TEXT: Leviticus 23:23-25

SUBJECT: The Feast of Trumpets

INTRODUCTION:

Let’s begin with a quick review of the Spring Feasts and how Jesus fulfilled them:

1. The Feast of Passover: Jesus, who is our “Passover Lamb,” was crucified on the day of Passover, Nisan 14^th on the Hebrew calendar and March or April on the Gregorian calendar. Because of His death our sins have all been forgiven.

2. The Feast of Unleavened Bread:  Jesus was the perfect Unleavened Bread Who came to earth from heaven. After being crucified, His body was lying in the tomb or the grave on The Feast of Unleavened Bread. And because He was sinless, He experienced no decay or corruption. He alone is our hope of overcoming the grave!

3. The Feast of First Fruits:  Jesus arose on Nisan 17^th, the day of First Fruits, as the first to rise from the dead and receive a resurrected body. Beloved, His empty tomb is the starting point of our eternal hope!

4. The Feast of Pentecost: Having been raised up and ascended back to glory of the Father, Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit upon the 120 in the upper room in Jerusalem and so began His Church—the New Creation of God.

Amazingly, these feasts which were recorded in Leviticus 23 and observed by Israel for hundreds of years were fulfilled to the very day by Jesus as He carried out the redemptive plan of Father God!

In Jesus, the only begotten Son the Father, we have been redeemed—saved and brought back to God by His extravagant grace and mercy.[1] How great is our God!

Before moving to the Fall Feasts, let’s take a quick look at the time lapse between the Spring Feasts and the Fall Feasts. Many refer to this time lapse as a “gap.” And that time or season is of course summer.

In the context of the Feasts, this “summer gap” symbolizes the span of two thousand years that began at The Feast of Pentecost and continues to this present day.

This time period, or “summer gap,” represents the harvest of the Lord’s Church—all of those who have been redeemed and made a part of God’s New Creation in Christ Jesus. This particular season of harvest will continue until the Lord’s Second Coming.

And that brings us to the Fall Feasts which are yet to be fulfilled: The Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and The Feast of Tabernacles.

Together with the rebirth of Israel in 1948 and the retaking of Jerusalem by the Jews in 1967, the foundation has been laid for the next three Feasts of God to be fulfilled! It is my personal belief that these feasts will be fulfilled in this generation.

The first of the Fall Feasts to be fulfilled will be The Feast of Trumpets, and that will be our subject today. 

Let’s pray: Father God, we ask that you would open our eyes that we my behold the revelation of Your Divine Word. In the Name of the Coming King, Jesus Christ, we pray.

 The Feast of Trumpets, also known as Rosh Hashanah, occurred on the first day of the Hebrew seventh month of Tishri, our September or October.

It is important to note that between The Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement there are ten days which are known as “The High Holy Days,” or “The Days of Awe.” The Sabbath that falls within this ten day period is called “Shabbat Shuv‘ah,” or “The Sabbath of Return.” Consequently, several important themes related to the Second Coming of Jesus are associated with The Feast of Trumpets. We will look at each one individually.

Also in this message, instead of beginning with the Jewish context or Old Testament background of this feast, I will instead weave them in as we consider the various themes that have to do with the Second Coming of Messiah Jesus.

1. First, The Feast of Trumpets is the sounding of the shofar.[2]

According to scripture, the sounding of the shofar is associated with the rapture/resurrection of the Church and the Second Coming of Jesus to the earth.[3]

In I Corinthians 15:51-52 we read, “Listen, I tell you a mystery;[4] we will not all sleep, but we will be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”

Also in the Torah, this feast is referred to as “The Day of the Sounding of the Shofar” or “Yom Teruah. “Teruah” is translated as “an awakening blast,” or “The Day of the Awakening Blast.”

In Isaiah 26:19 we read, “Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to departed spirits.”

The word “Teruah,” is also translated as “shout.” And in I Thessalonians 4:16-17 the word “shout” is used in connection with the rapture/resurrection of the Church and the Second Coming of Jesus, “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a loud command or shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet call of God; and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

It is clear that both the shout and the trumpet (shofar) announce the rapture/resurrection of the Church and the Second Coming of Jesus.[5]

2. Secondly, The Feast of Trumpets is connected to the wedding of the Messiah. 

The Jews considered marriage to be the ideal model for the relationship between God and Israel. That theme is found many times throughout the Old Testament. It is particularly prevalent in the Old Testament book of Hosea.

