Yom Teruah : Feast of Trumpets | nazareneisrael2house

Yom Teruah also known as the Feast of Trumpets.

When YHVH originally commanded ancient Israel to keep the Feast of Trumpets, He told them to keep it on the first day of the seventh month known as Tishrei in the Hebrew calendar. But, we see from Nehemiah 8 that after the house of Judah returned to the Promised Land 70 years after their exile in Babylon, they started keeping this Feast Day for two days, as witnessed in Nehemiah 8: 2 and 13, as follows: ‘Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. (13) Then on the second day the heads of the fathers’ households of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe that they might gain insight into the words of the law.’ This is also when they discovered that they should keep the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) including the Last Great day as witnessed in verses 17 – 18, in this way: ‘And the entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them. The sons of Israel had indeed not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And there was great rejoicing. (18) And he read from the book of the law of Elohim daily, from the first day to the last day (this is why we need to attend all 8 days of the Feast). And they celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the ordinance (given in Leviticus 23: 36).’

It is important for us to know that the Feast of Trumpets is to be observed on a New Moon – or more specifically the moment when the shadow of the earth between the sun and the moon that covers the surface of the moon begins its circuit towards full moon, when the moon is not yet visible as a crescent and the month of Tishrei begins. The Feast of Trumpets is the only Feast Day of Elohim, which we keep whilst the moon is not visible, as is confirmed in the Hebrew version of Psalm 81: 4, as follows:“Blow the shofar on the New Moon, concealed (hskBtransliterated in Hebrew as ‘ba’keseh’) to the day of our festival.”It takes between 1½to 2 days for the first crescent of the moon to become visible, allowing the Levites among the Jews who determine the Hebrew calendar to be able to declare a postponement in case the Day of Atonement should fall immediately before or after a Sabbath[1], thus ensuring that even when the Feast of Trumpets is moved a day forward it will still occur whilst the moon is dark. But, we see from first Samuel 20:5& 6, that the king of Israel also used to keep the Feast of Trumpets for two days, in this way: ‘So David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I ought to sit down to eat with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening. (6) If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, because it is the yearly sacrifice there for the whole family.’”’We know at that time David was trying to avoid King Saul who wanted to kill him. The question is, why did he want to hide until the third evening? As confirmed in 1 Samuel 20: 27 thedark moon lasted for two days during which time the Feast of Trumpets was kept, as follows: ‘And it came about the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David’s place was empty; so Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”’

The problem facing us today is that the majority of the citizens of the world see faith or religion as the fundamentalist obligation of ignorant fanatics, or the opium of the masses of uninformed people, instead of a war between darkness and light, raging since the eviction of mankind from the Garden of Eden, by the Creator of the Universe. But as prophesied, YHVH the Elohim of Israel and the Creator and sustainer of the Universe, will soon conquer the world as the King of kings and Master of masters to come and rule His creation. The question is: why if YHVH already has the whole world in His hand, need He come and conquer it? The answer is simplythat YHVH is not a dictator; He did not create robots, nor does He want His people to worship Him because they are forced to do so. YHVH created each one of us as a free moral agent, because He wants us to worship Him from the heart, out of our own free will – because we love Him. Satan and his demons, as well as those whom he deceived, have declared war against YHVH and His followers and to understand where the war between darkness and light started, we need to backtrack right to the very beginning. The result of war between the angels and demons left the world formless and void (‘Tohu’ and ‘bohu’ in Hebrew); the condition we see the earth in when we open our Scriptures at Genesis 1: 2. At that point in time YHVH decided to recreate the heavens and the earth. He also at this point chose not to create his future children as spirit beings, but to initially create human kind from physical matter, in His image with the mind power to think, plan and ‘create’. They like the angels created before them, would also have free moral agency to decide between good and evil and had to prove throughout their lives that they would develop Elohim’s perfect character and follow His way of life. However, we know that Adam and Eve, induced by the lies and temptation of Satan, did sin. When Eve took of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and gave to her husband Adam and he also ate, which shattered the image of Elohim within the human mind and soul and as a result it required rectification or ‘tikkun’. After Noah’s flood to rid the world of all rebellious people, YHVH who knows the end from the beginning, started over a third time with one man named Abram, after mankind rebelled once again by building a tower whose top was to reach into heaven as per Satan’s example to make for themselves a name (to worship) and YHVH scattered mankind abroad over the face of the earth. In a similar way to those of us whom YHVH is calling out of the world today, YHVH called Abram to leave his country, family and his father’s house to go to a land which He promised to his children through Isaac and then Jacob as their eternal inheritance, provided they obeyed Him and as a sign of the covenant between them, circumcise their male children at age eight days old. YHVH further promised Abraham that He would bring the lost sheep of the house of Israelwho were scattered into the world because of idolatry back to the Promised Land through Abraham’s one seed, Yahshua, through whom He would also eventually save the rest of mankind, after the second resurrection. This is the good news about the way YHVH will re-establish the Tabernacle of David which has fallen, when He will bring the house of Judah and the house of Israel together as the commonwealth of Israel or more specifically the kingdom of YHVH over Israel once again, at Messiah’s return.

