I’ve been asked, and we all often wonder, what kind of offering can I give to YHUH? Someone just asked me about this in light of the fact that we are on the brink of Yom Teruah and the other feasts of the 7^th month. Offerings are something always on my heart, but something I’ve gone back and forth on over the years, as far as what is acceptable or not. We know for sure that obedience to YHUH is one way we can give an acceptable offering to Him, to make our lives a living sacrifice. He said obedience is better than sacrifice.

“Does YHUH delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying YHUH? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22 

To do righteousness and justice Is desired by YHUH more than sacrifice. Proverbs 21:3

Guard your steps as you go to the house of Aluhym and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. Ecclesiastes 5:1

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Aluhym, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto Aluhym, [which is] your reasonable service. Romans 12:1

So above all, that’s our priority, to hear and obey Him. That’s a very pleasing aroma to Him. To disobey is like a stench in His nostrils. Remember Cain and Abel? Abel’s sacrifice was accepted because he gave the best of His flock, he held nothing back, it was a matter of obedience and the condition of his heart. Cain did not obey, he did not give the best of the fruit of the ground. YHUH confronted Cain about this, saying he and his offering would be accepted if he repented from his sin and the condition of his heart. YHUH warned him that sin was crouching at the door. Cain ignored YHUH, he chose to continue in his disobedience, and like YHUH warned him, Cain allowed his jealousy of his brother to cause him to murder Abel. Abel’s obedience was better than Cain’s sacrifice.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” Matthew 23:23-24

He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. Proverbs 28:9

We know that Aluhym does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will. John 9:31

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to YHUH, But the prayer of the upright is His delight. Proverbs 15:8

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of Aluhym more than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to Aluhym continually, that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name. Hebrews 13:15

Speaking of prayers, in addition to obedience, we see in the verses above that YHUH likens our prayers and praise to sacrifice and offerings. His word does not teach us that He doesn’t want sacrifices or bulls or goats or rams, but that He wants us to pay attention to His instructions first and be careful to obey them. This is better than the blood of bulls and goats. Yahusha’s blood is sufficient for us, but we should have the desire to offer over and above what He requires of us, because we love Him, because of what He’s done for us. If we do not have the desire to obey His commandments, we must wonder if we are trampling on His blood, which was intended to remove our sin, by giving us a will to obey, rather than transgress the law, since sin is the transgression of the law.

Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John 3:4

“…For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of YHUH, He has also rejected you from being king.” Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of YHUH and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voices…” I Samuel 15:23-24

So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19

No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him. 1 John 3:6

It’s been on my heart for many years to offer a lamb or bull, and I believe we are under the Melchizedek priesthood, as Abraham was, and offered burnt offerings, but other than in the camp in the wilderness, I don’t recall the Israelites ever offering on an earthen altar outside the land. (Passover was a different animal, it’s something they did MORE THAN ONCE outside the land, which many people don’t realize – see Exodus 12 and Numbers 9:1-5, so we should too, and it’s not really an offering, but a picture of how Yahusha was the offering for our sins.) Abraham and Jacob sometimes went to Egypt or Padan Aram, but it seems like they always waited to give offerings once YHUH brought them back to the Promised Land. So I hesitate to give a burnt offering right now in exile, as I feel I have more understanding to gain concerning this. I do see that it appears there will be animal sacrifices and offerings in the future, though it won’t play out the way teachers of Judaism or Christianity have taught us it will:

Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to YHUH Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of YHUH Almighty. Zechariah 14:21

Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them. Ezekiel 44:11

But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith Adani YHUH. Ezekiel 44:15

YHUH gives specific instructions about who can give offerings, what kind, when, where, how, etc…so, if we are not careful to observe His instructions (not rabbinical or Christian interpretations) about how and when to keep the Sabbath, or what meat to eat and how to kill it, drain the blood, and cover it, for example, then it’s not likely we will be careful to obey Him regarding the offering of sacrifices. We don’t want to offer him a swine, we don’t want to be like Aaron’s sons who were burned up for presenting an unacceptable fire. So we can be sure that prayers are acceptable in the place of sacrifice, AS LONG AS WE ARE IN OBEDIENCE, and not turning a deaf ear to His law as we once did, otherwise our prayers can actually be a sin or abomination. Also notice that just listening to His law, getting knowledge of what is acceptable to Him, shows we want to do what pleases Him. Those who are not interested in pleasing Him won’t listen to Him when He calls them to hear and obey His law.

