Feast of Trumpets / Yom Teruah: What Does It Have to Do With Jesus?
What is the Feast of Trumpets?
Why does Scripture call it Yom Teruah?
Is it the same thing as Rosh Hashanah?
And what might this biblical appointed time have to do with Jesus’ return?
For most of my life, I had never heard anyone teach about the Feast of Trumpets.
I celebrated Christmas. Easter. Halloween.
But the Feast of Trumpets? Yom Teruah?
Nope.
Then I started actually studying the biblical appointed times for myself—and I realized this was not something someone invented centuries later.
It is right there in Leviticus 23.
And once I started following the theme of trumpets through Scripture, I began noticing something else…
God repeatedly uses trumpets when something significant is happening.
Gathering.
Warning.
Worship.
War.
The Day of the LORD.
The gathering of God’s people.
Resurrection.
The return of the King.
So let’s slow down and look at what Scripture actually says.
First: What is the Feast of Trumpets?
The Feast of Trumpets is one of the appointed times God gives in Leviticus 23.
God tells Moses:
“On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation.”— Leviticus 23:24
The instructions are surprisingly simple.
It was to be:
on the first day of the seventh month
a day of rest
a holy convocation/assembly
marked by trumpet blasts
a day when God’s people were not to do ordinary work
Numbers 29 repeats the command and calls it “a day for you to blow the trumpets.”
And notice something important.
God doesn’t introduce it as somebody else’s holiday.
He introduces these appointed times in Leviticus 23 as His appointed times.
“These are the appointed feasts of the LORD…”— Leviticus 23:4
That’s what first caught my attention.
So why do I call it Yom Teruah?
You may hear this day called several different things:
Feast of Trumpets
Day of Trumpets
Yom Teruah
Rosh Hashanah
But they’re not all biblical names for the day.
The Hebrew phrase in Numbers 29:1 is:
יוֹם תְּרוּעָה — Yom Teruah
Literally:
Yom = day
Teruah = a shout, blast, alarm, or loud cry/noise, depending on context
So Yom Teruah can be understood as “Day of Teruah” or, in the context of the biblical trumpet blasts, “Day of Trumpet Blasts.”
This is why English Bibles commonly translate it as “Feast of Trumpets” or “Day of Trumpets.”
One important distinction:
Teruah does not literally mean “trumpet.”
The Hebrew word itself has a broader range. The trumpet/blast connection comes from the context and the command to sound/blow the trumpets.
So I don’t want to flatten the Hebrew into a definition it doesn’t actually have.
I simply want to understand what Scripture is saying in its own context.
But isn’t it Rosh Hashanah?
This is where things get really interesting.
Rosh Hashanah means something like “head of the year” and is the traditional Jewish name commonly associated with the first day of the seventh month.
But that is not the name Scripture gives this appointed time.
In Leviticus, it is described as a memorial of teruah.
In Numbers, it is called Yom Teruah.
And Scripture explicitly places it in the seventh month.
That made me stop and ask:
If this is the seventh month, why do we call it “New Year”?
Exodus 12:2 gives an important piece of the puzzle:
“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.”
That’s referring to the month of the Passover.
So I personally choose to call this day Yom Teruah / Feast of Trumpets, rather than Rosh Hashanah, because I want my language to come from Scripture as much as possible.
That doesn’t mean I’m trying to criticize Jewish people or dismiss Jewish tradition.
I’m simply trying to distinguish what the Torah calls the day from a later traditional name.
And that’s actually a recurring theme in my Bible study:
What does Scripture say—and what did we simply inherit?
Why the seventh month matters
There’s another fascinating detail.
Yom Teruah occurs on the first day of the seventh month.
So this appointed time begins the seventh month with a day of rest, holy assembly, and teruah.
For believers who follow a sighted-moon calendar, that also introduces an element of watching and waiting for the beginning of the month.
And that made some of Jesus’ words jump out at me differently.
Jesus repeatedly told His followers:
Watch.
Stay awake.
Be ready.
“Therefore, stay awake…”— Matthew 24:42
“Therefore you also must be ready…”— Matthew 24:44
And:
“Stay awake at all times…”— Luke 21:36
I’m not saying those verses explicitly name Yom Teruah.
