Some Christians have no idea that the Fall holy days given by YHVH are prophetic rehearsals of events surrounding the Second Advent of Christ. Others do understand that, but have been taught that the Day of Trumpets prefigures the Rapture, and the Day of Atonement prefigures Judgment Day. I would like the opportunity to address this unfortunate state of affairs. It seems to me that the popular notions are misunderstandings that arose from a lack of attention to the subtleties of the Hebrew scriptures and ancient culture.
I'll warn you now that this is a long article. I think it's worth setting aside twenty or thirty minutes to gain a better grasp on the meanings of God's extra-special days, but that's my own opinion. If nothing else, don’t miss the last section of the article, titled The Meaning of Yom Kippur. I hope the information blesses you.
If you would rather watch the video of this teaching, click here.
If you would rather watch the video of this teaching, click here.
The Case of the Missing Trumpets
We will begin with the Day of Trumpets. The Day of Trumpets, formally known as Yom Teruah, is one of the mo’ediym of YHVH. A mo’ed is an appointed time (plural: mo’ediym). YHVH commanded numerous mo’ediym for his people to observe each year, and seven of those mo’ediym are high sabbaths. Yom Teruah falls right in the middle of the seven high sabbaths, on the first day of the seventh month of the year.
First of all, Yom Teruah should never be called Rosh Hashannah. Rosh Hashannah means “head of the year,” which Yom Teruah is not, because it occurs in the seventh month of the year. The actual new year as YHVH defines it in the Bible is in the month of Abib, in the spring. The Jews began to treat Yom Teruah as New Year’s Day while they were exiled in Babylon, because that day happened to be the Babylonian New Year. There’s nothing biblical about it.
Now that we’ve dispelled that myth, let’s take a look at the instructions that YHVH gave Moses regarding Yom Teruah. This will be from Young’s Literal Translation, which offers perhaps the best translation of this particular passage.
Now that we’ve dispelled that myth, let’s take a look at the instructions that YHVH gave Moses regarding Yom Teruah. This will be from Young’s Literal Translation, which offers perhaps the best translation of this particular passage.
Lev 23:24-25 (YLT) “Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first of the month, ye have a sabbath, a memorial of shouting, a holy convocation; (25) ye do no servile work, and ye have brought near a fire-offering to Jehovah.”
The word translated here as “shouting” is teruah, which means “clamor, acclamation, or loud cry.” That could be accomplished with lungs or any other wind instrument; teruah is not limited to being produced by trumpets. In fact, the word trumpet doesn’t show up in the passage at all.
One other place in Torah contains instructions for Yom Teruah, so let’s read that as well. From here on out—unless otherwise noted—we’ll be reading from the World English Bible.
One other place in Torah contains instructions for Yom Teruah, so let’s read that as well. From here on out—unless otherwise noted—we’ll be reading from the World English Bible.
Num 29:1 (WEB) “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no regular work: it is a day of blowing of trumpets to you.”
This translation uses the word trumpets, but as before, the actual Hebrew word there is teruah. There are few Hebrew words which have to do with trumpeting--shofar, khats-o-tser-aw, taw-ko’-ah, and yubel—but none of those words appear in Numbers 29.
Now, the Torah does command the Levites to blow trumpets over the offerings at the mo’ediym and the new moons...
Now, the Torah does command the Levites to blow trumpets over the offerings at the mo’ediym and the new moons...
Num 10:10 “Also in the day of your gladness, and in your set feasts, and in the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God. I am Yahweh your God.”
... so there would have been shofars blown during the sacrifices on Yom Teruah, but that’s normal operating procedure for every mo’ed, so it’s not unique to Yom Teruah. If the instructions for Yom Teruah don’t include anything about trumpeting, why has it been called the Day of Trumpets? It’s probably because of the long-standing tradition of using trumpets on that day, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using them. However, that tradition actually obscures our ability to solve the enigma of the meaning of Yom Teruah.