But, since the rest of mankind including the lost sheep of the house of Israel (coming mainly from Europe and the United Kingdom of England) believe their false messiah came to abolish Torah for them, they neglected to keep the Feast Days ordained by YHVH for the commonwealth of Israel and as a result understand little about the prophetic events depicted by these Feast days.Fact is that for almost 6,000 years since the sin of Adam Elohim allowed the majority of mankind to reap the consequences of their wrong ways,standing at the brink of destroying all life on earth and unless Messiah returns to earth to put an end to their destructive ways to usher in the Kingdom of Elohim, not a single human being would be left alive. During the first 6,000 years that YHVH allotted to mankind, civilizations developed based on the way of Satanthe ruler of the present world as confirmed in 2 Corinthians 4: 3 & 4, in this way: ‘And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, (4) in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Messiah, who is the image of Elohim.’ When Messiah comes to rule the earth from Jerusalem, Satan’s rule will come to an end and a new civilization based on Elohim’s Laws will fill the earth with peace, abundance and prosperity. Elohim uses the spring and autumn harvests of the Land of Israel in the Middle East, as symbolic types of His spiritual harvests of mankind. The spring festivals picture those Elohim has chosen from the house of Judah, plus the ones He has started calling during the latter days from the lost sheep of the house of Israel to become His Spirit-begotten children as the ‘first fruits’ (James 1: 18) during this age. The Feast of Unleavened Bread pictures the continual need for Elohim’s people, to put leaven (or sin) from their lives and to obey Elohim (1 Corinthians 5: 8). The Feast of Pentecost (Shavuot) is observed as a memorial of Elohim giving Israel His Law at Mount Sinai on the 6th of Sivan, but also many years later after Messiah’s death, resurrection and ascension to heaven, on the very same date His Set-apart Spirit, to spiritually beget and strengthen the first fruits of His salvation. However, the first fruits will not be reaped into Elohim’s family until Messiah returns on the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah). The Feast of Trumpets is essentially the focal point of Elohim’s Set-apart Day plan. It not only pictures the terrible time of trouble and war to befall this final generation, but also Messiah’s intervention to save the living from self-annihilation and to establish the Kingdom of Elohim on earth, as it is presently in heaven. It further pictures the resurrection of the first fruits from death, at Messiah’s return.

At the last trumpet blast Messiah will usher in the 1,000 year period when He and the resurrected first born believers will rule on earth. Messiah came almost 2,000 years ago as a messenger to announce the good news of the coming Kingdom of Elohim, but will soon return in power and glory of Elohim’s Kingdom. In addition of dying as the sacrificial Lamb of Elohim for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but also for the sins of the world, He will return to earth to forcibly put an end to sin, as witnessed in Revelation 11: 15 – 17, as follows: ‘And the seventh angel sounded; and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of YHVH, and of His Messiah; and He will reign forever and ever.” (16) And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before Elohim, fell on their faces and worshiped Elohim, (17) saying, “We give Thee thanks, O YHVH Elohim, the Almighty, who art and who wast, because Thou hast taken Thy great power and hast begun to reign.”’ The nations and their political leaders will be furious when they realize that Messiah has come to put an end to their governments and to establish the Kingdom of Elohim, which will rule over the entire earth from Jerusalem, as its headquarters. Yahshua revealed the outline of events that would lead up to His return in Matthew 24 and gave His disciples the sign that will announce His return in verses 30 & 31, saying: “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. (31) And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”Yahshua said that the coming Kingdom of Elohim will be established during a time of world-wide war and distress, as is recorded in Matthew 24: 21 & 22, as follows: “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. (22) And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.” The world, in which we live, is overflowing with weapons of mass destruction that could destroy all of humanity from the face of the earth. We are today living in the very days that Yahshua spoke about and unless the days of trouble, immediately ahead of us is not shortened, no flesh would be saved alive. Yes, those of us alive at this time will witness the destructiveness of nuclear war, but we will also witness the last-minute intervention by Yahshua our Messiah to come and save us from ourselves. The seventh trumpet will sound, announcing the victory of the King of kings, before this generation will pass away.

