{"id":3456,"date":"2013-08-17T08:11:42","date_gmt":"2013-08-17T15:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/?p=3456"},"modified":"2013-08-17T08:29:42","modified_gmt":"2013-08-17T15:29:42","slug":"awaken-from-spiritual-slumber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2013\/08\/17\/awaken-from-spiritual-slumber\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to Awaken from Spiritual Slumber\u2014Messiah Is Coming!"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year, the biblical festival of\u00a0Yom Teruah<\/em> (the Day of Shofar Blowing or Shouting or “Rosh Hashanah”) will likely be on Sunday, Sept. 8 according to the ancient biblical Hebrew calendar. This festival is a prophetically pictures the \u00a0beginning of the events that will surround the second coming of our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah. It is time to get ready, for no man knows the day or the hour of the King’s coming!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cArise thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Messiah shall give thee light.\u201d (Eph 5:14, also 8\u201316)<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Shofar<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yom Teruah<\/i> or the Day of Shouting or the Shofar Blasts (commonly called \u201cRosh Hashanah<\/i>\u201d) occurs at the end of the summer months and marked the beginning of the fall harvest and biblical festival season for the ancient Hebrews. Prophetically, the summer months between the spring Feast of Weeks (Heb. Shavuot<\/i> or Pentecost) and the fall feast of Yom Teruah<\/i> is a spiritual picture of what is often called the \u201cChurch Age,\u201d which is the period of time from the Feast of Pentecost in Acts 2 until the return of Yeshua the Messiah at the end of the age and lasting for approximately 2000 years. For many, especially those living in hotter climes, summer is a time of leisure, vacation, weariness and fatigue due to the excessive heat. Likewise, many Bible believers have fallen asleep spiritually growing weary while waiting for the return of the Messiah. Yeshua discusses this issue in the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt 25) who are all found snoozing awaiting the coming of the Bridegroom (Yeshua).<\/p>\n

This all changes on the first day of the seventh month of the biblical Hebrew calendar when off in the distance the sound of a shout (or shofar blast?) suddenly pierces the atmosphere and awakens the virgins from their summer doldrums. Not only does the sound signal the beginning of the seventh month when the new crescent moon is sighted, but it announces the return of the Bridegroom (Yeshua) coming for his bride (the virgin saints). As in the Parable of the Ten Virgins, the cry went forth that the bridegroom was coming and all awoke from their slumber to prepare for his arrival. In these end days, that cry is going forth even now for all to hear, to awake and to prepare for the arrival of Yeshua the Messiah.<\/p>\n

In the biblical calendar, the visible sighting of the crescent new moon always marks the beginning of the month and is announced by the shofar blast (Ps 81:3). Likewise, on the first day of the seventh month of the biblical calendar, the arrival of the new moon (Heb. rosh chodesh<\/i>) when the shofar sound marks the beginning of Yom Teruah<\/i>. This is the first day of the fall (festival) harvest season and is the time when the call goes out for the spiritual drowsy to awake, and to hear the voice of YHVH, to be invigorated by the breath or voice of the shofar, which is symbolic of YHVH\u2019s prophetic word or oracle going forth across the earth in the last days.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the bent ram\u2019s horn shofar is naturally curved and represents the contrite heart of both the blower and the hearer. This is the season for the righteous to bend their hearts in humility and contrition before YHVH and repent of spiritual lassitude and lukewarmness toward sin and to awake to spiritual action and preparation, for the fall feasts point to awesome end time events that will occur at some point in time in the near future. It is a time to be refreshed by the breath of YHVH, and a time of new beginnings. Let YHVH breathe on you, revive you and empower you as you enter into the fall biblical festival season, and as you prepare to meet your King and Redeemer, Yeshua, in the air.<\/p>\n

