We are very much looking forward to today’s study because it is the beginnings of our studies on the Feast Days– the Fall Festivals.

This is such an awesome time of year. It is really just a time of renewal, a time of rejoicing, a time of getting our spiritual batteries recharged, a time of memorial, a time of remembering and getting ourselves ready for the coming Messiah, preparing our hearts and getting lots of good fellowship.

We are going to talk today about the Feast of Trumpets. Some of you may not know a lot about this Feast, or even about the Feasts in general, so I am going to go over some of the basics. I want you to know that if you already have a familiarity with the Feast Days, I am not going to preach to the choir today.

What I share today may challenge you, just as it challenges me. Of course, what I really want is for us not to just be challenged, but that we walk away from today’s message being changed… challenged and changed… changed for the better.

We are going to talk about the Feast of Trumpets and the return of Yahushua the Messiah. In many ways, that is what the trumpets are really about, is Messiah’s return. So that is our challenge– to understand and to walk out the things that the Feast of Trumpets is actually going to challenge us with and remind us of.

We have such awesome promises. What the world has to offer just pales in comparison to the promises that we have as Yahweh’s people. What we have in Messiah is the brightest future one could possibly hope for.

I want to ask a question as we go over the Feast of Trumpets: Are we ready? Are we truly ready? That is a very important question.

We are going to talk about the return of the Messiah and are we ready for the return of the Messiah– Yahushua our Savior, our King, the One who was exalted very high and lifted up after a very humble beginning, being born in the stall of sheep.

1Corinthians 15:51 – Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed —

52 – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

We are expecting to hear the sound of the trumpet. And at that sound of the trumpet, finally, after much effort, after much turmoil, after much trial, after much challenge, we shall finally, finally meet our Savior!

And we all look forward to that change, when the former things will pass away. The corruptible body will pass away. The incorruptible will be put on. He makes all things new.

And so, the Feast of Trumpets has a connection with the return of the Messiah. In the Torah, He tells them, He commands them, “Keep this day holy, this Feast of Trumpets.” And He says it is a memorial and to do certain offerings on that day. It is the first day of the seventh month. I guess that makes it special. But why trumpets?

Well, it is not until we learn about the Messiah that we actually learn what this Feast of Trumpets is really all about. We see in the Scripture, here, in Leviticus chapter 23, He says:

Leviticus 23:24 – “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.

Interesting. A memorial of what? What are they supposed to be remembering?

Numbers 29:1 – `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.

Again, okay, so we go around and we blow shofars, or trumpets. On this day we see it is supposed to be a day of rest, a Sabbath, a time of shouting. The word “teruah” means “shouting.” We will get into that in a minute. And “teruah” means “alarm,” “a sounding,” and possibly, “a shouting.”

You might have noticed at the beginning of our broadcast today we started with the sound of a shofar. We understand this is a time of significance in the eyes of Yahweh.

Numbers 10:1 – And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying:

2 – “Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps.

3 – “When they blow both of them, all the congregation shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

So, these trumpets were used to signal the movement of the camps and for calling the congregation together.

Numbers 10:4 – “But if they blow [only] one, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall gather to you.

If one trumpet or two depends on who will be gathered.

Numbers 10:5 – “When you sound the advance, the camps that lie on the east side shall then begin their journey.

Very interesting. The blowing of the advance. So, there are two different kinds of sounds here.

I have a shofar in my hand. Right now, you don’t see it. Now you do. Once a year I get this thing out and pull it off the glass shelf, here. We are going to make use of it if your ears can handle it. I will try and be gentle with you.

But there are two different kinds of sounds. Now, I am not an expert shofar player. This is made out of a ram’s horn. At one time it was coming out of a sheep. I think there is some significance to it being a ram’s horn. The horns that were used for the Temple service were actually made of one hundred percent silver, but this is our poor man’s trumpet.

There is the sound of the trumpet, which is just a regular blast. And then, there is the sound of the alarm. So what I am going to do, here, is make sure I don’t blow you away with my overmodulation. I am going to give one sound of the shofar as I keep an eye on the audiometers. Okay, here we go… all right… that is the sound of one shofar blast.

Then there is the sound of the alarm, which would signal the advancement of the troops– the teruah. If you look in the Hebrew, here, of Numbers chapter 10, the word is translated “advance.” It is the same word translated “trumpets” for “Yom Teruah” or “Feast of Trumpets.” So, there is a difference in the sounds of the shofar.

Now traditionally (and I’m saying tradition, here– I am not saying this is directly out of the pages of Scripture), but the sound of an alarm does sound different. There is a different sound. We know that. But what is that different sound?

It would make sense if it sounded a little bit like this, which is more of an alarm sound, sort of like the alarm that goes off in your house. Anyway, I am going to go ahead now and show the sound of the alarm. Okay, here we go… I know. I am not a great shofar player, but anyway, that is the sound of what is understood to be the alarm.

That means advance, move forward. If we look in the continuation of this verse, it says:

Numbers 10:6 – “When you sound the advance the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall begin their journey; they shall sound the call for them to begin their journeys.

7 – “And when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but not sound the advance.

See, there is a difference in sounds.

Numbers 10:8 – “The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations.

We need to recognize that there is a difference. And so, when the Messiah returns, our actual sound may not be a long blast. It may be the sound of multiple short blasts because that is the sound of calling together and then advancing. Maybe it’s both. I don’t know. But I can tell you that we better be ready for that call.

Now, that was a normal sound that was heard in the tabernacle area. In ancient times, before Yahweh chose Jerusalem, He actually chose the city of Shiloh (or “Shee-lo”). Having been there, physically, to the city of Shiloh, it is really a very interesting place.

There are mountains. There is a mountain, here… and a mountain, here… and a mountain, here. These mountains are there, and then down below is the area where it is very obvious where the ancient city of Shiloh once existed. You can actually go down into some of the caverns and stuff where there was storage for the tithes.

And there is a rectangular area that is completely flat and level that matches, (according to the measurements– it has been done), the dimensions of the courtyard and the Tabernacle. So, there it was, and seen it and been there and sat in the place where we thought, maybe, Yahweh’s glory rested and His Spirit rested.

Looking out, you can kind of see and envision, because the mountains had these terraces going up, where there would have been tents. And there would have been people. They could look down into the Tabernacle area and see the offerings and hear the shofars and the trumpet blasts over the offerings.

So, that was a normal sound heard in the Tabernacle and Temple area. I just think about a barbeque happening there. That would be pretty awesome to live during that time period.