They don’t.
But when you put the biblical themes together—the seventh month, the appointed time, trumpet blasts, watching, readiness, gathering, and the coming of the Messiah—I think it’s worth paying attention.
What about “no one knows the day or hour”?
This is one of the connections I find especially fascinating.
Jesus says:
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows…”— Matthew 24:36
Many Bible teachers connect this statement with Yom Teruah, and I find the connection compelling.
Why?
Because in a sighted-moon framework, the beginning of the month is not something you can simply announce months in advance by a fixed numbered date.
You watch.
You wait.
You determine when the new month begins.
And Yom Teruah falls on the first day of that month.
Again, I don’t want to say, “Jesus definitely meant Yom Teruah here,” because Scripture never explicitly says that.
But I also don’t want to dismiss the connection simply because I wasn’t taught about it growing up.
I’d rather put the passages next to each other and study them.
That’s becoming one of my favorite ways to read Scripture.
Why does God keep using trumpets?
This is where the Feast of Trumpets gets even more interesting.
Once you start following the theme of trumpets through Scripture, you start seeing a pattern.
Trumpets gathered God’s people.
Numbers 10 describes trumpets being used to gather the congregation and signal movement.
Trumpets announced appointed times.
Numbers 10 also connects trumpet blasts with Israel’s appointed times and the beginnings of months.
Trumpets sounded an alarm.
They could signal danger, war, or a call to action.
Trumpets accompanied worship.
They were used in celebration and before God.
Trumpets announced significant moments.
Think about Jericho.
Seven priests.
Seven trumpets.
Seven days.
And on the seventh day, the trumpets sounded again and the people shouted.
The walls fell.
Then the prophets use trumpet imagery in connection with the Day of the LORD.
Joel 2:1 says:
“Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain!”
Isaiah 27:13 speaks of a great trumpet and God’s scattered people coming together.
And then we get to Jesus.
Trumpets and the return of Jesus
Jesus says:
“And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect…”— Matthew 24:31
Paul says:
“…at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable…”— 1 Corinthians 15:52
And:
“…the Lord himself will descend from heaven… with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”— 1 Thessalonians 4:16
Then Revelation takes the trumpet theme even further.
Revelation 10:7 says that in the days of the seventh trumpet, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as He announced to His servants the prophets.
And Revelation 11:15 says:
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ…”
Is every trumpet in Scripture secretly referring to Yom Teruah?
No.
I don’t think we should force every trumpet passage into one interpretation.
But there is an undeniable recurring biblical pattern:
Trumpets announce.
Trumpets gather.
Trumpets warn.
Trumpets call God’s people to attention.
Trumpets accompany God’s intervention.
Trumpets appear in passages about resurrection, gathering, judgment, and the coming Kingdom.
So when Scripture gives us an appointed time specifically marked by teruah, I don’t want to shrug and move on.
I want to ask:
Why?
What does Yom Teruah have to do with Jesus?
For me, this is where studying the biblical feasts becomes so beautiful.
I’m not observing Yom Teruah because I think keeping a feast earns salvation.
It doesn’t.
Jesus saves us.
The sacrificial system described in Numbers 29 included offerings that pointed forward to the need for atonement, but Christians believe Jesus is the ultimate and sufficient sacrifice.
Hebrews 10 explains that Christ offered Himself once for all.
So I don’t need to recreate the Temple sacrificial system.
Instead, I can study what God originally established and ask:
What does this teach me about Him?
And when I read Yom Teruah through the lens of Jesus, themes of:
calling
gathering
watching
readiness
trumpets
resurrection
the coming King
God’s Kingdom
become incredibly meaningful.
The feast doesn’t replace Jesus.
It makes me want to look at Him more closely.
“But I’m not Jewish…”
I understand this question because I had it too.
I’m not ethnically Jewish.
And neither was my husband.
But Scripture has some pretty interesting things to say about Gentile believers.
Romans 11 uses the picture of Gentiles being grafted into the olive tree.
Ephesians 2 describes those who were once far away as having been brought near through Christ and becoming fellow citizens with God’s people.
