Pat:
Those of you who have been with us this entire year will remember that we’ve been taking some time out of our continuing sermon series at the appropriate times of the year to examine the Jewish Feasts and how they are fulfilled by Jesus.
We began in the spring and saw how Jesus fulfilled the three spring feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits at His first coming through his death, burial and resurrection. And then in the late spring we took a look at the Feast of Weeks, or as we best know it by its Greek name, Pentecost. And we saw how that feast was fulfilled by Jesus when He sent the Holy Spirit upon His followers and ushered in the church age.
For the next three weeks, beginning this morning, we’ll focus on the three fall feasts – The Feast of Trumpets, The Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. And again, as we would expect, we’ll see Jesus revealed in each of these three feasts. This is such an appropriate thing for us to be doing right now since the fulfillment of these feasts have to do with the second coming of Jesus and much of what we’ll learn in these next three weeks fits in so well with what we’re discovering in the Old Testament prophets and what we’ll see when we get to the Book of Revelation.
As we’ve done with the other three feasts, Dana is going to give you some historical background on the origins of the feast and how it is celebrated by the Jews today and I will focus on how Jesus will fulfill the feast and its meaning for us as followers of Jesus.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Dana:
Before we look at the Feast of Trumpets in detail, let’s take a few moments to review and put the feast in its proper context.
There are a total of seven feasts that God gave to His people to observe. The feasts are broken down into three main seasons. The Spring feasts – Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits coincide with the barley harvest and were fulfilled by Jesus at His first coming.
The Feast of Weeks coincided with the completion of the wheat harvest and, as was fulfilled by Jesus by the giving of the Holy Spirit which inaugurated the church age in which we now live.
The final three feasts – the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles - occur in the Fall, and they will be fulfilled in full by Jesus at His second coming.
What is really interesting is that there is a long time gap between the Feast of Weeks and the fall feasts. This corresponds directly to the fact that at the time the church age was ushered on the Day of Pentecost, there began an interlude in God’s dealings with Israel as a nation, a period known as the “Time of the Gentiles.” Paul referred to this interlude in Romans 11:
Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
Romans 11:25 (ESV)
As Paul explains more fully in that chapter, the purpose of this interlude was to make Israel jealous and lead to their ultimate salvation as they come to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. So we shouldn’t be surprised that this interlude was hinted at right in the middle of God’s instructions for the feasts. We find the basic instructions for all the feasts in Leviticus 23. The instructions for the spring feasts and the Feast of Weeks ends in verse 21 and the instructions for the fall feasts begin in verse 23. And right between those instructions, we find this verse, which at first glance appears to be out of place:
“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”
Leviticus 23:22 (ESV)
Notice the word “sojourner” in that verse. That is a reference to the Gentiles, and we find that in between the Feast of Weeks and the three fall feasts, God had given instructions to provide for the Gentiles. We see this played out in the Book of Ruth, where Boaz, a Jew, provides for Ruth, a Gentile, by not reaping to the edge of his fields. Even today, the Jews still read the Book of Ruth in connection with the Feast of Weeks, although they obviously miss out on how it sets the stage for the church age in which God provides salvation for all, including the Gentiles.
The instructions for the observance of the Feast of Trumpets are found in both Leviticus and Numbers:
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.”
Leviticus 23:23-25 (ESV)
More detailed instructions are found in Numbers:
“On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets, and you shall offer a burnt offering, for a pleasing aroma to the Lord: one bull from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the ram, and one tenth for each of the seven lambs; with one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you; besides the burnt offering of the new moon, and its grain offering, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offering, according to the rule for them, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord.
Numbers 29:1-6 (ESV)
The Feast of Trumpets was to take place on the first day of the seventh month of the religious calendar, the month of Tishri. The Jews have both a religious and a civil calendar, and this is also the first day of the first month on their civil calendar. As a result, this feast is also known as the Jewish New Year, or by its Hebrew name, Rosh Hashanah, which means “head of the year”. This begins a ten day period which ends on Yom Kippur and which is known as the “High Holy Days” or the “Days of Awe.”
In practice, the Feast of Trumpets is observed for two days, on the first and second days of the month of Tishri. Since the Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar, the first day of the month corresponds to the new moon. When the new moon was observed, the Sanhedrin sent out messenger to declare the beginning of the new month. But since messengers could not be dispatched on the holiday, nobody knew that the new moon had been observed until the following day. So traditionally, the observance took place over two days, and even though we can calculate the day of the new moon very accurately today, that tradition has been maintained. This year, the observance began at sundown on Friday and will conclude at sundown this evening.
Originally, the Feast of Trumpets was observed by making a set of special offerings of both grain and animals in addition to the normal daily sacrifices. Those sacrifices were accompanied by the blowing of the trumpets. Just as we have seen with the other holy days, this was also to be a day of rest and no work was to be done.
As we have also seen with many of the Jewish feasts, since the Temple is no longer in existence and therefore the prescribed sacrifices can no longer be made, the Jewish people have had to modify the observance of the feast.