The Feast of Trumpets is a special occasion. It is a memorial of an event that has not yet taken place. But because we believe the Word of Yahweh, we know it will take place.

Numbers 10:9 – “When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before YAHWEH your Elohim, and you will be saved from your enemies.

Have you ever thought about that? I try to look at these things in a spiritual way, which even their physical battles in those days, the battle was Yahweh’s. They were really spiritual battles.

So, if we are encountering difficulty, challenge, temptations, trials, difficulties– things that cause our faith to be questioned, or whatever– I wonder what would happen if we just got our shofar and gave it a big old shofar blast. Anyway, just a thought.

In the midst of temptation, just get the shofar out, get the trumpet out, and just start blasting away at the horn.

Numbers 10:10 – “Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your Elohim: I [am] YAHWEH your Elohim.”

A time of rejoicing. So, they were told to do these things. And there seems to be in the eyes of Yahweh some kind of significance to the sound of the Trumpet.

So, they were told to do it on the Day of Trumpets. They didn’t have all the reasons, but sometimes we just have to be like children that are willing to be obedient to our Father’s will without having to have really a reason why, without really understanding the purpose of everything. And sometimes we won’t fully understand the reason unless we do it.

We see here the trumpets were used for advancing the armies, for calling the armies together for war. And for this reason a trumpet will sound when the Messiah returns because He is going to go with all of His saints when we are gathered together, and we are going to destroy the wicked with Him.

He will destroy the wicked, ultimately, with the breath of His mouth, as is predicted in the Book of Isaiah chapter 11, verse 4.

Isaiah 11:4 – But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

5 – Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist.

6 – “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.

Beautiful! And so, when the trumpet sounds and the dead arise, it is an alarm call for one of the most significant events of our Heavenly Father’s plan. This is when He gathers Yisrael together.

Jeremiah 23:7 – “Therefore, behold, [the] days are coming,” says YAHWEH, “that they shall no longer say, `As YAHWEH lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’

8 – “but, `As YAHWEH lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.”

Now, Galatians 3:29 says that those who are Messiah’s are Abraham’s seed, and according to Romans chapter 11, even if we are not of the physical stock of Yisrael, we will be grafted in and are grafted in to the olive tree.

And Yahweh will gather His children together… and Revelation 20 speaks of the time that we will reign with Him for a thousand years.

So in light of all these things, in light of the fact that the Feasts, in part, speak of future events yet to come, it is understandable why Colossians chapter 2 and verse 16 would refer to them as a shadow of things yet to come.

Colossians 2:16 – So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,

17 – which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Messiah (Lit. “body of Messiah”).

Let’s read this again: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body of Messiah.” Hmm? Yes.

So, looking here it says these things, first of all, ARE a shadow of things to come. They presently are, today, as we speak, as Paul spoke. The Feast Days ARE a shadow of things to come, indicating that they must have been keeping them still if they were still a shadow of things to come. They are.

He is not saying, “Do not let anyone judge you for BREAKING these Feast Days,” and so on.

He is saying, “Don’t let anyone judge you for KEEPING those Days, except the Body of Messiah,” because it says, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body of Messiah.”

Don’t let anyone judge you in these areas of Feast keeping except the Body of Messiah, because the Body of Messiah… “Judgment begins with the household of Yahweh.” Right? We are allowed to judge those on the inside. Those on the outside Yahweh judges, according to 1 Corinthians, I believe, Chapter 5.

So, these things are awaiting their fulfillment, partly, with the Feast of Trumpets because it is then that our spiritual exodus will formally occur. It is then that our corruptible flesh is going to be set aside for an incorruptible spirit, which will give us that true Pentecostal fulfillment.

And it is then the Messiah will fulfill the Feast of Trumpets. Why then would we ever consider submitting ourselves to a western Gentile mindset– “Oh, Messiah fulfilled everything that the Law foreshadowed,” in the sense that we don’t have to do it anymore?

Didn’t He fulfill baptism, as we shared a few weeks ago? Yet, we still baptize, as a physical representation of something that He is doing for us. We still accept baptism as something that is important and needful. So why not the Festivals, also? Why not look at the Festivals and say, “That’s part of it”?

Yes, we still physically do it, even though it has a spiritual application to it. Anyway, I think an important question for all of us is that we look at the Festivals and we do them and we see the importance of them. We see how they honor the Messiah, and we see how they remind us of what Yahushua has done or what He will do for us.

We see all these things. Just imagine for a moment if the modern church today did not reject the Festivals. What if the modern church had not done that? What if they had accepted the Festivals as being good and necessary? Every year the entire world, the entire planet, would be reminded of many different things.

They would be reminded of the Passover, which is a memorial of Yahushua’s death; Pentecost, the giving of His Spirit, the giving of the Law; The return of the Messiah; His atonement for us on the Day of Atonement; Our tabernacling with Him forever… and also, the temporariness of the life that we live today.

So, if these were yearly reminders that the church would actually observe, don’t you think that there would be a lot more people who would be coming to the Savior? If seven times a year, instead of these pagan-rooted festivals, we submitted ourselves to Yahweh’s Festivals? I think so.

I am convinced, though, brothers and sisters, that there are a lot of people whose hearts are not really right with the Father. I say this with a tone of somberness because I don’t want to be among one of those whose heart is not right with Yahweh when the Messiah returns.

And Yahweh spoke of people who had this hope for the Day of Yahweh. Scripture speaks of it. But the Day of Yahweh wasn’t going to be a good thing for them. In the Book of Amos chapter 5, verse 18, it says:

Amos 5:18 – Woe to you who desire the day of YAHWEH! For what good [is] the day of YAHWEH to you? It [will be] darkness, and not light.

19 – It [will be] as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or [as though] he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him!

20 – [Is] not the day of YAHWEH darkness, and not light? [Is it not] very dark, with no brightness in it?

Whoa! And then He goes on to say:

Amos 5:21 – “I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies.

22 – Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept [them], Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.

23 – Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.

Amos 5:24 – But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.

We see, here, brothers, that there are certain ones that are longing for Yahweh’s Day, and we even see that they observe Festivals! Festivals! Like we do. And yet, the Day of Yahweh will not be a day of joy and gladness to them. It will be a day of darkness– a day when their life will be extinguished from the earth. And He has a reason for that.

Some people say, “Well, EliYah, look at what it says here. It says, ‘I hate your feast days.’ That tells me that Yahweh must not want us to keep Feast Days anymore because He hates them. He says, ‘I hate your feast days.'”

