Yom Teruah/Rosh HaShannah
Day of Trumpets/Head of the Year
Genesis 21:1–34, 22; Numbers 29:1–6
by
Jon Thompson
The Biblical Day of Trumpets is upon us. This year it may be only a rehearsal, but one of these years, it will likely herald the return of Yeshua HaMashiach. In addition to a brief commentary on the Torah portion for the week, I want to examine the parable Yeshua told of Ten Virgins because of the shadows of this day that the parable contains. The day is Rosh HaShannah in Judaism, the beginning of the civil calendar year.
To start let's examine a part of our portion:
“And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spoke unto Abraham, saying, Elohim is with thee in all that thou doest:
Now therefore swear unto me here by Elohim that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.
And Abraham said, I will swear.
And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away. And Abimelech said, I know not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but today.”
(Genesis 21:22-26)
Abimelech was a Philistine, known more commonly today by the name Palestinian. In our portion the leader of the Philistines approaches Abraham because he recognizes that Elohim is with Abraham. He asks Abraham not to deal falsely with him, his son, or his son's son, for generations, essentially forever. Abraham agrees and swears to the agreement.
Immediately after the agreement, some of Abimelech's servants violently take a well away from Abraham. Abimelech denies any knowledge of the violence or the identity of the terrorists. Sound familiar?
Later when Moshe leads Israel out of Egypt YHVH does not take them by the borders of the Philistines saying:
“Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:” (Exodus 13:17).
In Judges 10:6–7 the Bible talks about how Israel sinned with the gods of the Philistines and how YHVH sold Israel into the hands of the Philistines. The Philistines remain a thorn in Israel's side for generations.
And then we come to today. Every time the Palestinians make a covenant with Israel, they break it. Israel keeps their part of the agreement, even when the Palestinians flaunt their lawlessness and openly violate the terms for peace. True to form, the leaders, as Abimelech did in his day, deny knowledge of the terrorists who seem to be rampant even though they have the support of both the government and the financial elite.
Worse, the Palestinians cry about how Israel is the mean giant who wants to survive. They are just the poor pitiful hundreds of million innocent terrorists that only want to wipe out the millions in Israel, who stubbornly refuse to die. Times have changed, but as is noted in Ecclesiastes:
“That which has been, it is that which shall be. And that which has been done, it is that which will be done. And there is no new thing under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Moving to the people of YHVH, I want to look at the parable of the Ten Virgins. Yeshua gave the parable as part of His response to a direct question from His disciples:
“Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3)
We recognize the parable of the Ten Virgins applies to the coming of the Messiah because Yeshua introduces it with the statement:
“Then [at the time of His coming and the end of the world, or age] shall the Kingdom of Heaven be like ten virgins . . .”
(Matthew 25:1a).
A few shadow pictures stand out that I want to touch on:
- All ten are virgins
- They all go out to meet the bridegroom
- All ten are waiting for the bridegroom
- All of them have lamps and oil in their lamps
- All of them fall asleep while they wait
- They all awaken when the bridegroom is announced
- The door is opened
- The door is closed
These ten virgins are waiting for the Bridegroom, but none of them is the bride. Yeshua doesn't tell us about the bride. She is either inside, or she comes with the Bridegroom, but she is not one of the virgins who wait. We know the bride is present because it is a marriage and the bride takes part in it. Most of us want to be the bride of Messiah, but the admonition to wait and watch is incumbent on all of us.
Beyond being a woman who has not had intimate relations with a man, there is an additional meaning of the word translated as “virgin” in both Hebrew–betulah (בתולה) and Greek–parthenos (παρθενος). It refers to a woman who is unmarried or who is not engaged.
Taking this back to the concept of spiritual adultery, which is idolatry, it seems that these ten have not been married or betrothed to false gods, nor to YHVH. But their allegiance appears to be to YHVH, they are invited to the marriage, they show up, and they are waiting for the bridegroom.
They all share another trait in addition to being virgins; they carry lit lamps with oil. Oil is a picture of both the Holy Spirit and the Torah. Perhaps in this parable the oil represents both. That connection would explain why in Matthew 7:23 Yeshua says, “Depart from me you workers of lawlessness, I never knew you.” “Lawlessness” because of their lack of Torah, and “[He] never knew [them]” because they never had His Spirit. In contrast to the virgins who have oil, these people apparently never did.
Yeshua uses a similar phrase in our parable when He says, “I know you not.” (Matthew 25:12b) There is a marked difference between the two phrases, “I don't know you” versus, “I never knew you.” This difference is evident in the Greek as well. Here He turns the virgins away from the wedding, but what happens to them afterward, He doesn't say. When He turns away those who are lawless, it appears they are cast away forever.
It seems that the virgins in our parable are not lawless, and Yeshua doesn't tell them He “never knew them,” only that He “doesn't know them.“ The wording implies the five foolish virgins were at one time prepared and had both the Torah and the Spirit, but they lost both. The loss occurred while they were asleep.
Sleep can be a picture of death, or of lack of watchfulness. They wake up at the call that the bridegroom is approaching. This may refer to the resurrection, or to the state of those who are alive and supposed to be watching but stop keeping the Torah and the Appointed Times, and thus lose the awareness of the times and the direction of the Spirit. And then the call comes.
The bridegroom arrives and the door is open, which is an idiom of Yom Teruah–the Day of Trumpets. Once the wedding party enters, the door is closed, a picture of Yom HaKippurim—the Day of Atonements and the ceremony of neilah (נלא), the closing of the gate.
When the five foolish virgins return to the feast, there is no indication given whether or not they now have oil. But Yeshua says that the door is closed, and He doesn't allow them in to the marriage.
Yeshua cautions His disciples at the end of the
parable, “Watch,”
(Matthew 25:13a) or as a more
accurate translation might be “Keep watch” such as a sentry on the wall.
He cautions us to:
“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.“ (Revelation 3:3)
If we don't keep watch, we won't know when He is coming. The other side of the warning implies that if we are keeping watch, we will know when He is going to return. May we always be prepared so that when He returns He will find us doing His good works.
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“Behold, the days are coming, says YHWH,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah
. . . I will put My law in their minds,
and write it on their hearts;
and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Jeremiah 31:31,33b