Remembering the Future
Looking back to Lev. 23 for a moment, notice that YHVH calls Yom Teruah a “memorial.” The Hebrew word is zikron, from Strong's H2142, zakar, meaning “memento, remembrance, or mark.” If that day is a memorial, what are we intended to remember? Well, YHVH never told us what the day memorializes, so how can we be expected to remember its meaning?
This may be a bit surprising, but memorials aren’t always for us. Sometimes they are for God. To wit:
This may be a bit surprising, but memorials aren’t always for us. Sometimes they are for God. To wit:
Lev 24:7 “You shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be to the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire to Yahweh.”
Exo 28:29 “Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the holy place, for a memorial before Yahweh continually.”
Both of those verses use the same word, zikron, but in these cases it’s YHVH who is seeing these momentos and remembering something important about Israel. That being the case, perhaps the shouting on Yom Teruah is about some part of Israel’s story which occurs long after the instructions were given to Moses.
There’s precedent for that. Every spring, Israel was required to present to YHVH the first sheaf of ripened barley on the Day of Firstfruits. That mo’ed seems to be about one thing—giving God back the first of what he’s provided—but, as it turns out, the Day of Firstfruits was actually about the resurrection of Yeshua. Messiah was raised from the grave at the very beginning of the Day of Firstfruits. That mo’ed, when it was initially given to Israel, was a memorial of something that hadn’t happened yet.
Amazingly, every one of the Spring mo’ediym was fulfilled at the end of Yeshua’s earthly ministry, and on the exact days that God had chosen centuries before. Those fulfillments began with crucifixion at Passover and ended with the Holy Spirit filling the saints on Shavuot, which we now call Pentecost.
For the purposes of this teaching, we don’t need to cover everything on that list of mo’ediym. However, in order to understand the meanings of Yom Teruah and the Day of Atonement, a.k.a. Yom Kippur, we do need to discuss the Time of Jacob’s Trouble and the Day of the Lord.
There’s precedent for that. Every spring, Israel was required to present to YHVH the first sheaf of ripened barley on the Day of Firstfruits. That mo’ed seems to be about one thing—giving God back the first of what he’s provided—but, as it turns out, the Day of Firstfruits was actually about the resurrection of Yeshua. Messiah was raised from the grave at the very beginning of the Day of Firstfruits. That mo’ed, when it was initially given to Israel, was a memorial of something that hadn’t happened yet.
Amazingly, every one of the Spring mo’ediym was fulfilled at the end of Yeshua’s earthly ministry, and on the exact days that God had chosen centuries before. Those fulfillments began with crucifixion at Passover and ended with the Holy Spirit filling the saints on Shavuot, which we now call Pentecost.
For the purposes of this teaching, we don’t need to cover everything on that list of mo’ediym. However, in order to understand the meanings of Yom Teruah and the Day of Atonement, a.k.a. Yom Kippur, we do need to discuss the Time of Jacob’s Trouble and the Day of the Lord.
The Time of Jacob's Trouble
God indicated to Jeremiah that he would allow the descendants of Jacob to fall into captivity at the end of the Age, but he would also rescue some of them from it.
Jer 30:3-10 “ ‘For, behold, the days come,’ says Yahweh, ‘that I will reverse the captivity of my people Israel and Judah,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they will possess it.’” (4) These are the words that Yahweh spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. (5) For Yahweh says: “We have heard a voice of trembling; a voice of fear, and not of peace. (6) Ask now, and see whether a man travails with child. Why do I see every man with his hands on his waist, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned pale? (7) Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it. It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he will be saved out of it. (8) It will come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Armies, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds. Strangers will no more make them their bondservants; (9) but they will serve Yahweh their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them. (10) Therefore don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant, says Yahweh. Don’t be dismayed, Israel. For, behold, I will save you from afar, and save your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return, and will be quiet and at ease. No one will make him afraid.’”
YHVH talks about reversing the captivity of the twelve tribes because, as we know from other oracles, the Man of Perdition (a.k.a the Antichrist) will enslave many descendants of Jacob after he turns on them. Note that the promise of rescue is directed at both Judah and Israel, which would include ethnic members of all twelve tribes, as well as any Gentiles who have been grafted in through faith.
