The Fall Feasts of The Lord

Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic
Just as the four Spring Biblical Feast Days of Passover (Pesach), Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot ), FirstFruits (Chag HaBikurim) and Pentecost (Shavuot) have tremendous significance in God's plan of redemption in the first coming of our Savior, the three fall feast days that come four months later portray the future restoration harvest of mankind in the second coming.

Even the four months of summer in between them have great significance. Just consider the words that Jesus (Yeshua) spoke to His disciples because these words have great significance that many have missed in past readings if the Fall Feast Days are not clearly understood:

"Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest." John 4:35

The giving of the gifts of the Spirit of God at Pentecost (Shavuot) to the disciples empowered them to receive the instruction, the great commission to teach all nations to observe all His commands and prepare the world for the future harvest resurrection. Many cut the commission short saying we are to teach others to believe the Gospel message, but Yeshua commands we are to teach everyone to observe all things. If you doubt this, others did then as well:

And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus (Yeshua) came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father (YHVH) and of the Son (Yeshua) and of the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh), teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:17-20

You may be like me and innocently missed the significance of God's appointments, His Feast Days thinking they were done away with, but if we do that we cut the word of God just like the Roman Centurion that cut Messiah (the living word) on the cross. If we do that, we take away from the awesome story of the Bible its truth... that the seven Feasts (appointments) are a integrated blueprint of God's plan from His cross to His kingdom. They are the unchanging appointments for mankind to meet with The King of the Universe on His appointment calendar, times no one would ever want to miss if they just understood their significance.
For me, one key to understanding His Feasts (Moedim), His appointments is to understand that God gives us His teaching and instruction for living because He loves us and He never changes His mind, His word or the appointments on His calendar. God indeed is the King of the Uni"verse" and He uses each verse of The Torah as a part of a unified whole to teach us how to rest in His easy ("my yoke is easy") instruction about how we are to live if we love Him and desire to be near to Him.

It's the original message of the Deceiver to fall for the idea that God does not mean what He says or that He changes His mind. Don't listen to that message any longer.

In this study, I am only able to just scratch the surface on the deep significance and meaning of God's prophetic, rehearsal days for His appointments with mankind. That's what they are after all and it's up to you to participate because they are coming whether you are ready or not. So keep digging and to learn to honor and keep their counsel and purpose for your life. If you have a inner desire to learn more, that is probably why you are here today. Consider this prophecy that was foretold by God to Zephaniah:

"I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts-- They came from you, {O Zion;} {The} reproach {of exile} is a burden on them." Zephaniah 3:18

The appointed Fall Feasts are the set apart days known as 1) Trumpets (Yom Teruah), 2) Atonement (Yom Kippur) and 3) the 7 day celebration of Tabernacles (Sukkot). And remember, on God's Biblical calendar, His "days" always begin at sunset after all, in the beginning there was darkness before there was light. I know that may seem odd, but it just shows that some of us have been out of sync with our Creator.

Thanks to the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, we know that the day of Trumpets arrives with a big announcement in 2011 as a supermoon according to National Geographic.

"Tomorrow night the new moon will make a close approach to Earth, giving rise to the second supermoon of the year — but this one will have the power of invisibility. Because the moon's orbit is egg shaped, there are times in the roughly month long lunar cycle when the moon is at perigee—its closest distance to Earth—or at apogee, its farthest distance from Earth.

"A supermoon occurs when the moon is at perigee and it's in either a full or new phase," said Raminder Singh Samra, an astronomer at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver, Canada."

The comment by Andrew Fazekas on the moon's invisibility is interesting when you think about it - that's because the arrival of the "Day of Trumpets" is referenced in these words: "no man knows the day or hour". These are from Matthew 24:36. They were made famous by none other than Yeshua of Nazareth (a.k.a. Jesus) when he spoke of the Day of Trumpets when He will return. As you can see, there may be a lot more going on than you might expect in the Fall Feast Days.

For starters, Trumpets or Yom Teruah in Hebrew is the only holy appointed day that arrives with the new moon. Before NASA, this "day" was never really certain. The same is true today, and the reasoning is really quite simple. The period of a dark or invisible moon as it transitions in its cycle actually varies from a solar measurement of a month. Today thanks to NASA, in 2011 we know that the lunar calendar during this month has the normal 2 days in which the moon will be in darkness as it transitions from waning to darkness to waxing new light on the third day. By the way, does that sound like a pattern to any Bible students out there? It is a remembrance of the 3rd day resurrection of Messiah!!!

This lunar transition from darkness to light is due to the moon's orbital shape and alignment, so if you consider it, Trumpet's official appointed arrival is really only "known" with the actual sighting of the new sliver of the moon. Simply put, within God's "purpose" in His creation design and by His own declaration, this Feast Day is not really "known" until it is seen - when the day and hour is "confirmed" (known). When you also consider the moon's location or proximity to the sun during the day also effects the timing and our ability to see its crescent light, the ancient message that the day and hour is unknown becomes more clear and it point directly at Trumpets Day. This is sure, God knows which future Trumpet's day will be "the day" of The King's shofar blast, the announcement of His return. So don't miss out on your chance to rehearse and celebrate that coming day that will accomplish His purpose!

We all need to know, to remember the former things which are the pattern of His appointments to understand God's future plans, they are "the" fulfillment of the appointed fall feast days. They start with the Day of Trumpets and declare the end (Autumn) harvest of things not yet done to accomplish His purpose from the beginning (Spring) of new life.

"Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose..." Isaiah 46:8-11

From my Scripture studies, I have learned that God's calendar, His Biblical lunar and solar calendar is quite different that than the solar one that I have grown up with in my everyday life. His timekeeping all began with God's creation. In God's timekeeping, each month is marked by the moon and each day is marked by the sun as every Biblical day begins at sunset instead of midnight and a day by our Creator's definition continues on through the night and the next day's evening sunset as the earth rotates. How do we know this about the day?

"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." Genesis 1:5

Think about the basics here: "creation" began before there was light and before there is light there is darkness. God does not change, so it is the same with His definition of a day. It has never changed. To understand Scripture, and the Feast Days, we just need to start thinking like He doe and has since "in the beginning".

In the same way, each week is always counted with the same seven days given to us by God on His Biblical calendar and each week ends on His 7th Sabbath day of rest. The week ends with the Sabbath Saturday, it does not begin there! This has never changed either, Sunday is a religious invention of man. For more on that see my study, "The Sabbath.... When Did For Ever Change?".

Finally, each month is recorded by the Creator's perfectly amazing and exact movement of His timepiece, the orbit of the moon around the earth and the orbit of the earth around the sun. This precise movement marks each Feast month and Feast day as it rotates in God's time keeping. The beginning of all Biblical months begins with the new moon.

In the Bible, all of God's set apart days, all of His "Holy" appointed days are in accordance with His creation calendar which combines the earth's rotation and orbit around the sun with the moon's rotation and orbit around the earth. The moon's axis rotation exactly matches that of its orbital revolution around the Earth. It is no coincidence, God is keeping this perfect synchronization and it is why we never see the "dark side" of the moon.

God's precise timekeeping is quite different from today's solar Gregorian calendar that ignores the perfect Biblical month lunar component of God's Feast Day calendar. It was introduced really not that long ago by none other than a guy name Gregory, Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.

Before we can understand the great significance of God's appointed rehearsals, His Fall Feast Days, we must first look at the timing and events of the fulfillment of His Spring Feast Days. First of all, we must understand this truth from Scripture: the "fulfillment" of the spring Feast Days was completed by Jesus (or in Hebrew - Yeshua). Like God's calendar, the Feast Days are cyclical, they repeat because their orgital mechanics are based on God's rotational and orbital timepiece, they are not linear. So too, Messiah's mission is cyclical it is two-fold. That is why the prophetic Feast Days are divided into two separate seasons, both spring and fall. In Hebraic thought, the spring days tie to His humble role as "Messiah ben Joseph", the suffering Messiah, the lamb. Like Joseph of long ago, His own Jewish brothers rejected him, but the goys of Egypt and the Gentiles of today accept Him.

The prophecy of Daniel 9:26-27 teaches us the truth of the one Messiah's two comings as seen in the Spring and Fall Feasts. In fact Gabriel showed Daniel the exact timing of the future that Moses also wrote of when describing the Feast days. Daniel was told that Messiah the Prince will come on God's Feast Day schedule and He will be cut off, Yeshua fulfilled the prophecy. He was cursed and killed on a tree outside the city on Passover, He lay in the grave on the day of Unleavened Bread and he arose in resurrection on the Day of Firstfruits. Forty years later, the sanctuary of God was destroyed in Jerusalem and it remains in that same defiled state today as “wars and desolations are determined until the end”, when Messiah will come again:

"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah [and] against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it." Zechariah 12:2-3

In that day, the Fall days will reveal His role as "Messiah ben David", the King who comes in judgment of those opposing the Jewish people and Jerusalem even as the stones of the Western wall of the sanctuary become a burden for all the world to see.

