Yom Teruah is basically a day to blast/blow/shout. It is the day commonly known as Day of Trumpets. Typically, the blasting is best exemplified by strongly blowing into a ram's horn or a goat's horn known as shofar in hebrew. It is one of the feasts we are commanded by Adonai to observe. Interestingly Adonai in numbers 10:10 instructs us to inter-relate all set-apart-days by blasting a trumpet over our offering. However, when teaching exclusively about the set-apart-days in Leviticus 23, only first of the seventh month is known as the day of blasting. Why, and how does this day of blasting connect all the other set-apart days? It is definitely insufficient to explain in this brief work how Yom Teruah connects all set apart days as numbers 10:10 indicates. Nevertheless, I will try to scratch a little and try to address the interrelationship between Yom Teruah (feast of trumpets), Shavuot (Pentecost) and Pesach (Passover).

Leviticus 23:23-25 Adonai commands as follows, "....In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD."

Brethren, it would be wise to analyse the original words in the original language, hebrew, so as to at least find out how this commandment relates to us. 

Now in the word Teruah, two meanings are captured: shout and blast (as of a trumpet). These are words I wish to address then possibly wind up with few observations on the day.

The instruction on the feast starts by giving a point in time: in the seventh month, on the first day. If there is a first day of the seventh month there must have been a first day of the first month. And sure enough, in Exodus 12:1,2 Adonai tells Mosheh, "....And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you."

As such, Adonai directly attaches what is to be addressed here in the feast of trumpet in the seventh month to the beginning of a sequence of events. Now, what was the sequence of events that led up to the first day of the seventh month?

Prior to the first month, Israel had been groaning under the yoke of Pharaoh. Adonai had been lenient with Pharaoh: Pharaoh had been playing with fire; he had promised to let Israel go only for him to break the promise four times. When the grace period was over, Pharaoh was foolish enough to challenge Adonai to a full-blown showdown when he told Mosheh in Exodus 10;28, "...Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die." Adonai accepted the challenge and answered through Mosheh, "...Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more."

The battle was over even before Pharaoh had swallowed his saliva. In that acceptance of the challenge, Adonai gave a shout of victory and declared that the duel was over, they would never ever meet again. In that very instance, a solution in heaven was found and judgement delivered and Adonai gave a shout of victory as he left the courts of Pharaoh in Mosheh. Grace was withdrawn as Adonai went up from Egypt, taking with him the little mercy he had shown Egypt all along. Judgement was delivered and Adonai won the battle giving a shout of victory. David would later describe the scenario as follows in Psalms 47:5, "...God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet." It was an instantaneous battle and victory. 

It is that shout, rua, of victory that Adonai, through Mosheh or we may say through Israel, made in the courts of the enemy, as a solution to their plight was found in heaven, that we are told to remember among other things. 

Before I move on, it is important to understand that as much as the translator of Leviticus 23:24 inserts the word trumpet, the original language does not have the word trumpet or horn, which is shofar in hebrew. The words translated as a memorial for blowing trumpets there are zikron teruah which literally translate to memorial/remembrance to shout/blast. This is the shout we have addressed and seen that Adonai is telling Israel to remember: the shout of victory.

Why should Israel join Adonai in this shout of victory?

On the first month, and most probably, on the first day of the first month, while still in Egypt, a solution to the plight of the children of Adonai was found in heaven. In Exodus 12 Adonai reveals to Mosheh what the heavens had decided. Israel was instructed that he had at least nine days to identify a lamb or goat from the flock. On the tenth day, he was to set apart that lamb or goat. On the 14th day, the lamb or goat would be offered in an offering known as Pesach. It is interesting to note that in this setup, Pharaoh the enemy did not know what was in cooking. The day of manifestation was after two full weeks since day one when judgement fell on him and his people in full force.

It is important to understand that judgement was delivered when Mosheh said in Exodus 10:29, "Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more." What follows this acceptance is a revelation of Adonai to Mosheh in chapter 12, as to why he had shouted those words of victory through him.

Therefore it was day one that proved lethal to the enemy for it was then when the judgement was delivered. The children of Elohim knew of the judgement at the beginning of the month and had sufficient time to prepare a way out of the pending doom. However, for Pharaoh and enemies of righteousness, it was only manifested on the fifteenth of the month when the Angel of death caught them off guard. Remembrance, in the first of seventh month, of the shout of victory that Adonai made in the courts of Pharaoh is, therefore, a pointer to the time when the children of Adonai were favoured enough to be informed of the looming judgement. It reminds them to prepare adequately.

Now, since this duel in Egypt is actually a shadow of the duel that ranges between Evil and good, between Adonai and Satan, it is not a surprise that the lamb of Pesach is actually a shadow of a real lamb of Elohim. The passover held in Egypt, to seal the judgement made on the transgressor, was a foreshadow of the true lamb of Elohim who embodies redemption to believers and judgement on the enemy and the disobedient. Of judgement that we affirm on sin/evil and the enemy, Yahshua explained on the eve of Pesach as follows in John 16:7-11 "....It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged..."

