For many around the world, the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, known by many as the Feast of Trumpets, begins this year at sundown on September 18 and ends after nightfall on September 20.

These two days of the Feast of Trumpets mean a variety of unique things to different people. For most, especially those who attend services in a synagogue, the observance of Rosh Hashanah means blowing the shofar, the ram’s horn, on both mornings of the holiday. For others, it means refraining from creative work to hold festive meals of round challah bread sprinkled with raisins, apples dipped in honey, and other foods that symbolize hope for a sweet New Year. Others light candles in the evenings, read the Torah and other special scriptures, and set aside time in prayer for a year of blessing, peace, and prosperity. Still, others use this celebration to point toward Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), which begins during 2020 at sundown on September 27 and lasts until nightfall on September 28. It is a time of renewal, friendship, and hope. Above all, it is a holy season of acknowledging God’s creation and returning to Him.

“Why does this matter to me?” you may be asking. “I’m not Jewish. And Pastor Benny, even though you spent your childhood in Israel, you aren’t Jewish. So, aren’t these feasts only for the children of Israel, God’s chosen people, and meaningless to believers today?”

You may be surprised at this feast’s significance!

During 2020, the latter part of September begins one of the most historic, sacred seasons of the Jewish year, as it has been emblazoned on God’s holy calendar since the days of Moses more than thirty centuries ago.

These coming days are extremely sacred times with God. This is His time to meet with His people. And what happens during this pivotal moment on God’s timetable can change everything for you, your family, your finances, and your future.

This can be your breakthrough appointment with God, one of the most significant opportunities in your entire life!

Known as the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah is recorded in the Old Testament:

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’ ” (Leviticus 23:23-25, NKJV)

And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you, it is a day of blowing the trumpets. You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the Lord…an offering made by fire to the Lord. (Numbers 29:1-2, 6, NKJV)

A Review (Seven Feasts – Three Clusters)

As part of the Exodus from Egypt, as recorded in Exodus 12, God instituted seven specific feasts. In Leviticus 23, God additionally instructed the children of Israel to hold seven holy gatherings each year, celebrated during three feast seasons. These were God’s Holy Days, and specific instructions were given for their observance by the Almighty Himself.

These seven feasts fall into three seasons or clusters:

1. Passover, occurring over eight days during each spring, includes the Feast of Passover (Leviticus 23:5), the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6), and the Feast of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:11). The main purpose of this season was to teach the children of Israel how to find true rest and peace in God.
2. The Feast of Weeks marks the summer harvest and is often referred to as Pentecost (Leviticus 23:16-17). It is a single festival, and during this time the Children of Israel were instructed in the ways to receive God’s supernatural power.
3. Tabernacles, during twenty-one days during each fall, includes the Feast of Trumpets, the Jewish New Year also known as Rosh Hashanah (Leviticus 23:24; Leviticus 25:8-10), the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year, also known as Yom Kippur (Leviticus 23:27), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:34). The purpose was to teach how to enter God’s protection and favor.

Each of these feasts were extremely significant times for the Hebrews, honoring God for what He had done (and continues to do) in the lives of the children of Israel.

And each feast points to the Savior. Most of the feasts, including Passover and Unleavened Bread, were rooted in historical events. Others, such as Weeks and Tabernacles, were related to the agricultural seasons.

During these times the children of Israel were to appear together before the Lord in Jerusalem to commemorate these feasts, and the Word of God strictly instructed them to not appear before Him without an offering (Deuteronomy 16:16).

Historical Panorama of the Feasts

More specifically, these feasts were in Israel observed, in Christ fulfilled, and in each believer’s life applied. The feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Pentecost were fulfilled in Christ. The Feast of Trumpets is to be fulfilled in Christ at the Second Coming. The Feast of Atonement will be fulfilled in Christ when all of Israel shall be saved. And The Feast of Tabernacles will be fulfilled in the thousand-year reign of Christ when He dwells among His people.

As a believer, Passover signifies your salvation. Unleavened Bread signifies your deliverance from sin. Firstfruit signifies your new life in Christ. And Pentecost is the fulfillment of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We’re all waiting for Trumpets when this worldly corruption shall put on trial. Atonement is God’s plan for Israel’s cleansing. And Tabernacles is the celebration of the ages.

Each of the feasts are filled with God’s blessings, especially for believers today who dig deeper into the historical, current, and future significance of each!