And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced... Zechariah 12:9-10

Yeshua was pierced as "The Lamb of God" as foretold by Abraham and declared by John the Baptizer. He entered Jerusalem during the Spring preparation days, four days before Passover riding a lowly donkey as foretold by Isaiah. According to Biblical teaching (Torah) and instruction, the Passover lamb was to be selected on the 10th day of 1st month, and Messiah Yeshua was hailed on His triumphant entry into Jerusalem on that exact day, the 10th of Nisan.

The day of the Passover is day when the lamb was killed, the 14th of Nisan. Yeshua was crucified as the Lamb of God on the 14th day of the 1st month of God's calendar. Yeshua shows us each part of the Passover has great meaning for our redemption.


On the day after the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, according to Torah instruction, the First Fruits offering is to be made before God as a wave offering, a barley sheaf of the spring harvest.

According to the promised sign of Jonah that He declared, Yeshua was raised from the dead like Jonah, resurrected three days and three nights after being crucified. Do the math for yourself to see if the story you have heard about a Friday afternoon crucifixion and a Sunday morning resurrection adds up to three days and three nights. If not, then you are like me and learning that there is much more to know about the Feast days of The Lord, and they are very important in our lives.

As you must know, Easter, with it baskets and colored egg hunts is clearly not part of this picture, the Easter bunny distorts it with subtle cuddly deception. Passover is a holy, set apart Feast Day of The Lord. It is not Easter, but Passover, Unleavened Bread and FirstFruits. The lamb is the focus not a rabbit and Easter ham.

To know the next Spring Feast Day, we are told by God to count seven Sabbaths after the weekly Sabbath following Passover. If we do not know the true Sabbath day we will miss this count too. It is the day following the 49 day count. Can you imagine the Biblical disaster we would have if the disciples did not know how to count these days? They would have been in the wrong place at the wrong time!

For more on this please consider the study "Do As The Disciples Did - Count The Omer!"

On the 50th Day of the Counting of the Omer, the day arrives that many call Pentecost or The Feast of "Weeks" (in Hebrew - Shavuot). These 50 days also commemorate the 50 day journey from the Passover in Egypt to Mount Sinai. On Shavuot, two loaves of bread made from the spring harvest are to be waved before God at the altar representing His two witnesses. Just as the Torah was given on Mount Sinai, exactly on this day, the Holy Spirit "as tongues of fire" was poured out on born-again believers in Jerusalem fifty days from the Passover of Messiah. Those that were present were gifted with "words", the languages (tongues) of all nations so that the message of the Kingdom of God could be immediately declared to all peoples, tribes and nations.

Just as the appointed Spring Feast Days pinpoint the exact days of fulfillment of the Heavenly Father's incredible eternal plan of redemption, so too we must see that the Fall Feast Days are the rehearsals which point toward the next steps of His plan as declared in His word. Just like the fulfilled Spring appointment days, the coming Fall Days will be fulfilled sequentially on the exact appointed days of the Fall Feasts. That is why we must participate in them today as believers and followers of Messiah.

In Biblical Hebrew thought, these days focus on the "Day of The Lord", the "Day of YHVH" and they reflect His return as Messiah ben David, the returning King, the Lord of Hosts, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

Hosea prophesied of the two appearances of Messiah. Both the Spring and Fall Feasts are tied to the spring barley and fall wheat harvest times... which are the seasons that God has always taught us about. The are the seasons of Messiah!

In ancient time before modern irrigation, crop harvests were totally dependent upon the patterns of the spring and fall rains that only God provides. The "key" spring harvest crop has always been barley, it's success depended on the "former" spring rains.

The "key" fall harvest has always been wheat, its crop yield was dependent on the "latter" rains. If we just look, we can see these agricultural themes throughout Scripture. Remember the "end time" parable of the wheat and the tares? It is wheat for a reason, the reason is the season, the Fall Feasts!

Hosea wrote of Messiah's two missions, both the former and latter rain. Notice to know we have to follow. We are to participate:

"Then shall we know, [if] we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter [and] former rain unto the earth." Hosea 6:3

Yom Teruah - The Day of Trumpets

The Day of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) is the only Biblical Feast day on God's calendar that occurs on the first day of any lunar month, the day of the "new moon" (in Hebrew - Rosh Kodesh). Trumpets occurs on the first day of the seventh month. Scripture tells us that in God's creation the heavens govern the timing of His Feast days. Without an eye toward the heavens we cannot know the season nor the signs or the wonders of God's plan as foretold by these appointed Fall rehearsal days. In Biblical time, the new moon declares each new month. Fortunately, God's word, His Torah is wonderfully precise in His instruction of how we are to participate and observe this day, this "High" Sabbath Day, this day of blowing trumpets announcing the coming King.

It might be easy to lose sight of the instructions of our Father, after all, many may think that the "Feast Days" were somehow only for those living in the so-called "Old Testament" times. I used to think like that or perhaps in ignorance... I did not think at all about them, but I now know we must not ignore the observance of any of God's teaching. After all, Jesus (Yeshua) himself spoke of this. Matthew 5:17: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law [Torah], or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill."

With this instruction from Messiah himself, we must understand He has not changed His mind. The goal here is to show why this is true and to address the meaning and imagery of His holy days and the prophetic significance of this appointed rehearsal, this "set apart" (holy) day.

Our focus today should be on how to honor and celebrate this day and to rehearse it with the instruction words of Scripture. We need to know first of all that God's "High Sabbath" days are to be "rest" days which occur during each of the seven feasts of The LORD. Of course, they do not necessarily fall on the weekly (seventh day) Sabbath days. In Scripture, God always identifies these appointed days with the simple instruction, “do no work".

To better understand this, begin by reading the instruction given in the Word of God in order to comprehend the foreshadowed "principles" of any Feast Day and their relation to what you know about the Messiah. This is important so that we can honor each day according to God's Word and celebrate "Trumpets" as set apart and holy, after all, it is a "High Sabbath". Let's search some key words in Scripture relating to this day to find the passages that reveal to us how we can celebrate Trumpets.

The first time we learn about "Yom Teruah", The Day of Trumpets is in the Scriptures of Torah in Leviticus 23:24-25. Leviticus is misunderstood, but it graphically portrays the redemptive planning manual of God so pay close attention to every detail, they all symbolically portray imagery of The Messiah! Let's take a look at what this allegorical passage says about this prophetic day of gladness that Messiah Himself refers to as "the day no man knows", the Day of Trumpets - Yom Teruah.

Leviticus 23:24-25: "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD."

There are five books, five scrolls of the Torah as recorded by Moses, and by no coincidence whatsoever we can see that there are five principles of this holy, "set apart" day:

1. It is to be in the first day of the seventh month.
2. It is a Sabbath day.
3. It is a memorial day of blowing the shofar.
4. It is a day of holy convocation or assembly.
5. It is a day to make offerings to our Father, God.

The shofar is a picture of freedom. We see this as the shofar is to be blown in the Year of Jubilee to announce freedom to all (see Leviticus 25:9-10). Isaiah also speaks of the shofar being blown when God gathers the House of Israel to Himself in the Land He gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob:

"It will come about also in that Day that a great shofar will be blown and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt, will come and worship Yahweh on the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem." Isaiah 27:13

Trumpets is a one day "Feast" and it is critically important to remember that our Heavenly Father tells us to not add or take away from any of His words of instruction as He expressed in Deuteronomy 12:32.

So let's celebrate it because we love God!

He is God after all and He determined the way that we should walk if we truly want to love and follow Him. With the Spirit of truth from Messiah Yeshua, we can honor His appointments and walk in His ways of worship that He gave to us. As we celebrate His Feasts we are proclaiming our love for God for what He has done and will do for us, and we are witnessing to the world that we are His children.

We are also learning and experiencing His ways as we look forward to His return.

Let's look to see what the Israelites experienced when they first heard this commandment of keeping a "memorial of blowing trumpets" for the first time after their Exodus from Egypt. Scripture reveals that the commandments in Leviticus 23:24-25 were given one year after leaving Egypt and the instructions found in the Book of Leviticus are given to Israel in the month known as Aviv. For more details please read Exodus 40:1-17.

