The Feast of Trumpets
Text: Leviticus 23:23-25
Introduction: We come now to the fifth feast of Israel, the Feast of Trumpets. This is the first of the autumn feasts, and its significance relates not to Christ’s first advent, but in some way to His Second Coming. The autumn feasts picture events yet future, but they still centre around Israel and her relationship to the Messiah.
The interval of time between the last of the spring feasts (Pentecost or Weeks) and the first of the autumn feasts (Trumpets) corresponds to the present Church Age. In other words, we are presently living between Israel’s fourth and fifth feasts.
Now you will find many commentators who will equate the feast of trumpets with the rapture of the church. The Bible says of that hour “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Some assume that the “trump of God” spoken of in 1 Thess 4 is the prophetic fulfilment of the Feast of Trumpets, but this is not so, and I will tell you why.
All of the feasts relate to Israel. The rapture is for the church, only for the church, Following the catching away of the saints, the world is subject to seven years of Great Tribulation, and during that time God is again focusing upon Israel so that He might His covenantal obligations to them and give them the land He promised them with its eternal King. So Trumpets is about something other than the rapture, something with respect to Israel.
Now there are a number of key factors involved in this feast. First of all we must think about when it occurred. Leviticus 23:24 says it was to be observed, “In the seventh month, in the first day of the month.” On the Jewish calendar that month is Tishri, and it marks the beginning of the Jewish civil year. It is an interesting day in the tradition of Judaism. They call it Rosh Hashanah, lit “Head of the Year” and they believe that this day is the anniversary of creation, and as such God takes stock of the world He made. So it is viewed as a time when God begins His annual judgment of humanity.
It marks the third occasion when Jews were necessitated to go up to Jerusalem for worship. Although there are seven feasts, they were marked in three clusters. They went up to Jerusalem at Passover and stayed through to first fruits. Then they went up for Pentecost and finally they went up in autumn for the third time to observe the feasts of trumpets, atonement and tabernacles.
The feast of trumpets was preparatory to the Day of Atonement. Between trumpets and atonement there is a period referred to in Hebrew as “Yamim Nora’im” literally the “Days of Affliction or Awe”. This is a time of self-examination in preparation for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. So the feast of trumpets occurs on 1st day of the seventh month, Tishri and encompasses all these things.
But the second thing I want you to see from Leviticus 23 is that it is “a memorial of blowing of trumpets”. Sometimes this feast is called the Feast of Remembrance or Feast of Memorial. So what does it commemorate? Well, here is the strange thing – Scripture doesn’t say. Passover remembers deliverance from the death angels. Unleavened Bread remembers the Exodus, Firstfruits and Pentecost celebrate harvest in the Land of Promise, but what of Trumpets?
I. What Does Trumpets Commemorate?
A. If Trumpets is a “memorial” a feast of remembrance, what does it remember.
1. Since we are not told at the initiation of the feast in Leviticus, nor indeed in Numbers 29 where the mechanics of the feast are enlarged upon, then there must be some other means or way of ascertaining what this feast was about.
a. The word trans. “memorial” in Lev 23:24 is the Heb. “zikrown” and it refers to recalling something from the past with a view either presently or at sometime in the future to doing something about it.
b. So this feast recollects a past event, which results in some activity either on the part of man or God.
B. One of the best ways of seeing how this operates is by looking at those occasions in Scripture when this feast came to the fore and the events surrounding it.
C. Turn with me now to 2 Chronicles 5:1-14
1. Here we have arrived at a very significant moment in Jewish history – the dedication of their first temple, under king Solomon.
2. Notice when this dedication took place – 2 Chron 5:3
a. “All the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.”
b. Now there are three feasts that occur in the seventh month.
(i) Trumpets, Atonement & Tabernacles.
(ii) So which is on view here? In all likelihood, trumpets sparked off all three, – see verse 13.
• Normally there would only have been two trumpets played, but Solomon, always a man for the great state occasion highlighted the significance of the moment by employing 120 trumpeters.
3. Well, what happened on this day?
a. The Construction of the Temple was completed
b. The Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies. (2 Chron 5:7)
c. God’s glory came down (7:1)
d. The Covenants of Israel were renewed – (6:11-14)
e. Sacrifices were started on the altar. (7:1 & 4)
f. Then the feasts were observed covenantally – (8:13)
g. The people were gathered as a nation to meet with the Lord and worship Him – (6:13)
D. Now let us move forward 400 years in time, to the next great occasion at which Trumpets is mentioned – See Ezra 3:1-7
1. In the intervening years between the building of Solomon’s temple and the time of Ezra the Jewish people had apostatised.
2. They had given themselves to idolatry – the consequence being their being taken captivity into Babylon for 70 years.
a. Their longing during that time was to return to Jerusalem and serve the Lord afresh – Psa 137:1-4
b. You see in order to keep their covenant with God and to serve Him by means of His chosen feasts the Jews had to be in Jerusalem.
