Loving Holy Day greetings from Engeltal! Our brother, Gene, has written a very good message about this time of Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets, so I won’t take up that subject much here, but what the Lord has given me today fits the day as well.
The new moon is always celebrated as a holy day on God’s calendar, and in biblical times the celebration only began when the first sliver of the new moon was observed and therefore announced. The rest of the month was calculated by that observation. Yom Teruah is the only major feast that is held on the first day of the month, hence it is not predictable by biblical standards, so no one knows the day nor the hour. All that matters is that we be ready for it!
We know that when God arrived on Mount Sinai, there was a long, loud blast of a trumpet/shofar, and that will happen again when He comes near for the final judgment. In the meantime, we blow shofars during holy events and spiritual warfare as a rehearsal.
The first appearance of the shofar in the scripture is alluded to in Genesis 22 when God commanded Abraham to offer his “only son that he loved” on the mountain He would show him. Obediently, Abraham proceeded to do as he was told, going to what became the Temple Mount and, I believe, the place where our Father, in love for the inhabitants of the earth, sacrificed His only begotten Son. God stopped Abraham and provided a substitute—a ram, caught by his horn in a thicket. So, the sounding of the shofar not only denotes a significant, holy moment, but also declares the power of a substitutionary sacrifice! The ram substituted for Isaac, the Passover lamb in Egypt substituted for the firstborn of the Children of Israel, and the sinless sacrifice of the Isaiah 53 Suffering Servant Messiah substituted for our death as a result of sin. Not only that, but His resurrection from the dead promises resurrection for all who believe in Him!
The shofar is sounded every day during the entire month prior to Yom Teruah, reminding us to get ready for what is to come. It is a time to begin searching our hearts and making things right. So, this Feast of Trumpets is a rehearsal for that final trumpet sound indicating a final judgment.
Judge Righteous Judgment: “When the proper time has come [for executing My judgments], I will judge uprightly [says the Lord]” (Psalm 75:2 AMPC).
In my devotions this morning, I was drawn to John 7:24. “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” The context was that Jesus was being judged by the Pharisees for healing on the Sabbath, as though it is work for Him to do so. He pointed out to them that they in the same way “break” the Sabbath by performing a circumcision so that the law of performing it on the eighth day would not be broken. Then in the next chapter, they brought Him a woman caught in adultery (where was the man???!!!). His heavenly wisdom brought judgment on the Pharisees instead of on the woman and sent her away to live a new life of freedom form sin.
When Jesus told the men, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her,” They all disappeared because the words “without sin” mean, “not guilty of the particular sin of which they were accusing the woman.” Jesus’ word had brought conviction to their consciences to make them turn away from their judgment of her and consider their own evil ways.
The word “judgment” in the above scripture is from the Greek word krisis (Strong’s #2920). Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines it in part as:
1. a separating, sundering, separation; a trial, contest.
2. selection.
3. judgment; i.e. opinion or decision given concerning anything, especially concerning justice and injustice, right and wrong….
“The noun crisis comes from the Latinized form of the Greek word krisis, meaning ‘turning point in a disease.’ At such a moment, the person with the disease could get better or worse: it’s a critical moment. …”
Our choices as individuals, families, or nations can lead us into moments of crisis—turning points. These crises come into any door left open to darkness and are often manipulations of our circumstances to distract us from making right decisions. However, God intends for us to make decisions in those times that will lead to life, like the woman caught in adultery. She was given the opportunity to choose a new life— “Go and sin no more.” Of course, if we choose to go on in our sins (as the Pharisees did), we will also bear the consequences. Availing ourselves of the substitutionary sacrifice of the sinless Lamb of God sets us free from the consequences, hallelujah! That’s why judging ourselves is way more effective than judging others. And this is the place where intercession can help transform lives as we pray earnestly for souls caught in the snares of deception, seduction, and sin. Our prayers can bring the intervention of the Holy Spirit that will free their minds from demonic influence so that they can make a right-minded decision. I believe that anyone in their right mind will choose life. So, pray! Pray! Pray!
Prayer Can Change a Nation: Many of our Handmaidens and Servants are deeply involved in prayer initiatives, daily, weekly, or monthly prayer calls, and zoom prayer events. Glory to God KEEP PRAYING! It’s making a difference! And many nations are also praying. They realize that if the USA were to go down, their nations would also.
Sons of God Solemn Assembly: Last weekend’s event was glorious! Apostle Tony Kemp wasn’t able to come as his dad fell in the nursing home where he lives. Please pray for his dad as he’s suffering some confusion and a bit of a fever.
Michael Van Vlymen and his wife Gordana stepped up to the plate and hit a home run! He is one of God’s hidden ones who has pursued relationship with our Father into supernatural ministry in the unseen realm. All this occurred during thirty years of working a very ordinary job as a coffee vending machine repair man! His ministry was so inspiring that we can move into that supernatural realm as we pursue relationship with our Father also.
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Thank you! We are so grateful for your prayers! We are finally getting nearer the finish line to getting our bookstore up and running on the new computer software that will ultimately streamline our inventory and accounting. The accounting department is already running it, thank God!
And thank you so much for your giving! We bless you for an exponential multiplication to be able to do all that God has called you to do!
Your handmaiden and servant,
Sharon and Philip