To Heaven and Back Again: Feasts of Israel: Trumpets and Awe

Trumpets and the Days of Awe

God’s people are told to hold several “feasts” or “festivals” for all times. The Hebrew word moadim for “feasts” literally means "appointed times." These are gatherings of God’s people to remember what He has done in the past. The feasts occurring in the spring were fulfilled by the first coming of Jesus:

● Passover (Pesach) – Leviticus 23:5 – Jesus is our Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7) whose blood would be shed for our sins. Jesus was crucified during the time that the Passover was observed (Mark 14:12). Christ is a “lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:19) because His life was completely free from sin (Hebrews 4:15). As the first Passover marked the Hebrews’ release from Egyptian slavery, so the death of Christ marks our release from the slavery to sin (Romans 8:2).

● Unleavened Bread (Ḥag haMatzot) – Leviticus 23:6 – Pointed to the Messiah’s sinless life (as leaven is a picture of sin in the Bible), making Him the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

● First Fruits (Bikkurim) – Leviticus 23:10 – Pointed to the Messiah’s resurrection as the first fruits of the righteous. Jesus was resurrected on this very day, which is one of the reasons that Paul refers to him in 1 Corinthians 15:20 as the “first fruits from the dead.”

● Weeks or Pentecost (Shavuot) – Leviticus 23:16 – Occurred fifty (pente) days after the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Shavuot also means “oaths,” for on this day G‑d swore eternal devotion to us, and we in turn pledged everlasting loyalty to Him. Jesus fulfilled the Law so that the Holy Spirit could come and dwell in man instead of upon a few individuals. When the disciples were gathered in an upper room, the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred on this feast day.

The first coming of Jesus fulfilled these feasts, His second coming will fulfill the final fall feasts. These feasts are in the order they will occur are:

Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets)
10 Days of Awe
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
Tabernacles (Feast of Booths)

The first two of the spring feasts: Passover and Unleavened Bread were locked together in their meaning. Likewise, the first two events since they are locked together in their meaning.

Rosh HaShanah

The very first feast is Rosh HaShanah which means Feast of Trumpets. Many believe that the this is about the rapture or “catching away” of God’s people because of two things:

The final day of the feast is held on one of two days, so the exact day is unknown. Let’s take a quick look at those scriptures:

Matthew 24

The disciples asked about when He will come to Earth to rule and reign which would be the end of this age. This is when He defeats Satan and locks Him away as Jesus comes with the armies of Heaven, not the rapture.

2 Peter 3

Peter is clearly talking about the final second coming when the whole Earth shall be changed, not a rapture or catching away of the saints.

1 Thessalonians 5

This is the first letter written by Paul. In every chapter of this book, Paul talks about the return of the Lord. Many people quote verse two, “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night…” however, if they continued to read just two more verses, Paul clarifies, “But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light…” It only comes like a thief if you are in darkness!

When we look at the context of these scriptures we can see that they are all speaking about the Second Coming where Jesus rules and reigns or that Christians should know when the day is approaching.

It is about blowing a shofar and the Bible states that when the “last trumpet” sounds the dead shall rise first then we shall rise to meet Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:52). This is stated again in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 which says that those alive in Jesus will be “caught up together,” which is where we get the Latin word “rapture” meaning “to carry off.”

In order to see if this can be applied to the rapture, we must understand what this feast means!

The Festival of Trumpets

Say to the Israelites, On the first day of the seventh month [almost October], you shall observe a day of solemn [sabbatical] rest, a memorial day announced by blowing of trumpets, a holy [called] assembly. (Leviticus 23:24)

Notice it is trumpets, not a final single trumpet. On this day the trumpets were blown as a memorial (to remember) the giving of the Law of Moses. This was God’s system of justice before Jesus came. It was also when God made His ways known to His people.

When referring to Trumpets, most people are only aware of the actions that happen on the actual day of the feast: the shofar is blown 100 times then the last blast is blown at sunset on the new moon. Because of the difficulty in pinpointing which day the new moon would arrive on, they celebrated trumpets on two days, though the original intention was to celebrate it only on one day. These blasts are said to be blown to arouse God’s compassion and to confuse Satan so that the feasts can occur without persecution from the enemy.

For orthodox Jews, this feast actually starts on the first day of the month of Elul: the days most people know as the Feast of Trumpets occurs on the first day of the next month. For thirty days prior to this, a trumpet is blown every day to remind Israelites to wake up to God and make right any sins against their brothers to avoid judgement.

