The Feast of Trumpets
Yom Teru’ah is otherwise known as the Feast of Trumpets. This day is inextricably linked and precedes the Day of Atonement, that is, the coming of the King. Zephaniah tells us following the blowing of the trumpet in heaven, a great wailing will occur on the earth.
The call
The trumpet call from heaven is loud and strong enough to wake us up, if we have ears to hear it. Joel 2:1a says, “Blow a trumpet in Tsiyon and sound an alarm in My set-set apart mountain!”
Let us relate the Festival in Leviticus 23:23 to Matthew 25:1-12 and see how it encapsulates the story of the 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom to appear.
“Then the reign of the heavens shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise and five foolish. Those who were foolish having taken their lamps took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their containers with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom took time they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard, “See the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him!”
Then all those maidens rose up and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, “Give us of your oil, because our lamps are going out.” But the wise answered saying, “No, indeed, there would not be enough for us and you. Instead go to those who sell and buy for your selves.”
And while they went to buy the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast and the door was shut. And later the other maidens also came, saying, ‘Master, Master open up for us!’
But answering said, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.” “Watch therefore because you do not know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Adam is coming.”
Hearing the call will encourage us to be ‘standing vigil’ with believers for the Ten Days of Awe till the Day of Atonement.
Refresh the Oil daily
2 Peter 1:12 says to us, “And so I intend to remind you of these matters again and again, though you know them and have been established in the present truth.” Repetition for the sake of repetition is not helpful unless that information is firstly understood correctly.
Where to buy the oil
The word oil is a metaphor for the Word of YHVH.
Rav Shaul says in Hebrews 5:12-14, “But now you need to learn again the first lines of the very beginning of the Word of Elohim and you have need of milk and not strong food. For everyone whose food is milk is unversed in the language of righteousness because he is a child. But strong food belongs to the mature who being investigators have trained their faculties to discriminate good and evil.”
Namely, the Commands of Mashiyach and His Right rulings, are the heart of Torah. This is the pure milk of the Word, the very beginning to our understanding of who our Father is as revealed in Torah. The Son came to reveal the Father to us.
To desire the deep things of the Word we first need a base line on which to build our knowledge. Growing up is a process and a progression that follows a pattern. It is inappropriate to give babies meat, it will only get it spat back out. They need to grow up and develop teeth because the meat of the Word is harder and tougher parts of Scripture that should challenge us constantly.
Maturing
Learning is listening to wisdom and gaining knowledge about who our heavenly Father is.
Learning is becoming a disciple who is first to discipline himself. Change is a constant hence we need to ‘trim our wicks’ every day to ensure a steady flow of oil.
Many of us pray, give us the grace to accept what we cannot change (His Word) and change what we can (that which is lacking in our lives.)
Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts and My ways are not your ways.”
Luke 12:37a, “Blessed are the servants whom the master, when he comes, shall find watching…”
The goal of waiting
Revelations 19:7 “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him praise, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has prepared/made herself ready.”
This event takes place in the natural but is a mirror of the spiritual in relation to salvation. When the call comes to enter into the actual kingdom that is in heaven, there is a selection process.
The ten maidens are a sample of believers of all those believing they have a place and part to play in the kingdom of Heaven. Yet clearly we are told that not all will enter into the kingdom. However, no one likes to think of themselves as those who are locked out. Only those whose lights are still alive and glowing are admitted.
The wait/vigil itself
The wait is speaking of our time on this earth and it is what we do with that time tells whether we have trimmed our lamps or not. Some believers were insufficient of oil for the wait and expected others to give them their oil.
Scripture says:-
- Each person is responsible for themselves and what they believe
- Our belief is non- transferable one to another
- Neither can another claim that is is theirs.
Many times I have heard, “Oh, my wife /husband believes and I am with him/her.” Families will say, ‘we belong to them’, believing they are OK, so they hitch their wagon along, that is, go with the flow. Each believing that because of their loyalty to another person (denomination or one who is their leader) they will be judged the same as them because of the feelings of safety in belonging to a clan. In a sense this of course, is true.
Our place in the queue depends on our actions
We are in control of where we stand in this selection process, nobody else
The lamp speaks of the container that holds the oil. We, are the container from which the oil is to flow.
Trimming the wick
1 Corinthians 3:12 describes our building materials of which the foundation is gold, silver and precious stones, wood, hay and stubble. Wood, hay and stubble can be likened to wicks. Our Father is a consuming fire that will purify us and burn up that which is of no use in His Kingdom.
Trimming the wick is cutting away excess baggage, that is, doctrines that are the traditions of men, enabling us to grow in spiritual awareness.
The light
Specific detail is given concerning this incredible light that darkness cannot overcome.
Genesis 1:3 it says, “And Elohim said, “Let light come to be,” and light came to be. The word for this light is in Hebrew or and speaks of Torah. So before anything else the Commands of YHVH were established in this developing word as a guide and instruction giving us the laws by which this world is established and will operate.
Numbers 8:1 “And YHVH spoke to Moshe saying, ‘when you ascend to trim the lamps, let the seven lamps1 give light in front of the lamp-stand.’ The light was to shine forward toward/on the Ark of the Covenant that contained the Ten Words of YHVH.
Exodus 27:20 says, the lamp of the menorah was to burn continually. There are seven lights but they make one lamp.
We are told that The Word of Elohim is a light for us shining in the darkness.
Psalm 119:105-106“Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I have sworn and I confirm , to guard your righteous right rulings.”
Prov 6:23“For the command is a lamp and the Torah a light”
The source
The source of the oil is from YHVH.
The outpouring of oil is greatest on Shabbat. This is a supernatural day in which the fullness of our eternal home is revealed. Yeshua ha Mashiyach is the source of the oil because He is Master of Shabbat and the Word of YHVH.
Those who had depleted their stock of oil were told to purchase some from another place. Yeshua ha Mashiyach also told of another stock that we needed that can be understood as ‘oil’ and that is gold.
In to-days economy oil is liquid gold
Gold of which we are encouraged to buy (Revelation 3:18).
Yom Kippur
This is the Day of Atonement of His covering, that is ten days from Yom Teru’ah. This is delayed as long as possible to allow us to fill up with oil, to the midnight hour. Our Father wishes no one to perish but all to come to the knowledge of Himself (Matthew 18:14).
Ready or not
The bridegroom is none other than Yeshua ha Mashiyach who has come to claim His believers. If we are left behind, Scripture tells us there will be a great wailing, weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Clearly the foolish virgins were mistaken and missed out on everything that was on offer. Namely, a place in the Kingdom
1The seven lamps are the seven spirits of YHVH Mashiyach that are around the throne (Revelations 1:12)
