The Feast of Trumpets is the common English name for Yom Teruah—the “Day of Blasts” or “Day of Shouting”—an annual sacred day God appointed for ancient Israel (Lev 23:23–25; Num 29:1–6). It was observed on the first day of the seventh month with solemn rest, a holy assembly, prescribed offerings, and a loud teruah. Although modern Judaism celebrates this day as Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, the Torah never calls it by that name or explains precisely what the blasts represented.
What did Israel do on Yom Teruah? #
Yom Teruah was one of the seven annual appointed times established in the Torah. It occurred on the first day of the seventh month, usually corresponding to September or October on the modern calendar. It was the first of Israel’s fall feasts, followed by the Day of atonement on the tenth day and the Feast of Tabernacles beginning on the fifteenth day (Lev 23:23–44).
The Torah describes Yom Teruah in only two passages and gives Israel four basic instructions: rest from ordinary work, assemble for a holy convocation, mark the day with a teruah, and present offerings to the Lord (Lev 23:23–25; Num 29:1–6). Those offerings included burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, and a male goat as a sin offering. They were presented in addition to the regular daily sacrifice and the sacrifices offered at the beginning of every month.
The feature that distinguished the day was the teruah. Leviticus calls it a zikhron teruah (זִכְרוֹן תְּרוּעָה), which may be translated “a remembrance proclaimed with a blast” (Lev 23:24). Numbers simply calls it a yom teruah (יוֹם תְּרוּעָה), a “day of blasts” or “day of shouting” (Num 29:1).
The Hebrew word teruah can refer to the blast of an instrument, but it can also describe a loud shout or battle cry. Both senses appear in the account of Jericho, where horns were blown and the people shouted (Josh 6:5, 20). Interestingly, neither Leviticus nor Numbers identifies the instrument used on Yom Teruah. The passages contain neither shofar, the usual word for a ram’s horn, nor ḥatsotserah, the word for a trumpet. The association with the shofar is ancient and understandable, but the Torah does not explicitly command every Israelite to blow one on this day. Even the familiar English name “Feast of Trumpets” therefore involves some interpretation.
Scripture also does not explain what was being remembered. The blasts may have called Israel to remember God and his covenant, or they may have functioned as an appeal for God to remember his people. Numbers 10 provides a possible background: Israel’s priests were to blow silver trumpets over sacrifices presented at the appointed feasts and the beginnings of the months. These were to serve as a “reminder” before God, who promised to remember and save his people (Num 10:9–10). That may help explain Yom Teruah, but Scripture never makes the connection explicit.
How did Yom Teruah become Rosh Hashanah? #
Modern Judaism celebrates Yom Teruah as Rosh Hashanah, meaning “head of the year.” However, the Torah does not call the festival Rosh Hashanah or identify it as New Year’s Day. In fact, God identified the month of the Passover as the first month of Israel’s calendar, while Yom Teruah occurred on the first day of the seventh month (Exod 12:2; Lev 23:24).
After the Babylonian exile, Israelites gathered in Jerusalem and resumed presenting sacrifices on the first day of the seventh month (Ezra 3:1–6). Nehemiah 8 describes another gathering on that date in which Ezra read the Torah, the Levites explained it, and the people celebrated with food, drink, generosity, and great joy (Neh 8:1–12). Neither passage, however, mentions trumpet blasts or calls the day Rosh Hashanah.
By the Second Temple period, the day was clearly understood as a trumpet festival. Its later development into Rosh Hashanah is especially evident in rabbinic Judaism. By the time the Mishnah was compiled around AD 200, the first day of the seventh month was being called Rosh Hashanah and associated with divine judgment (m. Rosh Hashanah 1:1–2). Themes such as repentance, God’s kingship, judgment, and the beginning of a new year became prominent.
Modern Rosh Hashanah therefore grew out of the biblical Yom Teruah, but the two should not simply be treated as identical. The sacred rest, assembly, offerings, and teruah come from the Torah. Its designation as the Jewish New Year and many of its familiar religious customs are later developments.