And Galatians 3 says that those who belong to Christ are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to the promise.
That doesn’t mean Gentile Christians should pretend to be Jewish.
It doesn’t mean we need to adopt every Jewish tradition.
And it doesn’t mean every believer will reach the same conclusion about the biblical feasts.
But it does make me want to ask:
If these are God’s appointed times, why wouldn’t I at least study them?
So what do you actually do for Yom Teruah?
This is where I want to make something very clear:
You do not need a Pinterest-perfect celebration.
The biblical commands are actually pretty simple:
📖 Study God’s Word
🎺 Remember the significance of the trumpet blasts
👨👩👧👦 Gather
🛋️ Rest
🙏🏼 Worship
And then there are all kinds of optional family traditions we can build around those things.
If you want practical ideas for celebrating Yom Teruah with children—including books, crafts, shofar ideas, meals, activities, journals, and ways to make the day meaningful without turning it into a Pinterest project, I’ve written an entire post for that.
That post also contains my recommended resources and affiliate links if you’re looking for books, Bible-study tools, shofars, activities, or other supplies.
What about the ten days leading to Yom Kippur?
Yom Teruah is followed by Yom Kippur on the tenth day of the seventh month.
That gives us a beautiful opportunity to use the days between the feasts intentionally.
I don’t want to turn every family tradition into a biblical command—because Scripture doesn’t command us to do a particular “10-day devotional” between these feasts.
But as a family, you could use those days to:
read Scripture together
pray
practice forgiveness
examine your hearts
memorize Scripture
talk about repentance
work through conflicts
practice the fruit of the Spirit
prepare your hearts for Yom Kippur
Not because completing a ten-day activity earns anything from God.
But because sometimes intentional rhythms help us slow down enough to actually listen.
Where should you start studying?
If this is all new to you, don’t feel like you need to understand everything at once.
Start here:
The Feast itself
Leviticus 23:23–25
Numbers 29:1–6
Trumpets
Numbers 10:1–10
Trumpets + God’s people
Joshua 6
The Day of the LORD
Joel 2:1
Isaiah 27:13
Jesus + the trumpet
Matthew 24:29–44
Resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:51–521
Thessalonians 4:13–18
Revelation
Revelation 10:7
Revelation 11:15
And then ask yourself:
What themes keep repeating?
That’s where Bible study gets really interesting.
📖 Want a guided study?
If you’re brand new to the biblical feasts, I created a FREE Yom Teruah / Feast of Trumpets Bible Study Guide to help you work through the Scriptures without feeling overwhelmed.
Inside, we’ll walk through the biblical foundation of Yom Teruah and the Scriptures worth studying as you begin exploring this appointed time.
You don’t have to know everything before you begin.
Just open the Bible.
Ask questions.
Compare translations.
Look at the original words.
Follow the themes.
And let Scripture speak for itself.
📚 A Few Bible Study Tools I Recommend
You absolutely don’t need to know Hebrew or Greek to begin doing word studies.
One of the easiest tools to use is a Strong’s Concordance, which lets you find the original-language word behind an English translation and trace where that word appears throughout Scripture.
I also recommend comparing several Bible translations rather than relying on only one. These are my two favorites that I use in every study:
You don’t have to own ten Bibles. 😂
Even having two or three translations that approach the text somewhat differently can help you notice things you might otherwise miss. And if you don't have physical books, you can use Blue Letter Bible website/app and other websites for translations.
One last thing…
I don’t share this because I think I’ve figured everything out.
Actually, quite the opposite.
The more I study Scripture, the more I realize how much I don’t know.
That’s why I don’t want you to simply take my word for any of this.
Open your Bible.
Read Leviticus 23.
Read Numbers 10.
Read Matthew 24.
Read 1 Corinthians 15.
Read 1 Thessalonians 4.
Read Revelation 10–11.
Put the passages next to each other.
Ask questions.
Test what you’ve been taught.
And see what you find.
Because maybe the better question isn’t:
“Why should I celebrate something I’ve never heard about?”
Maybe it’s:
“Why did God establish this in the first place?”
And for me, that’s a question worth studying. 🎺📖
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feast of trumpets jesus yom teruah
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