Donna Beccia Carick
September 20, 2017, at sundown, marked the end of the Hebrew year of 5777. We’ve just entered into the new year, celebrating Rosh Hashanah (meaning the “beginning of the year”)! This kicks off a busy month of special dates to celebrate or commemorate.
In the Bible, Rosh Hashanah is called “Yom Teruah”, which means “Day of Blowing.” Some call it the “Day of the Awakening Blast.” The Scriptures says that, on this day, we are to blow shofars (trumpets made from the horns of a ram). Throughout the Scriptures, there are many examples of blowing the shofar. They were used in praise and worship, for calling together an assembly, and to sound an alarm about an approaching enemy. They were also used to announce the coronation of a new king.
Yom Teruah signals the end of the month of Elul, a highly significant month – a time of “Teshuvah”, which means “repentance” and returning to God. It is a somber month of introspection, a time to reconcile broken relationships and ask for forgiveness, and to make things right. It is a time to turn away from self-centered habits and thoughts, and to focus on seeking God. In the days of Noah, Elul 1 was the beginning of the 40-day rainfall of the flood, when the earth “repented” and was cleansed of the grievous sins of the people. Elul 1 was the beginning of the 40-day period that Moses went up to Mount Sinai to repent and seek God’s forgiveness when the Israelites created the idolatrous golden calf. Elul 1 was the day that the prophet Jonah went to Nineveh to tell the people that they had 40 days to repent, or the city would be destroyed. Elul 1 was the beginning of the 40 days when Yeshua (Jesus) fasted in the desert.
Is it a coincidence that Elul 1 was the date of our recent solar eclipse? Was this a warning for the United States to repent of its hatefulness and division? Since that date, we’ve had Hurricane Harvey, Irma, Jose, and more! We’ve had a destructive fire in Portland, Oregon, and earthquakes in Mexico, Los Angeles, and recently, our own region. We see terrorism entering our borders. We hear of threats of war from North Korea. Every day, there is a new calamity! Catastrophes are overlapping and converging, with no breaks in between. They are like birth pains, coming closer and closer together, and becoming more and more intense.
Nearly thousand years ago, Yeshua told his disciples that he would someday return to earth to set up his kingdom. The disciples asked (in Matthew 24:3), “Tell us, when will these things happen? What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” Yeshua replied (Matthew 24:6-8), “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. …. nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom … there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are only the beginning of birth pains.” Yeshua’s description accurately describes the current times. It seems that we are experiencing these birth pains now. Birth pains do not happen at the beginning of the pregnancy. They happen just before the birth of new life.
Elul 1 (August 21) was the beginning of the pile-up of calamities. Tishrei 1 (September 21) was the “Day of the Awakening Blast.” Yom Teruah signals the beginning of the “Ten Days of Awe.” These ten days, plus the month of Elul, complete the 40 days of Teshuvah. Jewish rabbis have taught that God opens his Books on this day, and determines the judgments and rewards that have been earned by each person. Within the ten days between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur (The Day of Reconciliation), a person may be able to reverse negative judgments by doing acts of charity, by repairing broken relationships, or by reconciling with God. Between these “Ten Days of Awe”, there is a Sabbath day called “Shabbat Shuvah”. This means “Sabbath of Return.” Is it a coincidence that, on this very date, some other significant things happen?
On September 23, the Sabbath of Return, a rare line-up of the constellations will occur. Some who use Stellarium software say that they have searched backward through history, and have not found this exact line-up of the constellations in 7000 years. The constellation of Virgo has the moon at her feet. Above her head is the constellation of Leo, which normally has nine stars that can be seen with the naked eye. Lining up in a row are Mercury, Venus, and Mars, appearing within the constellation of Leo. They appear to add three more “stars” to what is seen by the naked eye, making a total of twelve “stars”. Jupiter has been within the “womb” of Virgo for nine months now, and it began to move around within the womb very recently, as if Virgo has been “in labor.” September 23 is the day for Jupiter to exit the womb of Virgo. Jewish interpretation is that Jupiter, the king planet, represents the Messiah. Virgo is the only constellation named after a woman, and Christian interpretation is that this represents the virgin, Miriam, who gave birth to Yeshua the Messiah. Could this sign be foretelling the coming of Yeshua, after the birth pains? Could this be signaling the birth of something else?
