The Signs of The Feasts - Part II: Christ Told His Disciples The Time of His Return

Lev. 23:24-25, “ 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, an holy convocation.  ²⁵ Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. “ (KJV)

Literally, a memorial of “shouting” or “blast”.. from Stong’s Heb. 8643, ‘תְּרוּעָה” or “teruah”.

This first day of the seventh month was called Yom Teruah – Day of Trumpets. 

Psa. 81:3-4, “ ³ Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.  ⁴ For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.“  (KJV)

The Sanhedrin or court held the responsibility for declaring the beginning of a new month – new moon.

“Each month the moon disappears and becomes invisible for about two days, or somewhat more or less – for about one day at the end of the old month, before it reaches its conjunction with the sun, and for about one day after its conjunction with the sun. Then it reappears in the evening in the west, and this night, on which it becomes visible in the west after its disappearance, is the beginning of the month. From this day on 29 days were counted, and if the new crescent appeared on the night of the 30th day, this 30th day was the first day of the new month. If, however, it did not appear on that night, the 30th day would belong to the old month and the 31st day would be the first day of the new month. And no matter whether the moon did or did not appear in the night of the 31st day, no attention was paid to it, for the lunar month never lasts longer than thirty days.” (From “Sanctification of the New Moon”, Maimonides, about 1175 CE)

The ancient court (Sanhedrin) during the second temple period sent out two witnesses to validate the counted days.  If they saw the slim crescent of the new moon at sunset on the 30th day, then they would report back to the court.  The Sanhedrin  would then adjust it to the 1st day of the next month, and count 29 more days to the next 30th day and repeat.

But, the first day of the month had to wait for the official declaration from the Sanhedrin.  Despite the arguments today over the current Hebrew calendar and methods for determining the new moon, the ancient Hebrews had no telescopes, or astronomical data from NASA.  They had to rely upon the method of observation, an actual sighting of the crescent moon – which is according to scripture (Deu. 16:1).  (1) (2)

Because the first day of the month had to be validated by the two witnesses, it affected the time for attending the holy convocation for the Day of Trumpets.  The Hebrews could not know exactly on which day it would be held as they were waiting for the appearance of the new moon.

A tradition grew and a saying in Israel became popular as “no one knows the day or the hour.”  (3) (4) (5)

Matt 24:36, ” But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.“  (KJV)

In the chapter discussing the destruction of the temple, Christ deliberately used the Hebraic idiom for the Day of Trumpets.  He told his disciples the day the temple would be completely destroyed – Yom Teruah!

Yom Teruah was a memorial, a day of remembrance.  There was another day in which another besieged city fell at the blast of trumpets.

Josh. 6:1-5, “Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.

² And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.

³ And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.

⁴ And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

⁵ And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.“  (KJV)

That long blast of the ram’s horn, the shophar was the last trumpet, the last trump.

The 4th “shophar” trumpet blown on the Day of Trumpets is known in Hebrew as the “Tekiah Gedolah” or  ”the last trump”.

1 Cor. 15:52, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.“

Rev. 8:2, “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.“  (KJV)

In Matthew ch. 24 Christ was telling His disciples when that temple would be fully destroyed, and He linked its destruction to several events that would happen: first the tribulation (Matt. 24:21-28); then the judgment of the wicked (Matt. 24:29-30); and the gathering of the elect (Matt. 24:31); all with the warning to watch for the thief in the night (Matt. 24:42-44).

Christ went on to explain in Matt. 25:1-13 of the five foolish virgins who did not prepare before the wedding day.  They did not watch and plan ahead.  This is related to the need for the Hebrews to plan ahead for Yom Teruah as they did not know the day or the hour of the memorial.

Rev. 10:7, “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”  (KJV)

The mystery of God was that all the nations would be blessed through His Son, Christ Yeshua (Jesus), of the seed of Abraham (Gen. 22:18; 28:14; Acts 3:5); that both Jew and Gentile are welcome in the New Jerusalem (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11), in the heavenly Jerusalem of the new covenant of the gospel of Christ. 

When God destroyed that temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70 He completed the renewal and reformation of the covenant with His people (Isa. 65:15-17), the new heaven and new earth of the new covenant of the gospel of Christ.  As His chosen people are now those who are in Christ, as the Israel of God are now those who are counted for the seed of Abraham in Christ (Ga. 3:26-29), then there is no more need for a physical temple in a physical city of Jerusalem on this earth plane.

Christ had told the Samaritan woman at the well that the time was coming that those who worship the Father would not worship Him either at that mountain in Samaria, nor in Jerusalem, but would worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:21-23).

God does not need the city of Jerusalem to carry out any other plans.  He does not need a temple in Jerusalem for any worship service.  His destruction of that temple was the sign that everyone saw that He was finished with the old sacrificial system of the old Mosaic covenant.  The destruction of that temple was the second coming of Christ in that generation.