We read the outline of all Elohim’s Feast Days from Leviticus 23. The Feast of Trumpets is to be held on the first day of the seventh month, of Elohim’s calendar, containing the final festivals outlining Elohim’s Master Plan of salvation for all mankind. We see according to verses 23 - 25 that the Feast of Trumpets is one of Elohim’s annual Sabbath’s, upon which believers should not do any servile work, in this way: ‘Again YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, (24) “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a (Sabbath) rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. (25) You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to YHVH.’”’ The Hebrew statement, ‘a reminder of blowing of trumpets’ signifies a memorial of triumph, or shouting for joy with trumpets.The way the trumpets were to be blown on the Feast of Trumpets, is recorded in Numbers 10: 2 & 10 in this way: “Make yourself two trumpets of silver, of hammered work you shall make them; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for having the camps set out. (10) Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your Elohim. I am YHVH your Elohim.” In addition to the silver trumpets that were blown on (YHVH)’s appointed feasts, a ram’s horn was also sounded annually on the first day of the Feast of Trumpets (Talmud, “Rosh Hosanna,” Mishnah 26b). The silver trumpets could produce a variety of sounds, but the ram’s horn (or Shofar) produced only a piercing blast. The piercing blast is often referred to in the Scriptures as a shout, signifying a warning. In fact the tremendous sound of Elohim’s voice is compared to the sound of the great trumpet in Revelation 1: 10 & 11, as follows: ‘I was in the Spirit on (YHVH)’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, (11) saying, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven congregation: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”’ The essential mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah is to hear the sounding of the shofar. The sounds blown on the shofar take three forms:

A groaning type of cry (Shevarim).
A sobbing weep (Teruah), or a combination (Shevarim-Teruah).
An unbroken blast, (Tekiah).

We start blowing the shofar on the first of Elul, and continue through the month until Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, when the sounds of the shofar should culminate in our awakening to repentance. But, why do we sound the Shofar? What is it meant to accomplish?The Sefer HaChinuch tells us that to answer this we must first understand the nature of man. Man is a creature from the physical realm and this is something that we can’t escape. Plodding along on the course of life, man is (by nature) only aroused and inspired by something that stirs him into action, out of his complacency. Something that will cause him to snap out of his ordinary routine. On Rosh Hashanah, the shofar’s call ‘awakens’ all who are to be judged on this day. It’s like a very loud alarm clock, a wake-up call for every person to incite all who have sinned to plead with YHVH and request mercy from Him when judging us. YHVH is receptive, as He is gracious, compassionate and forgiving of those who return to Him with a complete heart – and if the sounding of the shofar has its intended effect; YHVH will graciously accept the repentance of all on Rosh Hashanah.The shofar used on Rosh Hashanah should be a curved ram’s horn, and longer than 10.16cm. Any shofar is acceptable, except the horn of a cow, ox or an un-kosher species of animal.

The shofar was used as an alarm of war. Its sound filled those who heard it with fear, because they knew it signified the terror of looming war. It is the warning of war that gives the joyous Feast of Trumpets its contrasting note of somberness. We see from Ezekiel 33: 2 – 6 that the ram’s horn was blown by a watchman of the Israelites when an enemy approached the camp, in this way: “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people, and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman; (3) and he sees the sword coming upon the land, and he blows on the trumpet and warns the people, (4) then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. (5) He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. (6) But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’”We see from verses 7 – 9 of Ezekiel 33 that YHVH appoints watchmen over the house of Israel to warn the wicked to turn from their sins; when these watchmen do not transmit Elohim’s warning message to the wicked and they die in their iniquity, He will require their blood from the watchmen. But if the watchmen perform their function of warning the wicked to repent and the wicked do not listen and die accordingly, the watchmen have delivered their lives. The faithful servants of YHVH were responsible to warn His peoplethroughout the ages, as we read from Amos 3: 6 & 7, as follows: ‘If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not YHVH done it? (7) Surely YHVH Elohim does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets.’ A second witness comes from Isaiah 62: 6 & 7 in this way: ‘On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind YHVH, take no rest for yourselves; (7) and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.’ We read Elohim’s instruction to us through Isaiah in Isaiah 58: 1, saying:“Cry loudly, do not hold back; raise your voice like a trumpet, and declare to My people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.”We are to warn the Israelites in Europe, the UK, the USA, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere, scattered throughout the world to stop sinning or reap the consequences thatYHVH has alreadystarted unleashing on His people.

