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.
Leviticus 23:24
First day – There is so much this commandment teaches, but our limited patience, and our planning nature, causes us to miss these teachings. We like to know in advance when this first day of the seventh month occurs so we can plan our calendar accordingly. So rather than relying on the sighted new moon, we turn to a almanac of sorts that gives us a close estimation of the date. But because a conjunctive moon can remain hidden for up to 3.5 days, it’s impossible to predict when the sighted new moon will appear, despite the calendars of man. I know this because I’ve seen it happen time and time again.
The community I live among desires to keep this Holy Day, and because of our busy lives it’s more convenient to plan it out ahead of time. And in doing so, since I’ve been watching for the new moon, we haven’t accurately celebrated this Holy Day according to the commandment yet. The first day is the very next day after the moon is sighted – in Israel. If we were to actually wait for the sighted new moon, we’d find a deeper understanding of this commandment.
You see, we’re instructed to celebrate on this particular day for a reason. Since we can’t possibly predict the “day or the hour” of this Holy Day, we begin to see a correlation to Yeshua’s return. No man knows the “day or the hour” of His return. Could Yeshua be alluding to His return being on the Feast of Trumpets? This is already a common belief of many, but it shows how well this commandment supports this idea. Is there a spiritual message here? If we’re so involved with our planning and order of our busy lives that we can’t just wait and watch for this new moon, how are we going to be ready for Yeshua’s return? His return can’t be planned on our calendars.
There’s another interesting point. At this time of year, the moon and sun rise and set together in the sky making it almost impossible to actually see the new moon because the sun is too bright and hides the moon. There’s a brief moment in time once the sun sets that we diligently search for the moon’s sliver in the sky. It’s about 20 minutes until the moon itself sets below the horizon. But we diligently watch. We watch, pray and are on guard (Mark 13:33). This involves us with Yom Teruah, we become a part of it.
Maybe we should slow down. Maybe we should involve ourselves with His word and commit ourselves in obedience to His commandments. We might learn a thing or two.
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