09/07/2026
Yom Teruah, often called the Feast of Trumpets, falls on the first day of the seventh biblical month, at the new moon. Following the Hebrew calendar we observe, we will welcome it next Friday, September 11, at sunset. This year, it coincides with the weekly Sabbath.
In Lev 23:23–25, Yehovah sets apart the first day of the seventh month as a day of rest, a sacred assembly and a memorial marked by sounding. Num 29:1 calls it a day for sounding the shofar. Before we explore what this day might point towards, we have something clear to honour: stop our ordinary work, gather before Him and mark the day with a sound that demands attention.
Teruah can describe a shout or a trumpet blast. It is a sound you notice. And as I prepare for this appointed time, I keep thinking about how easily we hear God’s Word without letting it interrupt us.
We can know the feast dates and still keep putting off something He has already asked of us. An apology. A change in how we speak at home. Turning away from a sin we have grown comfortable with. Jam 1:22 calls us to be doers of the Word. That reaches into the ordinary parts of our lives, long after the shofar has gone quiet.
There is hope in this day too. Paul writes that Yeshua will descend from heaven with a commanding shout and the shofar of God, and that the dead in Messiah will rise (1 Thes 4:16–18). He tells believers to encourage one another with these words. Our waiting has hope in it. Death will not have the final word.
That passage gives us reason to hear the shofar with expectation, though it does not tell us that Yeshua must return on Yom Teruah or give us a year to calculate.
If this is your first time observing, Yom Teruah itself is a day when Yehovah commands us to set aside ordinary work. This year it coincides with the weekly Sabbath, so prepare before sunset as you would for Shabbat. Alongside that rest, mark Yom Teruah by gathering for prayer and worship, reading Lev 23:23–25 and Num 29:1–6, and sounding the shofar if you have one. If you don’t, raise your voice in joyful praise to Yehovah. Teruah can also describe a shout of joy, so you need not remain silent. A shared meal can be a lovely part of gathering, though no special menu is commanded. Make time to consider what you have read and how you need to respond.
I want to come into this day thankful, with a heart willing to be corrected. Yehovah has given us His Word, and through Yeshua we have hope. There is still so much in my own life that needs to respond to what I already know.
