When I was growing up in church, I heard a lot about the return of Jesus.
And it terrified me.
I knew I was supposed to want Him to come back. I knew Christians were supposed to look forward to His return. But somehow, that wasn’t what I felt.
What I felt was fear.
What if He came tonight? What if I wasn’t ready? What if I had done something wrong? What if I was left behind? I worried about everything I would leave behind and even what Jesus’ return would look like—because it sounded really scary.
No one ever tied His return to His coming Kingdom. I never heard that preached once—and I grew up in the church!
The return of Jesus was something we talked about, but I don’t remember ever celebrating it.
Then Yehovah revealed His appointed times to me, and I began to understand that what I’d learned in Sunday school and church my whole life was nothing like the story that unfolds in Scripture.
And Yom Teruah changed the picture.
The King Is Coming
Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets, is the first of Yehovah’s Fall Feasts. It begins a remarkable and exciting season on Yehovah’s calendar that points us toward the return and Kingdom of Yeshua.
If the biblical feast days are new to your family, you can learn more about what makes a day a biblical Holy Day and see our 2026 Feast Day calendar.
Teaching children about Yeshua’s return through Yom Teruah gives us a beautiful opportunity to replace anxiety with anticipation.
Yehovah did not give His people a yearly season of panic.
He gave them an appointed time.
A day of remembrance.
A holy gathering.
A time of great anticipation.
And the unmistakable sound of trumpets—or, more specifically, shofars.
“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.”
— Leviticus 23:24
There is something wonderfully tangible about that for a child.
They don’t merely hear someone talk about a trumpet.
They hear it.
They can stand outside with Mom and Dad as the sun goes down. They can watch the sky. They can feel the excitement as someone lifts the shofar.
And then—
TEKIAH!
The sound cuts through the evening.
📯 The King is coming!
Suddenly something mysterious and frightening becomes something a child can experience with joy and excitement.
Yom Teruah Begins Something
Yom Teruah doesn’t stand alone.
It is the first of Yehovah’s Fall Feasts and begins a beautiful progression that our children can experience year after year.
Day 1 — Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets.
The trumpet sounds. We watch. We remember. We anticipate the coming of our King.
Day 10 — Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
The most solemn Holy Day of the year—a day of humbling ourselves before Yehovah, repentance, and atonement.
Day 15 — Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles!
A time of rejoicing, dwelling in temporary shelters, remembering Yehovah’s provision, and celebrating His desire to dwell with His people. This is also when Yeshua was born—the Word made flesh who came to “dwell [tabernacle] among us” (John 1:14)!
There is something wonderful about allowing our children to live through this biblical rhythm instead of only reading about it.
They hear the trumpet.
They learn to examine their hearts.
And then they rejoice.
Year after year, these aren’t simply Bible stories about things Yehovah’s people did long ago. They become part of the rhythm of our children’s own lives—appointed times they recognize, anticipate, and remember.
But it begins with Yom Teruah.
The shofar sounds.
We watch.
We remember.
And we anticipate the coming of our King.
If you’d like to study the meaning and observance of this day more deeply, read What Is the Feast of Trumpets?.
Let Them Learn to Listen for the Trumpet
Scripture repeatedly connects Yeshua’s return with the sound of a trumpet.
Paul wrote:
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God…”
— 1 Thessalonians 4:16
And again:
“For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:52
Imagine what happens when those Scriptures aren’t merely abstract ideas your children have heard in a Bible lesson.
They have memories attached to them.
They remember standing beside you at sunset.
They remember holding your hand.
They remember the excitement, the anticipation.
They remember trying to blow the shofar themselves and producing a rather unimpressive pffffft before finally getting a sound out of it.
They remember laughing.
They remember celebrating.
They remember you telling them:
“One day a trumpet is going to sound, and Yeshua is coming back to establish His Kingdom!”
Year after year, Yom Teruah can build an association in their hearts:
Trumpet → King → Yeshua → joy → He’s coming!
That is a very different childhood memory from fearfully wondering whether Yeshua might return tonight.
“But Shouldn’t They Understand Judgment?”
Of course.
We shouldn’t remove the seriousness of Yeshua’s return from Scripture. There is judgment. Scripture tells us to watch. It tells us to be ready. Those things matter.
But being ready doesn’t have to mean living terrified that Yeshua might catch us doing something wrong.
Think about a child whose beloved father has been away for a long time.
Someone tells her:
“Daddy’s coming home!”
She doesn’t panic.
She doesn’t inventory and obsess over every time she misbehaved while he was away.
She runs to the window.
She watches the driveway.
She asks every fifteen minutes whether it’s time yet.
Maybe she straightens her room because she wants everything ready for him.
But preparation isn’t the enemy of anticipation.
Preparation is part of the anticipation.
That is something Yom Teruah can help us teach our children.
We watch because we love Him.
We prepare because we belong to Him.
We obey because He is our King.
And we want to be ready because we cannot wait to see Him.
Make Yom Teruah a Family Memory
This year, don’t let Yom Teruah exist only on the calendar or become a hastily told Bible lesson with a group of verses that are too sophisticated for a child to comprehend.
Let your children experience it.
Teaching children about Yom Teruah doesn’t have to mean giving them a Bible lesson filled with verses they are too young to fully comprehend. Let them experience it.
Go outside together as the appointed time begins.
Watch the sun disappear below the horizon.
Blow the shofar.
Read 1 Thessalonians 4:16–18 together.
Talk about what it will be like when Yeshua returns.
Ask your children what they think they will feel when they hear that trumpet.
Talk about His Kingdom.
Talk about resurrection.
Talk about seeing Yeshua.
And then celebrate.
You don’t need an elaborate celebration. You don’t need a Pinterest-perfect table or an impressive family tradition. If you have a shofar, blow it. If you don’t, make a joyful noise together. (Kazoos from the party section of Walmart make great mini shofars!) Read Scripture. Eat together. Put the phones away. Look at the sky.
The point isn’t creating the perfect observance.
The point is teaching your children what they are waiting for—and Who they are waiting for.
Build traditions your children will remember long after they have grown up.
Because someday they will be teaching their children to listen for the trumpet.
Raise Children Who Long for His Appearing
There is enough in this world for our children to fear.
Yeshua shouldn’t be one of those things.
Yes, teach them to watch.
Teach them to obey.
Teach them that our choices matter and that our King is holy.
Teach them to be ready.
But underneath all of it, give them something even more important:
Teach them to love the One they’re waiting for.
So when your children hear someone say, “Yeshua is coming back,” perhaps their first thought won’t be:
Oh no. What if He comes?
Perhaps instead, something inside them will leap:
“The King is coming! I want to be ready!”
👑
Because we don’t have to be afraid of Yeshua’s return.
We’re waiting for Someone we love—and Who loves us beyond measure.
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