Sukkot - Drawing Living Water ...

                       ... from the wells of y'shu'ah (salvation)!

And on the last day, the great day of the festival, Yahshua stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me, and let him who believes in Me drink.  As the Scripture said, out of His innermost shall flow rivers of living water."  John 7:37, 38

“See, El is my salvation, I trust and am not afraid. 

For Yah, יהוה, is my strength and my song; and He has become my salvation.”

And you shall draw water with joy from the fountains of [y’shu'ah] salvation.  
 Isaiah 12:2, 3

Chag Sukkot Sameach (joyful Sukkot celebration) and Shalom from within my sukkah!

Because this moed (appointed time/”festival”) of YHVH  is such a joyful time and is my very favorite time of year, I would like to share my joy and scripture reading contemplations with you.

It would be great if we could all be sitting in one big sukkah together in Jerusalem reflecting on the Word of Yah together.    
Perhaps not today….but God says that in the end all nations will come together in Jerusalem to celebrate Sukkot.  Under the Messiah’s reign, we will live together with Him in eternal Sukkot, and then even small things like the pots and the bells on the horses will be labeled as set-apart to YHVH.  (Read Zechariah 14)

For those of you who have never celebrated this appointed time of Sukkot, there is no way to describe the joy or the richness or the rest or the liberty and freedom that this week brings. 
You have to experience it for yourselves!
Really!
I know many don't believe that it could be so wonderful!
I have heard many comments from believers who do not observe YHVH's commands regarding His appointed times...comments such as doing so is just legalism and that as believers we have been set free from the law.

To that, I simply say "try it...you might like it!"

It is far from legalism.  It is out of love for my Elohim, my Redeemer, my Living Water, my Salvation (Yahshua, my y'shu'ah) that I obey YHVH's Word.
And the result is much joy, great richness, and tremendous freedom...especially during Sukkot!

How will you know unless you experience it?  :o)

(Sidenote:  When I "simply say try it..." I realize that in our western culture's time schedule, it is not so simple to stick to God's appointed time schedule of Shabbat and the "no work" days during His moedim.  Yes, that is very true.  It is difficult to adjust ourselves and those around us to a different schedule.  But as difficult as it may be, it IS possible...and so enriching and restful and satisfying, and worth whatever was given up to do so.)

For now, as I sit in my sukkah on this autumn day, enjoying resting and reading and snacking in my sukkah, I want to share with you some of the things I am reading.

Let's start with the scripture that opened this post - John 7:37-38.
In John 7, Yahshua traveled to Jerusalem during Sukkot (obeying the command of Yah His Father, by the way...see Deut. 16:16).  It is on the last day of Sukkot, the Hoshanah Rabah or Great Salvation, that this scripture takes place.
Hoshanah comes from two the words hoshi'ah na (save now) in Psalm118:25.  It is a plea to Yah for Him to save His people.
Save now, I beseech You YHVH...

The tradition on this day was for the priest to fetch water (Living Water, Mayim Chaim) from the Siloam Pool, bring it to the Temple, and pour it on the altar.  This would be accompanied by sounds of great jubilation and singing (Isaiah 12:2) from the assembled people. He would then pray for YHVH to send His Messiah to save them (Psalm 118:25, 26)

... Yah, יהוה, is my strength and my song; and He has become my salvation...
Save now, I beseech You YHVH... Blessed is He who is coming in the Name of יהוה!   We shall bless you from the House of יהוה. 

So here is Yahshua, having traveled to Jerusalem for the appointed time of Sukkot, now standing in the midst of the assembly on the last day of the week-long festival, and during the high point of the festival, the water ceremony and the cry for salvation, He proclaims: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me, and let him who believes in Me drink.  As the Scripture said, out of His innermost shall flow rivers of living water."

Wow! Would that get my attention!  
Would it get yours too?  
It for sure got the attention of the scribes and Pharisees, and it divided the people who heard it (see the rest of the chapter).

