Rosh Qodesh
The Following are special dates for our serious consideration that we might take the time to honour theme. May these enrich your walk with the Creator of the Heavens.
YeshaYahu (Isaiah) 66: 22-23 “For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,” says YHWH (the Lord), “So shall your descendants and your name remain. 23 And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says YHWH (the Lord.) Shalom!
Tishrei the 7th Month – The Feast of Trumpets & the New Moon
What’s the only feast that falls on a new moon? Feast of Trumpets! The Feast of Trumpets always begins on Tishrei 1, the beginning of the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar. It’s always marked by a new moon.
Bereshiyth [Genesis] 1:14 tells us: “Then Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for Moadim [appointed times] and for days and years;”
The moon is one of the lights that marks the uniquely appointed times. On the Hebrew calendar, a new month always begins on the evening that a sliver of the new moon appears. That’s how a new month is determined – by the moon.
Now let’s look at Vayiqra [Leviticus] 23:24-25: 24 “Tell the people of Yisrael, ‘In the seventh month, the first of the month is to be for you a day of complete rest for remembering, a holy convocation announced with blasts on the shofar.25 Do not do any kind of ordinary work, and bring an offering made by fire to YHWH [Adonai/the Lord].’”
Here we see that Yahweh has made sure that we always celebrate the Feast of Trumpets on the first of Tishrei, which is a new moon and a new month. I wondered, why. Why would Yahweh put one of his holy days right on the day of a new moon, on the first of the month? What does the Feast of Trumpets have to do with the beginning of a month?
Here’s the easy answer: A new month alerts us to a new appointment of time, the Feast of Trumpets is meant to awaken us to a new movement of time [season] in a big way.
In this article, we’ll examine the thematic connections between the Feast of Trumpets and Rosh-Hodesh (the first of the month). We’ll look specifically at the trumpet blasts, and what the seventh month is all about, and all of that will reveal the answer to this question as to why they’re on the same day. We’ll see deeper into the heart of the Almighty as we explore this topic.
The Feast of Trumpets
The Jewish sages have labelled Tishrei as the season of atonement because it includes the Day of Atonement. But, as Messianic believers, we see more than that. We understand that it kicks off the events of the second coming of Yeshua. How gracious is Yahweh? He doesn’t just surprise us like a “thief in the night,” coming when we don’t expect it. No, he’s only a “thief in the night” (as referenced in Matthew 24 and 1 Thess. 5) for those who don’t know he’s coming, for those who aren’t watching the signs and the seasons, and for those who aren’t on his calendar
The Feast of Trumpets is our call to be alert for his coming. This is that season. It’s been on YHWH’s calendar since the beginning of time, and now it’s on our calendar.
Thematic Connections
I want to look further into this connection between the New Moon and the Feast of Trumpets. First of all, in order to get our terms straight, I will refer to the first day of the month by its Hebrew name – “Rosh-Kodesh.” Translated, that means the head of the month. It falls on a new moon, so it’s often called a new moon, but we’re not celebrating the new moon. We’re actually celebrating the beginning of a new month – the head of the month. So I’ll refer to it as Rosh-Kodesh.
As we just read in Leviticus 23:24-25:
Now read the instructions for Rosh-Kodesh in Numbers 10:10, which is the first place we see the commandment to observe Rosh-Kodesh:
“Also on your days of rejoicing, at your designated times and on Rosh-Kodesh, you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; these will be your reminder before your Elohim. I am YHWH [Adonai] your Elohim [God].”
Comparing these instructions for the Feast of Trumpets and the instructions for Rosh-Kodesh, we see four things they have in common:
Both fall on the first of the month.
Both refer to an offering.
Both refer to a remembrance. For the Feast of Trumpets says it’s “a day of complete rest for remembering.” For Rosh-Kodesh our offerings are “a reminder before Yahweh.”
Both refer to blowing a trumpet or shofar.
A Memorial
What are we remembering on the Feast of Trumpets. What I found is that it points to the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. This commandment in Leviticus to observe this day comes just one year after the people heard Yahweh [Adonai] blow the shofar on Mt. Sinai. They heard Yahweh’s voice and the thunder and lightning and were so frightened, they told Mosheh they didn’t want to listen anymore for fear they might die. They told him to go do the listening and come back and tell them what Yahweh said.
In Leviticus 23 the literal Hebrew is “a memorial of blasts.” What else could it mean? Well, in Hebrew this Feast is called “Yom Teruah.” Yom means day, but Teruah doesn’t mean trumpets. It means a shout or blast of war, alarm or joy. So literally translated this is a “Day of Blasting or Shouting.”
Remember at Jericho, the priests blew the shofars and shouted? (Josh. 6:20)
“So the people shouted (teruah), and priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout (teruah) and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city,”
When the Israelites brought the Ark out into the camp to defeat the Philistines (1 Sam. 4:5)
“As the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout (teruah), so that the earth resounded.”
