Numbers 29:1-6 and "Yom Teruah"

[Jacob Ben Avraham]

Numbers 29:1-6 and the "Day of Trumpet Blowing"

29 “‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you are to have a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work; it is a day of blowing the shofar for you. 2 Prepare a burnt offering to make a fragrant aroma for Adonai — one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs in their first year and without defect — 3 with their grain offering, consisting of fine flour mixed with olive oil — six quarts for the bull, four quarts for the ram, 4 and two quarts for each of the seven lambs — 5 also one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. 6 This is to be in addition to the burnt offering for Rosh-Hodesh with its grain offering, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to the rule for them; this will be a fragrant aroma, an offering made by fire to Adonai.

In the Messianic Jewish circles, we know this time as "Rosh HaShannah" or "Yom Teruah" (Head of the Year) and (Day of Blowing the trumpet). But is it only for Jews, or for all believers? In Leviticus 23, God is proclaiming these feast days, or days of celebration as "my feasts." They were given to the Children of Israel first, but more were added to the Community of Israel. All believers have been "grafted in" to the Olive Tree. If these are "God's feast days" then they are for ALL who love God and who want to follow His Word.

The sacrificial animals in the passage above all are "Shadows" of Messiah Yeshua. They all point to Yeshua/Jesus who gave His life on Calvary's cross and took away the curse of sin and death. The bull symbolizes God as "All-powerful and mighty" as the bull was one of the most powerful animals of the herds in those days. The ram symbolizes the substitute for Isaac when Abraham offered him as a sacrifice on Mt. Moriah. Isaac symbolizes all of us and the ram, our LORD and Savior who took our place. The 7 lambs, "7" is the number of perfection, and the lambs are "The perfect Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world." The grain offering = Yeshua, the Bread of Life; the oil = the Holy Spirit. The male goat reminds us of Yom Kippur, when two goats were presented. One was sacrificed and the other was sent away carrying our sins. This symbolizes "The Lamb of God who took upon the sins of the world and sent away our sins, never to return. The drink offerings consisted of wine, symbolizing the blood of Yeshua.

As we can see, these are all the "shadows" of Messiah, who fulfilled them all. The blowing of the trumpet (Israel had silver trumpets) and also the shofar (rams horns and horns of an African antelope, a Kudu) were used during this time. Today we use the rams' horns and antelope horns. The sound of the trumpet is a "wake-up call" to announce "the King is coming.

The first 4 feast days (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Shavuot) were fulfilled in the first coming of Messiah Yeshua. The death of Messiah, who was the unleavened Bread of Life, the First Fruits of resurrection, and the Coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost/Shavuot. The fall feasts are; Yom Teruah or Rosh HaShannah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles. These proclaim the 2nd coming of Messiah, who will come to be crowned King of this earth and all the universe, who gave his life for atonement of our sins, and will come to "tabernacle" among us for One Thousand years and for all eternity. (I guess Yom Kipper can be considered fulfilled at Calvary too).

The 4 sounds of the trumpet, and the sounds of "Tekia, Teruah, Shevarim, and Tekia-Gedola" are heard on Rosh HaShannah. They are the "wake-up" call for all to anticipate the second coming of Messiah, a time to cry and sob for our sinfulness and to repent, a time for sadness at the passing of the year, and joy for the coming of this new year.

There are two major "new years" in the Bible, Passover marks the month of Nissan, and the "religious" new year. Rosh HaShannah marks the new agricultural year, and the new "calendar year" We are now in the year 5784 (after the creation of the world). Just like in the Gregorian calendar, there is the new solar year, January 1st, there is a "School year" which marks the beginning of school, and probably other "new years"

The final trumpet sound "Tekia Gedola" reminds us of when the church will be taken up after the dead in Christ are risen first. We know this as the "rapture" or the "taking away of..." all believers in Messiah; "At the final trumpet call" the "Tekia Gedolah"

It is customary to eat apples dipped in honey on Rosh HaShannah and to dance praise and worship songs. It is a time of joy, we want the king to come, and to come soon. Maybe this year, or...the next.

 

 

Ben Avraham 

The Fig Tree and Yeshua Ministries in El Salvador