it sounds a little bit weird to us, the first meaning of Teruah is shouting. Secondarily, it can mean a trumpet blast of war, alarm, or joy. Also, shouting and trumpets are often used together, as in the verses quoted earlier.

So, Yom Teruah is the Day of Shouting as you can see in this literal translation:

Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first of the month, ye have a sabbath, a memorial of shouting, a holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work.
Leviticus 23:24, Young’s Literal Translation

Rosh Hashanah?

Rosh Hashanah is a pagan tradition. Nowhere does the Bible say the first day of the seventh month is the start of a new year. Neither is there any scripture that mentions a ‘civil new year,’ or Rosh Hashanah.

You won’t find Rosh Hashanah in any ancient sources outside of rabbinical ‘oral tradition.’

There’s only one true Biblical calendar, and it starts on the first month, near the spring equinox in our month of March.

Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year.”
Exodus 12:1-2

Rosh Hashanah is the result of Babylonian influence on Jewish people during their captivity in Babylon. According to Hebrew Bible scholar, Dr. Nehemiah Gordon:

The transformation of Yom Teruah (Day of Shouting) into Rosh Hashanah (New Years) is the result of pagan Babylonian influence upon the Jewish nation. The first stage in the transformation was the adoption of the Babylonian month names. In the Torah, the months are numbered as First Month, Second Month, Third Month, etc. (Leviticus 23; Numbers 28).
Nehemiah’s Wall 9-18-22

Click the link above to read Nehemiah’s full article entitled, “How Yom Teruah became Rosh Hashanah.”

Or, for a much more diplomatic perspective, read this Hebrew4Christians article, Is Rosh Hashanah Biblical?

Finally, After Yom Teruah is Fulfilled…

After His saints are raised immortal on Yom Teruah, YHWH will pour out His bowls of wrath on the Antichrist and his followers. (Revelation 15-16)
- The number 10 represents trial or suffering. During the 10 days between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur, God will pour out His wrath on rebellious mankind.
  - Jewish tradition calls this time the ’10 Days of Awe’ when people should repent so they’ll be added to God’s Book of Life on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
  - People who aren’t ‘caught up’ on Yom Teruah may be allowed to enter the millennium as mortals. They could be the sheep in the sheep and goats parable, or the five foolish virgins who weren’t prepared when the Bridegroom arrived.
- Here’s an interesting possibility regarding timing: Nelson Walters (YouTube) teaches the ‘catching-away’ of the saints will happen on Yom Teruah during the 6th year of Daniel’s 70th week. Then, during the seventh (Sabbatical) year, God will pour out the bowls of wrath (Rev 15-16) on the earth while the saints ‘rest’ in heaven with God.
Then, on Yom Kippur in the 7th year of Daniel’s 70th week:
- Jesus will return with the ‘armies of heaven’ to Jerusalem.
- He’ll split the Mount of Olives in two (Zechariah 14:4).
- The Word of God will defeat the Antichrist and his armies, and setup His kingdom of righteousness and peace on the earth for 1000 years.

Conclusion

Yom Teruah – Our Holy Convocation In The Air

Yom Teruah Will Be Fulfilled When:

The Lord Jesus descends from heaven with a Commanding Shout and the Trumpet of God.
We’ll be instantly ‘caught-up’ to meet the Lord in the air in a “Holy Convocation”
We’ll be clothed with immortality.
We’ll be forever adopted as immortal sons of God