Matthew 24:36 But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
Tonight, thousands will gather to celebrate Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets, a festival unlike any other in the Lord’s calendar. It is the only moed (appointed time) that begins on the very first day of the month, Rosh Chodesh. While most feasts start on the 15th day, when the full moon is clearly visible, Yom Teruah is uniquely tied to the sighting of the new moon, making it distinct and filled with mystery.
The Sanhedrin depended on the testimony of two trustworthy witnesses who had sighted the first sliver of the new moon, yet if clouds or haze concealed the heavens, the declaration of the new month could be postponed. This uncertainty meant no one could know the exact day or hour of its arrival until the sighting was confirmed. To safeguard the observance, rabbinic tradition extended Yom Teruah into a two-day celebration, known as Yoma Arikhta (“one long day”), ensuring that Israel would not miss the appointed time.
Yeshua (Jesus) drew directly from this feast when describing His return, likening it to a thief in the night — sudden, unannounced, and impossible to predict. The Bridegroom does not come according to man’s calendar but according to the Father’s appointed time. Just as Israel waited in watchful anticipation, eyes fixed upward for the faint sliver of the new moon, so too the Bride waits expectantly, looking toward heaven for the sure sign of her Bridegroom’s coming.
Throughout Jewish history, the shofar has carried profound significance — announcing jubilee and sabbatical years, heralding the start of a new month, and summoning the people for battle. Yet beyond its historical role, the shofar also signals an inner battle, calling each soul to confront the darkness within. Its sound is rousing and otherworldly, likened to an air raid siren for the soul or an alarm clock for the spiritually complacent, designed to pierce the ears and settle deep within the heart.
The blasts, known as teruah, are a sharp, urgent call to awaken the sleepers, which the sages understood as the alarm of resurrection. Paul reveals this mystery’s fullness when he declares, “At the last trumpet…the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52), unveiling the deep Messianic hope that the shofar’s cry not only awakens us to repentance but also heralds the ultimate resurrection and transformation.
Yom Teruah is a clarion call to live in unwavering readiness, for the return of the King will not unfold according to man’s timetable but by the decree of heaven’s calendar. The Bride must shake off all slumber, keeping her eyes open, her heart alert, and her ears tuned to the sound of the trumpet that will announce the arrival of her Bridegroom.