The Feast of Trumpets and YOUR Future
Most of Christianity believes that God's Holy
Days, including the Feast of Trumpets, were "done away with" — that they have no
relevance today. But nothing could be further from the truth!
You may have heard the term "planned
obsolescence."
People often use this term to describe products that, seemingly by design,
outlive their usefulness within a given period of time.
We've all had experiences with manufactured goods, such as automobiles or
appliances, that function for only a short time and then cease to work.
Consider, for instance, the car that breaks down even before it is completely
paid for. It's as if the manufacturer wants you to be forced to buy another!
Is God's law outdated?
It's unfortunate, but some who consider
themselves Christians are under the impression that God uses "planned
obsolescence" when it comes to His law and His plan for mankind!
Millions believe that Christ's crucifixion "did away with" the need to keep
God's commandments, including God's Holy Days, which outline His plan.
It's true that God no longer requires certain acts of His people. For
example, Christ's sacrifice eliminated the need for God's people to perform
animal sacrifices (Heb. 10:1-6).
But man has taken it upon himself to declare obsolete other areas of God's
instructions that God definitely has not (Mark 7:6-9).
Christ Himself said: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you,
Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the
law, till all be fulfilled" (Matt. 5:17-18).
God's law, including those instructions that concern God's Holy Days, is in
force today.
One of the festivals God commands us to keep is the Feast of Trumpets. Most
professing Christians have not even heard of it. They have been blinded to this
important Festival of God, though the Feast of Trumpets is designed to have
important meaning for us in the 21st century.
Christ's death did not at all do away with the need for us to keep the Feast
of Trumpets today. This Holy Day of God is relevant now, and very much so.
Origin of the Feast of Trumpets
God first introduced the Feast of Trumpets to
ancient Israel after the dramatic Exodus from Egypt, commanding them to keep
this day as a Sabbath, a holy convocation (Lev. 23:23-25).
Notice that the Israelites were to mark this particular day as a memorial of
the meaning trumpets had for their nation, both physically and symbolically.
God instructed them to use silver trumpets to gather the Tribes for
assemblies and to signal when it was time to move during their migration to the
promised land. The Israelites were to blow the trumpets when they were preparing
to attack or to defend against an attack. Moreover, trumpets were blown during
God's festivals and at the beginning of each month. Each use of the trumpets
gave added meaning to the festivals as the Israelites understood them (Num.
10:1-10).
Since the Israelites, awestruck and trembling, had already experienced God's
tremendous use of a blaring trumpet when God gave them the Ten Commandments at
Mt. Sinai (Ex. 19:19), they were familiar with the
use of trumpets in correlation with momentous events in their lives!
God continued to associate trumpet blasts with important events after that
era as well — and He does so for us today.
The warning message for today
The Bible shows that during Israel's later
history, which was heavily punctuated with conflicts and rebellion, trumpets
continued to be used as warning devices, to call to arms or as preludes to
important messages — always to mark an event of tremendous import to the whole
nation.
God used the prophets, among them Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea and Joel, to warn
Israel about punishments He would bring upon them for their constant rebellion
against His laws. These prophets were to use their voices like trumpets to blare
their warnings to God's people.
Notice, for example, God's instruction to Isaiah: "Cry aloud, spare not, lift
up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the
house of Jacob their sins" (Isa. 58:1). See also
Hosea 5:8 and
Joel 2:1.
Portions of the prophets' warnings were fulfilled, in type, by ancient
Israel's captivity. Yet many of these prophecies are dual, having both ancient
and modern fulfillments. Such is the case with the message of the prophet
Ezekiel.
God set Ezekiel as a watchman to Israel. Ezekiel, through his message,
symbolically blew a trumpet of warning to God's people (Ezek.
33:1-7).
Ezekiel's warning, however, did not reach the house of Israel, because they
had already gone into captivity! Ezekiel's visions of Israel's impending
destruction were given "in the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year
of king Jehoiachin's captivity" (Ezek.
1:2). Jehoiachin went into captivity in 597
B.C., or about 125 years after the removal, to Assyria, of the last of the
northern tribes, which occurred from 721-718 B.C.
If Ezekiel's message did not reach ancient Israel — could not have reached
them — for whom was it intended?
God's warning through Ezekiel was intended for the modern descendants of the
ancient Israel — the peoples of the United States, Britain and, in general,
northwestern Europe today!
For more information on who the modern descendants of ancient Israel are, and
how they are identified in Bible prophecy, read our free booklet,
The United States And Britain In
Prophecy.
Ezekiel's message is reaching the modern Israelites. God has set a modern-day
watchman to thunder to our peoples the impending consequences of their sins.
(the church of God).
The book of Revelation outlines God's future use of trumpets.... These
terrible plagues are released on the earth by... God, who will be forced to
shake carnal, rebellious humanity to its senses!
The trumpets of Revelation
The book of Revelation outlines God's future use of trumpets. This message is
for the entire world, and concerns events before and including the return of
Jesus Christ, who will soon return to rule this earth with God's government.