Revelation 12:1-2 says “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She is pregnant—crying out in birth pains, in agony to give birth.” What does it mean to be “clothed with the sun?” It means that the constellation appears during daylight hours, and the sunlight renders it invisible. However, it can be detected with Stellarium software, something that wasn’t available when the book of Revelation was written.
September 23, on the Hebrew calendar, is the date of Tishrei 3, the date that Israel commemorates the assassination of Governor Gedaliah. During the historical period when Nebuchnezzar conquered Judah and exiled the residents into Babylon, he appointed Gedaliah to govern those who remained in Judah. However, Gedaliah was assassinated, which destroyed Judah’s last hope of autonomy. It would be two thousand years before Israel would become a nation again. Being that the Revelation 12 sign coincides with the commemoration of Israel’s former destruction, is the sign associated with Israel’s possible future destruction? Is this sign a “red alert” for the whole world that destruction is coming? The timing is uncanny, with this sign occurring immediately after the “Day of the Awakening Blast.”
The “Ten Days of Awe” conclude with Yom Kippur. It is a solemn day of fasting, and corporate prayer in the synagogue. Rabbis say that the judgments of God were reviewed on Yom Teruah, but the Books are closed on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. If we have atoned for our sins, and rectified and restored our broken relationships, then God writes blessings into our Book for the next year. If we have not repented and atoned, our sins will be counted against us, and we will not have a good year. Yom Kippur concludes the 40 days of repentance.
In the time of Moses, this was the day he came down from Mount Sinai, and told the people that their sin of creating the idolatrous golden calf was forgiven, and they were reconciled to God. Then Moses was given instructions to build a tabernacle to God. In our day, right after Yom Kippur, we start to build our sukkah (a tent, or temporary shelter), which prepares us for the next holiday, called Sukkot.
Sukkot (also called the “Feast of Tabernacles”) is a seven-day festival, commemorating the time when the Israelites dwelt in tents in the wilderness for 40 years, and God faithfully provided for their needs. “Sukkot” is the plural form of “Sukkah.” It is traditional for Jews to invite non-Jews to share their meals together in the sukkah during this celebration. It is also traditional to wave the etrog (a citrus fruit) and the lulav (a combination of branches from specific trees, in a ceremony of prayers.
The Feast of Tabernacles is also called the Feast of Ingathering. It is a celebration of gathering the wheat from the threshing floor, and pressing the grapes. It is the final harvest celebrated on the Hebrew calendar. After the seven days of dwelling in a sukkah, there is a celebration on the 8th day. In Biblical numerology, the number “8” is the number of completion. Could this feast be a picture of what is to come? Will we need to huddle together in temporary dwellings, displaced from our homes, during these times of great tribulation?
Yeshua said that he would return to earth to gather his people, and fight the final battle of Armageddon to destroy all evil. Could it be that the month of Elul has been the warning to repent and get reconciled to God? Are these calamities in the month of Elul the birth pains that Yeshua spoke about as signs of his return? Could the 8th day be symbolic of the completion of God’s eternal plan for this age, and a time for setting up the kingdom where Messiah rules?
According to Genesis 1:14, God created the sun, moon, and stars to be for signs and seasons. The Hebrew word for signs is “signals.” The Hebrew word for “seasons” is “festivals.” This seems to say that the signs in the heavens are signals of things to come. The Scriptures say that every festival is a “holy convocation.” The Hebrew word for “convocation” implies a “dress rehearsal.” Are we rehearsing the things to come? The probability is very high!
If you’d like to participate in these holy dress rehearsals, please contact Shalom Yeshua Ministries through Facebook. Or you send an email to the author of this article, at donna@ShalomYeshua.org. September 29, 2017, at sunset, is Yom Kippur. October 4 through 11 is the Feast of Tabernacles. Shalom Yeshua is located at 430 Washington Avenue, in Evansville. Parking and entrance are on Elliott Street.