Well, yeah… okay. But He also hates the noise of your songs. Does that mean you don’t sing to Him anymore? No. We have to look at why He hates those feast days. It must be because justice is not running down like water and righteousness is not coming down like a mighty stream, and it needs to be.

Some might say, in defense of those who say He hates your feast days, “Well, He is saying YOUR feast days.” In other words, He is telling Israel, “Your own festivals that you keep, not the ones I command you.” I don’t know if I can make that case. I have Numbers 28, verse 26. It says:

Numbers 28:26 – `Also on the day of the firstfruits, when you bring a new grain offering to YAHWEH at your [Feast of] Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work.

YOUR Feast of Weeks. He goes on to say in another place:

Leviticus 23:2 – “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: `The feasts of YAHWEH, which you shall proclaim [to be] holy convocations, these [are] My feasts.

The Feasts of YAHWEH. So, they are Feasts of Yahweh. He says, “These are MY Feasts,” but then He also calls them “YOUR Feasts.” So, what is going on here? Which is it? Is it Yahweh’s Feasts or is it our Feasts? Well, it is our Feasts only because Yahweh gave it to us. Yahweh gave us His Festivals.

So, is it really true? Are they really talking about the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Trumpets, here (Amos 5:21)? Are they talking about the real Feast Days? Well, we can see it is obvious, here, that they are trying to offer to Yahweh. It says, “You offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings.” He says, “I won’t accept them.”

The songs were also supposed to be for Him. It says, “Take away from Me the noise of your songs.” So, they were intended to be festivals to Him.

The issue, here, brothers, is not that Yahweh hates His own Feast Days. He commanded them. He wants us to keep them. The issue here is that the people were not righteous. They were engaging in celebrations and singing and making sacrifices, but then their deeds were wicked. They were an unjust nation.

What good is it to sing songs and to praise Yahweh and to gather and have a great gathering if we are an unjust people that refuse to have a heart turned to doing the Father’s will? It is all ritual if that is what is really going on. It is just a bunch of rituals. Empty rituals.

David knew this. He knew that very well. In Psalm 51, verse 16, he had been confronted with his sin with Bathsheba, and he told Yahweh:

Psalms 51:16 – For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give [it]; You do not delight in burnt offering.

17 – The sacrifices of Elohim [are] a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart — These, O Elohim, You will not despise.

18 – Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem.

Psalms 51:19 – Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, With burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

See, Yahweh didn’t want sacrifices to be a substitute for obedience because obedience is better than sacrifice. He would rather have obedience than offerings.

But the point is, David understood– Then AFTER we have chosen righteousness, AFTER we have had the contrite heart, THEN make your offerings. That is not what was happening in the Book of Amos.

Another prophet, Isaiah, was a prophet during the same time period as Amos, except Isaiah was speaking more toward the Southern Tribes and Amos was speaking toward the Northern Tribes. They were both prophets that were there during the reign on Uzziah. And he tells them:

Isaiah 1:10 – Hear the word of YAHWEH, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our Elohim, You people of Gomorrah:

See, they were not listening to Yahweh’s Law. They were making a bunch of offerings.

Isaiah 1:11 – “To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” Says YAHWEH. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats.

12 – “When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My courts?

13 – Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies — I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.

He cannot stand that. No different than going to your congregation every week and lifting up your hands and acting like a holy man, or a holy woman, and the rest of the week you are living like a sinner. Yahweh hates it. And He does not accept those offerings of praise because He cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. He hates it.

He doesn’t care if you are coming for a Festival or if you are going to church on Sunday. He doesn’t care. If you are sinning, I don’t care if you are in your house and taking one hour a day of prayer then the rest of the day you are out living like a sinner. What good is it? What good is that hour of prayer except that hour of prayer be repentance?

He goes on to say:

Isaiah 1:14 – Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing [them].

15 – When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.

He will not hear. Why? He says, “Your hands are full of blood.” Let’s continue to read this.

Isaiah 1:16 – “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,

So, He is saying they think all these sacrifices and these rituals are going to do it. No. Cease from doing evil. Learn to do good.

Isaiah 1:17 – Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.

That is the context of the old verse that we all know:

Isaiah 1:18 – “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says YAHWEH, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.

So, the people were keeping festivals well enough, but they weren’t walking uprightly. And so, He hated the festivals. I would hate for Yahweh to view our gatherings that way.

And so, I try to think of things that maybe I am doing, or we as a body have done or are struggling with, and see when we come before Him, are our hearts really right before him? We see He is concerned, here, about the fatherless, the orphans. He is concerned about the widow.

There are men listening to our broadcast today who have spiritually widowed their wives and spiritually made their children fatherless because they have refused to take the position of spiritual leadership in their homes.

And there are women listening to this program today who refuse to allow their husbands to take that position, therefore, widowing themselves and orphaning their own children from what Yahweh wants their fathers to be in the household. I know, that’s a strong one. But we have to think about this.

If Yahweh is so concerned about the fatherless and the widow, shouldn’t we be? And if He is concerned because their physical needs are not being met– the fatherless and the widow being poor and unable to eat– what about spiritual needs? Wouldn’t that be even more important?

I mean, if they died of hunger and thirst, that would be one thing, but if they went to the lake of fire because they did not have that leader in the household, that one to take responsibility in the household…

And if He is concerned and He rejects their feasts because of them neglecting other men’s wives and children (because the men died, and the wives and children are there, kind of left hanging), if He is upset by that, how much more so our own wives, our own children? Men? I am talking to myself. I am talking to you.

And ladies, you need to give the leadership position to your husbands. I know. I am a man. You can’t hear that from me very easily, but it is for your own benefit. We are not worthy of that. I’m not worthy of that, but something to think about.

Amos and Isaiah were both prophets, contemporaries of one another. So, when we come for our Festivals, we need to make sure that, as a result of our own failures, as parents, as husbands, that our hands are not full of blood because we failed to take our position of leadership and our families fell away– Our families aren’t serving.

That is something that I think about every day– my responsibility. I don’t always walk it out the way I should. I say that in all honesty. But you know? I want to.

We can go to Yahweh, and we can find grace. He says, “Let us reason together.” And though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

So, the Festivals, I hope, brothers and sisters, are, yes, an awesome testimony of the Messiah and what He wants us to do, but also a time where we do a heart check.

See, sometimes people get this idea: “Oh, we are going to keep Torah. That will make us accepted in Yahweh’s eyes.” “We will go keep Feast Days. That will make us accepted in Yahweh’s eyes.” And it becomes this ritualistic thing when a person’s heart may not even be right.