Most of the day is spent in the synagogue, where religious poems are added to the regular service and prayers from a special prayer book developed for the feast are recited. The services focus heavily on the sovereignty of God. It is also traditional to eat apples dipped in honey as a symbol of the wish for a sweet new year.
The most important part of the observance is the blowing of the shofar, or the ram’s horn, which is associated with Abraham offering his son Isaac as a sacrifice on Mt. Moriah. Beginning on the first day of the sixth month, Elul, the shofar is blown each day, except on the Sabbath, and on the day before Rosh Hashanah. Then on the two days of Rosh Hashanah, exactly 100 notes of various types are sounded, ending with one long blast.
There are several other traditions associated with Rosh Hashanah that are important in helping us understand the prophetic significance of the Feast of Trumpets. In addition to be identified as Rosh Hashanah, the head of the year, this feast is also known by several other names:
• Yom Teruah – the Day of the Awakening Blast
• Yom HaZikkaron – the Day of Remembrance
• Yom Hakeseh – the Hidden Day
• Yom HaDin – the Day of Judgment
Although we don’t have time to examine all of these in any detail at all this morning, let me focus for a moment on the “Day of Judgment.” According to the Talmud, three books of account are opened on Rosh Hashanah and the fate of each person for the next year is sealed. The names of the righteous are immediately recorded in the book of life, those of the wicked are blotted out of the book of life and they are appointed for death and then there are those in between, who are allowed a respite of ten days until Yom Kippur to repent and become righteous.
FULFILLED BY JESUS
Pat:
As we saw earlier this year, Jesus literally fulfilled the spring feasts at His first coming. And then, seven weeks later, He inaugurated the church age on the Day of Pentecost as He empowered His followers with the Holy Spirit. So it only seems logical, that Jesus is going to literally fulfill the three fall feasts as well.
There are so many things about the Feast of trumpets that have prophetic significance for us. So about all we can hope to do this morning is to whet your appetite and hopefully encourage you to study these things in more detail on your own. We’ll also be able to examine some of these issues in more detail when we get to the Book of Revelation. I’m going to briefly take a look at a couple of issues and then spend most of our time focusing on what is clearly the most significant aspect of the feast for us.
Let’s begin with the concept of the “Hidden Day.” As we’ve seen, the Feast of Trumpets was held on the first day of the month of Tishri, a day which in earlier times had to be determined based on the observance of the new moon. Because of clouds which would obscure the moon, it was often difficult to determine exactly when the new moon occurred. And since the exact time of the new moon varied at various different locations, the Jews would say that no one could determine the day or the hour that the new year began. Keep that thought in mind and we’ll come back to it again in a moment.
We’ve also seen that Rosh Hashanah is known as the “Day of Judgment”, where the people were judged for their deeds. For right now, just keep that thought in mind and we’ll come back to it as well.
The most significant aspect of the Feast of Trumpets, as indicated even by the name of the feast, is the blowing of the trumpet, which as we have seen, refers to the shofar, or ram’s horn. Remember that the trumpet is blown for the entire month of Elul except for the day before Rosh Hashanah and then it is blown again for exactly 100 notes on each day of Rosh Hashanah, ending with one loud blast. We see this same pattern repeated in the Book of Revelation:
When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
Revelation 8:1, 2 (ESV)
We obviously can’t look at this passage in detail this morning, but it seems that there is a correlation between the day before Rosh Hashanah when the trumpet is not blown and the silence that occurs in heaven for half an hour. That is immediately followed by God giving seven trumpets to the angels who then proceed to blow them. When we get to this passage in our study of the Book of Revelation, we’ll have time to address the passage in much more detail, but there seems to be a clear connection between this passage and the Feast of Trumpets.
However, that is not the only place in the New Testament where we find a correlation between the observance of the Feast of Weeks and events related to the second coming of Jesus. In fact, there are several significant passages that describe the second coming of Jesus where a trumpet blast plays a significant role in those events:
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 imperishable, and we shall be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:51, 52 (ESV)
In that passage, God reveals that the return of Jesus will be associated with the “last trumpet”. So exactly what is that referring to? We’ll let the Scriptures themselves reveal that to us:
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 (ESV)
Paul is clearly describing here the very same event we just read about in 1 Corinthians. And here he describes the “last trumpet” as the “trumpet of God”. But the timing of that last trumpet is still not clear. But fortunately, we have the words of Jesus Himself to answer that question:
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Matthew 24:29-31 (ESV)
We see here that the return of Jesus will be accompanied by a single loud trumpet blast, which is exactly what occurs at the end of each day of the observance of Rosh Hashanah.
As we’ve progressed through our study of the Old Testament prophets in preparation for our study of the Book of Revelation, we’ve taken great pains not to jump the gun and make conclusions that are not warranted by the text itself. We’ve done the very best that we can to make sure that we don’t approach the Book of Revelation with any pre-conceived biases and that we simply let the plain reading of the text guide us in our journey.