All those in Christ are the Israel of God which are saved with an everlasting salvation (Isa. 45:17)  See God’s Definitions – Part I & Part II at my blog ShreddingTheVeil

Those who call themselves Jews today are teaching that Yom Teruah is a still future coming of the “real” Messiah.  Christians who are applying the Hebrew idioms and customs to their literalist understanding of a supposed future coming are teaching that the prophesies for the feasts of Passover, Unleavend Bread, First Fruits and Pentecost have already been fulfilled; but they are still looking for the fulfillment of the Last Trump of the Feast of Trumpets, the 10 days of Awe / Tribulation, and Yom Kippur. 

Neither of them recognize that Christ Yeshua has already kept his promise and that He told His disciples what to watch for and when it would happen in THAT generation (Matt. 24:34). 

Reports of the secular dates of history vary.  But, Josephus recorded the temple was engulfed in fire on 9-10 Av. AD 70.  Rabbinic tradition has the destruction of the first and second temples on the same day, the 9th of Av.  

? An offering of fire ?

The city was set ablaze by the Romans and the temple ordered completely demolished and the walls razed by Sept. 24 – 26, or the first of Tishrei.  (6)

Matt. 24:2, “And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.“  (KJV)

Christ’s second coming was promised to the same generation in which He was crucified (Heb. 9:28); the same generation in which He fulfilled the springs feast days: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Feast of Weeks.  His second coming fulfilled the fall feast days: Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).

Does that mean that Christ has left us alone for almost 2,000 years?  Does it mean that He has never come back since A.D. 70? 

Not at all.  God’s rule has always reigned over all of the nations of the earth (Psa. 22:28; 47:8; 67:4). Christ’s kingdom is an everlasting kingdom (Dan. 7:27; 2 Pet. 1:11), which reigns over all the earthly kingdoms of men (Dan. 2:44; 7:14; Isa. 9:6-7). His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36), but is the heavenly kingdom that resides in the hearts of men (Luke 17:20-21).   

He sits in judgment upon His throne and judges daily the wicked here on earth, and the dying souls that pass from this earthly realm to the next.  A continual reign, a continual priesthood (Heb. 7:16-24), a never ending kingdom means that Christ and our Father are always with those who love Him. 

Those of us who are in Christ are His kings and priests upon this earth (1 Pet. 2:9;  Rev. 5:10).   We are in constant contact with Him through prayer and supplication (Rom 1:9; 1 Thess. 5:17; 2 Tim. 1:3).

There are so many more signs of the feasts we can explore so that we can assuredly know that Christ fulfilled them all in that first century A.D.

Further Reading:

The Feast of Trumpets at BereanBibleChurch

Matthew 24 fulfilled – here

Josephus Study Archives – Jewish Wars at PreteristArchive

Visual Timeline of the Roman – Jewish War at PreteristArchive

All bold emphasis is mine. 

Many more evidences are documented in the posts at my site: ShreddingTheVeil

Notes:

(1) Is The Rabbinal Molad/Lunar Conjunction New Moon – here

(2) “Witnesses would come to the Sanhedrin (meeting the next day) to give testimony of what they had seen. If the Court were convinced that the young moon had been sighted the previous evening, they would declare that day to be Rosh Hodesh. Thus, Rosh Hodesh was never on the day of conjunction, and oftentimes two days later. The sages seem to have been familiar with the distinction between the conjunction-or, at least, the molad-and the phasis, and they apparently used that knowledge as a check on the dependability of the witnesses’ testimony. They also were well aware that the synodic month was about 29-1/2 days. Hence, they ruled that months were to be limited to either 29 or 30 days, with no fewer than four months in a year having either one or the other of these two lengths.

As no month shorter than 29 days was acceptable, the Court heard witnesses only after the lapse of 29 days since the previous Rosh Hodesh. If no acceptable witnesses appeared on the thirtieth day, the next day was declared to be the first of the new month, leaving the old month to have 30 days. Even if witnesses appeared on the thirtieth day, but they came at the time of the afternoon sacrifices or later, they would not be heard so as not to delay the afternoon service. (A declaration that the day was Rosh Hodesh would necessitate the appropriate additional offerings, which had to precede the afternoon ritual.)  Rosh Hodesh was thereupon delayed until the morrow.  After the destruction of the temple this rule was rescinded.” 

Source: Behold a Moon is Born – here

(3) “No Man Knows the Day or The Hour” – here

(4) “The Day and Hour Which No Man Knows” – here

(5) Hebraic idiom at Hebroots

(6) Source: Scientific Date for The Destruction of Herod’s Temple AD 70 at PreteristArchive