The phrase The Time of Jacob’s Trouble originates in that passage we just read. God says that that day is great in an awful sense—that’s why he uses the word alas when he talks about The Time of Jacob’s Trouble. But he promises that Jacob will be saved out of it. He will not be entirely destroyed on that day of trouble. Let’s read more about that from the Book of Daniel:
The phrase The Time of Jacob’s Trouble originates in that passage we just read. God says that that day is great in an awful sense—that’s why he uses the word alas when he talks about The Time of Jacob’s Trouble. But he promises that Jacob will be saved out of it. He will not be entirely destroyed on that day of trouble. Let’s read more about that from the Book of Daniel:
Dan 12:1 “At that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and there will be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. At that time your people will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book.
So not all of Daniel’s people will be delivered, but just those whose names are written in the book (presumably The Book of Life). Keep that in mind as we go forward. Now let’s look at an important, related passage in Revelation:
Rev 12:7-12 There was war in the sky. Michael and his angels made war on the dragon. The dragon and his angels made war. (8) They didn’t prevail, neither was a place found for them any more in heaven. (9) The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him…. (12) Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time.”
What will Satan’s wrath look like? It will come in the form of death and enslavement at the hand of the Man of Perdition, whose name is Assur. Isaiah 10:24 names him, and we’ll read that in a moment, but first, let’s see how Yeshua pinpoints the start of Jacob’s Trouble:
Mat 24:15-21 “When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), (16) then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. (17) Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house. (18) Let him who is in the field not return back to get his clothes. (19) But woe to those who are with child and to nursing mothers in those days! (20) Pray that your flight will not be in the winter, nor on a Sabbath, (21) for then there will be great oppression, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be.
Great Tribulation and Jacob’s Trouble are synonymous, and it begins 3.5 years before the end of the Age. That’s why Yeshua said, “When you see the abomination of desolation…” That’s a time marker; it tells us exactly when this great tribulation, or this Time of Jacob’s Trouble, will begin. It will begin when the Man of Perdition desolates the Temple, which we read about in Daniel chapter nine. Later in the Book of Daniel (12:7, 11), an angel gives Daniel an exact timeline, saying that three-and-a-half years plus thirty days—or “a time, times, and half a time,” or twelve hundred ninety days—would elapse between the abomination of desolation and the end of the Age. (Actually, in the next verse, the angel mysteriously adds a few dozen more days to the timeline, but we’re not going to get into all that.)
The Book of Revelation tells us quite a bit about the Mark of the Beast, and the beheadings, and the general persecution that will befall Christians and uncompromising Jews at the time that the Beast declares himself to be God and defiles the Temple. According to Yeshua’s own words, that time of horrible persecution post-AoD is the Great Tribulation, the worst time that will ever befall YHVH’s people.
Now, as I promised, let’s go to Isaiah 10, which tells us about the conclusion of the Great Tribulation.
The Book of Revelation tells us quite a bit about the Mark of the Beast, and the beheadings, and the general persecution that will befall Christians and uncompromising Jews at the time that the Beast declares himself to be God and defiles the Temple. According to Yeshua’s own words, that time of horrible persecution post-AoD is the Great Tribulation, the worst time that will ever befall YHVH’s people.
Now, as I promised, let’s go to Isaiah 10, which tells us about the conclusion of the Great Tribulation.
Isa 10:20-25 It will come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and those who have escaped from the house of Jacob will no more again lean on him who struck them, but shall lean on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. (21) A remnant will return, even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. (22) For though your people, Israel, are like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness. (23) For the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will make a full end, and that determined, throughout all the earth. (24) Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, says “My people who dwell in Zion, don’t be afraid of the Assyrian, though he strike you with the rod, and lift up his staff against you, as Egypt did. (25) For yet a very little while, and the indignation against you will be accomplished, and my anger will be directed to his destruction.”
