Today, September 25 2014, is the Biblical Feast of Trumpets, having begun at sundown yesterday. We now alive will, I believe, see the prophetic fulfillment of that ancient parable. Not only shall we see it, but we who remain faithful to the end will actually participate in it. Moses barely explains the feast itself and does not really tell the people anything about what it signifies. The Scripture records,
23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “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. 25 You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.” (Leviticus 23:23-25 ESV)
The first mention of a trumpet occurs in Exodus 19, however, and reveals far more.
19 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3 while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. 9 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”
When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, 10 the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments 11 and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it.Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. 13 No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot;[a] whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” 14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. 15 And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.” (Exodus 19:1-15)
We see here that “when the trumpet sounds a long blast” the people of God “come up to the mountain” of God. I believe this speaks of the glorification of God’s people. To whom, though, does this promise pertain? Is it for everyone who calls himself a Christian, or a Jew, or an Israelite? No, it speaks of those whom God considers his “treasured possession” according to verse 5 above, to those who obey his voice and keep his covenant. These are those who were consecrated “today and tomorrow,” that is, those who separated themselves unto God’s sanctification process during their earthly sojourn. The phrase “today and tomorrow” can also refer to the two days or two thousand years since Christ’s first coming. During that time sincere Christians have been preparing for “the third day” for it is on the third day, the Day of the LORD, that God finally reveals himself fully to his faithful people. [Remember that in prophetic Scripture the seventh and the third days speak of the same day, the Day of the LORD. See especially the prophecy of the red heifer in Numbers 19]
The prophet Zechariah speaks of the coming fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets.
14 Then the Lord will appear over them,
and his arrow will go forth like lightning;
the Lord God will sound the trumpet
and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.
15 The Lord of hosts will protect them,
and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones,
and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine,
and be full like a bowl,
drenched like the corners of the altar.
16 On that day the Lord their God will save them,
as the flock of his people;
for like the jewels of a crown
they shall shine on his land.
17 For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!
Grain shall make the young men flourish,
and new wine the young women. (Zechariah 9:14-17)
Notice that God himself sounds this trumpet. On that day, the Day of the LORD, God will save his people, his people who are like “the jewels of a crown.” This speaks of the overcomers who will one day comprise New Jerusalem (see Revelation 21-22). This appears to be the trumpet call of the final trumpet of the Book of Revelation, the trumpet call of the seventh angel who is probably the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Revelation says,
10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” 5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants[a] the prophets. (Revelation 10:1-7)
Malachi also prophesies about this time, saying,
16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. 17 “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
The Great Day of the Lord
4 [c] “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules[d] that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Malachi 3:16-4:6)
Notice that in verse 3:17 above Malachi speaks of God making up his “treasured possession” at this time. This takes us back to Exodus 19:5 when God first mentions his trumpet blast. Then all of Malachi 4 deals with the Day of the LORD. The Day of the LORD, then, begins with the seventh trumpet blast of God. Revelation 10 tells us that during these days the mystery of God shall be fulfilled. This is the day when God’s overcomers will be glorified. This is the day when we will once again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked. This is the day when Jesus will take the reins of his government and begin to rule with a rod of iron through his glorified saints. This is the prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets… and that Day is upon us.
(Note: interestingly I released a new song yesterday, on the eve of the Feast of Trumpets, which cries out to God to sound this trumpet and begin to rule. You can listen to it here: How Long)
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