That is one thing I like about the Festivals. They do have a way of drawing us back to Yahweh if we have gone astray.

But if we think we can gather for the Feast Days and praise Him and offer the sacrifices of praise on our lips and lifting up of holy hands and our hearts aren’t right before Him and we are not completely surrendered to His will, He is not pleased with that kind of arrangement. We see that very plainly here.

He wants His people to have their hearts submitted to walking in righteousness and bearing the fruits thereof. Now, I am not saying you have to be perfect in order to attend the Feast. I am only saying, we must come to the Festivals with our hearts completely surrendered to Him and not just pay a bunch of lip service.

Feast keeping is not an empty, dry ritual. It’s not. It is intended to be an outlet, an outlet for expressing our true, true, heartfelt thanks for all that Yahweh has done for us and promises to do for us in the future. That is what it is all about.

If you feel like you need an outlet, if you feel overwhelmed with all that Yahweh has done for you in your life and you long to praise Him in a special way, if you long to be with like-minded brothers and sisters in the faith who have that same longing also, then the Feast Days are for you.

That is what Yahweh wants out of our Festivals. He wants true, heart, heart, heartfelt praise. Not man pleasing. Heartfelt praise.

Look, if we are only coming to Him and doing this out of a dry, ritualistic, mechanical thing, and our hearts are not yielded to righteousness, we see, here, He hates our observances.

But what if our hearts were yielded to His will? What if we were hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Or what if we had not our hearts yielded to His will and we had been holding back and we want to change our ways? Then let’s reason with Him. Though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.

The Feast of Trumpets is signifying a very important event in Yahweh’s plan– our redemption, the return of Yahushua the Messiah to the earth to reign as King over all. No more elections. No more turmoil. No more bombs. Just a righteous King bringing the justice to this earth it has desperately needed for 6,000 years.

Yahushua said:

Mark 13:31 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

32 – “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Not even Yahushua knows the day of His return. Only the Father knows.

Now, I don’t know how this would fit into Trinitarian and Oneness theology if the Messiah doesn’t know anything about when He is going to come back, but I look at what He said, and it makes sense because there is something to be said about the Messiah’s return if you understand a Jewish wedding.

It is actually a biblical thing they would do. There would be a betrothal time, an agreement to be married, an “engagement” we would call it today. This betrothal would bind them together (a
permanent bond). The only thing that could separate a betrothal would be a divorce.

The bridegroom would go and prepare a home for his bride. He would build it. He would make it, just as Messiah says, “I go and prepare a place for you.”

Then the bride had to always be ready at anytime because it was the father of the bridegroom that would make the decision as to when the marriage festival would actually take place. The son wouldn’t know when. Only the father of the bridegroom would know when. And so, the Son doesn’t know the time. The Father has placed this in His own hand.

And so, He says:

Mark 13:33 – “Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.

Those who think they know, those who… “Oh, It is going to happen in this year or that year…” you don’t know. Every prediction ever made about the Messiah’s return, every single one of them have, always, a one hundred percent failure rate. None of them have been successful.

Mark 13:34 – “[It is] like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.

35 – “Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming — in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning —

36 – “lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.

Mark 13:37 – “And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

Do you get that? Watch! Watch what? Does that mean we can never sleep? Is He saying we are not allowed to sleep at night? What is He saying, here?

An interesting thing about the Feast of Trumpets is it occurs the first day of the month. Now, if we understand Yahweh’s calendar is not based on human calculation, that His calendar and His Feast Days are based on the motion of the heavenly bodies, what we find here is something very interesting.

On the night in which there is the Feast of Trumpets, we will have to watch. We will look upward so that we might know when the Festival of Trumpets actually begins. That is part of what you have to do if you are going to keep the Feast of Trumpets, because you may not know when that actually, officially starts.

Now, we have to understand Yahweh’s calendar is different than man’s calendar. We see, here, in Genesis chapter 1, verse 14:

Genesis 1:14 – Then Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;

15 – “and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.

16 – Then Elohim made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. [He made] the stars also.

Now if you look up, here, at this word translated “seasons,” it is the Hebrew word “moed.” “Moed” in the Hebrew means “appointed times,” and actually, “moed” is the word translated, many times, “feasts” or “festivals.” It is translated “feast” twenty-three times in the King James Version.

So, the heavenly bodies are for setting the Festivals, and they determine Yahweh’s calendar. We see, here, 1 Kings chapter 8, verse 2. It says: Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the feast in the month (Heb. 3391 moon) of Ethanim, which is the seventh month (Heb. 2320 renewal, new moon).

1Kings 8:2 – Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim, which [is] the seventh month.

That is, of course, the Festival of Tabernacles. Now, we see, here, that the first instance where it is translated “month,” the actual Hebrew word, there, is “yerach,” which means “moon.” So, in the “moon” of Ethanim, which is the seventh month (which is the Hebrew word 2320, which means “renewal” or “new moon”).

So, what I am trying to get, here, from this text is that we see that the moon is intricately linked with month. The moons set the months.

Actually, this word, here, Ethanim, is a very interesting word. The biblical name for the seventh month, Ethanim, means “to endure with strength.” To endure with strength. It is the seventh month, brothers and sisters, that we are all seeking to endure and wait for with all the strength that Yahweh provides.

You see, Yahushua has not yet fulfilled all the Feast Days. Yes, in bondage we were set free by the blood of the Lamb. He sent His Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. But now we are awaiting this fulfillment of Trumpets. We are longing for His return. It will take endurance. It will take strength. It will take courage.

There is this three-month time period between Pentecost and the time of the Feast of Trumpets. A three-month time period. And so, we are waiting now for Yahushua to return. We are enduring, aren’t we? So, that is an important thing.

Now, when the moon goes through its phases, you will notice that it becomes light, and then it becomes dark, and then it becomes light– full of light and full of darkness as the moon rotates around the earth.

The sun is here, shining on the moon, and the moon is going around the earth, like this. And depending on where we are, if the moon is here, then the sun is shining on the back of the moon. If the moon is over here and the earth is in between us, then we see the face of the full moon. Then there are the half moons.

So when it is here, as it begins this orbit, here, we are going to see just a little bit of light coming around one side of the moon. So, from our perspective, we have the moon disappearing. It does not give us light.

Then when it reappears, that is the crescent moon. That is when the light just starts to peak around the one edge of the moon. That’s when the moon reappears. Thus we have a new moon, and you will see it is crescent shaped.

