In the Hebrew calendar we are now in the period known as "The Days of Awe" (the ten days between the Feast of Trumpets and The Great Day of Atonement). It is a period when God's people are called to reflect deeply, repent thoroughly and return to God completely.

The Book of Leviticus chapter 23 outlines the seven feasts of the Lord. Each of these are occasions of solemn assembly appointed by the Lord.  There are four spring festivals-

1. "The Lord's Passover" (v.5; beginning on the 14th day of the first month- Nisan)
2. "The Lord's Feast of Unleavened Bread" (v.6; beginning on the 15th of Nisan)
3. "The Feast of Firstfruits" (v.10; The day after the Sabbath after Passover; celebrating the first sheaf of harvest)
4. "Pentecost" (v.15-21) the full harvest, celebrated fifty days later, seven weeks after The Feast of Firstfruits)

It is significant that we see the prophetic meaning of these feasts fulfilled in the life and ministry of Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth. He was crucified as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29) on the Feast of Passover (Matthew 26:2); Buried as the representation of sin (which is what leaven represents) on the Feast of Unleavened Bread; Raised from the dead as the federal head of a new humanity in a new creation on the Feast of Firstfruits. He ascended to the Father who then sent the promise of Abraham, the gift of the Holy Spirit to bring in a harvest of this new kind of humanity, at Pentecost (Acts 2:1).

Three feasts remain that are celebrated in the autumn after a long hot summer without feasts. They are: 5. The Feast of Trumpets- on the first day of the seventh month (Tishri); 6. The Great Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur- (on the tenth day) and 7. The Feast of Tabernacles (on the 15th day).

The period of the Gentiles being grafted in is prophetically alluded to in Leviticus 23:22.

The last three feasts have prophetic significance pointing to the second coming of Christ. The trumpet calls the people of God to receive the Monarch of Monarchs, the King of Kings. The seventh month speaks of God's people entering into His rest by putting their full trust in what He has done on their behalf. Christ will return as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. The Apostle Paul speaks of God's future encounter with the people of Israel in Romans 9-11.

The custom of associating the Feast of Trumpets as the beginning of the Jewish civil calendar, Rosh ha-Shanah, was most likely an adoption of the Babylonian holiday when allegiance had to be publicly shown to the King of Babylon. The Jews used the holiday to assert that only God was king.  The trumpet, the ram's horn (shofar) will sound and the Lord will appear as judge, calling all humankind before Him to have their fate sealed in the Book of Life or the Book of Death. The sentence of life or death is carried out on Yom Kippur.

During the ten days of awe between "The Feast of Trumpets" and "Yom Kippur", time is to be given to reflect, repent and return. The men of Israel were summoned to appear in Jerusalem, and then on the Great Day of Atonement, the High Priest would enter the innermost sanctuary, the Holiest of all with blood of a perfect sacrifice on behalf of themselves and their families. God would open up a way for them to be forgiven and reconciled through God's perfect provision for the full compensation for their sins. Those who put their trust in this provision have peace with God and will see His covenant promise- to have His glory tabernacle among them.

We need to hear the sound of the trumpet alarm today. God is graciously giving us an opportunity to reflect deeply, repent thoroughly and return to Him completely before the Day of Judgment. He wants to fulfill His covenant promise with you - to be your God and for you to be one of His people. This can only happen if you put your trust in Jesus, the Great High Priest, who presented the sacrifice of His own body for the atonement of your sins.

"And Lord, haste the day when faith shall be made sight and the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, the trumpet shall sound and the Lord shall descend, Even so it is well with my soul." (Philip Bliss- 1876)

During the Great Spiritual Awakening, a common question that believers would ask of each other would be, "How is it with your soul?" May we reflect deeply, repent thoroughly and return to God completely.