If you search for the words "trumpet" which is "shofar" in Hebrew or "trumpets" online at BlueLetterBible.org you will find that four verses contain these words prior to Leviticus 23:24-25. The verses that contain the word "trumpet" or "trumpets" directly relate to the events where God "descended" upon Mt. Sinai. Other verses are contained in Exodus Chapter 19 which tells the story of God's descent upon Mt. Sinai to give the Ten Commandments. The four specific verses are Exodus 19:13,16,19 and 20:18. First, let's review the verses of Exodus 19. These trumpet blasts did not occur on the Day of Trumpets but you should read carefully, these words don't just contain history but they represent the future as well:

Exodus 19: 1-25 In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt--on the very day--they came to the Desert of Sinai. 2 After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. 3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." 7 So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. 8 The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD. 9 The LORD said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you." Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said. 10 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, 'Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. 13 He shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on him. Whether man or animal, he shall not be permitted to live.' Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain." 14 After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. 15 Then he said to the people, "Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations." 16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, 19 and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. 20 The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up 21 and the LORD said to him, "Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish. 22 Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them." 23 Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, 'Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.'" 24 The LORD replied, "Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the LORD, or he will break out against them." 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.

The people of Israel and those that traveled with them assembled at the base of the mountain. They came out of Egypt and were gathered together headed for the promised land. Perhaps, the most memorable event for the Israelites when given the commandment to keep a memorial of blowing trumpets is that God physically descended in fire upon Mount Sinai while the trumpets sounded louder and louder. That is why the main theme of Yom Teruah (Trumpets) is a "celebration", the celebration of His return on the third day. As seen in the three biblical witnesses of 1) the Creation week described in Genesis 1:11 when harvest life was created on Earth on the 3rd day, and 2) as promised by Hosea 6:2 "After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence" and as 3) seen in the message of Luke 18:33, we have been given two days (2,000 years) from His Spring Feast coming as the lamb of God to prepare, to consecrate ourselves for His return at The Fall Feast as the King, the Lion of Judah. Here is a key to understand Biblical days in God's redemption calendar:

Psalms 90:4 For a thousand years in thy sight [are but] as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night.

Ecclesiastes 6:6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice [told], yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?

2Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Are your ready for the Trumpet and the smoke and thunder of the third day, The Day of The Lord?

If not. You can start by reading The Ten Commandments which are first recorded in Exodus 20. The Biblical narrative reveals that Mount Sinai continued to smoke, thunder and display lightning as the trumpet of God sounded. See Exodus 20:18.

It is critically important to know that exactly ten days beyond Yom Teruah - Trumpets Day, the holiest of all days: Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement and Judgment is to be honored. This is significant because Yom Kippur is synonymous with "atonement" the great gift of God that can not be earned, only received as a gift of His mercy and grace. With the true message of Yom Kippur, we can truly begin to "see" that mercy and grace began within the very words of the Torah! It did not start in the new Testament.

You should continue to search the Scriptures for similar verses that contain the word "trumpet" or "trumpets". I like to use Blue Letter Bible as an online resource. It offers several translations and based on my own research, a key verse in the Torah that explicitly relates to Yom Teruah is in Numbers 29:1. I also found the word "trumpets" in Numbers 10:10 but it does not seem obvious to be a verse about Yom Teruah. So let's see what Numbers 29:1 says:

Numbers 29:1: "And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you."

Now, take a look at Numbers 10:10 and see how this verse relates to Yom Teruah.

Numbers 10:10: "Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God."

Here in Numbers we see the commandment to sound the trumpet at the beginning of months. In other words this is God's declaration of His new year. That is why the day is also know as Rosh haShanah, the "new year", it will be the first day of the millennium. Yom Teruah is the beginning of the month (new moon) as well as a memorial blowing of the trumpet that is relating to our Creator's meeting with His people at Mount Sinai, the giving His covenant and His return. In consideration of this, there is no new principle identified by Moses in Numbers about Yom Teruah. But from this passage, we do learn that we are also to sound the trumpet at the beginning of months. Why? We need to practice so that we will be ready for the day no man knows!

Now if you search for the word "solemn," we learn that it relates to "solemn" assemblies in the Feast "Days". If you search for the word "gladness," we learn that in one way it relates to "gladness" in celebrating the Feast "Days", they are THE Biblical set apart, holy days ( see 2Chronicles 30:21-23). The phrase "day of your gladness" also refers to the appointed Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles), which is also known as "The Season of our Joy" and "The Feast of In-gathering". These names hints are pretty obvious as to their future fulfillment, so don't ignore these days any longer!

In review of these passages, Yom Teruah is reserved for the first day of the seventh month. Seven is a big number in the Bible, whenever you see it pay attention to the theme and clues that God gives. It is a day the assembly of people came together, a day marked by blowing the trumpet as a memorial for the giving of the covenant by our Heavenly Father, God. So, what are you to do? What else, buy a shofar and blow it! This day will mark His return and believe me you will want to know what is going on and what you are supposed to do!

It is important to understand the meaning and purpose of blowing a shofar in order to appreciate this special day. Yom Teruah is one of the appointed days where we are to gather in fellowship for praise, prayer and intercession with other believers in the Body of Messiah because Scripture reveals it is a day of "holy convocation" or "assembly." This is a prophetic instruction as the trumpet will signal the arrival of the King. Don't you want to be celebrating on that day with your own trumpet, your shofar in hand when He returns?

Scripture reveals it is a day where we are to make an "offering made by fire" to God. Because the Temple and the altar are now gone, both Jews and believers in Jesus or Yeshua (in Hebrew) are to know from the principles of the Scriptures that our "offerings" to our Father - God are our praises, prayers and worship. Because it is the Day of Trumpets, we are to also offer our celebration of the coming day of His return!

It was also the day of His His birth. For more on this amazing story please consider My Scripture Study, "Texting With Gabriel".

Wow! Yom Teruah is both a prophetic and a past celebration marking the arrival of The King in the Spring and the Fall seasons of God's plan.

Trumpets also stands for the beginning of the Sabbath, the 7th day, the future 7th "millennium day" of rest. This day (1,000 years) symbolizes the beginning of the last events leading to this "end time", the end time in which God's children no longer live outside the physical, earthly presence of Messiah. The reason for the season is simple, Yom Teruah is the announcement of the beginning of the 7th month of the year and the fall Feasts of God are truly a foreshadow of the end of the time that the Gentiles no longer trample Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. It marks Messiah's return which begins His 1,000 year millennial reign as King on Earth undoing the deceiver's temporary six day (6,000 year) authority ruled by death which began in Eden. Just as the 7th day of the week, the Sabbath, is symbolic of the 7th millennium, it represents the 7th month of the Biblical year which is the time-frame of God's plan, 7,000 years until His creation of the promised new heaven and new earth. This is the day after the 6th that no man knows.

By the way, there are six verses in Scripture that contain the words "new" and "heaven", they are: Gen 27:28; Dan 4:15; Dan 4:23; Mat 13:52; Rev 3:12 and

Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

There is a good reason that the Day of Trumpets is the day non man knows, just ask your Jewish friends or any astronomer, or just look at the sky for yourself. The New Moon cycle varies slightly from month to month, it is not exact to our own calendar counting but it is to God's... it might be after two days of darkness or three depending on the earth and lunar orbits that had has precisely set. So, without the help of NASA, you do not know when a new moon arrives until you see it because the new moon can vary from one to three days. But remember, God promised Daniel that in the latter days knowledge would increase, knowledge of His Word and knowledge of His creation that point us right back to His word.

So what can we learn from this?

Yeshua-Jesus was actually giving us a clue from The Messiah's Bible.

Look at Genesis 1:14 "And God 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 seasons, and for days and years". Jesus (Yeshua) was referring to His appointed Feasts and a future Feast of Trumpets with the arrival of the new moon (in Hebrew, Rosh Chodesh). His message means we must be watchful of the signs and the Feast Days He gives us. The ancient words, the Scriptures of the Torah, the Writings and the Prophets are His witnesses, indeed He is found among them. They give us all the clues about Him. Thinking on this gives more meaning to His words:

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." Matthew 18:20

Today, thanks to NASA's scientific research, we have access to everyday computer programs that can mathematically and graphically model exactly when the new moon will occur at any location on earth at any time. But prior to these fantastic new technologies, ancient man had to watch the sky and wait for the new moon, not really ever knowing the exact hour or know the precise number of days the new moon would last in the sky. As you can see, in ancient Hebrew thought and time, the the new moon begins the "Day of Trumpets". It's fulfillment is truly the day no man knows, only The Father because His return could be any one of the days of the new moon. But at the same time is is a command for us to seek out the meaning of His words that would become clear in the latter days. Contrary to modern teaching, Paul taught that we as the body of Messiah are not to let others obstruct our observance of God's diet instruction nor our watch and celebration of these coming Fall Feast days marked by the new moon's Trumpet Day appearance:

Colossians 2:16-17 "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 [days]: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ."