YHVH has revealed what is going to happen before Messiah’s return on earth, to His true servants in Matthew 24: 1 – 14. Yahshua warned His disciples about the many counterfeits of the true faith, where false teachers will come in His name and will mislead many of His followers. He also told His followers that they will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but that they should not be afraid as these things must happen before the end will come. Then His followers will be delivered to tribulation and some will be killed for believing in His true name. Many believers will fall away and deliver up one another and because lawlessness will increase, most people’s love for Elohim will grow cold. But, He assured those who endure to the end that they will be saved. Yahshua also commissioned His followers to proclaim the gospel of the coming kingdom of Elohim, as a witness to all nations, then the end shall come. It is therefore important for each and every one of us to assist in getting the good news about the coming Kingdom of Elohim out into the world. We are at this time in a recess between the second and the third world wars. World War III is coming and only those accounted worthy in Elohim’s congregation of called out believers, will be protected during this terrible time.We turn to the book of Revelation, to read about the prophecy of the seven trumpets, symbolic of the terrifying and disastrous world events soon to occur before Messiah’s return. The time-setting of the seven trumpets, is the time of Elohim’s wrath against rebellious mankind. Yes, the symbolic trumpets portray the day of YHVH – the time when YHVH will intervene in world affairs to punish the world for all its evil. Messiah will intervene supernaturally and people who have been leading lives of sin will be terrified with fear and want to hide from Elohim when they realize He is intervening in world affairs, as witnessed in Revelation 6: 15 & 16, as follows: ‘And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;(16) and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.”’

We see further from Revelation 7, the four angels holding back the four winds that blow the first four of the seven trumpets. We see that Elohim will protect His faithful servants, including the ones who turn to Him during this time of trouble. The 144,000 made up of 12,000 of every tribe of the sons of Israel, as well as the great multitude from all nations who will repent of their sins and return to obey Elohim will be cleansed by the blood of Yahshua the Lamb of Elohim, as we read from verse 14 of Revelation 7, in this way: ‘And I said to him, “My master, you know.” And he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’”’ After Elohim’s faithful servants are sealed by His Spirit, which gives them protection from the plagues announced by the trumpets, Elohim broke the seventh seal and handed seven trumpets to the seven angels standing before Him. Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given him, that he might add it to the prayers of the saints upon the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints, went up before Elohim; and the angel took the censer, filled it with fire of the altar and threw it to the earth, resulting in peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.We see from Revelation 8: 7, when the first angel sounded the trumpet, a gigantic firestorm will burn all the grass and a third of the trees. This will be the first punishment for continued refusal to submit to Elohim and to obey His commandments and has in fact been happening without end during the past few years. When the second angel sounded the trumpet (in verses 8) one third of the seas will turn to blood, a third of all life in the seas will be destroyed and one third of the ships used for trade and warfare, will be destroyed. As each plague from Elohim falls on the wicked, those who surrender to Elohim, will be protected from the terrible punishment yet to come. Next in verses 10 & 11, we see that Elohim will punish the un-repented sinners by making one third of the waters of the earth unfit for human consumption. Continuing in verse 12 of Revelation 8, the fourth angel sounded the trumpet and a third of the sun, moon and the stars were smitten, so that they might be darkened and the day might not shine for a third of it, and the night the same way.

Continuing in verse 13 of Revelation 12, we read about three woes declaring further cataclysmic events to punish humanity. These three woes are the same as the last three trumpets that the angels are about to sound. Three being Elohim’s special number signifying, finality. These three woes involve three final battles, each so terrifying that it is called a ‘woe’ by Almighty Elohim. Each of these battles will be so destructive that only Elohim will be able to repair the damage man’s armies will do to the surface of the earth. At the third battle, Elohim will intervene to save mankind from extinction. These terrifying events certainly make the Feast of Trumpets a most solemn day. But to those who have begun to obey Elohim and started following His way of life, it will be a time of rejoicing. Today’s lawless society will be destroyed and the Kingdom of Elohim will be established on earth.Revelation 9: 1 and 12 confirm that the first woe and the fifth trumpet are one and the same, in this way: (1) ‘And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. (12) The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.’ In verses 3 – 10 Rav Yochanan describes terrifying grasshoppers that will be used to inflict pain on men. He used the term ‘locusts’ to describe the terrifying military machines that would be invented and used in the final world conflict. We see that these locusts are operated by men and are able to fly. They are protected by armor plating and make a tremendous noise. Even though these weapons of conquest were completely unknown to Yochanan, he described them in the language of his day. These weapons of war exist in our modern military arsenals and are in fact modern day helicopters being used by armies, armed with powerful guns capable of releasing nerve gasses, guided missiles and nuclear warheads.

