There are three fall feasts, but today's posting will be about the Feast of Trumpets only, as there is so much to be seen in the coming fulfillment of this feast that it will occupy the entire posting.
The Feast of Trumpets (also known as Rosh Hashanah (Lev. 23:24): occurs on the first day of Tishri, the seventh Hebrew month (mid-September to early October). The Biblical name in Hebrew is Zikhron Teruah or "Memorial of Blowing", signifying the blowing of trumpets, whether shofar or silver trumpets, which was done in the Temple and all throughout the land of Israel. Rosh Hashanah, the name given to it in the second century AD means "The Head of the Year" and became the Jewish New Year. Scripturally, it is a one-day feast. However, since the Diaspora (the dispersing of Jews out of their land into other places) the holiday is celebrated for two days; mostly having to do with the difficulty of determining precisely the correct date of the New Moon on which the holiday is based. It is the only holiday that occurs specifically at the New Moon when the moon is obscured and only a very thin crescent of light shows. All other feast days occur when the moon is bright.
Here's one of the key points, in my mind at least: in the nation of Israel, trumpets had several uses: a) gathering an assembly before the Lord (Numbers 10:2-3), sounding a battle alarm (Numbers 10:9, Neh. 4:18-22, Ezekiel 33:3-6); and announcing the coronation of a new king (which was done with a shofar, ram's horn: 1 Kings, 1:34, 39; 2 Kings 9:13; 2 Kings 11:12-14; 2 Samuel 15:10). Trumpets were blown for burnt offerings or for peace offerings (Number 10:10). All three of which will happen at the Lord's second coming.
Here's another key point: the ten-day period from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) are called, in Jewish Tradition, the "Days of Awe." It is believed that God reviews the books of judgment on Rosh Hashanah and metes out final judgment on Yom Kippur. Many believe the Lord will "fulfill" this and the remaining two feast days at His second coming. Jewish tradition holds a similar view: "In the month of Nisan [at Passover], our ancestors were redeemed, and in Tishri [Rosh Hashanah], they will be redeemed in the time to come." [Taken from Rosh Hashanah 11a of the Talmud.] This fest day is a dark day because of the New Moon. Listen to this scripture from Zephaniah 1:14-18: "The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land." The Lord's second coming will bring judgment. Six of the seven trumpets of Revelation chapters 8-11 bring judgment, while the seventh announces the coming King.
And, there is this: the first time God descended from heaven to Mount Sinai with Moses and the Israelites is recorded as this in Exodus 19:18-20: "Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire…and when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai." And we know that when the Lord returns He will stand on Mount Olivet and the day will be obscured – neither dark nor bright: "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…..and it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark; but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light." (Zechariah 14:3-7)
All of which will be heralded or announced with the last trumpet: "Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:51-52) "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
If you are like me and are watching for the Lord's return, you should be listening for the sound of the trumpet for I believe we will hear it just before He arrives, as it announces our Lord and King whose kingdom will reign forever and ever. Amen.
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