Messiah Yeshua warns us if we do ignore them: Revelation 3:3 "Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."

Let's review because we need to know that each month it seems that there are always one to three nights that there seems to be no moon at all as it is hidden in darkness because our eyes cannot discern its faint luminosity without some aid like binoculars. The reality is, due to this variable length of time for the new moon, before the precision of Global Satellite Positioning system calculations, no man knew exactly when one could see the Trumpets Day new moon. According to Scripture, once the new moon arrives it signals a new month. Yom Teruah being on a new moon, a Rosh Chodesh day has extreme significance in this way, so much so we are to also celebrate each new moon. We are to watch and wait with anticipation for this day to be revealed, just like we wait for Messiah's return so we may celebrate the day of the bride's celebration which is to be announced on the day of Trumpets! If we just look, King David gave us a subtle hint of this coming great day when he told his friend Jonathan:

"And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow [is] the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third [day] at even." 1Samuel 20:5

Here we see a hint at the length of the new moon's darkness. They knew it would be at least three days. After all, the darkness of a new moon period lasts up to three days.

Don't forget the pattern God give to us. When He created the earth, He did not create the moon until the after the third day. The Day of Trumpets is about resurrection and His return that is why Hosea declares:

After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Hosea 6:2

God uses numbers throughout His word to teach us more about Him. For example, there are three recorded resurrections in the Old Testament and three resurrections found in the New Testament prior to that of messiah Yeshua (Jesus). His resurrection was the seventh. Seven is the biblical number of completion and perfection. I believe that it is possible that our generation may be a witness to the resurrection of mankind when the Trumpet sounds as we approach the beginning of the third day (3,000 years) since His first coming.

As I pray you can now see, understanding your true Hebraic roots is extremely important in understanding the sayings embedded for us in Scripture, and it is critical to obtain an understanding of the "gathering of the saints" on the coming days of Tabernacles. Perhaps, one of the most important concepts is seen in the Jewish tradition where the three trumpets blasts of God each have a name. For thousands of years, these three trumpet blasts have been called the 1) "first trump", 2) the "last trump" and 3) the "great trump." But don't let the names confuse you as to the sequence that they are blown on the Fall Feast Days! Understanding these trumpet blasts by there name and timing opens up the prophecy of the Scriptures.

Are you beginning to see that understanding the fall feast days is so critical?

The "last trump" in Hebrew is the Tekiah HaGadol and it is blown on the Day of Trumpets I believe this trumpet is to be blown by God himself.

With an understanding of the actual name of this "trumpet blast", we can understand what the Jewish Rabbi, the Apostle Paul said in 1Corinthians 15:51-53: "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."

He was saying the resurrection of dead will occur on the Day of Trumpets. With this understanding, I like to think of the Day of Trumpets as our assembling together of those living called out ones to King Messiah for His magnificent return to the Mount of Olives and to participate under His instruction in the herald of the events around the earthquake of resurrection and the in-gathering of His people into His Kingdom reign.

Moses first described this great in-gathering in the Torah.

Deuteronomy 30:3-6 "then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live."

The Prophet Ezekiel and Jeremiah provide a second and third witness to confirm the words Moses.

Ezekiel 36:24-27: I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Jeremiah 31:7-10: For thus says the Lord : "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, 'O Lord , save your people, the remnant of Israel.' Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. Hear the word of the Lord , O nations, and declare it in the coast-lands far away; say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.'

So, the fulfillment of Messiah's revelation is in the fall feasts.

The Feast of Trumpets is the day of resurrection. The resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous, the wheat and the tares, the sheep and the goats. There is a rapture all right, but it is no secret day. It occurs on the Day of Trumpets, the harvest day of His people and those that are not His people. We just do not know which Day of Trumpets that will be or at what hour He will blow the "Last Trumpet".

Yom Kippur - The Day of Atonement

A study of Yom Kippur, known as the "Day of Atonement" begins in Leviticus 16:29-34. It too is a "High Sabbath", the conclusion of the "Ten days of Awe" that follow the Day of Trumpets. Can you possibly imagine "the awe" of those ten days when the redeemed will awaiting the resurrection and the arrival of The Lord in Jerusalem?

Yom Kippur is the day that I believe that Messiah will "separate" the wheat from the tares just as one goat represented redemption and the other was cast out to the wilderness. As I said, I believe this is the day of the resurrection. This Feast Day is also described by Ezekiel as the Fat Sheep and Lean Sheep judgment of Ezekiel 34, the same Sheep and Goats judgment described by Matthew in chapter 25. To learn more about this day we all need to read every bit of Leviticus chapter 16. This reading is all about the Day of Atonement. Yom Kippur is a solemn day of fasting and prayer. Yom Kippur is known as the "Sabbath of Sabbaths". Indeed, it is the holiest day of the year as Yom Kippur is also the day of atonement and forgiveness.

Let's look at Leviticus 16 and see what it says to identify what principles there are to celebrate on the Day of Atonement.

Leviticus 16:29-34: "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work--whether native-born or an alien living among you-- because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the community. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites." And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses."

Exodus Chapter 25 through 30 address the setting up of the Tent of Meeting (Tabernacle) shortly after Moses returns from the top of Mount Sinai for the first time before the "Golden Calf" incident described in Exodus Chapter 32. Exodus 30:1-10 covers the set-up for the "Altar of Incense". Key words in the phrase in Exodus 30:10 state: "Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement..." this gives us understanding that this verse is about The Day of Atonement. After searching the Scriptures for verses containing key words such as "atonement," "tenth," "seventh," "deny yourselves," I can't seem to identify other verses that address the "Day of Atonement" until we read about it again in Leviticus 23:26-32 where the fall Feast Days are described.

Leviticus 23:26-32: The LORD said to Moses, "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. Anyone who does not deny himself on that day must be cut off from his people. I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on that day. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a Sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your Sabbath."

Just as with the Day of Trumpets, again we see that like the five books of Torah, there are five principles that applies to celebrating the Day of Atonement:

1. It is to be in the tenth day of the seventh month.
2. It is a Sabbath day.
3. It is a day to deny oneself (this is a day of fasting).
4. It is a day of sacred assembly.
5. It is a day to make offerings to our Everlasting Father, God and make intercessory prayer.

The sequence of end time events is clear in the Fall Feasts. Peter tells us plainly of of the grace that will be brought to the redeemed at His return:

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1Peter 1:13

The book of Revelation was given as a gift to John and all those that would read it as to the plan of God to fulfill the Fall Feasts of YHVH. The Fall Feasts must be studied for the book of Revelation to be understood in any fashion. Many today may think that it is a cryptic book because they do not study the Feasts of The Lord. The Fall Feasts Days are the "key" to unlock the meaning of the Revelation of Messiah Yeshua - Jesus Christ.

Revelation describes these events in their sequence of Feast Days which are the Day of Trumpets when we see the return of Messiah in His Glory and the Day of Tabernacles which includes the restoration of God's people to the Promised Land for the "Marriage of the Lamb" and just as it was with the battles when Joshua entered Canaan with the twelve tribes of Israel, there will be a great battle for the land as the nations come against Israel.

Revelation gives us this sequence of major events relevant of the 1,000 reign. Beginning of the 1000 Years. In the beginning, Satan's power over earth, the "power of death" is taken away as he is imprisoned until the end of the 1000 years.

On the Day of Trumpets at Messiah's return, the "first resurrection" occurs for the elect through time that have chosen to follow God and Messiah which includes those from the "Tribulation" which "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Messiah Yeshua" (Revelation 12:17). They rule under His direction for the 1,000 years. These overcomer's who are raised in the "first resurrection" just before the 1,000 years (The Day of Tabernacles) will be immortal and incorruptible. This people includes all who have overcome "in Christ" throughout time including those still alive after the tribulation.

These people are give the gift of eternal life and they are restored by God to the perfect physical condition of Adam and Eve at creation and Yeshua at His resurrection. They will rule as Kings and priests with Messiah for the 1000 years and can never die. This is the advantage of the first resurrection.

All other survivors after the battles described in Psalms 83 will continue to be mortal through the 1,000 years, which means they can of course still die if they willfully sin against God's instruction and His Kingdom.