So YHVH is going to redirect his anger towards Assur, the Beast, the Man of Perdition, but only after God has used Assur to strike Jacob. Isaiah later puts it this way:
Isa 51:22-23 Thus says your Lord Yahweh, your God who pleads the cause of his people, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will not drink it any more: (23) and I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, ‘Bow down, that we may walk over you;’ and you have laid your back as the ground, like a street to those who walk over.”
The scriptures are so consistent. All the prophets are telling us the same things, even though they lived during many different eras. We could go over many more passages like these, but I don't want to drag this teaching on too long, so I'm asking you to believe me that there are more that say basically the same things.
So the climax of Jacob’s distress, and his supernatural rescue from the Beast, is what will happen at the end of the Age, when Yeshua shows up.
So the climax of Jacob’s distress, and his supernatural rescue from the Beast, is what will happen at the end of the Age, when Yeshua shows up.
A Different Kind of Surprise
We’ve already discussed how the Spring mo’ediym were fulfilled in exact chronological sequence at Yeshua’s first coming—now we have to consider how the Fall mo’ediym will be fulfilled in sequence.
Most people immediately jump to the conclusion that the Rapture will be on the Day of Trumpets, because the apostle Paul said that the catching away of the saints will happen at the last trumpet. But hold up! We’ve already established that the Torah doesn’t say anything about trumpets related to Yom Teruah—it’s simply the Day of Shouting or Acclamation. Maybe the shouting is not about the Rapture, but about something that precedes it.
As an aside: I think it’s entirely possible that Yom Teruah was also the day that God laid the foundations of the earth, “when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:7). It may have even been the day when Yeshua was conceived or born. However, the ultimate fulfillment of Yom Teruah can’t happen until the end of the Age, when it unfolds along with the other Fall mo’ediym.
Let’s go back to the Olivet Discourse to discover the exact order of events related to Messiah’s return:
Most people immediately jump to the conclusion that the Rapture will be on the Day of Trumpets, because the apostle Paul said that the catching away of the saints will happen at the last trumpet. But hold up! We’ve already established that the Torah doesn’t say anything about trumpets related to Yom Teruah—it’s simply the Day of Shouting or Acclamation. Maybe the shouting is not about the Rapture, but about something that precedes it.
As an aside: I think it’s entirely possible that Yom Teruah was also the day that God laid the foundations of the earth, “when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:7). It may have even been the day when Yeshua was conceived or born. However, the ultimate fulfillment of Yom Teruah can’t happen until the end of the Age, when it unfolds along with the other Fall mo’ediym.
Let’s go back to the Olivet Discourse to discover the exact order of events related to Messiah’s return:
Mat 24:29-31 But immediately after the oppression of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; (30) and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. (31) He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
If you were listening carefully, you should have identified four events within that passage. Let’s look briefly at each one.
#1. Cataclysmic cosmic changes
Revevelation 6:12-17 is the parallel passage to the one we just saw in Matthew 24. It reads:
Rev 6:12-17 I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood. (13) The stars of the sky fell to the earth, like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when it is shaken by a great wind. (14) The sky was removed like a scroll when it is rolled up. Every mountain and island were moved out of their places. (15) The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. (16) They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, (17) for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”
What are the people doing? They’re shouting and screaming. This day, above all others, will be a day of world-wide panic. Don’t you think that would be a perfect fulfillment of Yom Teruah?
Joel saw the same event in his visions:
Joel saw the same event in his visions:
Joe 2:30-31 I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke. (31) The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
The Day of the Lord can't come until these great, cosmic changes occur. It would seem to me that they are what kicks off the Day of the Lord. Wouldn’t it make sense that this would also start the Fall mo’ediym?
#2. The sign of Messiah appears
There’s no telling what this sign will be, but evidently everyone will recognize what it means. I think it’s reasonable to assume that this sign will appear immediately following the cosmic changes, after the sky rolls up.
The Jews have given a name to the ten days between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur: they call them the Days of Awe. I don’t know how that term originated, but it’s quite prophetic. Consider the shock and awe that the world will feel when the heavens are completely altered and God turns on the holy equivalent of the bat signal. “Awesome” doesn’t really cut it.