If you were to look tomorrow night toward the setting sun, if you wait for up to an hour after sunset, you are going to see this crescent moon, assuming you have clear skies.

And this crescent shaped moon, just to the left of where the sun has set, will mark the beginning of the sixth month on Yahweh’s calendar– tomorrow night, which would mean we are only a month away from the Feast of Trumpets.

So, after tomorrow night we will begin looking toward and looking forward to that month of Ethanim, the seventh month, a month of many Festivals.

You know, any shepherd of Israel watching over his flocks could look up in the sky and know a new month has begun. This is different than the scientific new moon. Here is the sun, and the moon is directly in front of the sun… and we are over here… and the earth is here, so we can’t see it.

And the scientific new moon is when the moon, in it’s orbit, moves directly in between, as far as the plane goes, during that conjunction. And the conjunction is what certain times of different years will produce a solar eclipse where the moon passes directly between the sun and the earth.

But a biblical month is either 29 or 30 days. And what is interesting about the Festival of Trumpets is the day because we understand that days begin at evening. The sun goes down, and we don’t yet know whether that day is the Day of Trumpets, in many cases, unless we physically see– “Ah, we have a new moon tonight.

Sometimes you are able to guess, and now we even have charts and things where we can calculate this stuff. But even with the charts, it is still going to take a visual sighting to be a hundred percent sure. That is how it was last year. Now, this year it is a little bit more certain.

What we find, though, is you are going to have to look. And what is interesting to me is, it just creates a perfect picture of what our Savior told us to do. He told us to WATCH! And this is exactly what we are doing on the night of the Feast of Trumpets. We are watching!

And the Feast of Trumpets is a time that is signifying the Last Trump when the Messiah returns. So, the whole thing that we are doing is exactly what our Savior told us to do: Watch for His return. And we don’t know the day or the hour. We are not sure whether that night will be the beginning of Yom Teruah or not. So, it all fits.

Now, on the night of September 17th, I hope everyone of you will go out and take the time and look for the new moon and watch. It is just a good practice to do. This is a year that we are pretty sure it will be that night. So, we go out. My family and I go out. We have a hill we go to. We go there and look for the new moon.

The Feast of Trumpets is giving us that picture of the time when our Savior will come. He will gather us all together with the sound of the trumpet, and we won’t know the day or the hour. The goal that Yahweh is trying to get us toward is that we are ready, that we are prepared, for the coming of the Son of Man because no one knows the day or the hour.

He will return like a thief in the night, at the sound of the trumpet, when all those who are in the graves will hear His voice. And we will come and feast with Him. He will cleanse us of our sins. The corruption will put on incorruption. And we will dwell with Him forever.

You know, another interesting thing about the Festival of Trumpets you will notice. When you go out and you watch for the new moon and you see the crescent, it just so happens that the crescent is shaped like a trumpet. A shofar!

I even do this when we see the new moon. I kind of put it up there and see Yahweh has His depiction of the shofar up there in the sky. He is saying, “Blow the Shofar!” I don’t know if Yahweh meant that. It is just an interesting little thing there.

Then in the horizon, because the sun… yeah, it set, but there is still a little bit of an orange glow, like a fire, underneath. Isn’t that what Yahweh says, “Behold the day is coming, burning like an oven”? And the fire of the sun… you are seeing the orange reddish glow on the horizon. So, all the proud will be stubble.

It just completes the picture when you are out there, and you are blowing your shofar, and you see the crescent moon and the fire, the redness and the glow underneath. It just completes the picture.

So this Feast, its picture, has not yet been completed. And wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all observed that? Wouldn’t that be a testimony?

Getting back to what Yahushua said:

Matthew 24:35 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

He said this twice in the Book of Matthew.

Matthew 24:36 – “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.

37 – “But as the days of Noah [were], so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Hmm.

Matthew 24:38 – “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,

39 – “and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Now pay close attention, here, for those of you who just may not understand this verse. It says the flood came and took them all away, so also shall the Son of Man be.

Matthew 24:40 – “Then two [men] will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.

41 – “Two [women will be] grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.

“Taken.” Is that a good thing to be taken? Was it a good thing for those who were in the flood, when the flood came and took them all away? Was that a good thing for them? No! They were being judged. They were being destroyed by the floodwaters.

When the Day of Yahweh comes with a fire and He destroys with fire, the ones who are taken are the ones who are destroyed, not the ones who are caught up in the air and raptured, although I do believe we will be taken up in the air.

But we have to understand, this is not talking about the righteous being taken up into the air. It is talking about the wicked being destroyed, and the ones left behind are the ones who are blessed because they are not destroyed.

Matthew 24:45 – “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?

46 – “Blessed [is] that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.

Doing what? Giving out food in due season. Are we doing that? Are we providing food for others? Now, He is not just talking physical. He is talking spiritual, here. Are we about our Father’s business? Are we giving food in due season?

Matthew 24:47 – “Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.

48 – “But if that evil servant says in his heart, `My master is delaying his coming,’

Matthew 24:49 – “and begins to beat [his] fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards,

50 – “the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for [him] and at an hour that he is not aware of,

51 – “and will cut him in two and appoint [him] his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

We cannot be hypocrites. This is a failure to love our brother. Instead, we see, here, he is beating his fellow servants. In other words, not loving your brother, but instead harming your brother and focusing on the cares of this life– eating and drinking.

Today there are spiritual drunkards… spiritual drunkards who are drinking the wine from the harlot.

Revelation 17:3 – So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast [which was] full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

4 – The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.

Beating the fellow servants. The spiritual harlot spoken of in Revelation is one who does great harm to the true believers. If we start acting like her and beating
each other up and failing to love one another and we are causing each other to stumble and we are divisive and we are rude, we are being partakers with her. We don’t want to do that.

Some of these people get into spiritual drunkenness and false doctrines. Yahweh’s judgment on them for their lack of the fruits of His Spirit. They are walking in the works of the flesh, and they have spiritual drunkenness. Yahweh sends them a delusion.

We need to bear the fruits of love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, faithfulness, longsuffering, self-control.

We see that one day, though, the harlot will fall.

Revelation 18:1 – After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.

2 – And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!

Unclean? They still have unclean? Didn’t some people say that clean and unclean were no more?

And all the nations have done what?

Revelation 18:3 – “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”

4 – And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.

Come out of her. Yahushua is calling us to make an exit from her and her intoxicating spirit lest we be just along with her.

