We are currently in the 6th month of the Hebrew calendar awaiting reports of the new moon sighting in Israel.
This sighting of the first sliver of the new moon will kick off the 7th Hebrew month as well as the start of the Feast of Trumpets (henceforth referred to as Yom Teruah).
Yom Teruah is the first holy day of the fall feasts which include Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Shemini Atzeret.
How Yom Teruah is Determined
Yom Teruah begins on the first day of the 7th Hebrew month based on the new moon sighting in Israel.
Once the first sliver of the moon is spotted, Yom Teruah begins in Israel and any other location that is in evening when the moon is sighted.
For those not currently in the evening at that time (in the United States for example), then Yom Teruah begins at evening.
Some degree of guesswork is always involved in trying to determine which day the first sliver of the new moon will be visible from Israel.
This would have been especially true in ancient times before moon phase calculations existed.
But with modern technology and accurate pre-calculated moon phase reports, we are much better able to predict and preplan for Yom Teruah.
As of this post (being written in 2021), the new moon is expected to be sighted in Israel tonight, September 8th, with the holiday ending on the evening of September 9th.
What is Yom Teruah All About?
Very little is actually mentioned in the Tanakh about Yom Teruah.
We know that as with the other holidays it is a day of solemn rest during which no ordinary work should be done. (Leviticus 23:24-25; Numbers 29:1)
From the word “Teruah” we also know that it has something to do with blowing the trumpet/shofar.
But the following verse in Psalms also gives us clues that the word Teruah is more than just trumpet blasts:
Psalms 150:5
Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing (teruah) cymbals!
As well as shouting with a voice:
Ezekiel 21:22
Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting (teruah), to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers.
So from the above verses, we can see that we are commanded to make loud noises…Shouting praises, blowing shofars, and/or making loud noises with instruments.
What about Rosh Hashanah?
Rosh Hashanah is not found anywhere in the bible. It was a tradition brought back with the Jews from their captivity in Babylon.
Because the Babylonian new year lined up with the biblical Yom Teruah the Jews adopted it and merged it with their own holy day.
For those of us wanting to observe the feasts as they were prescribed in the bible and not according to Jewish tradition then Yom Teruah, not Rosh Hashanah, is the holiday we observe.
What is Yom Teruah’s significance?
From the fulfillment of all of the Spring festivals during Yeshua’s first coming, it’s very much expected that the Fall feasts represent prophetic events to be fulfilled at some point in the future.
Yom Teruah is believed to be a rehearsal for the day on which Yeshua returns to gather his people.
This makes a lot of sense as it is in fact a trumpet blast that initiates the rapture:
1 Corinthians 15:52
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
In addition to a loud shofar (shofar teruah) that will be heard worldwide, there will also certainly be great shouts of joy (kol teruah simcha) and celebration.
And while in modern times we can guess which day the new moon of the 7th month will be sighted it is never a certainty. Therefore no man knows the day or the hour of its arrival (Matthew 24:36).
Conclusion
I have now received confirmation from Jerusalem that the new moon was sighted at 7:06PM Jerusalem time, so tonight September 8th 2021 begins the 7th month and Yom Teruah.
So shout to YHVH and blow your shofars and remember Yeshua’s promised return.
!חג שמח (Happy holiday!)