Today, let’s focus on one specific feast and what it means for believers—yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets

As both Jewish people and Christians celebrate this holy season, we can rejoice that the Feast of Trumpets is pointing believers all around the world toward one of the most defining moments in history! 

What a time to come! We’re almost there.

Look in Psalm 89:15: “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.” Many scholars say David was referring to the Feast of Trumpets, so the joyful sound would have been the blast of horns and instruments.

Read what the noted Bible commentator Matthew Henry says about this passage as he writes about the shout of a victorious army returning from war with the spoils of victory: “and they often returned making the earth ring with their songs of triumph; these were joyful sounds.” Henry also points to this sound from the Feast of Trumpets:

“The sound was made over the sacrifices and on the solemn feast-day…this was the happiness of Israel, that they had among them the free and open profession of God’s holy religion, and abundance of joy in their sacrifices…to the sound of the jubilee-trumpet; a joyful sound it was to servants and debtors, to whom it proclaimed release. The gospel is indeed a joyful sound, a sound of victory, of liberty, of communion with God, and the sound of abundance of rain; blessed are the people that hear it, and know it, and bid it welcome.”

Two kinds of trumpet were used in Israel during this feast. One was made from rams’ horn (the shofar) (Leviticus 25:8-9). Other trumpets for the Feast of Trumpets were hammered and molded from silver (Jeremiah 4:19).

As the shofar’s trumpet is sounded during Rosh Hashanah, believers are reminded that soon we shall hear the trumpet sound of the ages:

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, NKJV)

“Blessed is the people who know the joyful sound,” wrote the psalmist (Psalm 89:15). The moment that joyful sound is heard, we will walk in the light of His countenance. We will be with Him. We shall instantly be in His presence.

The prophetic significance of the rams’ horns points toward the coming sound to signal the children of Israel all over the world to know God is calling His chosen people together. The rams’ horns are for the Jewish people. The moment the sound of the rams’ horns is heard, Israel will begin experiencing atonement. They will experience a national cleansing from sin.

The silver trumpets are for the church. They were used for the calling together of the assembly and for the journey of the camps. Silver represents a spiritual redemption. The rapture of the church means that when the trumpets sound, the church will be taken away to be with Him instantly.

Raising a Prophetic Voice

John, in the vision he received on the Isle of Patmos, spoke of the voice of the Lord as a trumpet: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet” (Revelation 1:10).

Shortly after hearing the Lord’s voice like a trumpet, John wrote: “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter” (Revelation 4:1).  The Lord’s voice, still sounding like a trumpet, called John to heaven.

Let’s go back to the Old Testament: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins” (Isaiah 58:1). That is the prophetic voice. Not only does the Lord’s voice sound like a trumpet, but His prophets on earth sound like a trumpet, as well.

I believe we are hearing the prophetic voice again all over the world. There are preparations for war. There are calls for God’s people to get ready for the next great move. The prophetic voice is being spoken loudly.

Hosea 8:1 declares: “Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.”

The prophetic voices are rising as a trumpet so the Lord will come and deal mercifully with His people. Today we are hearing the voices more than ever. These prophetic trumpets are sounding, “Repent! Return to God.”

We must not ignore these voices. We are moving quickly to the time of the prophetic Feast of Trumpets. The voice of the prophets are crying out. The trumpet and prophecy go hand in hand.

I have felt such a personal calling to sound the trumpet for God’s people to pray, even as we seek to spread the Gospel through every means possible during the time remaining that we have available.

We aren’t just praying to pray. We are praying to defend, to build walls, to raise up hedges of protection. The prophetic voice is not complicated or confusing. It is a clear message. If we pray and obey, we are safe. If we don’t, we will not be protected. Our world is facing a dangerous hour. That’s why we must pray. God Almighty is revealing to His prophets His plans. What the governments do not know, we know in the Spirit. Humans must search human intelligence, yet in prayer, we can hear from heaven.

When God speaks, we can be certain. We can then speak with clarity, as a trumpet. We can say that the Rapture is coming soon because the voices of the prophets are being heard as never before.

We are closer than we’ve ever been. The forces of hell are pushing to get rid of every vestige of righteousness. Unless God holds back the clock, unless He sends His mighty angels to hold the nations from doing what they want to do,  we will see warfare and annihilation as never dreamed possible, even during the world wars of the past century. God is restraining Satan’s influence.

