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 Updated 8/28/03 Yom Teruach, like all other Biblical Feast Days has an assortment of traditions surrounding it. Some traditions have justification in scripture that is either explicit or implied by symbolism. It appears other traditions were founded to give more meaning to this holy day. Even so, there are traditions that may not even be founded in scripture. In light of all this, it is easy to lose sight of the explicit commandments of our Father, Yahuah (Yahoo-ah) regarding this holy day, and get buried in flurry of traditions, customs and rules that can take away our focus from Yahuah's commandments. With this in mind, understand also that many traditions are based on symbolism or allegories in scripture that are well justified. The symbolic and allegorical meaning of this holy day will be addressed in this study. The prophetic significance of this holy day will also be covered. Most importantly, the focus will be on how to keep this day per explicit commandments in scripture. First let us examine the explicit commands in the the Word of Yahuah in order to understand the principles of this Feast Day. These principles are important so that we can keep this day according to Yahuah's Word and not desecrate the day because it is a Sabbath. We will search key words in scripture relating to this day to find the key passages that reveal to us how to keep this day. The first time we learn about Yom Teruach in scripture is in the Torah in Leviticus 23:24-25. Let's take a look at what the passage says.
Right away we recognize five principles of this holy day:
If you are one who has
tried to keep this day according to Jewish traditions, you will already
note that this is a one day feast. Jewish tradition makes this a two
day holy day with no basis in scripture. If you read books on the Biblical
Feast Days, all the reasons for making this a two day feast sound
honorable, sensible and reasonable. It is critically important, however,
to remember our Heavenly Father warns us to not add or take away
from His commandments as He expressed in Deuteronomy
12:32.
A close review of the
scriptures above reveal that the most memorable event for the Israelites
when given the commandment to keep a memorial of blowing trumpets
approximately one year after leaving Egypt is when Yahuah descended upon
Mount Sinai. Therefore, the main theme of Yom Teruach is a memorial
celebration of the time when our Father, Yahuah, descended upon Mount
Sinai with the sound of the trumpet and gave His Ten Commandments. You
will find that a few authors who write on the Fall Feasts of The Lord miss
this very important point because the focus is writing about Jewish
traditions verses detailed examination of the scriptures.
There is no new
principle in this verse about keeping Yom Teruach. However, the verse
number 29:1 reveals an important concept. Biblical months are
numbered from one to twenty-nine or thirty months. The lunar cycle for the
months are approximately 29.5 days. Therefore, when we account for time
according to the Yahuah's method, months alternate between 29 and 30 days
each. In this example, the verse number is a significant revelation
because the verse itself addresses the sounding of the trumpet at the beginning
of the month. For more details on how to account for Biblical months,
see the ministry's Featured Bible study titled, "Why
The Sabbath Is Determined By Sighting of the First Crescent Moon"
and also review the Biblical
(Lunar) Calendar.
Numbers 10:10 is a commandment to sound the trumpet at the beginning of months. Yom Teruach is the beginning of the month as well as a memorial blowing of the trumpet relating to our Father's meeting with His people at Mount Sinai. In consideration of this, there is no new principle we can identify here about keeping Yom Teruach. From this passage, we do learn that we are also to sound the trumpet at the beginning of months. If you search for the word "solemn," we learn that it relates to "solemn" assemblies in the feast days. If you search for the word "gladness," we learn that in one way it relates to "gladness" in keeping the feast days or Biblical holy days (2 Chronicles 30:21-23, Esther 8:16-19). The phrase "day of your gladness" may also refer to the feast of Sukkoth, which is also known in Judaism as "The Season of our Joy." The next time I find the word "trumpet" where it relates to the timing of the month is in Psalm 81:1-5. This passage of scripture is not directly related to Yom Teruach but needs to be understood because the "new moon" period is the one or two day period just before the beginning of the months. This period is the "dark" moon period or "no moon" period at the end of each Biblical month. It is not the first crescent and is sometimes confused to mean the first crescent. Remember, the beginning of the month is started by sighting of the first crescent moon. Our Father, Yahuah, commands us to blow the trumpet during this one or two day period at the end of the Biblical month. Let's take a look at the passage.