The Jews have given a name to the ten days between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur: they call them the Days of Awe. I don’t know how that term originated, but it’s quite prophetic. Consider the shock and awe that the world will feel when the heavens are completely altered and God turns on the holy equivalent of the bat signal. “Awesome” doesn’t really cut it.
#3. Everyone mourns
The mourning doesn’t happen upon seeing Yeshua directly, but rather upon seeing his sign. I’m sure the grieving will continue through the time of his actual appearing. In the opening of Revelation we read:
Rev 1:7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen.
That verse says, behold, he is coming. Yeshua told us that his sign appears first—that’s the beginning of the beholding part—and then every eye will see him, and the most intense mourning will happen. Now let's jump to the Book of Zechariah:
Zec 12:10 I will pour on David’s house, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.
So the wicked will mourn because they realize that God’s full wrath is coming, but the Jews will mourn because they realize they’ve been rejecting their Messiah for the last two thousand years. Remember when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers in Genesis 45, and they were so scared that they couldn’t form words, and then they began to weep bitterly? That’s a prophetic foreshadow of Jacob at the end of the Age.
#4. An angelic trumpet initializes the Rapture
Pay attention to what was not written. We are not told that Yeshua will come down to the earth, only that he will appear in the clouds. This is not “coming like a thief,” which he promises to do at some point. This Resurrection/Rapture event is quite the spectacle. The coming down to earth like a thief will happen later, while the whole earth is plunged into darkness as a result of the fifth bowl plague.
This is what Paul says about the “catching away,” or the Rapture:
This is what Paul says about the “catching away,” or the Rapture:
1Th 4:16-17 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, (17) then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.
Again, notice that Paul doesn’t say anything about the Lord coming down to the earth. We go meet him in the air; he is in the clouds. If you understand the ancient Hebrew wedding ceremony, this makes perfect sense, because the groom’s entourage does not go all the way to the bride’s house when they come calling. They only approach and shout for her to come out. Once she meets them, the entourage turns around and goes back to the house of the groom’s father. That’s all prophetic foreshadowing of the Resurrection/Rapture event.
Paul says somewhere else:
Paul says somewhere else:
1Co 15:51-52 Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, (52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
We’re not told exactly how much time will elapse between the four events. Maybe it doesn’t all happen on the same day. How long will the people be mourning and hiding? How long will the sign of Messiah be displayed in the heavens as a harbinger of wrath before the Rapture takes place?
The question remains: will the last trumpet be blown on Yom Teruah, or afterward? To answer that, we first need to talk about the two groups who will be saved on the Day of the Lord.
The question remains: will the last trumpet be blown on Yom Teruah, or afterward? To answer that, we first need to talk about the two groups who will be saved on the Day of the Lord.
All Israel will be Saved
There won’t be a lot of ethnic Israelites left by the time the Day of the Lord begins. We read as much in Isaiah 10:22. Now let’s read what else Isaiah has to say about it:
Isa 17:4-6 “It will happen in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean. (5) It will be like when the harvester gathers the wheat, and his arm reaps the grain. Yes, it will be like when one gleans grain in the valley of Rephaim. (6) Yet gleanings will be left there, like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three olives in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outermost branches of a fruitful tree,” says Yahweh, the God of Israel.
So, not many will be left, but of those who are left, the repentant will be saved—not only from the Beast, but from the wrath of God that comes upon the earth. Joel says likewise:
Joe 2:32 It will happen that whoever will call on Yahweh’s name shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
Revelation 7 provides incredible verification that there are two groups that will be saved on the Day of the Lord: those who are already saints will be resurrected and raptured, whereas the remnant of Jacob who mourn and repent will be left behind but sealed against harm.
All of chapter seven occurs after the sixth seal but before the seventh seal. Therefore, the events of chapter seven are on the Day of the Lord, after the cosmos change and the nations mourn.