What a claim!  Drinking from the wells of salvation, the Mayim Chaim (Living Water) through Yahshua!  
The next verse says that He was referring to the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) when He spoke these words.

Which exact Scripture was Yahshua quoting when He said "as the Scripture said, out of His innermost shall flow rivers of living water"?

Well, in that answer lies the rest of this blog post. 
Yahshua was not quoting one exact specific verse.  He was speaking generally of many places in the Scriptures that deal with this topic of the Spirit, salvation, and the flow of Living Water.

That topic - the Living Water and Salvation, and how they tie into Sukkot - is what I want to focus on in this particular blog post.

Can you think of scriptures that speak of life-giving waters flowing and of salvation?
(Of course, Yahshua would have been quoting from and pointing to the Tanakh, the Old Testament, since the New Testament had not yet been written or even lived yet for the most part.)

Let's start with another instance in the book of John - the Samaritan woman at the well.  Yahshua said almost the exact thing to her personally during their meeting at the well.

John 4:13, 14
Yahshua answered and said to her, “Everyone drinking of this water shall thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water I give him shall certainly never thirst. 
And the water that I give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”


Now let's turn to the Tanakh and read what YHVH had to say through the prophets about Living Water (Yahshua) and Salvation (Yahshua).

Isaiah 55:1 
Here YHVH is speaking directly to Israel in a continuation of Isaiah 54 where He had said to them "For your Maker is your husband, יהוה of hosts is His Name, and the Set-apart One of Israel is your Redeemer....  For a little while I have forsaken you, but with great compassion I shall gather you.... For though the mountains be removed and the hills be shaken, My kindness is not removed from you, nor is My covenant of peace shaken,” said יהוה, who has compassion on you.... No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall prove wrong. This is the inheritance of the servants of יהוה, and their righteousness from Me,” declares יהוה.

And immediately after that comes invitation in Isaiah 55:1...

“Oh everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And you who have no silver, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without silver and without price."  

Reading Jeremiah 2 gives us a better picture of how vital it is for Israel to choose to accept the invitation for YHVH's Living Waters instead of going after their own dried up and broken water sources.

Jeremiah 2:12-13 

Be amazed, O heavens, at this, and be frightened, be utterly dried up,” declares יהוה. "For My people have done two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns, which do not hold water. 

2:17-19
 “Have you not done this to yourself, by forsaking יהוה your Elohim when He led you in the way?  And now why take the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? Or why take the way to Ashshur, to drink the waters of the River?  Your own evil instructs you, and your back-slidings reprove you.


Now look at the situation in Jeremiah 17:12-14:

An esteemed throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our set-apart place.   O יהוה, the expectation of Israel, all who forsake You are put to shame. “Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken יהוה, the fountain of living waters.” 
Heal me, O יהוה, so that I am healed. Save me, so that I am saved, for You are my praise.

This is why Israel cries out "Save now! Hoshiah na!"

 Look at another place in Isaiah where YHVH speaks directly to Israel...

Isaiah 44:2-6

Thus said יהוה who made you and formed you from the womb, who helps you, "Do not fear, O Jacob My servant, and Yeshurun, whom I have chosen.  For I pour water on the thirsty, and floods on the dry ground. I pour My Spirit on your seed, and My blessing on your offspring, and they shall spring up among the grass like willows by streams of water." 
One says, "I belong to יהוה"; another calls himself by the name of Jacob; another writes with his hand, "Unto יהוה," and names himself by the name of Israel.  
Thus said יהוה, Sovereign of Israel, and his Redeemer, יהוה of hosts, "I am the First and I am the Last, besides Me there is no Elohim."


And in Isaiah 58:11-14

“Then יהוה would guide you continually, and satisfy your being in drought, and strengthen your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.   
And those from among you shall build the old waste places. You shall raise up the foundations of many generations. And you would be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.  If you do turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My set-apart day, and shall call the Sabbath ‘a delight,’ the set-apart day of יהוה ‘esteemed,’ and shall esteem it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in יהוה. And I shall cause you to ride on the heights of the earth, and feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father. For the mouth of יהוה has spoken!” 