But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices Aluhym is well pleased. Hebrews 13:16

As far as offerings for Yom Teruah and how we should celebrate it, I understand it to be called the Day of Blowing. I looked up the Hebrew word Teruah, Strong’s H8643, spelled tau, resh, uau, ayin, hey, in Lev 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.

Here’s what scripture indicates that means:

alarm, signal, sound of tempest, shout, shout or blast of war or alarm or joy

1. alarm of war, war-cry, battle-cry
2. blast (for march)
3. shout of joy (with religious impulse)
4. shout of joy (in general)

And that comes from the root word, rua, spelled resh, uau, ayin, which means:

shout (11x), shouting (8x), alarm (6x), sound (3x), blowing (2x), joy (2x),

The word, trumpets, is actually not present in Lev 23:24. The word trumpets is added here, but for good reason, as there are other verses that instruct blowing trumpets on the New Moons, etc…

Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your Aluhym: I am YHUH your Aluhym. Numbers 29:1

YHUH said to Moses:  “Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out. When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the tent of meeting. If only one is sounded, the leaders—the heads of the clans of Israel—are to assemble before you. When a trumpet blast is sounded, the tribes camping on the east are to set out. At the sounding of a second blast, the camps on the south are to set out. The blast will be the signal for setting out. To gather the assembly, blow the trumpets, but not with the signal for setting out. “The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come. When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by YHUH your Aluhym and rescued from your enemies. Also at your times of rejoicing—your appointed festivals and New Moon feasts—you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your Aluhym. I am YHUH your Aluhym.” Numbers 10:1-10

According to Numbers 10:2, these were 2 silver trumpets blown on the New Moons, made of pure silver, in one piece. We don’t have these 2 silver trumpets, so our family can’t fulfill this command this year, but we can do what we are able, and so we can shout, we can sound an alarm, we can make noise with pots and pans, we can clap. A ram’s horn is perfectly acceptable to blow on this day, or a regular trumpet, but these do not replace the 2 silver trumpets. What’s most important to us is that we listen to hear from Him what we need to do to please Him and then do it. So I pray that in the future we will find a way to obtain 2 silver trumpets to fulfill this, at the same time, those 2 silver trumpets are to be blown over offerings. Definitely something to continue to study and pray about.

Another aspect of Yom Teruah, though, is that it is to be a Sabbath and a miqra kodesh, or holy convocation, or set apart gathering. So we are to rest that day, and treat it as a Sabbath, even a high, special Sabbath. So we observe 2 Sabbaths in a row at Yom Teruah when there is no 30th day in the 6th month. Some lunar Sabbath keepers claim there is never a case of 2 Sabbaths in a row on the luni-solar calendar, as I think I may have once ignorantly thought, but that’s obviously not the case. It’s absolutely amazing and beautiful how the luni-solar calendar works, but we must be careful to not make false claims about it.

I want to call special attention to that word, miqra, Strong’s H4744, as there is more to it than meets the eye. It’s spelled mem, kof, resh, aleph, and it can mean:

convocation, convoking, reading, a calling together

1. convocation, sacred assembly
2. convoking
3. reading

It comes from the word, qara, spelled, kaf, resh, aleph, Strong’s H7121, which can mean:

to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim

1. (Qal)

   1. to call, cry, utter a loud sound

   2. to call unto, cry (for help), call (with name of God)

   3. to proclaim

   4. to read aloud, read (to oneself), read

   5. to summon, invite, call for, call and commission, appoint, call and endow

   6. to call, name, give name to, call by

2. (Niphal)

   1. to call oneself

   2. to be called, be proclaimed, be read aloud, be summoned, be named

3. (Pual) to be called, be named, be called out, be chosen

So for this reason, just like on the weekly Sabbath, which is also a miqra kodesh, I believe we are called out of Babylon, called together as a kadosh assembly to read, proclaim, cry out, declare His name, His appointed times, His ways, etc…and we are to guard and keep this day kadosh, holy, set-apart…so we do. We are not to allow falsehood or anything profane into the assembly, into our dwellings, into our bodies, minds, or hearts, at the times YHUH appointed to meet with Him. We cannot tolerate sin on His appointed times. We are to create and maintain a kadosh environment so He can meet with us. Guarding His appointed times, His Sabbaths, and keeping them kadosh, is an offering like that which Pinchas/Phineas offered, which results in blessings…

In Yahusha’s love