We see from verse 11 of Revelation 9, that the real leader of this army is Satan. The Hebrew word ‘Abaddon’ and the Greek word ‘Apollyon’ used here both mean ‘destroyer’. Yes, the sinister power that will guide this army will be Satan the devil. We see that the army with its diabolical leader comes from the symbolic ‘bottomless pit’ referred to in Revelation 17: 8 as the abyss. In fact this super-army of the beast power is the final restoration of the Roman Empire backed by a great false religion, as identified in verse 7 – 13 (of Revelation 17). When the whirlwind attack of the armies of the beast resounds against their enemies to the east, those who have the seal of Elohim on their foreheads will be protected. But, billions of the modern-day descendants of the lost ten tribes of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, including Great Britain, the United States and other nations in northwestern Europe will have been conquered and be in physical and spiritual slavery. The people, who are now being warned of the coming captivity, will not be protected from the violence of the final world warunless they repent and receive the seal of Elohim’s Set-apart Spirit. In the meantime, hordes from the east will be preparing to attack the beast power. But rather than let them obtain the advantage by striking the first blow, the beast will have turned to attack them with the full anger of his military might. This attack will be the first woe - the beginning of the all-out battle for complete world domination between two Eurasian rivals for world rule. This sets the stage for the second battle for human domination of the world. The second woe – the sixth trumpet is ready to be blown. Turning back to Revelation 9: 13 - 16, we see what will happen when the sixth trumpet is blown, as follows: ‘And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before Elohim, (14) one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” (15) And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they might kill a third of mankind. (16) And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.’ We see a description of their weapons in verses 17 – 19, in this way: ‘And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone (a type of camouflage used by modern day armies); and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions (to scare those who are under attack); and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone. (18) A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths. (19) For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads; and with them they do harm.’

With millions being attacked by the armies of the beast power, Isaiah describes the value of man’s life at that time in Isaiah 13: 12 – 16, as follows: ‘I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. (13) Therefore I shall make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of YHVH of hosts in the day of His burning anger. (14) And it will be that like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with none to gather them, they will each turn to his own people, and each one flee to his own land. (15) Anyone who is found will be thrust through, and anyone who is captured will fall by the sword. (16) Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished.’ We see from verses 17 & 18 that this destruction will be brought about by the descendants of the Medes and their allies, who are living to the north-east and east of modern Babylon. Babylon, Elohim’s name for the religious and political system that originated from the ancient city of Babylon, has been continued by Satan through the Roman Empire and its restoration, prophesied to fall a second time in Revelation 18: 2, in this way: ‘And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! And she has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.’ The counterattack by the modern day Soviet-led descendants of the Medes and their allies will result in the fall of the beast spoken about here as ‘Babylon’. The fall of ancient Babylon was only the smaller historic fulfillment of the much larger future end-time destruction of the modern ‘daughter’ of Babylon. But, we see that even after the devastating attack on modern Babylon by the armies of the east, men will still not repent, as witnessed in Revelation 9: 20 & 21, as follows: ‘And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; (21) and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.’