(Revelation as a whole is not chronological, but the individual sets of seven judgments do unfold chronologically.)
All of chapter seven occurs after the sixth seal but before the seventh seal. Therefore, the events of chapter seven are on the Day of the Lord, after the cosmos change and the nations mourn.
(Revelation as a whole is not chronological, but the individual sets of seven judgments do unfold chronologically.)
Rev 7:1-4 After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. (2) I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea, (3) saying, “Don’t harm the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads!” (4) I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel.
These ethnic Israelites have to be sealed because they must endure through the period of the bowls of wrath, which begins after the Rapture. And it is these folks that will repopulate Israel after the Beast kingdom is destroyed.
Now let’s read the very next part of Revelation 7:
Now let’s read the very next part of Revelation 7:
Rev 7:9-17 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. (10) They cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”.... One of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and from where did they come?” (14) I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood. (15) Therefore they are before the throne of God, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. (16) They will never be hungry, neither thirsty any more; neither will the sun beat on them, nor any heat; (17) for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
John is told that the multitude of saints worshiping before the heavenly throne are those people who came out of the Great Tribulation, a.k.a. The Time of Jacob’s Trouble. So this is clearly after the last three-and-a-half years of the Age, which Yeshua termed Great Tribulation. Previously, during the fifth seal, John saw the souls of martyred saints under the altar, and they are given white robes and told to wait; but here in ch. 7, before the seventh seal, John sees people already in white robes standing in front of the throne. What’s the difference? The souls under the altar are souls in Sheol who await the Resurrection, whereas the people worshiping before the throne have already been resurrected or raptured. We are told that they will tabernacle with God, which hints at the meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles, which starts just five days after the Day of Atonement.
Both of these groups have been rescued and redeemed in one sense or another. Is redemption a theme of Yom Teruah? No, but it is the theme of the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, which falls between Yom Teruah and Tabernacles.
Both of these groups have been rescued and redeemed in one sense or another. Is redemption a theme of Yom Teruah? No, but it is the theme of the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, which falls between Yom Teruah and Tabernacles.
The Meaning of Yom Kippur
Most of us are very confused about Yom Kippur. It’s traditionally been taught that the goats killed on that day represent the sacrifice of Yeshua, which is awfully confusing in light of the meaning of the Passover lamb.
We know for certain that Yeshua is our Passover lamb, because the apostle Paul wrote exactly that in 1 Cor. 5:7, and because the Gospels attest that Yeshua was executed at Passover. Messiah fulfilled the meaning of that mo’ed. Why, then, is it claimed that his death also fulfilled the Day of Atonement? We’re being taught that the Day of Atonement is about the cross, but the crucifixion didn’t happen on Yom Kippur.
At the same time, what’s not being taught is that YHVH commands a single trumpet blast on Yom Kippur every 49 years.
We know for certain that Yeshua is our Passover lamb, because the apostle Paul wrote exactly that in 1 Cor. 5:7, and because the Gospels attest that Yeshua was executed at Passover. Messiah fulfilled the meaning of that mo’ed. Why, then, is it claimed that his death also fulfilled the Day of Atonement? We’re being taught that the Day of Atonement is about the cross, but the crucifixion didn’t happen on Yom Kippur.
At the same time, what’s not being taught is that YHVH commands a single trumpet blast on Yom Kippur every 49 years.
Lev 25:8-10 (WEB) “You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty-nine years. (9) 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. (10) You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.”
As we already established, there are no trumpets involved in the instructions for Yom Teruah. Yet here we have a loud shofar blast commanded on the Day of Atonement. In a very real sense, it is the last trumpet of the Jubilee cycle. This trumpet blast is meant to signify the release of slaves and the redemption of the land. “Renewal is coming!” it declares.
That alone should blow our minds. Yeshua’s return will absolutely mark the beginning of redemption and renewal for Israel, so it only makes sense that his initial reappearance to gather his saints would occur on Yom Kippur, on a year that announces the Jubilee.