I don’t claim to know exactly how all prophecy is going to be fulfilled. I don’t claim to be an expert, here, but there is one thing that seems clear to me. Brothers and sisters, we better be ready when that last trumpet sounds. We better, because Babylon’s going down!

Let’s not get caught up in her ways. Let’s instead seek to be caught up in the air with Messiah Yahushua when He returns.

1Thessalonians 4:16 – For the Master Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of Elohim. And the dead in Messiah will rise first.

17 – Then we who are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Master.

18 – Therefore comfort one another with these words.

So, if you are looking for something or someone to get caught up with or in, don’t let it be the Mother of Harlots and her ways. A very interesting thing, here. It says that the Master Himself will descend from heaven with a shout. With a shout.

Leviticus 23:24 – “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.

This Hebrew word, “Yom Teruah,” Day of Trumpets, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, here, in Leviticus 23:24, if you look up the word “trumpets,” it is “teruah,” which means, as we shared earlier, “the alarm”… “sound of tempest”… “shout”… Shout! Very interesting.

Along with our trumpet blowing, let’s give a shout as well because it says, here, in Joshua Chapter 6:

Joshua 6:1 – Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in.

He is bringing the children of Israel to destroy Jericho.

Joshua 6:2 – And YAHWEH said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, [and] the mighty men of valor.

3 – “You shall march around the city, all [you] men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days.

Joshua 6:4 – “And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

5 – “It shall come to pass, when they make a long [blast] with the ram’s horn, [and] when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”

All the people shall do what? Shout! So the trumpet blows, and there is a shout! And Jericho, the first city that was taken by ancient Israel as they entered the Promised Land, becomes exposed, and it falls. The walls come falling down.

We read a little later in that chapter:

Joshua 6:15 – But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only they marched around the city seven times.

16 – And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: “Shout, for YAHWEH has given you the city!

There is a striking parallel, here, between what Joshua was doing leading Israel against the city of Jericho and Yahushua’s return. Maybe you don’t know this, but the city Jericho, pronounced “Yer-ee-kho,” means “its moon.” “Yareach” is the word “moon” in Hebrew– “Yaw-ray-akh.”

And when Moshe led the children of Israel out of Egypt into the wilderness, he spent a lot of time teaching the people his Torah. But we know that not even Moshe himself was able to enter the land. There were only two who were permitted to enter into the land from that generation, and that was Joshua and Caleb.

And interestingly, the meaning of “Caleb” in the Hebrew language is “dog.” Dog is a common name for Gentiles. Israel will call them dogs. Yahushua even called a Canaanite woman a dog. But Caleb was actually an Israelite from the tribe of Judah, and he was a righteous man.

And Joshua was from the tribe of Ephraim, and his name, as some of you may already know, is actually the same name as the Messiah. Joshua in Hebrew is actually pronounced Yahushua.

Now, Yahweh loves to teach (we can see this) object lessons, illustrations, pictures. And what we see, here, is that, like ancient Israel was delivered by the blood of the lamb, we are currently now in this time of wilderness, and we are strangers, and we are sojourners, and we long to enter the land with Messiah leading us there.

But we, by our own human efforts, who have sought to follow Torah, have not been successful. So Moshe cannot take us across the Jordan. We need Yahushua. We need a man named Yahushua to take us across the Jordan. We cannot get there by our own righteousness. It is only by His righteousness that we will enter in.

Even among those of us who were Gentile dogs at one time, Yahushua can lead us, too, across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. Just as Joshua led Caleb, Yahushua will lead us– Gentile, Israelite, whoever you are. He will lead us across the Jordan.

And this Feast of Trumpets, which occurs on the moon of the seventh month (remember Yericho means moon), signifies this event. And with the SHOUT of an archangel and the trumpet of Elohim, the Messiah will return.

And the earthly, temporary, shaky, wobbly foundations and walls of the kingdoms of this world that people have relied upon for their protection will come tumbling down. And the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Master Yahweh and of His Messiah Yahushua, and He shall reign forever and ever.

Revelation 11:15 – Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become [the kingdoms] of our Master and of His Messiah, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

Yahweh has given you the city. Is this the last trump? Many mysteries, here, brothers, but one thing we need to understand is that we better be ready when the last trumpet sounds.

1Corinthians 15:51 – Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed —

52 – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1Thessalonians 4:16 – For the Master Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of Elohim. And the dead in Messiah will rise first.

17 – Then we who are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Master.

HalleluYah!

1Thessalonians 4:18 – Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Where is He taking us? What can we expect?

Matthew 24:30 – “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 – “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

So, we will apparently have an angel assigned to each one of us who will take us to the place that we need to go, which will be Yerushalayim– not heaven, not floating on clouds playing harps, but Yerushalayim. Although, maybe there will be some of that, too. I don’t know.

Zechariah 14:1 – Behold, the day of YAHWEH is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst.

2 – For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Zechariah 14:3 – Then YAHWEH will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle.

4 – And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, [Making] a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.

That is the place where Yahushua ascended– the Mount of Olives. He left with clouds, and He’s coming with clouds.

Zechariah 14:5 – Then you shall flee [through] My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus YAHWEH my Elohim will come, [And] all the saints with You .

6 – It shall come to pass in that day [That] there will be no light; The lights will diminish.

Zechariah 14:7 – It shall be one day Which is known to YAHWEH — Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen [That] it will be light.

8 – And in that day it shall be [That] living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur.

9 – And YAHWEH shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be — “YAHWEH [is] one,” And His name one.

No more Adonai, HaShem, whatever.

Zechariah 14:10 – All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. [Jerusalem] shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin’s Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and [from] the Tower of Hananeel to the king’s winepresses.

11 – [The people] shall dwell in it; And no longer shall there be utter destruction, But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

Zechariah 14:12 – And this shall be the plague with which YAHWEH will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.

13 – It shall come to pass in that day [That] a great panic from YAHWEH will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor, And raise his hand against his neighbor’s hand;

Zechariah 14:14 – Judah also will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations Shall be gathered together: Gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance.

15 – Such also shall be the plague On the horse [and] the mule, On the camel and the donkey, And on all the cattle that will be in those camps. So [shall] this plague [be].

What about the cars? I don’t see that, here. Maybe there won’t be technology like this that we are living in now when Messiah returns.

Zechariah 14:16 – And it shall come to pass [that] everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, YAHWEH of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

Oh! The ones who are LEFT BEHIND! The ones who are not taken… of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to do what? Worship the King, Yahweh of hosts, and to do what? Keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

You mean Feast keeping in the New Covenant time period? Absolutely! So, we are going to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

Zechariah 14:17 – And it shall be [that] whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, YAHWEH of hosts, on them there will be no rain.