But because of the background that we’ve already established in our study of Joel and Amos and the Thursday night series on Jonah, Noah and Jesus, one phrase in this passage immediately drew my attention as I studied this week. It is the phrase “Immediately after the tribulation of those days…” The words of Jesus confirm the picture that we’ve seen so far in our study - God’s people are not immune to tribulation. The trumpet call which signals the return of Jesus comes after the tribulation of those days.
At His first coming Jesus literally fulfilled each of the spring feasts through the significant events in His life, death and resurrection that occurred exactly on the days and at the times that corresponded to those feasts. So we can have confidence that the events of his second coming will also correspond directly to the fall feasts. There seems little doubt that Jesus’ return, announced by a loud trumpet call, will be connected with the Feast of Trumpets.
As we’ve seen, that would certainly not violate this warning from Jesus:
But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
Matthew 24:36 (ESV)
In fact, it is even possible that the words Jesus used here were a reference to the “Hidden Day”, which Jesus’ Jewish followers would have understood as begin a description of the Feast of Trumpets. And even if Jesus does return on Rosh Hashanah, we certainly can’t, as some have attempted to do, predict the year of His return or even on which day of the feast that he might come again to this earth.
And when He does return, whenever that might be, Jesus will come as Judge, not as Savior. For those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and have already had their names inscribed in the Book of Life, Jesus will only judge our deeds, not us as individuals, and that judgment will only be for the purpose of giving us rewards based on our fruitful deeds. But for those who have not committed their lives to Jesus, their fate will be sealed and they will be appointed to what the Book of Revelation describes as the “second death” or the “lake of fire”.
IMPLICATIONS FOR US
Isn’t this exciting? But if all we do is leave here today with a little more information, then we really haven’t accomplished much of lasting worth. So how should we live then in light of what we’ve learned today?
1. We need to constantly be preparing our hearts for Jesus’ return
Remember that earlier we described how the Jews would blow the shofar throughout the month of Elul in preparation for Rosh Hashanah. This time is also set aside for the people to evaluate their lives and to repent in preparation for the judgment that would occur on Rosh Hashanah. In fact, the name of the month is the Aramaic word for “search” and the month is to be a time of searching out God as well as searching their own hearts in order to repent of any sin in their lives.
For those of us who are followers of Jesus, this picture should remind us that we are constantly to be searching out God in our lives and searching our own hearts so that God might reveal sin and that we can repent.
Much of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians dealt with the return of Jesus. We’ve already read one passage from chapter 4 that connected the return of Jesus to the trumpet of God. But Paul made it very clear in that letter that the purpose of his writing was not just for information, but rather for instructing the people about how they should live in expectation of Jesus’ return. Among those instructions we find these words:
But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
1 Thessalonians 5:4-8 (ESV)
Paul’s admonition to remain sober in these verses is a call to be constantly preparing their hearts for the second coming of Jesus. It is a call to be vigilant and to make sure that we don’t become complacent and thus become surprised and unprepared for Jesus’ return.
Over the last several months in our neighborhood there have been a number of break-ins, vandalism and theft. So in response to those actions, we have developed a neighborhood watch program. The idea of the program is that everyone in the neighborhood is to keep watch and be vigilant and to search for those things that might seem out of place or indicate that something bad is going on.
As followers of Jesus, we need to develop a “spiritual watch” program. We need to be on the alert and be vigilant and search for those things in our lives that are out of place or that might indicate there is something wrong that we might need to deal with. That’s the only way we’ll be prepared for the return of Jesus, no matter when that might occur.
2. We are to encourage each other and build each other up
One of the most important aspects of all the Jewish feasts is that they are to be celebrated and observed in community with others. Although certain aspects of the feasts, like evaluating one’s own life, are personal, the feasts themselves are all community events.
This points out the importance of being an integral part of the body of Christ. There is just no Biblical support at all for the idea of a “Lone Ranger” Christian. And as the time of Jesus’ return comes nearer and nearer, we are going to need each other more than ever.
Again, in his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul, in the midst of his description of the second coming of Jesus, points out the importance of encouraging and building each other up. In fact, the entire section where he addresses how to live in light of the coming return of Jesus, begins and ends with similar admonitions:
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:18 (ESV)
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 (ESV)
The writer of Hebrews confirms the importance of encouraging and building each other up as the second coming of Jesus approaches:
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24, 25 (ESV)
Again, the neighborhood watch program is a great illustration of this principle. The program is only effective when everyone in the neighborhood works together and looks out not only for their own personal concerns, but also for those of others in the neighborhood. Unless we all work together, we really won’t do much good at all.
I don’t know exactly what the future is going to bring. I can’t tell you exactly when Jesus is going to return. But based on what we can observe and what we can know from the Bible, we should expect that things are going to get more difficult for the followers of Jesus, not easier. And when that occurs, we are going to need each other more than ever. And we can’t wait until those difficult days come to begin to encourage and build each other up. It may very well be too late then. Let’s start right now.