How does the Feast of Trumpets point to Jesus? #
The New Testament never explicitly identifies an event in the life of Jesus or a future prophetic event as the fulfillment of Yom Teruah. This distinguishes it from Passover, which Paul directly connects with Christ’s sacrifice, and Firstfruits, which he connects with Christ’s resurrection (1 Cor 5:7; 15:20–23). We should therefore avoid making claims about Yom Teruah that Scripture itself does not make.
Nevertheless, Paul teaches that Israel’s festivals, new moons, and Sabbaths collectively served as “a shadow of the things to come,” while their substance belongs to Christ (Col 2:16–17). Yom Teruah formed part of that sacred calendar and participated in the larger pattern that anticipated Jesus.
The feast’s sacrifices provide one clear connection. Israel repeatedly offered animals, including a goat as a sin offering, but those sacrifices could not finally remove sin. They ultimately pointed beyond themselves to the perfect and once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus (Heb 10:1–14). That connection was not unique to Yom Teruah, but it placed the feast within the sacrificial system that found its fulfillment in Christ.
The sound of the teruah also provides an intriguing symbolic connection. Throughout Scripture, loud blasts announce God’s appearance, summon his people, proclaim the arrival of a king, or warn of approaching judgment (Exod 19:16–19; Joel 2:1). Those themes converge in the New Testament’s teaching about Jesus. At his return, the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised, and God’s people will be gathered to their returning King (Matt 24:30–31; 1 Cor 15:51–52; 1 Thess 4:16–17).
We can therefore reasonably see Yom Teruah as part of the biblical backdrop for the trumpet imagery associated with Christ’s kingship and return. However, the New Testament never directly says that the Second Coming “fulfills” the Feast of Trumpets.
Does the Feast of Trumpets predict when Jesus will return? #
No. Scripture provides no basis for using Yom Teruah to calculate the date of Christ’s return. Jesus expressly taught that no one knows the day or hour (Matt 24:36).
Some Christians believe the spring feasts were fulfilled at Christ’s first coming and that the fall feasts will be fulfilled sequentially at his second coming. Within some dispensational systems, Yom Teruah is interpreted as predicting a secret rapture before a seven-year tribulation. The New Testament, however, never identifies Yom Teruah with the rapture or says that Jesus will return on the first day of the seventh month.
Moreover, the biblical pattern cannot be reduced neatly to “spring feasts fulfilled in the past” and “fall feasts fulfilled in the future.” The Day of atonement is a fall feast, yet Hebrews teaches that it has already been fulfilled through Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice and heavenly priesthood (Heb 9:11–14, 24–28). Conversely, Firstfruits is a spring feast, but its fulfillment includes both Christ’s past resurrection and the future resurrection of those who belong to him (1 Cor 15:20–23).
The New Testament unmistakably connects trumpet imagery with Christ’s visible return, the resurrection of the dead, the gathering of his people, and judgment (Matt 24:29–31; John 5:28–29; 1 Cor 15:51–52; 1 Thess 4:13–17). But it does not divide Christ’s return into two events separated by several years, nor does it present that return as quiet or secret. Our hope rests not in discovering a date on the biblical calendar, but in Christ’s promise that he will return, raise the dead, judge the world, and bring his people into everlasting life.
Should Christians celebrate the Feast of Trumpets? #
Christians are not required to observe Yom Teruah. It was one of the appointed times given specifically to Israel under the Sinai covenant, and its required sacrifices have reached their fulfillment in Jesus (Luke 22:20; Heb 8:6–13; 10:10–14). The apostles did not command Gentile Christians to observe Israel’s festivals, and Paul instructs believers not to allow anyone to judge them concerning a festival, new moon, or Sabbath (Acts 15:1–29; Col 2:16–17).
Observing Yom Teruah therefore does not make someone more obedient, faithful, or pleasing to God. Christians receive God’s favor through faith in Christ, not through observing days on a religious calendar.
At the same time, Christians are free to commemorate the feast voluntarily, provided they do not treat it as necessary for salvation or impose it on others. Paul writes, “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind” (Rom 14:5).
A Christian commemoration might include reading Leviticus 23:23–25, Numbers 29:1–6, and Nehemiah 8:1–12; gathering for prayer and a meal; studying the New Testament’s trumpet passages; and rejoicing in the promised return of Jesus and the resurrection of the dead. The purpose would not be to recreate ancient Israel’s covenantal observance but to learn from Scripture, remember God’s faithfulness, and keep Christ at the center.