Yom Teruah<\/i> also begins a season that prophetically speaks of war and battle, for in ancient times the shofar was a weapon of warfare in Israel, and it will be used again as such in the end times (see Rev 8, 9, 11). It was used to call Israel to battle, to defeat her enemies with the help of YHVH. The shofar was then used to proclaim victory after the battle was won and to worship YHVH who had given them the victory. The battle against Israel\u2019s enemies still rages on\u2014even in the end times. Today, the enemies of the redeemed Israelites are mostly spiritual. They are the world, the flesh and the devil (Jas 3:15; Eph 2:2\u20133). Through faith in Yeshua the Messiah who defeated sin, the devil, death, hell and the grave, we can have victory over the same (1 Cor 15:51\u201357; Rom 8:27; 1 John 4:4; 5:4; Rev 12:11). As we hear the sound of the shofar calling us to arise from spiritual slumber, YHVH is telling his people to become overcomers so that they may be worthy to partake of the glories of his eternal kingdom (Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21).<\/p>\n

Yom Teruah<\/i> is also the time of the reaping of the summer harvest. Spiritually speaking, this period will be the time of the reaping of the righteous to their reward (Rev 14:4) and the harvest of the wicked to the great winepress of Elohim\u2019s wrath (Rev 14:14-20). It is the time of the resurrection of the dead in Messiah Yeshua at the end of the tribulation (Matt 24:29) and the beginning of Elohim\u2019s wrath being poured out upon the nations (see Joel 3:11-13). This begins the Wrath of Elohim time pictured by the Day of Atonement (Heb. Yom Kippur<\/i>, which occurs ten days after Yom Teruah<\/i>) before which time the dead saints will have been resurrected and given their spiritual, glorified, second Adam bodies.<\/p>\n

The New Moon (Rosh Chodesh) and Yom Teruah\u2014A Day of New Beginnings and Expectancy<\/b><\/p>\n

In anticipation of rosh chodesh<\/i> (the visible new moon) and hence the beginning of Yom Teruah<\/i>, there is a sense of expectancy and excitement among the saints. It is a time of watching and praying, for the renewal of the moon (the word new<\/i> as in new moon<\/i> [Col 2:16] in the Greek New Testament is kainen<\/i> meaning \u201crenewal or restoration of something which already exists\u201d <\/i>and is not the word neos <\/i>which means \u201cbrand new\u201d), which represents \u201cnew beginnings, good tidings, the renewal of the individual as well as the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sixth month is traditionally referred to by its non-biblical Aramaic name Elul<\/i>. Some rabbinical sources see this word as an acronym of \u201cAni l\u2019dodi v\u2019dodi li<\/i>,\u201d \u201cI am my Beloved\u2019s and my Beloved is mine,\u201d a quote from Song of Songs 6:3, where the Beloved is YHVH and the \u201cI\u201d are YHVH\u2019s people. In Aramaic (the vernacular of the Jewish people at the time that the month names were adopted), the word Elul<\/i> means \u201csearch,\u201d which is appropriate, because this is a time of year when we search our hearts. (from the web site: http:\/\/www.jewfaq.org\/elul.htm#Selichot).<\/p>\n

During the month of Elul, our focus is to be on repentance (turning away from sinful behavior), restoration and preparation for the coming of the Messiah. The bride must make herself ready. In order to repent one must understand that Scripture defines sins as the violation of YHVH\u2019s Torah, or instructions or teachings in righteousness (1\u2009John 3:4). Traditional Jewish thought characterizes sin as \u201ca failure in our relationship with Elohim.\u201d Our goal should be to continually move closer to Elohim, but \u201cchet\u201d is behavior which causes us to move away from Elohim.<\/p>\n

If YHVH requires his people to turn away from sin and turn to righteousness (the act of which is called repentance), then what is therefore involved in repentance? Again, in Hebraic thought, repentance (Heb. teshuvah<\/i>) literally means \u201cto return.\u201d Biblically, it means \u201cto return to Elohim\u201d and to the behavior required of us by Elohim; in other words, return to obedience to his Torah-commandments. We must deeply regret our movement away from Elohim, and at the same time be grateful that YHVH has provided the way for our return to him and he tells us that when we repent, he will forgive us immediately.<\/p>\n

According to the Scriptures, there are, however, several basic steps to repentance:<\/strong><\/p>\n