And in Psalm 36:7-10

How precious is Your kindness, O Elohim! And the sons of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. 
They are filled from the fatness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. 
For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. 
Draw out Your kindness to those who know You, And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
 


Do you see so far how much YHVH wants Israel to know of His refreshing, His provision, His redemption...His Living Waters? 
And do you also see how Israel will reap the benefits in very practical and tangible ways?
Isn't it exciting to read so much of Yah's guidance, through His Spirit, of His people!
And isn't it exciting to know that YHVH had planned all along to provide salvation for His people Himself with His own Strong Right Hand - Yahshua, the Living Water!


Now let's continue to look at what is still to unfold in the seemingly not-so-distant future.  Let's see how these waters, the physical ones and the spiritual ones, are tied together for eternal Salvation...eternal Sukkot with our Redeemer.
(Yes, I am reading YHVH's Word literally.)

Joel chapter 3 begins with "at that time when I turn back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem"... and when YHVH will bring all the gentiles to the Valley of Jehoshaphat for judgement there for His people Israel and His land of inheritance Israel.

Look at Joel 3:17-21

"Then you shall know that I am יהוה your Elohim, dwelling in Zion, My set-apart mountain. And Jerusalem shall be set-apart, and foreigners shall not pass through her again.  
And it shall be in that day that the mountains drip with new wine, and the hills flow with milk. And all the streams of Judah shall be flooded with water, and a fountain flow from the House of יהוה and water the valley Shittim. 
Egypt shall become a ruin, and Edom a ruin, a wilderness, because of violence done to the people of Judah, whose innocent blood they shed in their land.  
But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem to all generations. 
And I shall avenge their blood, which I have not avenged. 
And יהוה shall be dwelling in Zion!”

Zechariah 14 speaks of these physical living waters flowing from Jerusalem, and it also speaks of eternal Sukkot.  (And it also speaks of the destruction of those who fought against Jerusalem.)

Zechariah 14:8, 9, 16

And in that day it shall be that living waters flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea, in summer as well as in winter.   And יהוה shall be Sovereign over all the earth. In that day there shall be one יהוה, and His Name one.

And it shall be that all who are left from all the gentiles which came up against Jerusalem, shall go up from year to year to bow themselves to the Sovereign, יהוה of hosts, and to observe Sukkot [Festival of Booths]. 


Again this picture of future living, healing water flowing from Jerusalem is found in Ezekiel 47...the whole chapter.  Let's look at several verses...

Ezekiel 47
[1] And he turned me back to the door of the House. And look, water was flowing from under the threshold of the House [Temple] toward the east, for the House faced east, and the water was flowing from under the right side of the House, from the south of the altar. 
[9] “And it shall be that every swarming creature, wherever the stream goes, shall live. And there shall be very many fish, for these waters shall go there, and they are healed. And wherever the stream flows all shall live.

[12] “And by the bank of the stream, on both sides, grow all kinds of trees used for food, whose leaves do not wither and fruit do not fail. They bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the set-apart place. And their fruit shall be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

(Interesting point - right after this YHVH declares on oath the borders of this land that He gave to Israel as an inheritance.)


After looking through so much Scripture filled with the theme of YHVH's Living Water of Salvation given to His people Israel (and remember, we believing gentiles are grafted into His people Israel), it is so much easier to see the importance of the words Yahshua cried out to the crowd on that final day of Sukkot.
 “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me, and let him who believes in Me drink.  As the Scripture said, out of His innermost shall flow rivers of living water."

The importance of His words, His claim, would not have been lost on the crowd and for sure was not lost on the religious leaders.

He was claiming to be the fulfillment of all the Scripture regarding YHVH's plan of Salvation, His plan to provide Living Water...to save His people.