We see further from Revelation 11: 3 – 6 that Elohim will continue to send His faithful messengers throughout this period to plead to mankind to repent. However, even with these two witnesses of Elohim prophesying for twelve hundred and sixty days, it seems that men will still not turn to Elohim. After giving their testimony for three and a half years, the beast will come out of the abyss and will make war with these two witnesses and finally kill them (verse 7). The two witnesses will be killed in the great city in which Yahshua was crucified. Yahshua was crucified in Jerusalem, which had become as evil as Sodom and Gemorrah and as sinful as Egypt in Elohim’s sight (verse 8). We read accordingly from Jeremiah 23: 14, “Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood; and they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom, and her inhabitants like Gemorrah.” We see from Revelation 11: 9 that the beast will not permit the dead bodies of the two witnesses to be buried for three and a half days. However, after the three and a half days, breath of life came from Elohim and filled the two witnesses and they stood on their feet, so that great fear fell on those who saw them. Then a loud voice from heaven was heard saying: “Come up here.” And they went up into heaven in the cloud, with their enemies looking on. Then a great earthquake destroyed a tenth of the city (verse 13).When the last trumpet sounds and the third woe begins (Revelation 11: 14 ), there arose loud voices in heaven stating that the kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of YHVH and that His Messiah and He will reign forever. But we see from verse 18 of Revelation 11, that the nations of the world will not accept Messiah’s rule and will in joint effort with the beast and the Soviet East, gather their armies in the Holy Land to challenge Messiah. In fact Elohim prepared a way for the kings of the east and their armies to cross the Euphrates into the Holy Land as part of His plan to gather the armies of all the nations who remain rebellious to His rule, into one place for the final battle of World War III as explained in Zephaniah 3: 8, as follows: “Therefore, wait for Me,” declares YHVH, “For the day when I rise up to the prey. Indeed, My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them My indignation, all My burning anger; for all the earth will be devoured by the fire of My zeal.”

We see further from Joel 3: 12, that YHVH will battle the wicked forces in the valley of Jehoshaphat, to judge all the surrounding nations. Armageddon is the English word used for the Hebrew word Har-Magedon, meaning Mount of Megiddo. Megiddo is a small town about 55 miles north of Jerusalem, situated in a large bowl-shaped valley of Jezreel. It is here where the armies of the rebellious nations will gather to challenge Yahshua at His return.Messiah will make war in righteousness against the rebellious nations and will smite them with His sharp sword, symbolic of His power and to rule them with a rod of iron (Revelation 19: 11 & 15). Yahshua Messiah will tread the ‘winepress of Elohim’s wrath’ symbolic of the great battle that He will fight against disobedient, rebellious mankind. We see from Revelation 19: 19 & 20 that Satan will be defeated in the climactic battle of World War III, as follows: ‘And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who sat upon the (white) horse, and against His army. (20) And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.’ After all military resistance to Elohim’s government is crushed; Messiah will punish the political and religious leaders who fought against Him.

When Elohim finally intervenes in the affairs ofmankind, His faithful servants will rejoice since they will understand what is happening in world affairs because they have been keeping Elohim’s Set-apart Days. But the rest of mankind will mourn when they see Messiah appearing in the sky. In the final battle of World War III, at the seventh trumpet and the third woe, Almighty Elohim will intervene to save the human race from total destruction. When Messiah returns with the shout of an archangel and the trumpet of Elohim the dead in Messiah will be raised imperishable and those believers in Messiah still alive will be changed into the immortal Spiritual children of Elohim (as per 1 Corinthians 15: 52). The ‘elect’ will be raised from the dead to be given immortal life in the first resurrection and will consist of a small group of Torah observant Jews and those chosen once from the lost sheep of Israel (plus some real Gentiles) who will be the ‘first fruit’ harvest in Elohim’s Master Plan of Salvation. Jews already believe in the coming Kingdom of Elohimwith Messiah ruling, but they will only come to know Him when Yahshua returns on the Feast of Trumpets (or Rosh Hashanah), to save them first, when they will see His hands and accept Him as their savior and Elohim (as per Zechariah 12: 7 & 10) similar to the way the unbelieving Thomas did before Yahshua’s ascension to heaven. Only a remnant of the commonwealth of Israel will finally ’marry’ Messiah after His return, as described in Jeremiah 31: 31 - 33. Baruch HaShem YHVH!

[1] The weekly Sabbath is a feast day upon which we honor YHVH by attending worship services according to His command, but also by enjoying foods specially prepared as a sacrifice to Him. Atonement being a fast day requires that we prepare at least a day in advance for the fast. If Atonement is allowed to fall before the Sabbath, our ladies cannot prepare meat for the Sabbath, since meat prepared for the Sabbath, should be eaten within two days after it was first prepared, as per Leviticus 19: 5 – 7. If the postponement rule is not applied and our ladies prepare food for a Sabbath that would come the day after Atonement, on the Thursday morning before the fast the next day, it would be an offense to eat such food on the Sabbath, as stipulated in verse 7, in this way:‘So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an offense; it will not be accepted.’ Since the Sabbath is a feast day to YHVH, it also makes preparation for an annual fast difficult, if it falls on the Sunday. However, according to the Rabbis the main reason for the postponement of Yom Kippur is, because Jewish burials have to take place on the same day a person dies, except for the Sabbath, where the funeral takes place the next day and should never be delayed for more than one day.