If you are not going to be thankful for the harvest and keep the Feast Days, you won’t get one.

Zechariah 14:18 – If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they [shall have] no [rain]; they shall receive the plague with which YAHWEH strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

Egyptians keeping the Feasts? You mean the Feasts are not just for Israel? It is for all nations? Yes!

Zechariah 14:19 – This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

So, the ones who are left behind are the ones who will be ruled over. The ones who are left behind, some of which will be caught up in the air to meet with Messiah and reign with Him for a thousand years (Revelation Chapter 19 and 20).

We will get more into that in future broadcasts, but here is the thing I want us to pay attention to. It is he who endures to the end that will be saved.

Matthew 24:13 – “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

We have to endure to the end to make it, even if we are the last people standing on the face of the earth who choose to serve Yahweh and put Him first. We have to be willing to endure.

Hebrews 12:1 – Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares [us], and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Let us run with endurance (Ethanim, the 7th month).

Hebrews 12:2 – looking unto Yahushua, the author and finisher of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of Elohim.

(He endured the stake, or the stauros.)

And so, as we await “Ethanim,” brothers and sisters, spiritually speaking, let’s not fall asleep at the wheel. Let’s run the race with endurance. Let’s be like Messiah, who had His eyes set on the joy that was placed before Him. Let’s watch. I don’t mean watch TV. I mean, let’s keep our eyes focused on the heavenly things.

Watch for the enemy and avoid him. Keep our eyes focused on the heavenly things, the signs of our Savior’s return. Watch for those so that we are not deceived when the imposter comes. Yahushua says:

Luke 21:33 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

He keeps saying this.

Luke 21:34 – “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.

He keeps warning us about this over and over.

Luke 21:35 – “For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.

So, what does He say to do?

Luke 21:36 – “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Do you do this? Do you pray that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man? It is important that we do and not let carousing, cares of this life, weigh our hearts down. Yahushua warned us so many times not to get caught up in earthly things.

It is the earthly walls and kingdoms that will be destroyed. Just as Joshua, son of Nun, came and leveled Jericho, Yahushua the Messiah will put an end to the kingdoms and foundations and fences of this world and all its temporary glory.

It is times like now that it is actually harder to keep our focus on Yahweh and the heavenly things because the adversary offers a vast array of diversions– entertainments, substitutes, things to put our eyes on.

It is during times of trouble men typically humble themselves and seek Yahweh during those times, but during times of plenty, that is when men forget about Yahweh.

So, are we praying that we are counted worthy to escape the great trial which will come upon us as a snare upon the whole earth? We must endure. We must persevere. We must “ethanim.” Yahushua told one assembly:

Revelation 3:10 – “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

11 – “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.

Matthew 24:45 – “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?

We need to be giving good food in due season. I want to explain what that is right here. Actually, Messiah will.

Matthew 25:31 – “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.

32 – “All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides [his] sheep from the goats.

33 – “And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

Matthew 25:34 – “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, `Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 – `for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;

36 – `I [was] naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

Matthew 25:37 – “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, `Master, when did we see You hungry and feed [You], or thirsty and give [You] drink?

38 – `When did we see You a stranger and take [You] in, or naked and clothe [You]?

39 – `Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’

Matthew 25:40 – “And the King will answer and say to them, `Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did [it] to one of the least of these My brethren, you did [it] to Me.’

41 – “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, `Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

The goats.

Matthew 25:42 – `for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;

43 – `I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

44 – “Then they also will answer Him, saying, `Master, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’

Matthew 25:45 – “Then He will answer them, saying, `Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do [it] to one of the least of these, you did not do [it] to Me.’

46 – “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

See, brothers, sometimes it is not what we have done. It is what we have failed to do.

It looks like the sheep are spending their time ministering and serving others, much like Yahushua did. It looks like they are paying attention to the needs of others and chose to love. It sounds like they would be good Feast keepers to me.

A self-centered lifestyle was not among the sheep. The goats, on the other hand, paid no attention to the needs around them, like those that Yahweh despised their feasts, as they ignored the cries of the fatherless and the widow and those in the downtrodden. And they mostly focused on themselves and their own interests.

Maybe it wasn’t what the goats did that condemned them. Maybe it was what they failed to do. They buried their talent in the sand and focused on the cares of this life and laid their foundations in things that have no eternal value.

Maybe even they, like those in Amos and Isaiah I read from earlier, did keep Feast Days, but paid no attention to the oppressed, the poor, the fatherless, the widow– did not seek to bring justice to them, never bothered to provide what they needed. No, they relied on others to do it and then blamed the leaders for failing to take care of things.

Since when, my brothers and my sisters, did it become the world’s responsibility to take care of the poor and help bring justice in this world that we live in? Since when?

We as believers have a whole lot more to offer the downtrodden because we can not only feed the weary souls physically, we can feed them spiritually, which is far more important. We not only can visit those in prison, we can set their hearts free from the prison in which Satan has them bound.

We not only can provide shelter for the ones in need, we can offer them eternal habitations in the house of our Elohim. We not only can offer them a drink of water, we can lead them to the One who can provide living water– water they can drink from and never thirst again.

We can not only offer clothing to the poor, we can lead them to the place where they can receive the robe of righteousness that Yahushua seeks to adorn them with.

WE should be the ones taking the lead in these areas. And if we think that keeping the Feasts are good enough, we need to take a lesson from Amos and Isaiah because it certainly wasn’t good enough at that time, was it?

We need to be about our Father’s business. We need to be aware of the traps, the pits and the snares of this world. If the enemy can only divert our attention away from the things that are important, he is already winning the battle. Because he has our attention diverted from heavenly things, we are not among those who are watching.

We don’t have our eyes on the right place, and we are not praying as we should.

1Peter 4:7 – But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.

8 – And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”

9 – [Be] hospitable to one another without grumbling.

Isn’t that the sheep providing shelter?

1Peter 4:10 – As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of Elohim.

You know, brothers, we are called to watch.

1Corinthians 16:13 – Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.

14 – Let all [that] you [do] be done with love.

And make use of our gifts. Administer it to one another as good stewards of the grace we are given. And if we are not using them, we are just letting it bury there and lie there in the sand while we focus on other things, Yahweh help us.

We are called to watch, and should it be, possibly, Yahushua does not return in our generation, we still didn’t waste our time watching because all you need to do is look in the obituaries and realize, “Hey, you know what? Time here is short.”