Speaking of Jubilee, the Book of Jubilees contains a neat history lesson about Yom Kippur. In chapter thirty-four we read:
That alone should blow our minds. Yeshua’s return will absolutely mark the beginning of redemption and renewal for Israel, so it only makes sense that his initial reappearance to gather his saints would occur on Yom Kippur, on a year that announces the Jubilee.
Speaking of Jubilee, the Book of Jubilees contains a neat history lesson about Yom Kippur. In chapter thirty-four we read:
Jub 34:12-19 And the sons of Jacob slaughtered a kid, and dipped the coat of Joseph in the blood, and sent (it) to Jacob their father on the tenth of the seventh month. (13) And he mourned all that night, for they had brought it to him in the evening, and he became feverish with mourning for his death, and he said: 'An evil beast hath devoured Joseph;’ and all the members of his house were grieving and mourning with him all that day…. (18) For this reason it is ordained for the children of Israel that they should afflict themselves on the tenth of the seventh month—on the day that the news which made him weep for Joseph came to Jacob his father- that they should make atonement for themselves thereon with a young goat on the tenth of the seventh month, once a year, for their sins; for they had grieved the affection of their father regarding Joseph his son. (19) And this day has been ordained that they should grieve thereon for their sins, and for all their transgressions and for all their errors, so that they might cleanse themselves on that day once a year.
That’s fascinating, no doubt, because that account doesn’t occur in the Torah, but let’s not make the mistake of imagining that this account fully explains the mystery of Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement is not just about the grief of one of the patriarchs or the sins of his sons. The ultimate fulfillment lies with the multitude of Jacob’s seed on the day of the unveiling of our Messiah. (We can see this same phenomenon at work in Passover. The Pesach meal is a memorial of what happened during the tenth plague of Egypt, but the true meaning of Passover wasn’t revealed until the sacrifice of Yeshua.)
There’s more we need to discuss about Yom Kippur. What’s the deal with the goats? Why is one for YHVH, and the other for Azazel?
There’s more we need to discuss about Yom Kippur. What’s the deal with the goats? Why is one for YHVH, and the other for Azazel?
The Bible we have today never defines the word azazel, but the rediscovered Book of First Enoch does provide the definition (which is another reason to take Enoch seriously, because Azazel’s inclusion in Torah suggests that the Israelites were already familiar with that character). Azazel was one of the two hundred watcher-class angels who rebelled during Enoch’s lifetime. Of those rebels, Azazel was the worst. More than any other, he taught mankind heavenly secrets and every species of iniquity. Thus, he was convicted on every count and given the highest penalty. The holy angels were commanded to bind him and bury him under the jagged rocks of the desert of Dudael, where he will lie until he is thrown into the lake of fire on Judgment Day.
Knowing that, we can properly understand the meaning of the scapegoat. On every Yom Kippur, the high priest would lay hands on the scapegoat, transferring the sins of Israel to it. Then the goat would be sent out into the desert to die:
Knowing that, we can properly understand the meaning of the scapegoat. On every Yom Kippur, the high priest would lay hands on the scapegoat, transferring the sins of Israel to it. Then the goat would be sent out into the desert to die:
Lev 16:10 (ESV) But the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
Meanwhile, the other goat, the one designated for YHVH, was sacrificed as a sin offering. This is a foreshadow of the separation of Jacob that will occur at the end of the Age. Remember when an angel said that Daniel’s people would be saved out of the time of great trouble, but only those whose names were found in the book of life? It is my contention that the goat labeled “for YHVH” stands for the Israelites—converts included—whose names are written in the book of life, whereas the goat labeled “for Azazel” represents the Israelites who remain rebellious, teaching each other to do iniquity, as Azazel also did. The sins of Israel are never removed from that goat, and it bears iniquity unto death, whereupon it shares in the fate of the fallen ones, to be imprisoned in the earth until Judgment Day.
