On holidays: you do not know the day or hour

Previously: On holidays: Trumpets

The last sliver of the waning moon was seen the evening of September 8th. The dark of the moon has been since the evening of September 9th. The new moon was not sighted in Israel the evening of September 12th, even though the skies were clear and diligent search was made. They will look again the evening of September 13th to see if they can see it ... the 1st day of the 7th month, the Feast of Trumpets, does not begin until the new moon is sighted.

Some may have expected to see the new moon the evening of the 12th, but did not see it. They had to watch, and wait. On the evening of the 13th, they will watch and wait again. Perhaps they will see it. The practice of watching and waiting for the appearing of the new moon sheds some light on a teaching of Jesus concerning His coming, which is tied in to the Feast of Trumpets:

"“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." Matthew 24:36-44

I learned that the phrase "no one knows the day or hour" is a Hebrew idiom referring to the appearing of the new moon. When the old moon wanes until nothing is left, the new moon appears anywhere from a day and a half to three and a half days afterwards. Often it appears three days afterwards, because the new moon celebration is a reminder of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah, but the moon is not always "buried" for three days before its "rebirth." So one never knows, you just have to watch and wait for its appearing.

The only annual feast day of the Lord which is celebrated at the new moon is the Feast of Trumpets. And we can see in the above passage, Jesus refers to the appearing of the new moon by the common Hebrew idiom, "no one knows the day or hour." He also refers to His coming in the same context. Was He teaching His disciples that His coming was associated with the Feast of Trumpets? Many believe He was. He fulfilled all the spring feasts at His first coming, and if the pattern holds, He will fulfill all the fall feasts at His second coming.

When we see that in the history of Israel, the trumpet blast was sounded to gather together the ekklesia (the congregation), to announce the coming of the Lord, and the coronation of a new king, we are anticipating this feast day this year with the most acute joy!

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Update: continued in Happy Yom Teruah!