This message about God's end-time use of trumpets begins with the opening, in
heaven, of Revelation's seventh seal (Rev.
8:1-2). Seven angels are given seven
trumpets to blow. The blowing of these trumpets represents God's intervention in
world affairs just after the world has endured Satan's wrath and the heavenly
signs (Rev. 6:9-14).
Notice what happens when the first four trumpets are blown: At the sound of
the first trumpet supernatural fire will burn the grass and one third of the
earth's trees. At the sound of the second trumpet God will kill a third of all
sea life. People will no longer freely sail the oceans. Dead, bloated, stinking
carcasses of sea creatures will abound.
After this, a third trumpet is blown and a third of the earth's fresh water
will turn bitter. The result? The death of many humans. Finally a fourth trumpet
is blown, and one third of the light from the sun, moon and stars will be
eliminated (verses 7-12).
These terrible plagues are released on the earth by an angry, righteous God,
who will be forced to shake carnal, rebellious humanity to its senses!
We come now to the final three trumpet plagues or "woes" (Rev.
8:13).
When the fifth trumpet is blown, the bottomless pit is opened (Rev.
9:1-11). What emerges is the beast power
described in Revelation
17:8-14, the final resurrection of the Holy
Roman Empire. This beast will have ensnared the world in its satanically
inspired, Babylonish religious and political system.
If you have not already done so, why not request a copy of our informative
booklet, Who Is the Beast? It's absolutely free.
Horrible weapons, symbolized by locusts, are unleashed. They have the power
to torment men for five months, perhaps through the use of chemical, biological
or radiological weaponry.
This attack will result in a counterattack. The sixth angel sounds and an
army from east of the Euphrates River — an army of 200 million men! — emerges,
wielding more frightening weapons. This conflict will destroy one third of
mankind (Rev. 9:13-19,
Isa.13:4-10)!
And yet, as unbelievable as it may seem, mankind still will not repent (Rev.
9:20-21). The third "woe" — God's final
trumpet plague — is yet to occur.
The seventh trumpet
"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven,
saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of
his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev.
11:15).
Jesus Christ will return in power and resplendent glory to seize control of
this world (Rev. 19:11-21).
The saints will be resurrected to eternal life to rule with Christ (I
Cor. 15:51-52,
Rev. 5:10).
But it will take the seven last plagues, which compose the seventh trumpet,
to complete the job of bringing mankind under the control of God.
These final plagues are described in Revelation 16. First, painful sores will
appear on those still subservient to the beast (verse 2). The second and third
plagues turn the seas, rivers and springs of water into blood (verses 3-7).
The fourth plague turns the normally life-giving sun into a life-destroying
power as the sun heats the earth to incredible temperatures. This fourth plague
will still not bring mankind to repentance (verses 8-9). The fifth plague
plunges the beast's realm into darkness (verses 10-11.)
With these nightmarish plagues completed, mankind will be united to fight
Christ at His return. Satan the devil, working through the beast (the end-time
military leader) and the false prophet (religious leader) will gather the "kings
of the east" to join the armies that remain from the devastated beast power. The
gathering location will be Armageddon (verses 12-16), the site of ancient
Megiddo, in the valley of Jezreel about 20 miles south of the modern port of
Haifa. Many wars have been fought at this site.
But the combined efforts of these
Satan-inspired powers will be to no avail. The seventh and last plague will seal
their fate. The mightiest earthquake in history will occur. Dormant volcanoes
will erupt. Hailstones weighing 100 pounds (the modern equivalent of a "talent")
will fall from the skies (verses 17-21).
"And the seventh angel sounded..." God's government will be established. A
new age will dawn upon mankind — an age filled with happiness, abundance and
true peace...
Christ's climactic battle with these armies will occur at Jerusalem: "Behold,
the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be
taken, and houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go
forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from
the city.
"Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he
fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount
of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall
cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall
be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north,
and half of it toward the south" (Zech.
14:1-4).
God's government will be established. Those of us who qualify to be born into
the Family of God will start the process of reconstructing the world — the right
way, this time — through the remaining human beings.
A trumpet will be blown to gather Israel from the places in which they have
been captive. The Israelites will be brought to the land of Israel to live and
worship God (Isa. 27:12-13).
A new age will dawn upon mankind — an age filled with happiness, abundance
and true peace, which the world has not known since creation.
Meaning of this Feast
The
meaning, then, of the Feast of Trumpets, which pictures Christ's return to
establish God's Kingdom on earth, is revealed by the various uses of trumpets
throughout the Bible.
Old Covenant Israel had a limited, physical understanding of the Feast of
Trumpets. But God's Church understands, through God's Word, and with the help of
God's Holy Spirit, its commission to offer this dying world this tremendous news
about the future. We are to provide the trumpet blast that gives the Gospel of
Jesus Christ to this world.
The Feast of Trumpets is not obsolete at all. God has placed great meaning in
it. We need to rehearse that meaning each year by keeping this Festival.
By doing so, we show our obedience to God's Word. We proclaim our belief in
God's warning messages, the return of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the
saints. In addition, we prepare ourselves for the Family of God.
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