So, I really had to dig to glean the significance of this passage, to learn what Feast of Trumpets is about.
Once again, I was reminded of the width and depth of God’s word.
I began in Numbers chapter 29.
Numbers 29:1–3 “‘And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets. You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the Lord: one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish. Their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram,”
Numbers 29:4–6 “and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, to make atonement for you; besides the burnt offering with its grain offering for the New Moon, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, as a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.”
Still, not a ton to go on here, but as I’ve considered these feasts as a whole, I realized a common thread here, “a day of rest”.
That day of rest has more than one purpose. One main purpose is for us to enjoy “the fruit of our labor”.
The Hebrew word for rest in this context means “a time of refreshing to the Lord, and a time for explicit retrospection”.
This is why I began today’s message with “do you ever contemplate your position with God?”
This led me to another thought:
Do we work to live, or live to work?
For years, I did the latter! Regretfully, it was during our child-rearing years.
I realized these festivals are connected with work cycles, and they gave opportunity to celebrate the fruits of their labor!
God wants our work and labor to provide for our needs, as well as to be a blessing to others.
I would like to go back to last weeks passage for just a few minutes, as we transition into this weeks festival.
Leviticus 23:15–18 “‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord. And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord.”
Leviticus 23:19–21 “Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.”
I re-visited all that because I wanted to remind us that these instructions from God tell us to present to Him first, then; provide for the priests, then provide for themselves.
Let’s examine v22
Leviticus 23:22 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’ ””
-ask others what does your bible say-
NLT-when you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you.
ESV-…for the poor and the sojourner (sojourner-one making a temporary stay)
God, priests, themselves, and others
Another common thread is the reminder to worship God between work days. A balance of work days and worship days!
Leviticus 23:3 “‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.”
Leviticus 23:7–8 “On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ””
Leviticus 23:21 “And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.”
<<<quick recap?>>>
Today, I’d like to accomplish 3 things as we examine The Feast of Trumpets:
Take a somewhat in-depth look at the importance of trumpets in the bible
Highlight significance of Feast of Trumpets
Consider the importance of examining our position before God
Trumpets play such a vital role in the OT and NT.
There are 118 mentions of trumpets in the bible.
First mention is found in Exodus 19:13 “Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.””
Now, please stand with me as we read that verse and the 117 that follow. (JK)
Two types of trumpets mentioned in the bible:
rams horn or “shofar”
silver
Trumpets role in the bible
to call people to gather Numbers 10:1-10 also
demolish the walls of Jericho Joshua 6 and
to minister before the ark of the Lord, and give God praise 1 Chron 16:1-6 as well as
praise and make music to the Lord with trumpets Psalm 98:4-6 and
to announce royalty 1 Kings 1:39 and
to sound an alarm Joel 2:1 also
to fight spiritual battles 1 Cor 14:8 and
to be caught up with Christ 1 Cor 15:51-52 among many other roles
All through the bible we see that God uses the sounding of the Trumpet to announce certain types of events.
In light of the variety of roles trumpets played in the bible, let’s take a look at how this folds into The Feast of Trumpets.
Leviticus 23:23–25 “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’ ””
This call to a memorial, is to remember what God has done for the Israelites, as found in Exodus 19, we can even go back to Genesis 41, as we see Joseph being freed from prison. Joseph being symbolic of all the Jewish nation being freed.
We can also see it, as Christians being set free and eventually spending eternity with Jesus.
The Feast of Trumpets was to be a day of soul-searching, forgiveness, and repentance.
That trumpet sound should bring joy to our hearts as we are reminded of the goodness of God.
The Feast of Trumpets is one of the holy days for the Israelites to keep.
It was a call to stop work and remember the Lord.
It was also to be a reminder of the promise the Israelites made to God:
Exodus 19:8 “Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.”
The blowing of the trumpet also has another purpose:
1 Thessalonians 4:16 “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.”
1 Corinthians 15:51–52 “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.”
We looked a little bit about trumpets in the bible, the importance of The Feast of Trumpets, let’s visit about what this means to us as Christians.
In the first 4 feasts we learned they represent prophecy fulfilled.
Passover- Crucifixion and death of Jesus
Unleavened Bread- Burial of Jesus
First Fruits- Resurrection of Jesus
Weeks/Pentecost-ushering in of the Holy Spirit
The last 3 festivals describe prophecy yet to be fulfilled.
The first of these last 3 unfulfilled prophecies is:
Feast of Trumpets- you could say we are living in the day of Feast of Trumpets. As such, we have the opportunity make sure heaven is crowded when the great day approaches!
Let’s consider the importance of examining our position before God.
We must be like the Israelites who came to the base of Mt. Sinai, heard God and agreed to do all the Lord had spoken them to do, we must rest in Jesus and be still long enough to worship Him, listen to the plan He has for our lives, and follow Him in that plan.
Jesus is that trumpet sounding out from the mountain top, piercing our hearts with a calling to be with Him in glory!
Have you contemplated your position with Him?
As we await His arrival, we can prepare in @ least 3 ways:
Constantly be preparing our hearts for Jesus’ return.
The Feast of Trumpets was about explicit retrospection of the Israelites of their relationship with God.
We can daily be in explicit retrospection, or at the very least once a week, in our day of rest and worship!
This is our sanctification process
Encourage and build each other up- this is an important aspect of discipleship
Fellowship- just as we do every week, and once a month with Fellowship Lunch as today.
The Feast of Trumpets might be summarized in one word: regathering
and in that regathering we take stock of our spiritual condition.
In my deep dive into Leviticus 23 I’ve enjoyed what I’ve learned.
Here’s a few highlights about Leviticus as a whole book:
It is a guidebook of Holy Living for the Hebrews, and as an extension, to us.
Holiness is mentioned 152 times in Leviticus, more than any other book in the bible.
It is about living a right relationship with God, and with others.
I’d like to close with this today.
A few times this year, I have encouraged you to read Matthew chapter 24. God has put this heavy on my heart, as He has with very few things!
Let’s take a glimpse of Matthew 24.
Matthew 24:31 “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Matthew 24:42–44 “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Church, we are living in the day of the Feast of Trumpets. That time between prophecy fulfilled, and prophecy yet to be fulfilled, and we need to take Jesus’ advice and…BE READY