And just as Israel affirmed the victory and judgement on the enemy of Truth by identifying the lamb from the beginning of time in the first month, the same way, the lamb of Elohim was identified in the very beginning as explained in revelation 13:8 as follows, "....book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Judgement on evil was made, essentially designating the lamb as slain from day one of time. It has been revealed to the children and that is why they would always refer to mercy or grace even before it was revealed to the world: it is the main theme in songs of many psalmists. Incorporated in the concept of the shout of victory in Egypt, is an instruction to have a holy assembly as well on Yom Teruah

What is the basis of a set-apart assembly on this day? To which assembly is Adonai referring when remembering the blast?

It is important to understand that the enemy, though judged in Egypt and judgement delivered, he still desired to enslave the children of Adonai. The easiest way for the enemy was to antagonise the relationship between the Father and the Children through sin. Adonai could not allow it. Once delivered from the enemy, Israel was no longer a slave; they had their destiny in their hands. They obviously had to have a destiny such as of the Father Adonai: they longed to live as free as he did. Therefore he told them to get ready for after seven weeks of readiness, he would reveal to them the way of life. On the fiftieth day after pesach, commonly known as shavout, which fell on sixth of the third month, Adonai again blasted the heavens and came down to reveal to his beloved children the way of life. Israel gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai to learn the way of life. The loud blast or shout of the trumpet was heard from the mountain. It was a most terrifying phenomenon; a loud blast of the trumpet with no blower in sight! 

In the Leviticus command on Yom Teruah, Israel is again told to remember that set-apart assembly that they had gathered to receive the way of life, when the blast of trumpet was heard from the mountain. Israel would mimic that blasting, that had taken place in shavuot, by repeating it on Yom teruah. But what was the blasting of shofar really for when Adonai came to reveal the way of life to his children? Originally, when Adam was created, he was designed as a shofar, to blast the glory of Adonai in his realms. I love the observation that Adam is truly designed as a shofar: elongated as one and capable of blasting glorious words in communication. And truly Adam is the original shofar. So, through the original Adam, the firstborn of Adonai, who is described as the Chokmat Adonai (Wisdom of Adonai) in Proverbs 8, who is also the blueprint of our Father Adam, Adonai was blasting the shofar. Thus, he was reminiscing the original blasting that Adam made when he became a living soul in Genesis 2:7. It is said that when Adam became a living soul, his first blast was "Adonai is king forever and ever."

In that blast of the trumpet on Shavuot, all the Torah was encapsulated, for the blast captured what Adonai had taught Adam and detailed in his DNA through the breath of life. It is of interest to note that nobody had 'taught' Adam, yet his first glorious words spoke profoundly what was embedded in his DNA: Adonai is King forever! And just like in Eden, on that day of Shavuot, even before Adonai spoke a word, the shofar blast he made, Teruah, taught Israel all about the way of life that they desired to learn. The message was loud and profoundly clear: do you want to know the way of life? Do as I imbedded in Adam; always glorify me in your very being. Regarding this blasting of glory, it is recorded that when the Set-Apart-Spirit of Abba came upon the taught ones of Yahshua on shavuot it empowered them to blast the glory of Abba. It is recorded as follows in Acts 2:1-11, "...And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues...the wonderful works of God."

It is important to understand why Elohim is giving the day of blasting such significance.

It is true Adonai judged the Egyptians thus. But the children also need to understand that they need to be accountable for the revelation made on Shavuot at Mount Sinai, which was a foreshadow of the pouring of the Holy Spirit. A replay of the events from day one of the first month up to the day before Yom Teruah will take place in that single seventh month. However, this time, since the enemy has been seducing the children, even after they knew the way of life, the ultimate judgement will sweep irresponsible children as well who trashed the grace given in the beginning. Therefore, the children have the first day of the seventh month to prepare for the impending judgement, otherwise, they will be judged together with evil. But for the shofar who will be prepared and ready in the lamb, the trumpet blast of Elohim will reverberate through them and they will respond in victory over death as explained in 11 Thessalonians 4:16 as follows, "...For the Lord, himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first."

Therefore Yom Teruah, the day commonly known as day of trumpet that falls on the first day of the seventh month of Adonai (Kindly note this is not the seventh month of the popular gregorian calendar) is a day that is of utmost importance. All the children of Elohim unite in an assembly on this day therefore to affirm the following:

1. Judgement has been delivered on evil in a blast of victory through the lamb of Elohim.
2. We are not to be judged with the world and now is the time to make necessary preparations through the lamb of Elohim.
3. In this redemption, we need to live as the original trumpet, Adam, by living out our intended purpose of creation; to blast the glory of Adonai in our being.

By Bro Bonface Muthii.