The events that happen the first day of a month often point to the theme or season of that month.
Tishrei 1
In total there were 27 references to the seventh month in the Bible – all in the Hebrew scriptures, none in the Brit Hadashah/New Testament. Ten of those (more than one-third) were describing the feasts of the seventh month.
So the first thing we see is that Yahweh [the Lord] is serious about these feasts. In just a word search on the words “seventh month” we see ten references to them. And remember, in the seventh month there are three feasts over 22 days. We have an extra four Sabbaths, four holy convocations and ten offerings, a lulav (a bouquet of branches), a day of “afflicting your soul,” a sukkah and blowing the shofar. And all that is in addition to our normal Sabbaths, offerings, and gatherings, plus our Rosh-Kodesh offerings and observances in the seventh month.
We see this symbolism in the trumpets – both his shofar and our trumpets being blown on this day. And in the memorials – we remember him with our offerings, and he remembers us with this day of remembering. He wants us coming together with him. This is his heart this month.
Now here’s the other thing I found: Eight of the references to the seventh month have to do with the process of rebuilding the temple, either Solomon’s temple or the one during Ezra and Nehemiah’s time.
Putting It All Together
We have the offerings on the altar and the reading of the Torah both on the first day of this month. Both are associated with the rebuilding of the temple,
There were six other references to the seventh month specifically about rebuilding the temple in the seventh month.
That makes eight references to rebuilding the temple, and ten references to celebrating the Feasts – all using this term “the seventh month.”
1.Tishrei is the month we celebrate The Feast of Trumpets – a time of making noise as a reminder.
2. Tishrei is the month we observe The Day of Atonement – which represents the final day when everyone is judged according to the Torah.
3. Tishrei is also the month we celebrate The Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot, which is a rehearsal for the period when all those who’ve accepted Yeshua’s blood as their atonement are invited to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.
Then comes the 8th Day of Sukkot, representing our new, eternal life with him.
The events we read about rebuilding the temple in the seventh month revolve around this same theme – both figuratively and literally:
Figuratively, it’s a call to return to Yahweh’s ways, to rebuild our own temple, to put him back on the throne of our lives and offer ourselves as living sacrifices. It’s a call for people to return to the Torah, by which they will be judged if they have not accepted Yeshua’s atoning blood. It’s about rebuilding our lives as a place where Yeshua dwells and walking out our new life with him.
We see this literally as well in prophecy. We see the prophetic parallels of Yeshua returning with the sound of a trumpet judging the nations, rebuilding the temple with the word (the Torah) going out from Zion, He will tabernacle with us in his new kingdom on earth and in the new heaven and earth to come.
What the Bible highlights with regard to the seventh month, and all the Feasts of the seventh month all point to this same prophetic time and our participation in bringing his kingdom, as we return to his ways and prepare ourselves as his temple.
Wow – no wonder he wants our attention this month! The Feast of Trumpets/Yom Teruah is the day we announce this season. The day we remind him of his promises – and he remembers us. It’s the day when our trumpets come together with his shofar to proclaim this season.
In conclusion Rosh-Kodesh with all its similarities to the Feast of Trumpets is like a mini-feast every single month. It’s a reminder, a token, representing the Feast of Trumpets, reminding us that we’re one month closer to this season of the seventh month. The renewing of the moon beginning a new month symbolizes:
The blessing we say each Rosh-Hodesh is a proclamation of the kingdom we’re looking forward to.
Is this not a description of the millennium? Of Yeshua dwelling with us? Let’s celebrate this Feast of Trumpets and every Rosh-Kodesh, reminding ourselves of His good promises to come!
Biblical Events in Tishrei
1-2 Tishrei The Feast of Trumpets [Yom Teruah] Lev 23:24.
1 Tishrei- [3760 BCE] Adam & Chavah were created according to the Talmud.
8 Tishrei- [826BCE] 14-day dedication of Sholomo’s [Solomon’s] Temple.
10 Tishrei- The transfiguration of Yeshua with Mosheh & Eliyah [matt 17:1-9]
10 Tishrei- [1313 BCE] Mosheh returns with the 2nd set of tablets& a massage of forgiveness.
10 Tishrei- Day of Atonement [Yom Kippur] [lev 23:27]
15-21 Tishrei- Sukkot [Feast of Tabernacles] [Lev 23:34]
15 Tishrei- Possible birth of Yeshua in 3BCE.
15-16 Tishrei- Yeshua’s 30th year begins.
22 Tishrei- Yeshua proclaims the latter rain. [Michael Rood Calendar]
22 Tishrei- Shmini Atzeret [Last Great Day- eighth Day of Assembly.