Recall the story of Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah. The angel of the Lord told Lot to escape because until he left for the city of Zoar, the angel could not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah: “Run there quickly, because I can’t do anything until you get there” (Genesis 19:22, GW). We are “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14). We preserve and illuminate as we share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But the day will come when the church will be removed. When the trumpets sound, you and I will be gone in the rapture of the church. At the same time, God will remove the restraining force. Judgment will fall instantly, and God will turn His attention to the children of Israel.

What Happens Next

Remember in the list of feasts, the Feast of Weeks marks the summer harvest and is often referred to as Pentecost (Leviticus 23:16-17). It is a single festival, and during this time the Children of Israel were instructed in the ways to receive God’s supernatural power.

When the Feast of Pentecost was fulfilled prophetically during the first century, what happened next? The gospel of Christ was preached as never before. The harvest started coming in. Thousands were added to the church daily.

That bountiful harvest is still coming in, but it’s certainly not all in yet. The former rain is still nourishing that harvest. The corn, barley, and wheat are still feeding the multitudes. More seed is being planted continually. More fruit is being produced.

We don’t know when this harvest will end, except that it will be over when the trumpet of God sounds and those who are alive will be taken up with Him.

We don’t know when the trumpet signaling the rapture will be blown. Our only clock is Israel. When the Jews are truly back home, the church will already be home in heaven. Watch Israel, and you will know the signs of the times. God has great patience. He is long-suffering:

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. (2 Peter 3:9-10)

God is getting ready to do something truly remarkable, so eternally breathtaking that even the angels of heaven themselves will be in wonder. Never in the history of the world, never in the history of heaven has something of this magnitude taken place.

Seedtime and Harvest

There is a remarkable prophecy from Joel 2:23 which points to the former and the latter rain: “Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.”

According to the prophet Joel, during the last days before the trumpet sounds, God is going to give the former and the latter rain both in the first month. He’s not going to wait for a dry season between the former rain, with the harvest of corn, barley, and wheat, and the latter rain, with the harvest of fruit. Both harvests will come in immediately. There will be no waiting, no seasons.

In the natural, you have to wait between seed-time and harvest, but not in the time prophesied by Joel.

Notice when Pentecost was fulfilled prophetically, three thousand people received Christ as Savior. Seed-time to harvest was reduced from three months to one day! Within days, no one could even keep up with counting all the people who were added to the church.

And the hour will come when suddenly God begins combining everything together. Seed-time and harvest will happen simultaneously. He’s even going to do it during months when the harvest isn’t supposed to happen. The apostle Paul points to this: “For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth” (Romans 9:28).

Zechariah 10:1 declares: “Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.”

Hosea 10:12 states: “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

We’re about to hear the sound of the trumpet. The celebration is ready to begin!

Jesus Christ came to earth to fulfill all the precious pictures and prophetic promises God gave throughout the Old Testament. The prophets never experienced the reality of redemption, they could only foretell it. And we have the Blessed Hope, the precious Lamb of God! Best of all, He is the soon-coming King, who is returning in power to receive us to live with Him forever, the ransomed believers, saved to sin no more!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ must be our priority!

Even as we celebrate Rosh Hashanah this week, we know that we have a great work to do as we prepare for the great trumpet blast signaling the coming of the Lord!

And you are a crucial part of our ministry as we seek to take the Light of the world to the nations!

I am asking you today to plant your most generous seed so we can continue to do all God has called us to do as co-laborers. Because of your seed-gifts, the sick will be healed! Because of your faithfulness, lives will be changed! Because of your commitment, countless souls will be saved for all eternity!

Will you help me with your urgently needed seed-gift today?

We are told to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33, ESV). We must get the good news of His life-saving and miracle-working power to the nations while there is time. The need to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ is now greater than ever before!

Eternity hangs in the balance for billions of people around the world, and though the world’s financial and political system may continue to shake and even crumble, your position as a believer is one of strength and power as spread the Gospel to a darkening world.

Whatever your needs are today, know that God wants you to make the divine connection between your need and your seed. Sow today and activate the law of the supernatural harvest that is coming your way!

As I send my Rosh Hashanah greetings to you today, I also implore you to seek Him first in everything you do, then get ready to be protected and empowered as never before, even as we prepare for that great trumpet sound of the ages!

For the glorious and eternal cause of our precious Lord, Jesus Christ,