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Let Us Reason Blow the Trumpet or Shout

 

 

There is almost universal agreement that the fourth annual holy day (first day of the seventh month) is principally characterized by the blowing of trumpets.  The King James Bible is a translation that agrees with that conclusion. 

 

Lev 23:23  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Lev 23:24  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 H8643, an holy convocation.

Lev 23:25  Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

 

Num 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  H8643 unto you.

 

We know that the Holy Days are a shadow of the fulfillment of each one of the days.  What then is the fulfillment for the first day of the seventh month?  Tens of thousands believe that the sounding of the seventh or last trump at the resurrection of the saints is the fulfillment of the fourth Holy Day.  Doesn't the instruction in Lev. 23:24 say there is a blowing of the trumpets on that day?  A detailed paper on the subject (Day Of Teruah) and this more condensed paper shows that "blowing of trumpets" in Leviticus and Numbers is not the word of God but a very flagrant mistranslation of the original wording that has a very profound consequence.  They incorrectly believe that that the fulfillment of the fourth Holy Day will be the resurrection of the saints which is also known as the "rapture".   But we are compelled to ask, how could that translation and the error in belief come about? --- It is principally the result of the influence of Rabbinic Judaism on those who gave significant credibility to their teachings.

 

From:  .wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharisees

The Pharisees (/ˈfærəˌsiːz/) were a social movement and a school of thought in the Holy Land during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs became the foundational, liturgical and ritualistic basis for Rabbinic Judaism.

 

It goes without question what Jesus thought of the influence of the Pharisees. The following are examples of present and past Rabbinical teaching that resulted in the wide spread error that is believed today.

    

Leviticus 23:24   Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)   published 1998

 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘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.

 

Reform Judaism  (speaking of the first day of the seventh month)

Rosh HaShanah (literally, “Head of the Year”) is the Jewish New Year, a time of prayer, self-reflection, and repentance.  ------  Customs associated with the holiday include sounding the shofar, eating a round challah, and tasting apples and honey to represent a sweet New Year.

 

Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac (Shlomo Yitzhaki), known as Rashi (based on an acronym of his Hebrew initials), is one of the most influential Jewish commentators in history. He was born in Troyes, Champagne, in northern France, in 1040.

Rashi  commentary  (1075-1105 C.E.)

23:24כ״ג:כ״ד

זכרון תרועה. זִכְרוֹן פְּסוּקֵי זִכְרוֹנוֹת וּפְסוּקֵי שׁוֹפָרוֹת (ספרא: ראש השנה ל"ב) לִזְכֹּר לָכֶם עֲקֵדַת יִצְחָק שֶׁקָּרַב תַּחְתָּיו אַיִל:

זכרון תרועה [THERE SHALL BE UNTO YOU] A זכרון OF SOUNDING THE CORNET —

 

It's time to look to see what the true translation of "blowing of trumpets" (Strong's number 8643)   actually says.  And we will also look at how that the 37 times "teruah" is used.  One wonders how "especially clangor of trumpets" as a principle definition fits into the picture. 

 

H8643  ter-oo-aw'

From H7321; clamor, that is, acclamation of joy or a battle cry; especially clangor of trumpets, as an alarum: - alarm, blow (-ing) (of, the) (trumpets), joy, jubile, loud noise, rejoicing, shout (-ing), (high, joyful) sound (-ing).

 

Shout or shouting  (relating to joy or positive sound including Jericho)                20

Shouting  (relating to war)                                                                                       7

Alarm  (silver trumpets used to move the camp of Israel)                                      3          

Blow trumpet (for war Num. 31:6 & 2Ch 13:12)                                                      2

Blow the trumpets (Lev. 23:24 & Num. 29:1 - the verses in question)                    2

Jubilee                                                                                                                     1

Ambiguous (all relating to war)                                                                                            2

 

It is obvious where the main meaning of the word lies.  It's a word that generally conveys a positive thought or feeling to a subject through shouting.  As we see, the word was used seven times to convey a war cry or a charge into battle.  These seven times are not easily applicable to a "memorial" which signifies the first day of the seventh month.  There are numerous examples of the day that can relate to the joy of a special occasion.

 

I think it would be profitable to see what the Karaites have to say about this subject and their understanding of the  Rabbinical creation of the Jewish "new year".  The Rabbi's seem to have no regard for the fact that God established Abib as the beginning of the year.

 

Exo 12:2  This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.  Exo 13:4  This day came ye out in the month Abib.