This is proven by the fact that when the rebels from among them attack the Holy City at the end of the 1000 years these wayward people are "devoured" by fire from heaven when Satan is released and inspires a rebellion at the end of the 1000 years, which is promptly put down with the rebels destroyed.

"Death will be no more" only after Messiah's fulfillment the second resurrection at the Feast of Trumpets at the end of the millennium age and the Day of The Lord, the final Yom Kippur is concluded, which is called the Great White Throne Judgment when Satan, his demons and mankind, those goats and tares that reject God are thrown into the Lake of Fire.

After this judgment, all God's people whose names are written in The Book of Life then enter into the eternal state of the New Heaven and New Earth. (Revelation 21 and Revelation 22). They are the ones that are "blessed" as they do his commandments". They alone have the "right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" which is the "New Jerusalem", Eden restored.

Sukkot - Tabernacles

Tabernacles, or Sukkot is also know as the Feast of Booths also as The feast of "In-gathering". It's instruction tells us about how we can celebrate the seven day celebration in the seventh month at the end of the Biblical Year, this is found in Leviticus 23:34-43. The first day is a High Sabbath, the celebration lasts seven days and it is then followed by the eighth day.

The second time in the Torah is in Numbers 29:12-40. The third time we learn more about the Sukkot is in Deuteronomy 16:9-17. The verses in Leviticus focus on a general outline for observing the Feast. The verses in Numbers focus on the type of offerings to be made at the Feast. The verses in Deuteronomy reveal who may celebrate in the feast.

Sukkot has a great name, it is called the "Feast of In-gathering" and is one of three appointed days or festivals (the other two are Passover and Pentecost or Shavuot) where "thy males appear before God thy God in the place which he shall choose..." (Exodus 23:14-17, Exodus 24:22-23, Deuteronomy 16:16).

This "pilgrimage" instruction to be in Jerusalem is ultimately why the place God chooses for His name is Jerusalem. This is due to the fact that He appointed these days as the actual days Yeshua (Jesus) would actually be there in person to fulfill His complete plan of salvation and redemption for all believing mankind. He was there at His Passover almost 2,000 years ago as were all the witnesses around the world that journeyed there to Jerusalem at that time.

It is a time to spend outdoors in the beautiful night sky so that we may behold God's creation and night sky. If we are not outside looking up we certainly will not see the sign of Messiah first hand that He promised us in Matthew 24 because this is the appointed season of it appearance. So too we will not see the starry night sights described in Revelation 12.

Matthew record's Yeshua words as He gives us a parable about Tabernacles:

He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one]; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 13:37-43

Yeshua (Jesus) had to be there in Jerusalem of course on Passover for His crucifixion and His resurrection. Fifty days later, God sent His Spirit there on Pentecost to indwell the believers and disciples so that they could literally preach the gospel to all the nations in their own tongue (languages). That is what we hear the term "speaking in tongues". It was the gift of a supernatural Spirit given ability to immediately speak in another language so that the Gospel could instantly be spread around the nations of peoples from all around the world that were there in Jerusalem at the Feast of Shavuot.

The world still speaks all of the languages (or forms of them) that God gave to mankind at the Tower of Babel. As Scripture says, He will return there in Jerusalem to begin His reign as King of the Universe on Tabernacles, and at that time I believe that He will fully restore His pure language (we call it Hebrew today) so that we can all worship Him in one unified voice as He told the prophet Zephaniah.

For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent. Zephaniah 3:9:

To better understand the celebration of Sukkot (Tabernacles), lets look again back at the Book of Exodus. By reflecting on the Exodus account, we know that the children of Israel observed their first Passover in Egypt. It was the month of Aviv (Abib), the first month of the year (see Exodus 12:2). Exodus 12:37 reveals that the children of Israel encamped first at Succoth after their departure from Egypt in the month of Aviv. The next few chapters tell the story of the crossing of the Red Sea (baptism/mikveh) between the first (Aviv) and second (Iyar) months. Exodus 16:1 reveals that on the 15th day of the second month after the "exodus" from Egypt the children of Israel came into the wilderness of "Sin". Do you see the hidden message in the story?

While in Sin, they were given manna by God (representing the bread of life). The mann saved them from death by starvation and they could do nothing feed themselves. They had to rely 100% on God. After camping in Sin, they journeyed on and camped in Rephidim (this Hebrew word means "resting places". Here where they received water from the Rock (Exodus 17:1) (this water represents the Spirit of God). Finally, in the third month (Siwan) they arrived in the wilderness at the mountain, Mount Sinai where they heard God's voice (Exodus 19:1).

By reflecting on the journey of the children of Israel it helps us better understand our journey and the future fulfillment of the Feast of Sukkot. Our Everlasting Father, God, expressly tells us why we observe Sukkot in Leviticus 23:42-43:

It is a "memorial celebration" to remember that God provided for the children of Israel and instructed them to dwell in "booths" (tents or tabernacles) when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. The dwelling of God's people in booths is fundamental to celebrating the 7 day Feast of Tabernacles.

From the 15th to the 22nd of the seventh month it was and is to be a time of the greatest rejoicing of the people of Israel and those that sojourned with them out of Egypt. This is because it will be the future "appointed time" of the beginning of His reign as King, a time of great celebration!

In the Scripture reading, we also learn that both the first day and the eight day following the seven are His High Sabbaths.

It was the crowning festival of the Feast Days and it will be again. Israel was commanded to build tabernacles and live in them during the feast days. This commemorated how God brought them out of Egypt through the wilderness and into the promised land. Secondly, they were to cut off branches of palm trees and wave them, rejoicing before the Lord. This eight day Festival holds a wonderful future promise. In the Messianic Kingdom to come, when the other festivals have indeed been shown to have served their purpose in Messiah, Tabernacles will continue to be celebrated since praise and thanksgiving to God as our King will never end. That is the meaning of the eight day. It represents eternity.

Zechariah tells us of this time when all the nations will go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Jews today recognize that the Feast of Tabernacles points to and looks forward to the Kingdom of Messiah. Zechariah 14:16-21 states clearly that after Messiah sets up His Kingdom His people, the children of God will celebrate the joy and blessings of the Feast of Tabernacles as a yearly memorial in Jerusalem.

Yeshua (Jesus) was there at the appointed days of the Feast of Tabernacles. He was in the Temple during the Feast's water libation ceremony just as He was front and center at all the appointed days. These represent His plan of redemption. Read the words of John 7:37-38:

"In the last day, that great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water"

He was there the next day too while the torches of the ceremony still burned at The Temple above the city:

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12

Trust God's word, you don't want to miss Him at this Harvest celebration of In-gathering when He returns giving the water of eternal life as the light of the world!!

The Torah is God's Word, Yeshua is the Living Word, the Torah alive. In Him, all The Feast days will be fulfilled (see Matthew 5:17).

And consider Revelation 7:9-17 as it describes the saints who have come through the "great tribulation." This scene will take place at Tabernacles and it describes the last day, the eighth day known as Simchat Torah. This means "rejoice in Torah" at the inauguration of King Messiah. How can we consider this? It depicts "the" grand celebration with the saints waving "palm branches." Why are the "saints" of Revelation waving palm branches?

They are celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles which represents the great marriage supper feast that will soon take place. Its is a Feast which will last for seven days until the eighth day, which represents "eternity on" when death is swallowed up in victory. For more, see Isaiah 25:6-9. This is the greatest day of all celebrations (the marriage feast of the Lamb) when the elect redeemed people, "the bride" will say "I do". This great celebration was foreshadowed by the meal with God in the wilderness when Moses, his brother Aaron and Aaron's "two sons" were invited with "the seventy" elders of Israel to the top of Mount Sinai to celebrate The Giving of Torah and have dinner in the almighty presence of God. This future appointment is prophetically described in Exodus 24.

There below the King's throne at Mount Sinai these 74 men celebrated after everyone accepted God's covenant and said they would "do" His words:

"All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do." Exodus 24:3

God's use of "Seventy" here represent all the nations and peoples of mankind that also accept Yeshua's covenant of grace and mercy. Amazingly, these men ate and drank there in full sight of God. The Scripture says they saw Him. This "seventy" and the "two" sons symbolism is also seen when Luke describes that Yeshua (Jesus) appointed "seventy two" disciples of the "harvest LORD" to spread His gospel of the Kingdom in every city of and place.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go." Luke 10:1

This assignment may have well occurred while they were gathered in Jerusalem with Messiah during the great celebration of Tabernacles. I only imagine that this divine mission given by the Master to the seventy-two took place immediately after the celebration on the day of Simchat Torah. After all, the assignment give to Israel was to be a royal priesthood:

And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation... Exodus 19:6

Let's look back again carefully at Exodus 24:1-18:

"Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.” When Moses went and told the people all the Lord's words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction.” Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.” When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights."