If you want to learn more about this passage and the "new moon" days, please refer to the study titled, "Why The Sabbath Is Determined By Sighting of the First Crescent Moon" and also review the Biblical (Lunar) Calendar. In review of the passages, we know Yom Teruach is on the first day of the seventh month. It is a day of blowing the trumpet as a memorial for our Heavenly Father, Yahuah. It is important that we understand the symbolic meaning and purpose of blowing the trumpet in order to appreciate this day. Please see the Ministry's featured Bible study titled, "The Shofar: A Study of the Trumpet in Scripture." Yom Teruach is a day where we are to gather in fellowship for praise, prayer and intercession with other believers in the Body of Messiah because scripture reveals it is a day of "holy convocation" or "assembly." Scripture reveals it is a day where we are to make an "offering made by fire" to Yahuah. Because believers in Yeshua HaMaschiach know the principles of the B'rit Chadashah, we understand that our offerings to our Father, Yahuah is our praises, prayers and intercession. To better understand how our praises, prayers and intercession are like offerings made by fire, I recommend the video titled, "The Golden Altar," from Dick Reuben's Revival Series. One of the most important principles of this day, Yom Teruach, is that it is a Sabbath. Therefore, we need to understand how to keep from desecrating this day by knowing how to keep the seven principles of Sabbath. Please spend time with the Ministry's Featured Bible study titled, "How to Keep The Principles Of The Sabbath Day And Not Desecrate It." I hope this study enhanced your efforts to keep Yom Teruach according to scripture. I'm impressed that once we understand and follow the basic principles of this day, we will be able to spend the day studying it's symbolic and allegorical meaning. We may even better understand traditions that are lead by the Holy Spirit. Yom Teruach, It's Prophetic, Symbolic Meaning and Traditions: The focus of this study is keeping the explicit commands of Yom Teruach. The in depth study of prophetic, symbolic meaning and traditions relating to this holy day is beyond the scope of this review. However, it is a rewarding experience to be able to study the symbolic meaning of this day as well as traditions that have a scriptural foundation. Please consider this study as a supplement to other studies of Yom Teruach without losing focus of the explicit commandments. I highly recommend the book, "Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays" by Robin Scarlata and Linda Pierce for insight into prophetic, symbolic meaning and traditions relating to Yom Teruach. I highly recommend the followings works also: The video titled, "Prophecies in the Fall Feasts of The Lord" by Michael John Rood; "The Seven Festivals of the Messiah" by Edward Chumney, ISBN 1-56043-767-7; "The Fall Feasts of Israel" by Mitch and Zhava Glaser, ISBN 0-8024-2539-9; and "God's Appointed Times" by Barney Kasdan, ISBN 1-880226-54-5. There is confusion in some of the author's coverage regarding the "new moon" days and Yom Teruach. This study on Yom Teruach and this ministry's featured Bible study titled, "Why The Sabbath Is Determined By Sighting of the First Crescent Moon" will make clear outstanding issues on the "new moon." Also, at the time of writing, the recommended authors did not have an understanding of a Biblical (Lunar) Calendar. Now let's take a look at a brief review of symbolic and prophetic meanings of this day as well as a few traditions. The following make good topics of study during assembly on Yom Teruach. Prophetic Meanings:  Begins the 7th
Millennium: This day symbolizes the beginning of the 7th millennium
and the events leading to this time. This reason is simple, Yom Teruach is
the announcement of the beginning of the 7th month of the year and
the fall Feasts of Yahuah are a foreshadow of end-time events and
Messiah's return which begins His Millennial Reign. Just as the 7th day of
the week is symbolic of the 7th Millennium, the 7th month of the Biblical
year is symbolic of the 7th Millennium. Day for the Gathering
of the Saints or "Rapture": Understanding our Hebraic roots
is extremely important in understanding of the "gathering of the
saints." The most important concept is in Jewish tradition, there are
three trumpets that have a name. They are named the "first
trump", "last trump" and the "great
trump." The "great trump" is blown on Yom
Kippur, the "last trump" is blown on Yom Teruach also known as
Rosh Hashanah, and the "first trump" is blown on the Feast of
Shavuot. With this understanding in mind we now understand what
Rabbi Shaul (Apostle Paul) said in 1
Corinthians 15:51-53:
For more details see page 136-137 of "The Seven Festivals of the Messiah" by Edward Chumney. There are many Jewish traditions that are certainly lead of the Holy Spirit and we must be able to discern them. Symbolic/Hidden Meanings: Day of Creation: A
close look at the hidden meaning of the phrase "In the
beginning" in the Hebrew of Genesis
1:1 reveals the
date "Tishri 1" hidden in the letters of the Hebrew phrase. By
understanding the Hebrew letters in the phrase, we know that Tishri 1 was
the day our Father, Yahuah created the heaven and earth. Tishri is the
name of the seventh month of the year. Let's take a closer look at the
Hebrew phrase that translates to "In the beginning" below which
is transliterated as BĒree'shiyt:
Now, if we take the Hebrew letters above and change the order, we get the phrase "on the first of Tishri" which is transliterated Aleph b' Tishri.