 

Bay Area Karaite Jews  by Shira Telushkin

On Oct. 3, as most synagogues around the world celebrate Rosh Hashanah, about 130 people will gather at a synagogue in Daly City, California, to celebrate Yom T’ruah, the biblical “Day of Shouting.” They will be just a few of the tens of thousands celebrating in congregations across Israel and Europe. The congregation will chant from a Torah scroll, recite their prayers in Hebrew, coddle bored children, and some might even—succumbing a bit to acculturation—dip apple slices in honey. But they will not blow the shofar, wish for each other to be inscribed in the Book of Life, or depart with a shanah tovah. In fact, they will not be celebrating the New Year at all. Rather, the Karaite Jews of America will be celebrating the first day of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, a day of sacred assembly called for in Leviticus 23:24.

“The idea of the seventh month as Rosh Hashanah is a borrowed Babylonian concept,” Jonathan Haber explained to me over the phone one afternoon, while he took a break from a hiking trip in northern Israel. Haber, who grew up in a Reform Jewish home in Miami Beach, began practicing seriously as a Karaite while an undergraduate at the University of Florida. He recently moved to Israel, and in early August joined the Israel Defense Forces, complete with a letter from the Karaite Chief Rabbi that ensures he can celebrate the holidays by the Karaite calendar. “The four New Years in the Talmud are adopted from the Babylonian custom of having multiple new years, and that comes from the pagan idea of multiple gods. None of that is in the Tanakh,” he said, referring to the Hebrew Bible.

He’s right, of course. Rosh Hashanah as the start of a new year is a rabbinic interpretation of the verse. And since at least the eighth century CE, Karaite Jews across the world have kept to an interpretation of Judaism in which the Bible is taken as the ultimate authority on religious practice. Long centered in Egypt, Turkey, and Crimea, Karaites will consider the insights of the Oral Law, but they don’t accept their rulings as binding, and outright reject rabbinic traditions that contradict the plain meaning of scriptural verses. As Travis Wheeler, a convert to Karaism from Georgia who is the only formally trained Karaite shochet in the United States put it to me, “Any Karaite—any good Karaite—will read the Talmud” but the words of the Torah always take precedence—and that creed leads to a form of Judaism that is at once recognizable yet strange.

The actual translation the "3846" and the information relating to the Karaites provide a sound foundation that establishes an understanding of the true meaning of Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29:1.  I believe that it is abundantly clear that Rabbinic Judaism has the propensity to deviate from God's Word.  I believe that it is apparent that the 37 times that this word is used is of crucial importance to our understanding.

 

As an added note John Gills Commentary provides a look at the confusion that the Jews have for Leviticus 23:24. 

a memorial of blowing of trumpets; which, according to the Jewish writers, was continued from sun rising to sun setting (f); but what this blowing of trumpets was a memorial of is not easy to say; some think it was in memory of the wars the people of Israel had with their enemies the Amalekites and Canaanites, and the victories they obtained over them, and particularly in remembrance of the walls of Jericho falling down at the sound of rams' horns; but then it must be by anticipation: it is more commonly received with the Jews (g) that it was on the account of the binding of Isaac on this day, being delivered through a ram being sacrificed in his stead; etc.

 

We know that Jesus never uses a trumpet to lead his church into battle.  Not even during the event describes by Revelation 19:11-21.

 

Rom 12:19  "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is  written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."

 

It is very clear that the overwhelming use of teruah is describing the sound of shouting.  There is no New Testament shout or trumpet sound for war that can relate to the fourth Holy Day --- there is none. So we come to the following question.  Can a seventh or last trumpet sound at the resurrection of the saints be equated to shouting and fulfill the fourth Holy Day?   No it cannot.  But there is one place in the New Testament where a voice of mighty thundering is saying," let us be glad and rejoice".  It is not at the resurrection of the saints but at the marriage of the lamb.  And this is the only time that the equivalent of the word" teruah" is used in the entire New Testament.  It is recorded in Revelation 19:6-7.  Most of the New Testament is focused on the creation of the firstfruit --- the future bride and WIFE of Jesus.  That relationship is going to last for eternity.  The Father has been diligently working to provide His Son with a wife that will fulfill all His earnest expectations.  That should give us abundant reason for the following.

 

Rev 19:5  And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.

Rev 19:6  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

  

For a detailed look at this very special day see the paper titled --- The Day of Teruah.

 

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