Consequently, the Jewish wedding ceremony was clearly understood by early Jewish Christians to be a picture of the joining of Christ with His Church. This is made clear in the book of Ephesians where the Jewish Apostle Paul compares the marriage relationship with that of Christ and His Church. [6]

Then in Matthew 25:1-13, in the parable of the ten virgins, Jesus is pictured as the Bridegroom returning for His Bride, the Church, at the end of the age: v.6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’” V.10 “. . . The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet (marriage). And the door was shut.”

Also in Jewish culture it was customary that after a bride had accepted the groom’s proposal for marriage, he would go back to His Father’s house to prepare a bridal chamber. It was understood to be the man’s duty to go be with his father, build a house for his bride, and prepare for the eventual wedding.

Before he departed, however, he would make the following statement to the bride, “I go to prepare a place for you; and if I go, I will return again to you.” If those words sound familiar, it’s because they were spoken by Jesus in John 14:1-3 just before returning to His Father in Heaven! Beloved, Jesus has gone to prepare a place for His Church, and He will come again to receive her as His Bride at The Feast of Trumpets!

And here is where things get really interesting theologically. In Matthew 24:36 Jesus said, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, or the Son, but only the Father.” This of course is referring to the Lord’s Second Coming.

Notice in the above verse, “but only the Father.” According to Jewish tradition, the timing of the wedding was contingent upon the Father’s approval of the groom’s preparation of the bridal chamber. So when someone asked as to when the wedding would take place, the groom would answer, “only my father knows!”

Therefore, in the above wedding terminology, when Jesus said that “no one knows of that day or that hour but the Father only,” He was actually telling us that He is coming on The Feast of Trumpets!

We will try and make this a little more clear in our final point.

3. The Feast of Trumpets is also known as “The Hidden Day” or Yom Hakeseh.

The term “keseh” is derived from the Hebrew root word “Kacah” which means “to conceal, hide or cover.”

Part of the reason why that The Feast of Trumpets is considered a “mystery” or “hidden” is due to the fact that there was a fair amount of uncertainty with regard to observing this feast on the correct calendar day.

Let me explain. The Feast of Trumpets fell on Rosh Chodesh or the new moon. And because the commencement of the feast hinged on the sighting of a tiny sliver of the moon, just in the city of Jerusalem alone, it would be difficult to let everyone know that the feast had actually begun!

To solve this problem a two day Feast of Trumpets was observed. In the Rabbinic view, these two days are regarded as “yoma arikhta” or “one long day.” For this reason, when speaking of the timing of The Feast of Trumpets, the Jews would typically say, “Of that day or hour no one knows.”

Therefore, what we have here is another Jewish and cultural context for Jesus’s words in Matthew 24:36 “Of that day and hour no one knows.” Again, this is referring to the timing of the Rapture and Second Coming of Jesus.

This reference along with the previously mentioned Jewish wedding reference, “only my Father knows,” leaves no doubt that what Jesus said in Matthew 24:36 is a revelation and confirmation that He will indeed Come again on The Feast of Trumpets![7]

CONCLUSION

As we conclude, we can be sure that just as Jesus fulfilled the Spring Feasts—Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Pentecost—to the very day, so too will He fulfill The Feast of Trumpets to the very day! The Lord Jesus will rapture the Church and return to the earth on the day of The Feast of Trumpets. For those who are “watching and praying” that day will not take them by surprise!

APPLICATION

How great is our God and how precise is His mighty Word?

The prophetic Word of God is your invitation to put your trust in Him as your Savior and Lord.

God’s plan for your life is as sure as His plan in His Seven Feasts. All your days were written in His Book before there was one of them![8]

All that He needs from you is for you to surrender your life to Him and allow Him to bring you into the fullness of the destiny that He has planned for you.

Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Do not fear little ones. God is perfecting the image of His Son in you; He is directing you in His ways; and He is protecting you from all evil and harm!

Remember, God’s Son shed blood for you. He invested the best He had to save you, not just for a lifetime, but forever and ever!

Be at peace.

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[1] II Corinthians 5:19

[2] Shofar is another name for trumpet.

[3] In His First Coming, He came as a baby in a manger. But in His Second Coming He is coming as the conquering King of Glory!

[4] A mystery in the Greek New Testament is not something “spooky,” or “superstitious;” rather, it simply means that something that has been unknown is now being made known.

[5] See also Matthew 24:29-31; Revelation 20:1-6 as to the timing of the Rapture and Second Coming of Jesus.

[6] Ephesians 5:25-27

[7] See further I Thessalonians 5:1-4, especially verse 4. The watchful Church will not be caught unaware.

[8] Psalm 139:16