No guarantee of tomorrow. Young people die. Middle-aged people die. Old people die. All it takes is someone driving along on a two-lane highway. You are going one direction. They are going the other. They move their steering wheel six inches your direction, and your life is over.

You are six inches from death every time a car is coming in the other direction, unless somehow you survive the crash. But my point is, you don’t know what your next moment will be. Your next moment from your own perspective: A Mack truck hits you, and your next moment is you are facing the judgment seat of the Messiah.

You are going to hear that trumpet, and then off you go because the hour is coming.

John 5:28 – “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice

29 – “and come forth — those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

So, let’s not assume that it is necessarily the coming of the Messiah that is going to end our life here on the earth because our lives are fragile. So, we need to realize that.

Psalms 90:12 – So teach [us] to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

A good prayer for us:

Psalms 39:4 – “YAHWEH, make me to know my end, And what [is] the measure of my days, [That] I may know how frail I [am].

5 – Indeed, You have made my days [as] handbreadths, And my age [is] as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state [is] but vapor. Selah

Psalms 39:6 – Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up [riches], And does not know who will gather them.

7 – “And now, YAHWEH, what do I wait for? My hope [is] in You.

Beautiful!

James 4:14 – whereas you do not know what [will happen] tomorrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

So, brothers, let’s endure the things to come. Let’s cleave to Yahweh our strength. Let’s be ready to rule and reign with Messiah for a thousand years where the Torah will be called the Law of the Land.

In Israel of old, a trumpet sound was commonly used in the announcement of a new king.

1Kings 1:34 – “There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and blow the horn, and say, `[Long] live King Solomon!’

So, they blow the horn: We have a king! HalleluYah! Well, you know, brothers, when the Last Trumpet sounds, we are going to have a King, and this world will be under a rule it has never known or seen before. And those who think the Law is abolished are going to be in for a SHOCK.

Micah 4:2 – Many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of YAHWEH, To the house of the Elohim of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of YAHWEH from Jerusalem.

That is over in Israel. The Law is going to go forth. The Torah.

Micah 4:3 – He shall judge between many peoples, And rebuke strong nations afar off; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war any more .

So, the sound of the trumpet call is also a time when Yahweh gathers Israel together. And that is another event that happens, as we continue to read Micah.

Micah 4:4 – But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one shall make [them] afraid; For the mouth of YAHWEH of hosts has spoken.

5 – For all people walk each in the name of his god, But we will walk in the name of YAHWEH our Elohim Forever and ever.

HalleluYah!

Micah 4:6 – “In that day,” says YAHWEH, “I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast And those whom I have afflicted;

Why? Because we have gone to the lame, we have gone to the outcast, we have gone to them and have said, “Come to the Marriage Feast.” The proud won’t come. We were going in the highways and byways looking for humble men.

So, are we ready for this momentous event? Are our hearts yielded to the King right now? Is He ruling over us right now? Are we watching? Are we focusing on what Yahweh is doing on the earth today, because it will come as a snare upon those who are on the face of the earth?

Luke 21:35 – “For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.

It will be a snare, so we have to pray always we be counted worthy to escape it and seek to be light in the midst of the darkness.

1Thessalonians 5:2 – For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of YAHWEH so comes as a thief in the night.

3 – For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

4 – But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.

1Thessalonians 5:5 – You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.

6 – Therefore let us not sleep, as others [do], but let us watch and be sober.

1Thessalonians 5:7 – For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.

8 – But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and [as] a helmet the hope of salvation.

1Thessalonians 5:9 – For Elohim did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Master Yahushua Messiah,

10 – who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

So, brothers, what does the Feast of Trumpets have to teach us? It is a yearly reminder of the Messiah’s return. It is a yearly reminder of our need to prepare ourselves and be sanctified, that we might be ready to meet the King and reign with Him.

It is a yearly reminder that we are the Army of Yahweh, and we are being called forth to war, being fully ready to endure any hardship necessary to defeat the enemy.

2Timothy 2:3 – You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Yahushua Messiah.

4 – No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of [this] life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

And so, it is a yearly reminder we need to not be entangling ourselves too much with the affairs of this life, that we might please the One who enlisted us. And so, let’s put down our toys, men, and our worldly pursuits, and let’s pick up the armor of Yahweh.

The Feast of Trumpets is a yearly reminder of the futility of the worldly politics, those who are hoping in Mitt Romney or Ron Paul or, Yahweh forbid, Barak Obama. We have greater promises. Every year they have broken promises in their campaign because Yahweh is in control.

But we have a promise in the Messiah that is far greater than any promise coming from a politician. Only Messiah really has the real answers. We are not a part of a democracy or a republic, really, because Yahweh is in control of all things.

Mitt Romney, Barak Obama, Ron Paul– they are just politicians. They are limited in their power to do good or even to do evil. Yahweh is the true King to whom all must give account. Even our Presidents have to give account to Him, whether they think they will or not.

And so, the Feast of Trumpets reminds us that there is a greater government in place that will one day put an end to all of these governments. And we need to see ourselves as ambassadors of that government in the age to come, rather than putting our hopes in the next politician.

The Feast of Trumpets is a yearly reminder that we must be watchful, guard our hearts and minds against anything the enemy may seek to do to us– and to us men, that we watch over our households.

And for the elders among us, Yahweh charges you: Be watchful over the people of Yahweh. Warn against the wolves as a good shepherd would. Lay down your lives for the sheep. If you call yourself an elder, you are accountable to this. Don’t forget that.

The Feast of Trumpets is a yearly reminder that we need to be about our Father’s business and give food to those who are in need– spiritual food, the Word– and that we will be blessed when our Master comes if He will find us so doing.

And so, brothers and sisters, let’s be ready to hear the sound of the Trumpet. Let’s be ready to hear that shout, that cry, of the archangel– that midnight cry. The midnight cry to meet the Bridegroom. Let’s be ready.

Matthew 25:6 – “And at midnight a cry was [heard]: `Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’

Are we ready? Let’s have our lamps filled with oil. Let’s have our hearts filled with the service of love, being filled with the spirit of Yahweh– love, joy, peace, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, self-control. A servant’s heart. Let’s be ready to meet the Bridegroom and join Him in the ultimate Feast that will never end.

Let’s be ready when the last trumpet sounds. And as we prepare ourselves, may Yahweh bless you, and may Yahweh be with you, and may Yahweh truly have mercy on us all.