The Feast of Tabernacles shows us the future great celebration following the "in-gathering", that many call the rapture, but it is the resurrection event that will bring people to celebrate Messih's return, some will come that are living and many will come, arisen from death. The resurrection will occur before The Lord's celebration at the Feast of Tabernacles. I will not be surprised if this celebration will occur at the very spot where Yeshua (Jesus) took Peter, John and James to witness His "transfiguration" and the appearance of Moses (representing the Torah) and Elijah (representing the Prophets).

Messiah Yeshua as well as Peter, John and James were prophetically and thematically represented in the meal at the top of Mount Sinai some 1,500 years before Luke recorded his story. These three are prophetically seen in the persons of Moses, Aaron and his two sons. In each occasion, we the Bible gives us a glimpse into the future of the Tabernacles celebration. This is why Messiah says in Luke 9:27:

"But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God."

Think about it, after the future trumpet day of the resurrection of the saints before Tabernacles, many people will be standing there in that very spot.

Unless we study and consider the instruction we receive in the Bible, we can not possibly understand the great meaning and implication of the future days of celebration during Tabernacles or the other Feast Days of The Lord. Simply put, one of the greatest prophecies of the Messiah can not be known because so many of us have not been taught to anchor our understanding of His words in the Torah. Unless we study His word, all of it, Bible students will skim over and read past this magnificent promise.

To understand these Words of Yeshua (Jesus) is to recognize that He was prophetically talking about the climatic celebration and rejoicing of the future saints that are to be gathered and standing with Messiah. Perhaps there at the place Peter, John and James stood during the seventh month and the conclusion of the seven day Feast of Tabernacles! All the details are important! And "...Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah..." Luke 9:33

We have the same instruction Peter understood from Leviticus 23:40; 41 and 42: "...you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days." "...It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month." "..."You shall dwell in booths..."

We must consider it a great privilege to know that Luke's fantastic narrative of this story many know as the "Transfiguration" actually occurred at Tabernacles.

This story also hints of the resurrection (awakening from death) with the foreshadowing language that they were heavy with "sleep". Here are the words of Luke 9:32: "But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him."

Following the events described by Luke which were witnessed by Peter, John and James, the Master also made a grand appointment just like the seventy at Sinai that were there with Moses and Aaron to dine with them and Aaron's two sons... The Lord, Yeshua (Jesus) likewise appointed seventy-two.

This is well worth repeating and critically important to understand in this context from Luke 10:1-3: "After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly [is] great, but the laborers [are] few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves."

After the future "in-gathering" (harvest) of the saints in Jerusalem for THE fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles which is the marriage supper of the Lamb, the celebration will conclude at the end of the seventh day - the rest (Sabbath) of Messiah's 1,000 year Kingly reign over all the earth. We will then have the eighth day. That eighth day represents completion and marks the beginning of the New Jerusalem!

We are instructed us to do no work on this eighth day of Tabernacles, instead much like a wedding rehearsal, we are to rehearse for this great celebration following the wedding day, The Feast of Tabernacles!

We have to understand the eight day reference recorded in Luke 9:28 leads us straight to a greater understanding of Tabernacles...

"And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray."

Luke clearly show us that this happened on that awesome eighth day of Tabernacles, almost 2,000 years ago!

It is critical that we realize that just before this eight day of Tabernacles nearly 2,000 years ago, Messiah fed the multitude of followers. They had supper with The Lord, another witness and foreshadowing of the great wedding feast of His people to come and a reflection of the great feast that occurred at the top of Mount Sinai. The feeding of the multitude of the 5,000 described in Luke chapter nine has significance to the Torah as well.

Like the 5,000, the five books of Torah in this story teaches us five truths:

1. There were five loaves of bread - there are five books of Torah!
2. There were two fish - we also have the Writings and the Prophets!
3. He blessed them and gave them to the disciples - He gave His words to the great men that recorded the Bible!
4. The multitude were filled - We are to read and study ALL of His word!
5. Twelve baskets of leftover fragments were taken up - the scattered twelve tribes of Israel will be regathered.

For more on the scattered twelve tribes see my post on the Lost Sheep Scriptures.

Luke 9:13-20: "But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. And they did so, and made them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets. And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? They answering said, John the Baptist; but some [say], Elijah; and others [say], that one of the old prophets is risen again. He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Messiah of God."

The great thing about this story from Luke is that out Messiah taught the crowd there in the town of Bethsaida. It is a small fishing village on the west shore of The Sea of Galilee, the home of Andrew, Peter, Philip and John. Bethsaida means "house of fish". When we understand Tabernacles we can also understand that His teaching there was also prophetic. Jesus (Yeshua) spoke to them "of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing".

As we have already shown, Zechariah tells us that Tabernacles and Messiah's teaching are inseparable. But this is well worth repeating:

"Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths." Zechariah 14:16

Isaiah too is talking of Messiah's teaching as He will certainly tabernacle here on earth with us: "It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord , to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go the law, [Torah] and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." Isaiah 2:2-3

The Feast Days are intertwined and tied to the Jubilees and God's calendar. This fall we will again celebrate Tabernacles with some great backyard camping.

Following that celebration time of the Feast Days of Tabernacles, I started thinking about what God told Noah before the judgment of the flood in Genesis 6:3:

"And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be "an hundred and twenty years."

You see the unique thing is that the word translated in every Bible I have as "year" is actually the Hebrew word "shaneh". Translating Hebrew, the word literally means "divisions of time". It is the same Hebrew word that is used in God's announcement of the Jubilee "year" in Leviticus 25:10.

Considering the flood judgment, like most I think that the 120 years is mentioned in connection with God’s patience wearing thin before His impending judgment by water. But as to man's timetable, I think that there is a solid tie to 120 Jubilees, not to individual human life spans... after all no one I know of lives to be a 120 years of age.

The great flood was possibly at the onset of a Jubilee, probably the 30th. That would make it 1,500 years after creation. Scholars vary a bit on some of the dates but most agree that a straightforward reading of the Bible indicates the "flood" must have taken place around 2500 BC.

The Exodus from Egypt (following the 10 judgments on Egypt) occurred around 1,500 BC, this would have been around the 50th Jubilee which means that the Sodom and Gomorrah judgment story would have occurred somewhere around the 40th Jubilee or 2,000 BC. Not surprisingly we see 40 as a time of judgment throughout Scripture.

Here's how Moses recorded God's instruction about the 50 year cycle of the Jubilee at what have very well been the 50th Jubilee:

Leviticus 25:8-10 "You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. "Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. "And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan."

Continuing on, the birth of Jesus would have been born about the 80th Jubilee. Luke records what he declared in His ministry from the synagogue in Galilee thirty years later:

Luke 4:18-19: "The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

He taught about the future of His Kingdom and the fulfillment of the meaning of Jubilee.

The Greek word “kai” καί is translated as: “and” in Revelation 14:12...
But did they (the translators) perhaps just miss something in the meaning of this word? It also means “indeed”...

“Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, [indeed] the faith of Yeshua.”

Indeed we are to walk like Yeshua walked.

If you'd like to learn more about the Feasts of God I can recommend a few great resources: 1. The Feasts Of The Lord God's Prophetic Calendar From Calvary To The Kingdom, 2. God's Appointed Times, and 3. A Family Guide to The Biblical Feasts and a real favorite is Israel's Feasts and Their Fullness.

If you would like to hear an excellent teaching regarding the importance of returning to the times and seasons of The Lord, you may want to listen to this Fall Feast Message recorded on August 28, 2009 from Pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries in Tacoma, Washington.

"For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying,"There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober." 1Thessalonians 5:2-6

The Fall Feast begins with the Day of Trumpets so consider this... what day is John calling The Lord’s Day?

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind {the Greek word is it mean behind as in time.. the same one that spoke in the beginning is the same One that is coming} me a great voice {the Greek word here is actually phōnē… yup it where we get the same word, in Greek it also means tone}, as of a trumpet. Saying, I am Alpha and Omega {in Hebrew Aleph & Tav which literally means “strength of the covenant}, the first and the last {nothing changes with God} Revelation 1:10

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, [Concerning] the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim [to be] holy convocations, [even] these [are] my feasts. These {Feast Days} [are] the feasts of the LORD, {wait, you mean they are not just Jewish feasts but for all Israel?} [even] holy convocations {a reading, calling together} , which you shall proclaim in their seasons. Leviticus 23:2;4

And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh {seven is God’s symbol number for completion… the end days} month, in the first [day] of the month {new moon}, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy {set apart} convocation. Ye shall do no servile work [therein]: but you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD {Offering by fire? Yes, at the return, His judgment will be a consuming fire - see Leviticus 23:23.