That was a huge claim...and according to John 7 many of the people were ready to believe that Yahshua really is what He claims...the Living Water, the Salvation (y'shu'ah), the promised Messiah!

But again, many were not.  

Even with the picture laid out so perfectly and completely before them - all of this taking place during the ceremony of the living water, after having praised Yah for providing and being Salvation and after having cried out "Hoshiah na! Save us now!", the religious leaders refused to admit that Yah answered their cries with the Messiah right there in the midst of Sukkot!

We can look back at it and say, "why were they so blind?"

But we can also say the same thing about some believers today. 
Yes, they see the truth that Yahshua is YHVH's provision of Salvation, the Messiah, the Living Water.  But they cannot accept the truth of the Tanakh for His people today...the truth of Yah's Word - beginning to end - for everyday living.  Why live by the Word of Yah?  Out of love for Him!  Obedience - I obey because I love Him and trust His ways.

Well, I'm getting a little sidetracked now.

Let's go back to the Word...back to the very end.
We've been given a preview of what's to come, and you were probably reminded of it while reading some of the Scriptures from the prophets just now.

Let's look at the Final Eternal Sukkot with the Eternal Living Water!

Revelation 7:15-17
...they are before the throne of Elohim, and serve Him day and night in His Dwelling Place. And He who sits on the throne shall spread His Tent over them.  They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun strike them, nor any heat, because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall shepherd them and lead them to fountains of waters of life. And Elohim shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.


Revelation 21:3-6

  And I heard a loud voice from the heaven saying, “See, the sukkah [booth] of Elohim is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and Elohim Himself shall be with them and be their Elohim.  
And Elohim shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying. And there shall be no more pain, for the former matters have passed away.” 
And He who was sitting on the throne said, “See, I make all matters new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and trustworthy.” 
And He said to me, “It is done! I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Tav’, the Beginning and the End. To the one who thirsts I shall give of the fountain of the water of life without payment. 
 
Revelation 22:1, 2  

And he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of Elohim and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
 

And Yahshua Himself says in Revelation 22:12-13

And see, I am coming speedily, and My reward is with Me, to give to each according to his work.  I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Tav’, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.  Blessed are those doing His commands, so that the authority shall be theirs unto the tree of life, and to enter through the gates into the city.


Finally, in verse 17... 
And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And he who hears, let him say, “Come!” And he who thirsts, come! And he who desires it, take the water of life without paying!


May you draw water from the fountains of Yahshua our Salvation...with JOY and gratitude!

Gina

Yom Teruah...Sound of the Shofar!

      The Joy         
   of YHVH is       
 Your Strength!  

How many times have you quoted this phrase from the Word of YHVH...

         "the joy of the Lord is my strength."

I know it has been said to me many times...and I have said it many times.  It has been spoken to me as an admonishment to be joyful rather than down.  It has been spoken to me as an encouragement.  It has been spoken to me as a reminder.  It is part of many songs, many sermons, many gift cards.  It is printed on coffee cups, on wall hangings, on note paper, on tote bags, on T-shirts, on key chains, on tea towels, on Bible covers, on jewelry, on journals, on magnets, on bookmarks, on computer mouse pads....you can even order it printed on a flattened copper penny (for $10 + postage).

Do you know the context of this verse? 

Do you know what we have been missing out on by not printing THE WHOLE STORY? 

Can you tell me why Ezra and Nehemiah said this? 

(Did you know they were the ones who said it?) 

Do you know what was happening at the time this was spoken?

It is SO IMPORTANT to have the whole story...so important to know the Word of YHVH, the Torah of YHVH.  His life is in His Word...our relationship with Him must be founded upon His Word.  Otherwise we don't really know Him or have relationship with Him, and we are just fooling ourselves and practicing false religion.

Here's the whole story from Nehemiah chapter 8 (after many Israelite exiles had been allowed to return to Jerusalem and the land of Israel):

Nehemiah 8:1-12

When the seventh month arrived, after the people of Israel had resettled in their towns, all the people gathered with one accord in the open space in front of the Water Gate and asked Ezra the Torah-teacher to bring the scroll of the Torah of Moses, which YHVH had commanded Israel. 