The detail of the sounds of the letters is beyond the scope of this short review. From this example, we easily recognize the importance of knowing Hebrew when reading the scriptures. In many instances it provides a greater depth of knowledge that cannot be derived from just the English translations. Traditions: The main tradition that is followed for this holy day is called "Tashlikh." |
 Updated 2/9/03 The first time we find out about how to keep the Feast of Tabernacles is in Leviticus 23:34-43. The second time in the Torah is in Numbers 29:12-40. The third time we learn more about the Sukkoth is in Deuteronomy 16:9-17. The verses in Leviticus focus on a general outline for observing the Feast. The verses in Number focus on the type of offerings to be made at the Feast. The verses in Deuteronomy reveals who may keep the feast. We also learn that Sukkoth is also called the Feast of Ingathering and is one of three festivals where "thy males appear before Yahuah thy God in the place which he shall choose.." (Exodus 23:14-17, Exodus 24:22-23, Deuteronomy 16:16). To better understand the celebration of Sukkoth, we need to look at the Book of Exodus first. By reflecting on the Book of Exodus we identify that the children of Israel observed their first Passover in Egypt in the month of Aviv (Abib), the first month of the year (Exodus 12:2). Exodus 12:37 reveals that the children of Israel encamped first at Succoth after the exodus from Egypt in the month of Aviv. The next few chapters tells the story about the crossing of the Red Sea between the first (Aviv) and second (Iyar) months. Exodus 16:1 reveals that on the 15th day of the second month after the exodus from Egypt the children of Israel came into the wilderness of Sin. This is where they were fed the manna and quail. Also after camping in Sin, they journeyed to Rephidim where they received water from the Rock (Exodus 17:1). Finally, in the third month (Siwan) they arrived in the wilderness of Sinai (Exodus 19:1). By reflecting on the journey of the children of Israel it helps us better understand Sukkoth. Our Everlasting Father, Yahuah, expressly tells us why we observe Sukkoth in Leviticus 23:42-43. It is a memorial celebration to remember that Yahuah made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. The dwelling of Yahuah's people in booths is fundamental to celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. What is a booth? The story of the Exodus in scripture expressly reveals that these were temporary dwelling units that could be carried around. One way we can tell is the children of Israel journeyed from location to location and "encamped" (Exodus 13:20, 15:27, 18:5) in the wilderness and pitched (Exodus 17:1, 19:2). A review of the word "pitched" in scripture reveals that it is associated with pitching a tent (Genesis 12:8, 13:12, 26:17, 26:25, 31:25, 33:18). Even our Everlasting Father, Yahuah, dwelled in a pitched tent called the Tabernacle of the congregation (Exodus 33:7). In Exodus Chapter 25-40, we find the word "Tabernacle" and "tent" associated with Yahuah's "Tabernacle of the congregation" or "tent of the congregation." Lessons In The Feast of Tabernacles: Preparing For The Tribulation |
Copyright 2005 Beth Lechem Messianic Ministry
This study may be distributed freely in whole.
Please dispose of scripture with respect, check with a Jewish Synagogue or
Messianic Congregation (scripture is buried).
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It is to be in the first day of the seventh month.