Paul tell us in Romans that Gentiles are grafted into the olive tree of His people, whose root is Messiah and God calls them Israel. Today, like yesterday, there is an identity crisis (Who is Israel?), but there is no difference between the Gentile and Jew that are grafted into the family of God, that is why He is called the God of Israel.

To be a fruitful part of the tree, the wild branch has to be grafted into the tree. When that happens the wild branch becomes a part of the tree, it is no longer separate and it gives fruit. The same was true in the exodus wilderness journey, the sojourners and those with them were grafted into the people, Israel. They all received the same covenant promise given Abraham. Israel is the identity that God YHVH gives those who are the chosen, the elect, the saints and the name that God chose to call His people. The new covenant we receive is that Torah (God’s word and teaching) will be in the minds and written on our hearts.

Romans is clear – those that are scattered and lost, can be adopted, grafted back in and be a part of the symbolic olive tree, the tree of life - God’s “People House”. To be grafted in gives the branch life in the tree, it receives life and gives fruit, and that tree of life is all Israel in Messiah. The Psalmist tells us:

But I [am] like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done [it]: and I will wait on thy name; for [it is] good before thy saints. Psalms 52:8-9

As a part of the tree, a part of the remnant by grace, we also need to be ready for the coming shaking, the fire, ready with lifted voice to glorify our God for the coming harvest in the day in which some will not be ready… our job is to tell them of the promise of grace.

Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Romans 11:5

A strong tree survives the harvest shaking, but it is needed for the harvest of the fruit. By no coincidence of God’s intent and creation, olive trees are harvested in the Autumn at the end of September matching with God’s fall feasts. By no coincidence, the only way to grow good olives is to graft in branches of other wild olive trees and the only way to harvest the fruit is by shaking the boughs of the whole tree. But remember, the expert harvester never bruises the fruit of the tree.

When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, [there shall be] as the shaking of an olive tree, [and] as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done. They shall lift up their voice {in Hebrew, qowl sound (of instrument)}, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, [even] the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea. Isaiah 24:13-15

The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, [and] of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. Jeremiah 11:16

Today, "all Israel" both native and stranger must know their identity because understanding Israel as a people is a part of our mission, our goal is Israel’s full restoration, and it’s ALL about ONE House... one people united in Messiah, it is about the identity of the people God calls out to Himself. After all, “Israel” literally means God Prevails!

As we know, Paul told the Ephesian “gentiles”… you once were separate, excluded "strangers" from Messiah and the identity of none other than… Israel!

“Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles… remember that you were at that time separate from Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” Ephesians 2:11-12

God recruits, He calls people into His commonwealth Kingdom under the very name He chose to give Jacob for His chosen, the whole family. We need to know He calls all believers, all that follow Him -- by the name “Israel” -- they are His chosen, both native and stranger! And Israel has a servant duty to be priests to all nations. To draw close to God and to spread the good news of His plan of salvation and redemption to all mankind.

Romans 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, [of] the tribe of Benjamin.

Ephesians 3:14-15 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named…

What does this all mean?

It means that it is now time for you to repent and return to God's covenant, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. God is a sovereign God. He is a loving God and He has provided a way to offer you His salvation. You can accept His gift of life. Consider carefully what your life consists of, look at it and repent of your sin, ask His forgiveness and accept His gift of love through Messiah Yeshua. Do it now!

Update November 11, 2011: As noted above, for more on some of the events seen during the appointed Fall Feast Days of 2011, take a look at this video as "the nations" return to Jerusalem and the ways of The Lord:



To explore more about the Feasts and God's Calendar I'd recommend that you set aside the time to watch this excellent video on the Biblical facts and truth of the Feasts of The Lord.

Watch: God's Prophetic Feasts

Hosea told us About Animal, Bird and Fish Deaths… "at that day"

We all saw the news earlier this year. Birds falling from the sky, fish washing up on the shores in the nations of the U.S., Haiti, Brazil, the UK, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Japan, Vietnam, Philippines and Taiwan.

You may have missed it while birds have been found dead from the West Nile virus this week in Los Angeles and now today: "Fears are increasing in Germany that blackbirds are being wiped out by a tropical disease, while tests are being conducted on a number of cadavers to try to find out why they died.

Reports of mass deaths of blackbirds through the Rhine-Neckar area of Germany have been gathering pace over the last few weeks, and on Wednesday the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, pointed the finger at the Usutu virus which comes from Africa.

“The find is alarming as the Usutu virus can also infect people,” said Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, virologist at the Institute, although he stressed there was no known case of a person becoming infected with the virus in Germany."

Update April 4, 2013: Reports of thousands of dead fish from Gulf St Vincent Australia

SWIMMERS and fishers have been reassured that they have nothing to fear from the water in Spencer and St Vincent gulfs in the wake of mass fish and dolphin deaths off the state's coastline.

SA Health told The Advertiser algal blooms, found across the state's coastline most likely due to March's prolonged hot weather and heavy winds, did not affect human health in any way.

"Consumption of fish caught alive do not represent health concerns, however SA Health advises fish caught dead should not be eaten due to concerns over decomposition and spoilage," a spokeswoman said yesterday.

The assurance comes as a taskforce of experts starts testing water to help solve the mystery of the thousands of dead fish and 16 dead dolphins.

The Fisheries Department, Environmental Protection Authority and SA Water will lead the taskforce, which will also conduct tests on the fish and some of the dolphins.

Several other nations around the world have also experienced unexplained mass sea deaths in recent months.

Update March 15, 2013: Dead fish fill Rio de Janiero Olympics rowing lake +The lake that will host rowing events at the Rio de Janiero 2016 Olympic Games is facing a huge cleanup after it was filled with 65 tonnes of dead fish." Update January 17, 2013: Tens of thousands of dead fish wash ashore on South Carolina beach

"Thousands of dead fish washed up on mile and a half stretch of beach in South Carolina Tuesday, officials said, at least the second such occurrence in the region in a week.

Roughly 30,000 to 40,000 menhaden fish, 6 to 8 inches long, were spread along the shore from DeBordieu Beach in Georgetown County, S.C., to Pawleys Island, a town on the state's Atlantic Coast, and thousands more were expected, Pawleys Island Police Chief Michael Fanning said."

Update December 19, 2012: Deadly virus that has killed hundreds of lambs and calves on UK farms 'has spread to every county'

"The killer Schmallenberg virus has now been detected in every county in England and Wales

Virus has already killed hundreds of lambs or calves on British farms, and figures are expected to rise"

Update June 8, 2012: Millions of sardines are washing up in Japan this week as "An entire port town in Japan has been left reeking of dead fish after nearly 200 tons of stinky sardines washed up on its shore.

The massive shoal started washing up at the fishing port of Ohara, on Japan's west-facing North Pacific Ocean coast, on June 3 and quickly turned the sea red.

Since then, the bizarre phenomenon gone has rapidly got out of control much like the spiritual condition of so many today.

Update May 28, 2012: A mystery disease has killed more than 10,000 saiga antelope in Kazakhstan.

"Conservationists are warning that the mass deaths could spell disaster for the saiga, which is already an endangered species.

The figure could account for up to a quarter of the global population of the species''

Update April 6, 2012:   Massive Dolphin Die-off in Peru May Remain a Mystery

"LIMA, Peru -- When a retired fisherman called to report that about 1,500 dolphins had washed up dead on Peru’s northern coast, veterinarian Carlos Yaipén’s first reaction was, “That’s impossible.” But when Yaipén traveled up the coast last week, he counted 615 dead dolphins along a 135-kilometer stretch of coastline. Now, the death toll could be as high as 2,800, based on volunteers’ counts. Peru's massive dolphin die-off is among the largest ever reported worldwide."

Update February 26, 2012: Today, Hosea's prophecy has deeper significance as the "animals of the field", both lambs and cattle are dying throughout the United Kingdom as a mystery virus that is believed to have begun in Schmallenberg, Germany last summer. This report today from The Telegraph states:

"Infected ewes do not show any symptoms of the virus until they give birth, with horrific results. Farmers have described delivering the deformed and stillborn animals as heartbreaking.
The lambing season has only just begun, which means that the full impact of the disease will not be felt until the weather warms up and millions more animals are born.

On the Continent, some farms have lost half of their lambs. So far the worst hit in Britain have lost 20 per cent, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)."

Why? Why on earth is this happening?