In biblical symbolism, goats are rebels. They look, sound, and smell a lot like sheep, but they’re more stubborn, coarse, and independent. The saints of Yah are compared to sheep, and Yeshua is called a lamb, never a goat. So why, on the Day of Atonement, would a goat be sacrificed to YHVH instead of a lamb? Is it not because our sinful flesh is symbolically killed on Yom Kippur? We must put to death the rebellious part of ourselves.
The Book of Jubilees says it clearly: the people of Israel are supposed to repent and turn from our errors on the Day of Atonement. As the apostle Paul puts it, “Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24).
In biblical symbolism, goats are rebels. They look, sound, and smell a lot like sheep, but they’re more stubborn, coarse, and independent. The saints of Yah are compared to sheep, and Yeshua is called a lamb, never a goat. So why, on the Day of Atonement, would a goat be sacrificed to YHVH instead of a lamb? Is it not because our sinful flesh is symbolically killed on Yom Kippur? We must put to death the rebellious part of ourselves.
The Book of Jubilees says it clearly: the people of Israel are supposed to repent and turn from our errors on the Day of Atonement. As the apostle Paul puts it, “Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24).
Of course, that can and should be done any day of the year. But there is only one day every year on which YHVH expects us to focus entirely on that subject. That makes complete sense once we realize that on the last Yom Kippur of this age, the remnant of Israel will finally repent for rejecting Yeshua. At the same time, the saints of God will get picked up for Messiah’s wedding, having “washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood” (Rev. 7:14).
Did you notice in that passage from Jubilees that the day on which we are to afflict ourselves is the day on which the news came to Jacob about Joseph’s supposed death? Not the day on which Joseph actually (purportedly) died, but the day on which it became known to Jacob that his son had died. The Day of Atonement is that day on which the apostate ethnically Hebrew people will finally understand the death suffered by the Son of Man.
The life of Joseph is a huge prophecy about the coming Messiah, with several dozens of foreshadows incorporated into his story. If Jacob mourned over Joseph, who was a stand-in for Yeshua in prophetic drama, then we’re meant to understand that Israel will mourn over Yeshua on a given day; and that day, according to the Book of Jubilees, is Yom Kippur.
Did you notice in that passage from Jubilees that the day on which we are to afflict ourselves is the day on which the news came to Jacob about Joseph’s supposed death? Not the day on which Joseph actually (purportedly) died, but the day on which it became known to Jacob that his son had died. The Day of Atonement is that day on which the apostate ethnically Hebrew people will finally understand the death suffered by the Son of Man.
The life of Joseph is a huge prophecy about the coming Messiah, with several dozens of foreshadows incorporated into his story. If Jacob mourned over Joseph, who was a stand-in for Yeshua in prophetic drama, then we’re meant to understand that Israel will mourn over Yeshua on a given day; and that day, according to the Book of Jubilees, is Yom Kippur.
Conclusion
Let’s recap. Yom Teruah is the Day of Shouting, not Trumpets. It’s the day of making a loud noise with our voices or with wind instruments. It’s a day of alarm and acclamation, and that fact best aligns with prophecies about the start of the Day of the Lord, when cosmic changes will happen, and everyone will panic and run for cover. That day will be a day of shouting like none other.
Then, after the ten Days of Awe, on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), Yeshua will show up, and every eye will see him up above. He will come in the clouds to gather his saints at the sound of the jubilee trumpet, and when he does that, those who pierced him will look upon him. They will finally repent and believe in him (at least, many of them will). Those Hebrew people who do repent—one hundred forty-four thousand in total—whose names have been written in the Book of Life, will be sealed to make it through to the Millennium.
Blessed be the YHVH of Israel, and may his son come quickly. Amen.
Then, after the ten Days of Awe, on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), Yeshua will show up, and every eye will see him up above. He will come in the clouds to gather his saints at the sound of the jubilee trumpet, and when he does that, those who pierced him will look upon him. They will finally repent and believe in him (at least, many of them will). Those Hebrew people who do repent—one hundred forty-four thousand in total—whose names have been written in the Book of Life, will be sealed to make it through to the Millennium.
Blessed be the YHVH of Israel, and may his son come quickly. Amen.
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