Sound the Trumpet!
The Final Warning?
Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets, the first of the High Holy days, the Jewish New Year. It began at sunset on Wednesday October 3rd and will end at sundown Friday October 4th. During this high holy day on the Jewish calendar, no work is to be performed. By tradition, it is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve. Jews believe that it will similarly be a future day of judgment and the coronation of their Messiah as king. And while war rages in the middle east and as missiles from Iran rain down and the incursion into Gaza to take out Hamas escalates into an invasion of Lebanon to deal with Hezbollah, both of them Iranian puppets I might add, the whole world sits on edge.
The good news is, if the prophet Daniel and the Apostle John are both correct, we have at least the next seven years, a period known as the Great Tribulation to get our proverbial $#!† together and get right with our creator before that coronation and day of judgement finally arrives. Mind you, if this year’s Rosh Hashanah really does mark the beginning of the end, and I’m not saying it is but, just not counting out the possibility that it could be, and if the two afore mentioned gentlemen are correct, it’s gonna get really-really ugly before it gets better and a lot of folks aren’t gonna make it the full seven years. It could be as much as half the people on the planet alive today won’t be here seven years from now. Something to think about no? Word to the wise, don’t wait till the last minute.
As we sit on the precipice of global Thermo-nuclear war, I sometimes wonder how we got here. But, then again, I don’t. This was all foretold to us. We should be ready to endure and run our race to the end to win the prize of the high calling of God as the Apostle Paul wrote. Sadly, many are expecting that we’re suddenly all gonna disappear by being raptured out of here so we can watch the $#!† show that’s gonna take place down below from the mezzanine section of the hereafter. Now I don’t know for certain but, something tells me that’s all just a lot of wishful thinking. That’s arguably all the result of reading into the scriptures what we wanna see instead of reading the scriptures to see what they actually say.
But back to our story, what’s all this stuff about trumpets sounding and why are they important to our Jewish friends? First of all, the sounding of trumpets are associated with the sound of joy. Horn references are associated with health, happiness, prestige, and power. For example, Hannah began her prayer of dedication of the miraculous child Samuel to God by stating, “My heart finds joy in the LORD. My head is lifted to the LORD. My mouth mocks my enemies. I rejoice because you saved me” (1 Samuel 2:1).
Next, The trumpet was used to assemble the Hebrew nation. It was employed as a warning and call to war (Judges 3:27; 1 Corinthians 14:8). This connection was so deeply ingrained into the Jewish psyche that the ram’s horn is used as a metaphor for the war itself in Jeremiah 4:21: “How long must I see the battle flag and hear the sound of rams’ horns?” Occasionally, horns warn of danger (Amos 3:6). Every Israelite would have been alerted by the ominous sound.
Then again when the children of Israel approached the Promised Land, the first hurdle they encountered was the formidable fortified city of Jericho. God instructed them to march around the city while blowing rams’ horns in order to capture it. On the seventh day, when the sound of the ram’s horns resounded off from the huge walls, the walls fell and the city was captured (Joshua 6:21–23).
There are also heavenly trumpets that sound. In the latter days, a trumpet will herald the second coming of Jesus Christ, the King, in glory. “It will happen in an instant, in a split second, at the sound of the last trumpet. Indeed, that trumpet will sound, and then the dead will come back to life. They will be changed so they can live forever” (1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).
In Leviticus 23:24, God commanded the observance of an annual holy day called the Feast of Trumpets. It depicts the Messiah’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem at his first coming and then again at his return with the resurrected saints. When the seventh trumpet blows, the book of Revelation (Revelation 8:2; 11:15) describes seven trumpets, a proclamation is made: “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
The sound of the angel’s trumpet signals the beginning of God’s rule on earth from Jerusalem. God ordained this feast as an annual Sabbath of pleasure to be observed on the first day of the Hebrew calendar’s seventh month.
Finally for now, there’s much more but I want to keep this short, When the Messiah returns, we should expect a moment of great turmoil for the entire world, as heralded by the sound of trumpets. When men hear God’s trumpet, they will be so terrified that their hearts will burst. The bright side is that it will herald a brand new era for humankind. In Jerusalem, the saints will be resurrected, and the kingdom of God will begin.
Even now, all throughout the land and the entire planet, the trumpets of God are resounding. It’s just most folks can’t hear them because they’re not paying attention. Now is not the time to hold back or be dishonest. God expects us to make sense of what’s going on so that everyone might be forewarned and ready for what’s coming to the world. Sadly, far too many are not ready for what’s coming and that leaves me with the question, are you ready?
Side note:
Richard Halverson, former Chaplain to the US Senate once said:
“In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centering on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome where it became an institution. Next, it moved to Europe, where it became a culture. And, finally, it moved to America where it became an enterprise.”
That quote reminds me that at his first coming, Yeshua’s biggest problems were with the Scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day. I think a large part of their problems with the Messiah came as a result of all the various traditions that they added to God’s “Torah” (his law). Is it any wonder why virtually all of the miracles he performed seemed to be a refutation of their manmade traditions?
Fast forward to today and ask yourselves. How many of our so-called “Christian traditions” have we added to “the faith” and will Yeshua be happy with us?
Not only do we all need to get right with God, we need to get back to the basics and jettison all of our manmade traditions or when Yeshua returns, maybe he won’t be too happy with us either.
Just saying. . .