Just like the Spring feasts, these Fall feasts are intertwined in their meaning. “The Complete Story of Tishrei” tells us that the 40 days before the Jewish Feast, Yom Kippur (Feast of Atonement), are a special time of Divine grace and forgiveness culminating on that day. This means three of the feasts are linked in their meaning:

● Feast of Trumpets - 1st of Elul

● Days of Awe - 1st - 10th of Tishri

● Feast of Atonement - 10th of Tishri:

These 40 days represent the days Moses spent on Mount Sinai receiving God’s Law. The sounding of the trumpet on the days preceding Yom Kippur are telling us to return to God and His ways. It is a time of repentance and preparation. It is a time of growing close to God through prayer and finding mercy, “Like a new-born innocent child.”

According to the Jewish website Chabad.org, “The shofar calls unto us: Wake up! Wake up! There's work to be done! You have been lulled into mental lethargy by unimportant earthly things; you have neglected your spiritual needs! Wake up now! Give your soul a chance, too!” And it also states: “The shofar was sounded when war was waged against a dangerous enemy… it is a call to arms like war drums.” One of the idioms for this day is, “The Day of the Awakening Blast.”

This makes it clear that the blowing of the shofar for the Feast of trumpets is about waking up, not a “final trumpet” to call us home. It represents the Awakening is past and the Outpouring has begun.

Ten Days of Awe

The first ten days of the month of Tishrei are known as the Ten Days of Repentance. The Feast of Trumpets occur on the first two of these ten days. During this time, God is known for being especially close to the Earth so it is easy to receive forgiveness for our sins. To make sure they escape judgement, God’s people spend more time in the Torah and less time focused on worldly endeavors in order to escape the judgments of the coming year.

The recent revelation of God as the Judge of Heaven and Earth and our rightful place in the Courts of Heaven through Jesus will be greatly used during the Ten Days of Awe. When the Outpouring of God’s Glory begins, He is close to the Earth and we can quickly receive mercy from our sins. This is a critical piece that needs to happen before the Tribulation can begin. In the book of Revelation it clearly states that:

“...they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death…” (Revelation 12:11)

Overcome is the Greek word nikaō which may mean when one is arraigned or goes to law, to win the case, maintain one's cause. Because the legal term, “testimony,” is also used in the same sentence we know this is the right definition for these words. We must know about and overcome the enemy in the Courts of Heaven before the end comes. Every time we go into the courts and give testimony, the enemy loses ground. As this revelation spreads, so will the victory of the Body of Christ until Satan is truly overcome!

Many scriptures are read in the first few days and the last part of this time period is when “it is a time for doing what we have learned.” The sabbath during the between Trumpets and Atonement has an interesting name: Shabbat Shuvah (Sabbath of Return). According to Hebrew tradition (Chabad.org):

It is customary in almost all Jewish communities for the rabbi of the city or congregation to expound on teshuvah, (repentance, return to a Jew’s true essence) and to emphasize the severity of transgression so that the people turn their hearts toward repentance.

If we had left during Trumpets, why would we need to return to God’s ways? The message on this sabbath could easily be seen as the two witnesses who give testimony and urge God’s people to repent, to turn away from sin and turn back to God’s ways. Everything about this time period speaks of events that take place before the rapture, so it is looking unlikely that the Feast of Trumpets will be removal of God’s faithful from the earth.

Next time we will cover the Feast of Atonement and Tabernacles.

This is part of a series of articles based on the Book of Revelation. We suggest looking at these in the order they were given because one message builds upon the others:

1. Microsoft Patent 060606 and the Mark of the Beast, and the Tribulation Timeline
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/VFL4rGJ7vJM
ARTICLE: http://www.toheavenandbackagain.com/2020/05/microsoft-patent-666-and-tribulation.html

2. Seals of Revelation: The Antichrist

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/lLsa6qq67vg
ARTICLE: http://www.toheavenandbackagain.com/2020/05/revelation-seals.html

3. Wormwood and the 1st 4 Trumpets of Revelation:
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/YSTire3BKVI
ARTICLE: http://www.toheavenandbackagain.com/2020/05/revelation-trumpets-1-4.html

4. Three Woes of Revelation

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/GQFtHwHu-Bk
ARTICLE: http://www.toheavenandbackagain.com/2020/05/3-woes-of-revelation.html

5. The Fate of the World: Vials of Wrath in RevelationVIDEO: https://youtu.be/377uBAJEYLY
ARTICLE: http://www.toheavenandbackagain.com/2020/05/the-fate-of-word-vials-of-wrath-in.html

6. The Future of God's Church

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/NkOIrmWy-3M

ARTICLE: http://www.toheavenandbackagain.com/2020/06/the-future-of-gods-church-part-1.html

7. The Future of Your Church

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/GZabhfI298o

ARTICLE: http://www.toheavenandbackagain.com/2020/06/what-is-fate-of-your-church.html

8. Is a Rapture (Catching Away) in the Bible?
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/_lXJGz55Z-Q
ARTICLE: http://www.toheavenandbackagain.com/2020/06/is-rapture-catching-away-in-bible.html