Hosea told us... but are we listening? I am not sure. Since the 1970s, the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center in Wisconsin has tracked mass deaths among birds, fish and other animals. Until now you probably did not know that. Global mass deaths are tracked as well on The Global Wildlife Disease News Map which displays news articles from the Wildlife Disease News Digest.

In the past eight months, the USGS has logged 95 mass wildlife instant die-offs in North America and that's probably a dramatic undercount, according to the USGS. The list includes 900 some turkey vultures that seemed to drown and starve in the Florida Keys, 4,300 ducks killed in Minnesota, 1,500 salamanders in Idaho, 2,000 bats in Texas, and the still mysterious death of 2,750 sea birds in California.

On average, 163 such events are reported to the federal government each year, according to USGS records. And there have been much larger die-offs than the 3,000 blackbirds in Arkansas. Twice in the summer of 1996, more than 100,000 ducks died in Canada.

Do we know what is coming? Well, we should because God declares the end from the beginning.

“And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.” Genesis 15:14

The people of this nation and others have declared lies and deceit…. let’s outlaw prayer in school, speaking the name of our Savior, let’s replace the Bible with the false religion of evolution, let’s have our highest court legalize murder in our abortion clinics and let our lower courts make divorce commonplace.  Let’s call it "pro-choice" and "a right to choose". Let’s give "tolerance" and embrace false gods and false prophets of many religions, let us separate God from our state.  Let’s waste billions of dollars each year searching for the origins of life in space in our foolish attempt to promote the atheistic false religion of Darwin.  

While we are at it, we might as well make the rule of the people as the days of Noah, so we approve the marriage of man to man, woman to woman and we teach in our schools that homosexuality is an acceptable life-style, one that you are free to choose.

And now some even say Jesus was ‘just a man’.  They think that we can put God in a box and understand His mystery and majesty. Some proclaim that Yeshua did not remove the curse of death by the law He established in Eden, that the penalty only He can overcome and reverse by His own perfect life and resurrection was done alone by a mortal man. Because of love I am here to warn all about this great sin.

Turn your heart. God’s purpose in chastisement and tribulation is according to God’s own proclamation.

It has a divine purpose, to get us to a point of turning our hearts and our actions back towards Him and His word and to show us that we are to away from the sins that keep us from fellowship with Him.  God often does this at a personal level with only minor chastisement. 

But told Hosea warns us about this… that cities and the nations will come to their knees with devastating chastisement before they will give up their stubborn refusal to honor and worship him.

Anyone who has been through a traumatic experience because of the behavior of one of their children knows how stressful that can be.  If your child committed a robbery or killed someone, as a parent it would affect you deeply and gravely.  If you had ten children, but only one or two of them ever bothered to call you or visit you, the loneliness you might experience would hurt very much.

It is difficult to imagine what it must be like for our God to have to deal with a people, a ten-nation like ours.  So the coming chastisement is something He will do to discipline those who He loves when they refuse to repent and return to Him. The following words come from Hosea. They have updates placed in them for what we are seeing today so that your eyes might be opened.

The verses are not labeled because you need to open the book of Hosea for yourself, study it and find these words and let them speak to you directly. {Bold underlines are mine.}

For the land has committed great whoredom, [departing] from YHVH. And it shall come to pass at that day, that you [are] not my people. [That you do not even know your name, your identity as my chosen or who I AM.] And I will cause all your religious joy to end, your own festival days, your Sunday sabbath, Easter and Christmas or imaginations. 

But the two witnesses called out by Moses - heaven and earth will speak and it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, says YHVH, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth. [As for you, you are to] Hear the word of YHVH, you children of Israel; For YHVH has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "Indeed there is no truth, Nor goodness, Nor knowledge of God in the land.  There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery.

[Even] In the [Promised] land itself they break boundaries, and bloodshed [from terrorism] causes more bloodshed.  {They think giving the heritage land I gave to them in a peace treaty is their solution.}

{Because of my love I will warn you of your sin} Therefore the land will mourn, And everyone who dwells therein will waste away. All living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; Yes, the fish of the sea also die. 

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because they have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you will not be a priest to me: seeing you’ve forgotten the Torah of your God, I will also forget your children.  As they were increased, so they sinned against me: [therefore] will I change their glory into shame.

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me:   [but] Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel I declare what is sure.  [This will be at a time when] The representative leaders of the people of Judah have become like those who move a boundary; On them I will pour out My wrath like water. 

[Then] they will then call out and say "Come, let us return to YHVH. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.”  "He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him.”

[His identity is not seen in his own mirror because] Ephraim mixes himself with the nations; yet I will spread My net over them;

I will bring them down like the birds of the sky.

I will chastise them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly. Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me!  I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.

Their princes [representative leaders of people] will fall by the sword Because of the insolence of their tongue.

"Put the shofar to your lips! Something like an eagle is over YHVH's house

Because they have broken my covenant, And rebelled against my Torah.   They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes (leaders of people), and I didn't approve.

I wrote for him {Ephraim} the many things of my law [Torah]; But they were regarded as a strange thing  {They strangely think it was hung on the cross.}

For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; And Judah has multiplied fortified cities; But I will send a fire on his cities,  ....For you were unfaithful to your God. You love the wages…

What will you do in the day of solemn assembly, And in the [appointed judgment] day of the feast of YHVH? 

[Their economy will collapse] Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver. Thorns will be in their tents.  The days of [punishment’s] visitation have come. The days of reckoning have come.

Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool, And the man who is inspired to be insane, Because of the abundance of your sins, And because your hostility is great.  [But] A prophet watches over Ephraim with my God. A fowler's snare is on all of his paths, And hostility in the house of his God. {The opposition against the prophet to Ephraim will come from within}.

{What happened to Ephraim?} My God will cast them away, because they did not listen to him; And they will be wanderers among the nations.  Their heart is divided. [What will happen?] Now they will be found guilty. They make promises, swearing falsely in making covenants [against God and the land]. Therefore judgment springs up like poisonous weeds.  When it is my desire, I will chastise them; And the nations will be gathered against them, When they are bound to their double guilt.

{In this tribulation, this chastisement}, it is time to seek YHVH, Until he comes and rains righteousness on you.  [Because] You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, For you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men.  {you trusted your military to protect you but they could not stop the chastisement}. Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, And all your fortresses [systems] will be destroyed.... Though he flourishes among the reeds, an east wind will come, The wind of YHVH coming up from the wilderness; It will plunder his {Ephraim’s} treasury of every precious article {your debt based economy will fail}.

{So why the chastisement?}

Ephraim surrounds Me with lies and the house of Israel with deceit; Judah is also unruly against God, Even against the Holy One who is faithful.  It is your destruction, O Israel, That you are against Me, against your help.. Where now is your king that he may save you in all your cities...

The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; His sin is stored up.  The pains of childbirth come upon him....

{But there is a great promise after the slavery as in the days of bondage for Israel in Egypt…}

I will not execute the [complete] fierceness of my anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim: For I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of you; And I will not come in wrath. 

{Like the days of the Exodus} They {Ephraim} will walk after YHVH, Who will roar like a lion; For he will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west.  Return, O Israel, to YHVH your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity. 

Take words [the Torah] with you and return to YHVH.... I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them.  Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways {the ways are God’s Torah, His teaching and instruction} of YHVH are right, And the righteous will walk in them, But transgressors will stumble in them. The key to understanding righteousness is to understand God gives us His teaching and instruction for living because He loves us and He never changes His mind. He teaches us some very simple guidelines about how we are to live. It's the original message of the Deceiver to fall for the idea that God does not mean what He says or that He changes His mind. Don't listen to that message any longer.

God keeps His promises} it shall come to pass, [that] in the place {in Israel} where it was said unto them, You [are] not my people, [there] it shall be said unto them, [Ye are] the sons of the living God. {that place, that land is the promised land}. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land.

Therefore I will return, and [I will] to cover her {all Israel – Ephraim’s and Judah’s sin} nakedness.  I will sow her [all Israel] unto me in the land; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to [them which were] not my people, Thou [art] my people. Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek YHVH their God, and David their king; and shall fear YHVH and his goodness in the latter days.

Did you see that? All the Children return in the latter days!

What does this all mean? It means that it is now time for you to repent and return to God's covenant, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. God is a sovereign God. He has given us His Biblical prophets to warn in advance of these things. He is a loving God but a time of judgment is coming and He has provided a way to offer you His salvation. You can accept His gift of life. Consider carefully what your life consists of, look at it and repent of your sin, ask His forgiveness and accept His gift of love through Messiah Yeshua. Do it now!