Key Scriptures to Study #
- Leviticus 23:23–25 — Establishes the day of rest, holy assembly, teruah, and offerings.
- Numbers 10:9–10 — Describes trumpet blasts as a reminder before God at Israel’s festivals and new moons.
- Numbers 29:1–6 — Lists the sacrifices required on Yom Teruah.
- Nehemiah 8:1–12 — Records Israel gathering on the first day of the seventh month to hear God’s Word and rejoice.
- Matthew 24:29–36 — Connects Christ’s visible return and the gathering of his people with a loud trumpet call.
- 1 Corinthians 15:20–23, 51–52 — Associates Christ’s return and the resurrection of the dead with the last trumpet.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 — Describes the Lord’s descent, the trumpet of God, and the resurrection of believers.
- Colossians 2:16–17 — Teaches that Israel’s sacred days were shadows whose substance belongs to Christ.
- Hebrews 10:1–14 — Explains how Israel’s repeated sacrifices pointed to Christ’s once-for-all offering.
Objections and Misconceptions #
“The Torah calls Yom Teruah the Jewish New Year.”
The Torah never calls the day Rosh Hashanah or identifies it as New Year’s Day. It occurs in the seventh month of the biblical calendar (Lev 23:24). Its identification as the Jewish New Year developed later within Jewish tradition.
“The Bible commands every believer to blow a shofar on this day.”
The Torah commands a teruah, but neither passage establishing the feast identifies the instrument. A shofar may have been used, and it became central to later Jewish practice, but Scripture does not explicitly command every Israelite—or every Christian—to blow one.
“The Feast of Trumpets proves that Jesus will return during this festival.”
The New Testament uses trumpet imagery for Christ’s return, but it never says he will return on Yom Teruah. Jesus taught that the timing of his return remains unknown (Matt 24:36).
“Yom Teruah represents the secret rapture of the church.”
Scripture never identifies the feast with a secret rapture. The passages commonly cited describe a public and glorious event involving a cry of command, the voice of an archangel, the trumpet of God, the resurrection of the dead, and the visible coming of Christ (Matt 24:30–31; 1 Thess 4:16–17).
“Christians who do not observe the Feast of Trumpets are disobeying God.”
The apostles did not require Gentile believers to observe Israel’s appointed feasts (Acts 15:1–29). Christians may commemorate the day voluntarily, but no one should be judged for observing or not observing it (Rom 14:5–6; Col 2:16–17).
“The Feast of Trumpets has no relevance for Christians because we are not required to keep it.”
Christians are not under the command to observe Yom Teruah, but the feast remains part of inspired Scripture and helps us understand Israel’s worship, the sacrificial system, and the biblical imagery of God’s appearing and Christ’s return (2 Tim 3:16–17).
Why This Matters #
Understanding Yom Teruah helps us distinguish what Scripture actually teaches from later Jewish and Christian traditions. That distinction protects us from speculative end-times systems, date-setting, and the belief that observing a particular day earns favor with God.
At the same time, the feast directs our attention toward the faithfulness of God and the hope Christians have in Christ. We do not know the day on which Jesus will return, but we do know that the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised, and those who belong to Christ will be with him forever (1 Cor 15:51–52; 1 Thess 4:16–18). Therefore, Christians should not calculate dates but live faithfully and expectantly, trusting the promise of their risen King.
Recommended Resources #
- Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 23–27 — A detailed scholarly treatment of Israel’s festivals and the legislation in Leviticus 23.
- Baruch A. Levine, Leviticus — A valuable Jewish scholarly commentary on Leviticus and its ritual calendar.
- Gordon J. Wenham, The Book of Leviticus — An accessible Christian commentary attentive to the theology and structure of Israel’s worship.
- Roy Gane, Leviticus, Numbers — A helpful examination of the festivals, sacrifices, and ritual system within their biblical context.
- Paul F. Bradshaw and Maxwell E. Johnson, The Origins of Feasts, Fasts and Seasons in Early Christianity — A historical study of the development of Christian sacred days and observances.
