Reminder: This is our last post before the Christmas break. We’ll be back in two weeks for the last two chapters in this series: 
Day of Atonement – January 2nd
Feast of Tabernacles – January 8th

 

The Beauty of Jesus Revealed in the Feasts

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Click here for the book, and here for the study guide

Chapter 5 – The Feast of Trumpets

As with the Spring feasts, there is an important order in the Fall Feasts that teaches God’s process of salvation. What is that three step process? And what holy day is represented in each one?

Repentance – The Feast of Trumpets

Redemption – Yom Kippur

Rejoicing – The Feast of Tabernacles

What are the different names for this holy day? And what facet of the feast does each of these names represent?

Rosh Hashanah – The New Year

Yom Teruah – The Feast of Trumpets (day of shouting/blasting)

The Days of Awe – Days of Repentance

What might the “watchmen” waiting for the first sliver of the moon represent in the life of a believer?

Believers waiting for the second coming of Christ. The Bible talks about signs to look for, and to be ready as we’re waiting for the return of our Lord.

Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3)

What are some other moments in the Biblical history of Israel when God commands Israel to blow the trumpet/shofar?  

When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the LORD your God and rescued from your enemies. (Numbers 10:9)

Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling. (Numbers 31:6)

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand. (Joel 2:1)

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. ³ March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. ⁴ Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. ⁵ When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” (Joshua 6:2-5)

What are the events in scripture when God has or will blow the trumpet/shofar?

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

God will sound the trumpet when Christ returns. We also see Him blowing the horn in Exodus 19:

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of the trumpet [Strong’s #H7782 “showphar”] grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. (Exodus 19:16-19)

What takes place during the month leading up to Yom Teruah?

From Elul 1 to Elul 28, the shofar is blown every weekday morning, but on the 29th day, it is silent to make a clear distinction between the month of Elul and the blasting of the shofar on Yom Teruah. These 28 days are a call to repentance. It’s a reminder to be alert and to stay awake as they eagerly anticipate the day of the Lord.  This month is also a month of repentance, not only to God but also to those we have wronged.

As part of the selichat service, what is recited?

Prayers for forgiveness called “selichot” are recited every morning before the regular service. This tradition starts on the Sunday before The Feast of Trumpets and continues through to Yom Kippur. As a part of the selichot service, they also recite a list of the thirteen attributes of God found in Exodus 34:6-7.

What is the significance of Genesis 22, that has contributed to the horn of the ram being blow during Yom Teruah?

The shofar (ram’s horn) blown on the holiday is said to be a reminder of the Akedah (the story of the binding of Isaac), and how Isaac was spared. Just as the Ram was a substitutionary sacrifice for Isaac, Jesus Christ was ours.

How is Jesus’s word in Matthew 11:28-30 a fulfillment of Yom Teruah?

The central theme of Yom Teruah is a time of repentance and the casting off of our sin. It’s a time to reflect, to repent, and to put our faith in God, just as every day of the year should be. Jesus longs for us to surrender anything that comes between us and our Heavenly Father. His desire is that we would learn from Him, and accept His love and forgiveness, knowing that our sins can not only be covered but completely removed by His perfect sacrifice through the cross.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,  and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

What are the four components in the Binding of Isaac story that clearly reflect the message of salvation?

1. The father’s willingness to send his son
2. The son was willing to accept his father’s will.
3. Isaac carried the wood for the offering just as Christ carried His cross.
4. God provided a substitutionary atonement

What was the name of the Mountain that Isaac was bound on and what other significant event(s) happened in that same location?

This mountain was formerly known as Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:2). This was the same location where The Temple was built. In 2 Samuel 24, we see David purchasing this piece of property, which was the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, for 50 shekels of silver. David didn’t build The Temple, however, nor did he see it, as it was built under the direction of his son, King Solomon in the fourth year of his reign. The temple was later destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar around 587 BC. It was rebuilt, but again destroyed around 70 AD by Roman armies.

What is the meaning of Substitutionary Atonement, and what are some scriptures that clearly define this term?

The New Testament is full of scriptures that refer to the reality of substitutionary atonement for our sins. As children, the very first scripture that most of us were taught to memorize was John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Right there we see the reality of the substitution. God loved us… so He gave His Son… so that we would not have to die.

Just a small token of scriptures (for there are many) that express this reality can be found in places like:

Romans 5:6, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”

1 Thessalonians 5:10; “(Jesus) …who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.”

“I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

That Jesus was willing to die in our place so that we might live is so beautifully expressed in this story of Abraham and Isaac. Jesus became that “ram in the thicket” that was sacrificed in place of Isaac who symbolically represents all of us.

God was revealing to the world what He was going to provide for us through His Son, the Messiah Jesus. A sacrifice in which the Son of God Himself would place upon Himself the sins and iniquities of us all, and die in our place.