Ezra the priest brought the Torah before the assembly, which consisted of men, women and all children old enough to understand. It was the first day of the seventh month.  

Facing the open space in front of the Water Gate, he read from it to the men, the women and the children who could understand from early morning until noon; and all the people listened attentively to the scroll of the Torah....Ezra opened the scroll where all the people could see him...when he opened it, all the people rose to their feet.  Ezra blessed YHVH, the great God; and all the people answered, "Amen! Amen!" as they lifted up their hands, bowed their heads and fell prostrate before YHVH with their faces to the ground. 

The Levites... explained the Torah to the people, while the people remained in their places. 

They read clearly from the scroll, in the Torah of God, translated it, and enabled them to understand the sense of what was being read.

Nehemiah the Tirshata, Ezra the priest and Torah-teacher and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "Today is consecrated to YHVH your God; don't be mournful, don't weep."  For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the Torah. 

Then he said to them, "Go, eat rich food, drink sweet drinks, and send portions to those who can't provide for themselves; for today is consecrated to our Lord.

Don't be sad, because the joy of YHVH is your strength."....

Then the people went off to eat, drink, send portions and celebrate; because they had understood the words that had been proclaimed to them.

Do you see why it is so important to know the context of these words, this popular "Christian" phrase?  Do you see that this phrase is so wrapped in hearing, obeying, knowing the Torah of YHVH...the commandments, instructions, precepts of our God?

His people had forgotten...they had stopped hearing, obeying and knowing the Word of YHVH.

When they stood still and listened (for many hours) and heard and understood what the Torah, the Word of YHVH said, they cried!  They realized they had not been living as YHVH said

and they cried!

Ezra and Nehemiah and the Levites reminded them not to cry, but to find their strength in the joy of YHVH and to celebrate. 

Why? 

Because that very day was a day YHVH had set aside.  That is what they heard in the Torah reading that made them cry.   But after they mourned their sin, their loss of relationship with YHVH, then they celebrated.  They heard what YHVH said about that day, the first day of the seventh month, and they DID what YHVH told them to do on that set-aside day.

Now, don't you want to know what was so special about the first day of the seventh month? 

(I'm sure you have guessed  by now if you did not already know.)

Why don't we hear from YHVH's own Word what this day is all about.

(And by the way...today is the first day of the seventh month...as long as the new moon has been sighted within Israel.)

Leviticus 23 is the chapter that lists all of YHVH's appointed times in summation (including the weekly appointed time of keeping the Sabbath).  So let's go first to Leviticus 23.

Leviticus 23:1-4, 23-25

YHVH said to Moses,  "Tell the people of Israel: 'The designated times of YHVH which you are to proclaim as holy convocations are my designated times.  Work is to be done on six days; but the seventh day is a Shabbat of complete rest, a holy convocation; you are not to do any kind of work; it is a Shabbat for YHVH, even in your homes.  These are the designated times of YHVH, the holy convocations you are to proclaim at their designated times.'"....

YHVH said to Moses,"Tell the people of Israel, 'In the seventh month, the first of the month is to be for you a day of complete rest for remembering, a holy convocation announced with blasts on the shofar.  Do not do any kind of ordinary work, and bring an offering made by fire to YHVH."


Again in Numbers chapter 29, YHVH commands this set-apart day:

Numbers 29:1-6

"'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you are to have a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work; it is a day of blowing the shofar for you.  Prepare a burnt offering to make a fragrant aroma for YHVH  [the next verses detail all that is to be offered to YHVH]... This is to be in addition to the burnt offering for Rosh-Hodesh (the New Moon offering)...this will be a fragrant aroma, an offering made by fire to YHVH.'"

The Hebrew word that YHVH used in these verses is the word TERUAH, which means "loud clamor, shouting with an acclamation of joy or a battle cry, sounding the alarm by shofar or shout," etc.