(i) Deut 12:13-14
(ii) The “there” of Deut 12 from the time of David onward was Jerusalem
(iii) Yet, here they were in Babylon, the temple lying in ruins unable to do what God called upon them to do.
3. The first two chapters of the book of Ezra show how God had not forgotten His people – remember the feast of Trumpets is the Feast of Remembrance, God has made a covenant with Israel and He intends to keep it, so Ezra shows how God stirred the heart of the Persian king Cyrus to allow a remnant to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple – Ezra 3:1
4. And notice that upon completion of the restoration work, the people “From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD.”
5. Well, what exactly happened on this occasion?
a. The people gathered as a nation
b. They offered sacrifices in the Temple
c. They renewed their covenantal obligations by observing the feasts.
6. Do you see a pattern developing here?
E. Now, let us carry on in time another 92 years to the days of Nehemiah and to the revival that occurred after the people had completed the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls.
1. See Nehemiah 8:1-9
2. Again, first of all, just as in Ezra’ s account, the people gathered “as one man” (vs. 1) – in other words this is a national event.
3. Then notice when they gathered – vs. 2 – “the first day the seventh month.” – That the day of the Feast of Trumpets.
4. And what happened?
a. They sacrificed according to the law.
b. They renewed their covenantal relationship with God - (Ch 9)
c. They began celebrating their feasts – (8:13-18)
F. So what do we see every time the 1st day of the seventh month appears in Scripture?
1. The people of Israel gather and act as a nation
2. They gather in Jerusalem in or near the Temple
3. They renew their covenant relationship with God
4. They begin sacrificing
5. They celebrate the feasts.
III. What Trumpets Conveys?
A. The building of the temple, the return from Babylon and the revival under Nehemiah are all significant moments in Israelite history, but they do not compare with the Exodus under Moses or the entry into the Promised Land under Joshua celebrated in the first four feasts.
B. So could it be that the Feasts of Trumpets has another significant role to play in Israel’s history – a role that is yet future.
C. Turn with me now to the book of Ezekiel 36:24-28
1. The Book of Ezekiel contains a number of prophecies that indicate that Israel would be regathered in a state of unbelief.
2. In the portion of Scripture before us Ezekiel reveals the order of Israel’s return in the process of restoration. Notice:
a. Note that in this passage the regathering is first physical – to the land – vs. 24.
b. Then it is spiritual – vs. 25 ff
c. The initial return to the Land must necessarily be in a state of unbelief since in the Land Israel is changed from a state of unbelief to a state of belief.
3. See also Ezekiel 20:40-44
a. Some will say this is what happened under Ezra & Nehemiah – but Ezra and Nehemiah returned only with a remnant – this prophecy relates “all the house of Israel” – every Jew – vs. 40.
b. And the regathering is not from one country – Babylon or Persia, but from all countries – vs. 41
D. Now, there is coming a day when Israel as a nation shall be regathered in the Land.
1. At first in unbelief – that is happening now and has been happening for half a century or so.
2. It began on May 14th, 1948 when in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy the nation of Israel came from nowhere to suddenly reappear upon the world’s map - Isa 66:8-10.
3. From that day to this the Jews have been returning to the Land, albeit in unbelief.
a. Yet there is a long way to go before every Jew is there – at present less than half of the world’s Jewish population live in Israel.
4. But God has promised to restore them to the Land – why – because He remembers.
a. Remembers what? His covenant – See Leviticus 26:42.
E. When they are finally regathered, what happens – the Feast of Trumpets is fulfilled.
1. According to Daniel 9:24-27; Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 11:1-2 Israel will make a covenant with the antichrist, who, will guarantee her worship in the Temple, only to break that promise and violate the Temple half way through tribulation.
2. But initially when they make the covenant with the beast they shall renew their covenant relationship with God, and begin sacrificing and celebrating the feasts as they were intended.
3. Is that the Jewish aspiration today? Of course it is and increasingly so with every passing day.
F. Did you know that The Temple Institute in Jerusalem has reconstructed the instruments for Jewish Temple worship; Jewish men determined to be descendants of Aaron, known as the Kohanim, have been trained in ritual practices to serve as Temple priests; and for the first time, since the time of Christ, the Sanhedrin has been restablished to speak to the nation of Israel on matters of Jewish religion.
1. And did you know that as a result of a meeting of the Sanhedrin, in June of last year, a call was made for specific plans to rebuild the Temple.
a. "The Israeli rabbinical council involved with re-establishing the Sanhedrin, is calling upon all groups involved in Temple Mount research to prepare detailed architectural plans for the reconstruction of the Jewish Holy Temple.”
Conclusion: Following the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets comes “Yamim Nora’im” the “Days of Affliction or Awe”, or as Jesus called it “great tribulation”. A time of testing and judgment upon Israel, which ultimately leads to her atonement and spiritual restoration. We have one feast on the horizon. Trumpets is in view, and then only atonement and tabernacles remain.
My dear friend the time, I believe, is awfully short. The day is at hand. “Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”
