Jewish tradition says a new month begins after two witnesses see the crescent new moon, testify before the Sanhedrin who declares the beginning of the new month. Messengers set beacon fires on hills throughout Israel. This happens about a day after the astronomical new moon. But Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of a new civil year. Distant communities celebrate Trumpets on two possible days. The shofar sounds one hundred times during the Jewish service. The Feast of Trumpets is the Rapture.

Feast of Trumpets: Names and Themes

1.  Day of Blowing the Shofar or Ram's Horn

The Feast of Trumpets is on the first day of the seventh month of Tishri. Passover, Unleavened Bread Firstfruits and Pentecost were prophesies fulfilled with redemption through Jesus Christ so Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles will be fulfilled with the return of Jesus Christ. The Feast of Trumpets is a memorial of blowing the shofar.

In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. You shall do no work: but you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord (Leviticus 23:24-25).

2.  Day of Rosh Hashanah, the New Year

The Feast of Trumpets is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish civil new year which begins on a new moon in the summer/fall (September 4-October 6). After the night's prayer service, a special greeting is used: "Ketiva ve-chatima tovah" or "May you be written and sealed for a good year".

Blow the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day (Psalm 81:3).

3.  Day of Creation and Birth of Adam

The Feast of Trumpets is the Jewish celebration of the creation of the world and Adam. The Hebrew name Genesis is Beresheet but right to left (teeshereB) is the 1st of Tishri. The month of Tishri is the beginning (Creation) and the end with Trumpets (Rapture), Atonement (Second Coming) and Tabernacles (Reign of Jesus Christ). The Jews celebrate the coronation of God as King of the Universe.

On the 1st of Tishri [beginning, Aleph b'Tishri] God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

4.  Day of Remembrance
 
The Rapture is Yom Hazikaron or Day of Remembrance. While Moses goes back to Mt. Sinai to get the second set of tablets, the people remember who God is and what He has done (Exodus 34:1, 28). They have forty day of Teshuvah (1st of Elul-10th of Tishri) to repent of their sins and return to God. Then on the Day of Atonement, Moses returns with the Law. On Trumpets, we remember God as Father, Savior and Lord. God remembers His promise of eternal life to those who believe.

Remember therefore how you have received and heard, and hold fast, and repent (Revelation 3:3).

He [thief on the cross] said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou come into thy kingdom (Luke 23:42).

On the Feast of Trumpets, the prayer service includes a hundred blasts of the shofar with four sounds: Tekiah (1 long), Shevarim (3 medium), Teruah (9 short) and Tekiah Gedolah (1 extra long). Paul said when the Last Trump (Tekiah Gedolah) sounds on the Feast of Trumpets, we will transform from life to eternal life.

> First Trump - Weeks/Pentecost - Exodus 19:16-17, 18-19
> Last Trump - Trumpets/Rapture - 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
> Great Trump - Atonement/Second Coming - Matthew 24:30-31

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump [Tekiah Gedolah]: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:52).

6. Day That No One Knows

The Rapture is Yom Hakeseh or the Hidden Day. The Feast of Trumpets occurs after the 29th or 30th of Elul. No one knows the day or hour until the crescent moon appears in the afternoon sky on the last day of the month. No one saw Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead at night so we will be resurrected and raptured in hiding. Jesus uses three Jewish figures of speech to describe the Rapture.

> No one knows the day or hour: Jewish reference to the the Feast of Trumpets.
> Not the angels in heaven: Angels, demons and Satan do not know.
> Not the son but the father: Father tells his son when to meet his bride.

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Matthew 24:36 NIV).

7. Day of the Awakening Blast and Day of Shouting

The Feast of Trumpets is the day of shouting. God rescues those in Christ from imminent danger before the Tribulation begins.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

8. Day of the Resurrection and Rapture

First, the dead in Christ will be resurrected. The alive in Christ will be raptured. Then all believers meet Jesus Christ in the air.

The dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

9. Day of the Open Door and Gate

The Rapture is the day of the open door and open gate. All redeemed by Jesus Christ enter into Heaven.

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up here (Revelation 4:1).

You enter in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go therein (Matthew 7:13).

10. Day of Judgment

The Rapture is Yom Hadin or Judgment Day. Believers in Christ are saved and live by grace but are rewarded for works. The Rapture is the day of the open books. The Lamb's Book of Life and the book of remembrance are opened.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).

All people left behind are judged and given seven years of trials with the wrath of Satan and wrath of God during the Tribulation. At the end of the Millennium, final judgment comes.

I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works (Revelation 20:12).

11. Day of Victory Over Sin, Death and the Grave

The Rapture is a day of ultimate victory over sin, death and the grave. We will never again be separated from God because of sin. All believers in Christ will cheat death and the grave.

O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:55, 57).

12. Day of the Marriage Feast of the Lamb

The Feast of Trumpets is the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony. Both Jacob and Samson's weddings last one week (Genesis 29:26-28, Judges 14:12). Christ and His Church's ceremony lasts seven years.

In my Father's house are many [rooms]: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also (John 14:2-3).

God tells us what is going to happen before it happens and when. He describes the Rapture by Jewish traditions on the Feast of Trumpets, the Jewish New Year. Since God revealed to us the days of the Rapture but not the year, Daniel's dream, four horses, five trumpets and other prophesies describe important events that occur before the Tribulation.

Prophecy Window for the Rapture

Jesus Christ was born ~7-1 BC and died ~27-33 AD, then ~2027-2033 could be the Second Coming. So the years ~2019-2026 are a possible seven year rapture window as God prepares the world for the seven years of Tribulation, within the margin of calendar errors. Since we are at the end of the Church Age, work but also watch for Jesus on the Feast of Trumpets.

On the Jewish calendar, the Feast of Trumpets 2024 (5785 AM) starts on the evening of October 2. The astronomical new moon is October 2 at 9:49 PM making the sighting of the new crescent moon in Jerusalem impossible. So Trumpets begins the evening of September 3 sunset and ends September 18 sunset Jerusalem time. In US Central Time, Trumpets begins on October 3 at ~11:00 AM and ends on October 5, at ~10:57 AM. Jewish sunset rules apply.

Is October 2024 the Rapture? Those awake, watching and expecting Jesus Christ will be the first to know.

You, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. You are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5).

Jewish Feast Dates

The sun, moon and stars are not only used to tell time but also for prophetic signs. Those signs are linked to Jewish holy days. Key days to watch are the 9th of Av (Kadesh Barnea), Teshuvah, Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. The list of holy days are the future dates of the Rapture, beginning of the Tribulation, Second Coming and reign of Jesus Christ. These dates are calculated dates and must be confirmed by observation. See Calendar, Jewish Calendar.

Your dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in dust: ... and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter into your chambers, and shut the door about you: hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation is past. For, behold, the Lord comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth shall disclose her blood and shall no more cover her slain (Isaiah 26:1920, 21).

References: 21st Century Revelation: World Wars, Iraq Wars & End War Chapter 11 - The Feast of Trumpets, Chapter 12 - Fall Jewish Feasts, Appendix D - Jewish Feast Dates, Spring Feasts, Pentecost, Teshuvah, Fall Feasts, Calendar, Jewish Calendar, Bible Chronology, Revelation 12 Sign, 2024 Eclipse, Tribulation, Revelation, Covenant, 21st Century View, Rosh Hashanah, Hebrew Calendar, Time and Date, Stellarium