In Leviticus, YHVH uses the words  Zikron Teruah (zikron means "memorial or mentioning").
In Numbers, He uses Yom Teruah (yom means "day").

So this is where we get the English name for this set-apart day...
Yom Teruah - Day of Trumpets or Day of Shofar (also known as the Feast of Trumpets).  If you look at the Leviticus wording, it is also known as the Shout of Memorial or the Shout of Mentioning.


You can see that YHVH does not give much instruction
for this set-apart day. 
He also does not tell us what the purpose of the day is...
why do we shout and blow the shofar? 
What is the meaning of doing these things?

 Do we need to know why YHVH tells us to do something
before we do it?  I hope the answer is NO! 
Of course, we want to obey, even when we don't know why He commands what He does.  But we can trust that His reasons and His purpose are right and true and bring glory to Himself and deeper relationship between Himself and His people. 
There is relationship and life in obedience!

But let's not stop here with these unanswered questions.  Let's look a little bit deeper.

Incidentally, before we go on, I want to mention that today is more popularly known as Rosh Hashanah, or the Head of the Year (New Year) by the majority of Jews in Israel and around the world.  I won't take time here to go into it, but I will say that YHVH does not say this day is the Rosh Hashanah.  YHVH says this day is Yom Teruah.  He states clearly in His Word that the new year begins in the first month, the month when Pesach or Passover occurs.

Sidenote...
(If you would like to see a Jewish explanation of why the Jewish people have taken YHVH's Word and turned it into another holiday on this day, see this website link from Karaite Korner. 
http://www.karaite-korner.org/yom_teruah.shtml

Karaites are Jews who do not agree with Rabbinical Judaism and want to get back to the truth of YHVH's Word...rather than following the traditions of men and religion.  They do not YET believe in Yeshua as the Messiah, but I know that the promise in YHVH's Word is that their hearts will be softened, their eyes will be opened, and they will know the COMPLETE truth of the Living Word of YHVH and the Messiah Yeshua!  This is my prayer, along with my prayer that the traditional adherents to Rabbinical Judaism will see the Word of YHVH for what it says, rather than through the lens of tradition and the interpretations and additions of men, and also come to know their Messiah Yeshua.  
 And, I might add here that I am also praying for the adherents of traditional Christianity to see the TRUTH of what YHVH's Word says and come back to following His Word alone rather than the traditions and misleading interpretations of men...that we might see the truth of who Yeshua is rather than the traditional picture we have been presented and continue to present.  I am one of those who has recently come to understand, like the Israelites in Nehemiah, that I have not really HEARD and OBEYED the Word of YHVH, but I have been following teachings that led me away from obeying the complete Word of my God!  I have cried about this...and now I am celebrating the TRUTH as YHVH is revealing it more and more to my willing eyes and heart.  It is so refreshing and so humbling and so exciting to know my God through His Word in ways I have never before!)

Okay, now back to the topic at hand...

Deeper diggings into this set-apart day, Yom Teruah...


According to Psalm 81:3, the shofar was blown to announce the beginning of every new month (the Rosh Chodesh).  So the commandment to blow the shofar on the first day of the seventh month would not be an unusual thing.  In fact, it would already be a usual thing to happen on the first day of the month.

So what makes this day special? 
Why would YHVH set this day aside as a commanded Appointed Time or Set-apart Day...Yom Teruah or the Day of Shofars?

This is where the rest of the Feast days or Set-apart Days from Leviticus 23 come in.  Yom Teruah is a VERY important day...it is the day of announcing something very important that is about to happen.
If you look at the Jewish calendar and at Leviticus 23, you will see that this day, Yom Teruah, is the beginning of the series of 3 Feasts that happen in the latter part of the year (the autumn season in Israel).  I will have other blog posts about these other feasts soon, but for now let's just remember that in 10 days, we will be observing the commanded Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.  And then on the 15th day of the 7th month the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles (Sukkot) will begin and will go for 7 days, with a final day of celebration wrapping it all up on the 8th day of the Feast.

