feast days (sabbaths): the feast of trumpets
09/06/02
[20:12] <Vicerant> So, today is feast of trumpets?
[20:12] <Vicerant> What does this mean to use exactly?
[20:12] * Joins: Jello13091
[20:12] * ChanServ sets mode: +o Jello13091
[20:13] <Vicerant> Levi:23:23: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[20:13] <Vicerant> Levi:23:24: Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first [day] of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
[20:13] <Vicerant> Levi:23:25: Ye shall do no servile work [therein]: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
[20:14] <Vicerant> And WHY do we do this thing? What is the meaning of this day?
[20:27] <Vicerant> Confirmed the start of the month with my mom, so another party is on track with us, verifying our dates.
[21:20] <Vicerant> So nobody knows today's significance is.....
[21:42] <Jello13091> It was the time of the Feast of Trumpets. Many were gathered at Jerusalem. The scene was one of mournful interest. The wall of Jerusalem had been rebuilt and the gates set up, but a large part of the city was still in ruins. {PK 661.1}
[21:42] <Jello13091> On a platform of wood, erected in one of the broadest streets, and surrounded on every hand by the sad reminders of Judah's departed glory, stood Ezra, now an aged man. At his right and left were gathered his brother Levites. Looking down from the platform, their eyes swept over a sea of heads. From all the surrounding country the children of the covenant had assembled. "And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen: . . . and they bowed their heads, and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground." {PK 661.2}
[21:42] <Jello13091> Yet even here was evidence of the sin of Israel. Through the intermarriage of the people with other nations, the
[21:42] <Jello13091> 662
[21:42] <Jello13091> Hebrew language had become corrupted, and great care was necessary on the part of the speakers to explain the law in the language of the people, that it might be understood by all. Certain of the priests and Levites united with Ezra in explaining the principles of the law. "They read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading." {PK 661.3}
[21:42] <Jello13091> "And the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law." They listened, intent and reverent, to the words of the Most High. As the law was explained, they were convinced of their guilt, and they mourned because of their transgressions. But this day was a festival, a day of rejoicing, a holy convocation, a day which the Lord had commanded the people to keep with joy and gladness; and in view of this they were bidden to restrain their grief and to rejoice because of God's great mercy toward them. "This day is holy unto the Lord your God," Nehemiah said. "Mourn not, nor weep. . . . Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength." {PK 662.1}
[21:43] <Jello13091> The earlier part of the day was devoted to religious exercises, and the people spent the remainder of the time in gratefully recounting the blessings of God and in enjoying the bounties that He had provided. Portions were also sent to the poor, who had nothing to prepare. There was great rejoicing because the words of the law had been read and understood.
09/07/02
[13:35] <Vicerant> So today is a day of JOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! :D
[13:35] <Vicerant> A memorial of blowing of trumpets, of reflection on God's goodness and blessings.
[13:36] <Jello13091> dont you think it could also be looking forward to when the trumpets blow at the end of time?
[13:36] <Vicerant> May-be, may-be.
[13:37] <Jello13091> so does feast of trumpets begin the civil year or whatever it is, like the jews think
[13:38] <clumsyraine> i was wondering that...
[13:38] <Vicerant> Gregorian calendar starts it in the dead middle of winter (illogical), Jews in the dead middle of summer/fall (illogical), but who starts it at the beginning of spring?
[13:39] <Jello13091> i'll ask someone i know about that next time i get a chance
[13:40] <Vicerant> Perhaps the fall harvest has something to do with what a new year means.
[13:40] <clumsyraine> i was just reading one of my "biblical" fact books, and it said the same thing, that it was supposedly the new year... yeah, thats what i was thinking, something to do w/ the harvest
[13:42] <clumsyraine> no one could be unobservant enough to actually call their true new year the beginning of the 7th month.. it hasta be some other year
[13:43] <Vicerant> Yes! Forgot this isn't the first month. Okay, year does begin in spring, I just remembered, March!
[13:44] <clumsyraine> uhm, duh
[13:44] <Vicerant> Excellent....it was scaring me since the Jewish calendar was "same as us" this time.
[13:45] <Vicerant> And here's their authority for making the "new year" begin in September:
[13:45] <Vicerant> Talmud.
[13:45] <clumsyraine> does the talmud say why this is the new year?
[13:46] <Vicerant> Cause it is "the birth of the world." They cite another talmudic book for that quote.