Now, we know from the many occassions in YHVH's Word when shofars or trumpets are sounded that this can mean several things:
 it sounded the call to come together, to gather as one before YHVH;
it sounded the battle cry;
it sounded the alarm, the call to watch for something or someone coming;
it sounded the call to prepare for something about to happen;
it was used in praising YHVH and in shouting aloud to Him, sometimes while the burnt offering was being offered;
 it could signify victory
etc.

Put this all together with the fact that Yeshua is the Living Word, the Torah...He is the Alef and Tav (beginning and end), the Creator of all.  He is what the commandments of YHVH are all about.  He is what the Set-apart times are all about.  He has been and will continue to be the fulfillment of ALL parts of YHVH's Word, including these 3 Set-apart times beginning with Yom Teruah (together with the other Set-apart times)! 

Yom Teruah is the sounding of the shofar, the call to prepare, to alarm, to watch, to victory. 
The 10 days between now and Yom Kippur are known as the Days of Awe among Jews...days they use to prepare themselves for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. 
And then everything is followed up by and brought to completion in the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot.

So to understand Yom Teruah and the reasons for celebrating it, we must also understand what has already happened and what is coming.

Yom Teruah is the CALL, the SIGNAL of the beginning of the end! 
It is the beginning of the time that will lead us into the terrible Judgement Day, the Day of Wrath.  It is the beginning of the time when our KING Yeshua will reign in complete victory.  It is the beginning of the time when we will dwell with our YHVH forever in the dwelling place He has prepared! 

Why did YHVH command us to follow His Word, His Torah, His set-apart times forever, for all generations?  Because they will never end!!  From the beginning, they were meant to teach His people how to live in relationship with Him; they were meant to point us to the TRUTH of His character; they were meant to show us what eternity will be like. 

This is why I said at the beginning of this post that if we do not keep YHVH's Word, then we really are not in relationship with Him.  (Actually, HE said that....time and time again in His Word.)

Now is the time!
It is time to WAKE UP!
It is time to HEAR THE ALARM CALL!
It is time to repent, to come back to YHVH'S WORD in obedience!
It is time to look ahead, to look up in expectation, in awe, in reverence, in humility....



John 14:23, 24
Yeshua answered, "If someone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  Someone who doesn't love me doesn't keep my words -- and the word you are hearing is not my own but that of the Father who sent me.

Revelation 11:15
The seventh angel sounded his shofar; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and his Messiah, and he will rule forever and ever!"

Our King is coming to dwell
with His people forever!


If you are interested in reading a more in-depth study of this, I have found a website that has helped me.  It is published by a believer in Yeshua.  Of course, none of us will ever agree completely on every point of doctrine interpretation, so of course there are some minor things I am not sure about in this website, but on the major issues, this website has been one that I have appreciated:

http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/yom_teruah.pdf


There is so much more to study and know, even in just this one day that is commanded and yet not much else is said directly about it! 
Imagine when we see and know ALL the parts of YHVH's Word and how they come together in Yeshua!
 What a glorious time that will be, dwelling with Him forever, knowing Him and seeing Him in ALL of His glory!


Psalm 98

A psalm: Sing a new song to YHVH, because he has done wonders. His right hand, his holy arm have won him victory. 
YHVH has made known his victory; revealed his vindication in full view of the nations, remembered his grace and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.   
Shout for joy to YHVH, all the earth!
Break forth, sing for joy, sing praises!   
Sing praises to YHVH with the lyre, with the lyre
and melodious music!   
With trumpets and the sound of the shofar, shout for joy
before the king, YHVH! 
Let the sea roar, and everything in it; the world,
and those living in it.   
Let the floods clap their hands; let the mountains sing together
for joy before YHVH,
for he has come to judge the earth; he will judge the world rightly
and the peoples fairly.


Heeding the call of the shofar,

Gina