Blowing of Trumpets
Feast of Trumpets
(Sermon Notes) By Warren Zehrung 9/30/2019
I began the high Sabbath last evening with several warning blasts from my shofar as I customarily do at the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets. The blowing of the shofar signals a time in the very near future when God will act to clean up this world in preparation for His coming Kingdom. Jesus will soon look down from His heavenly throne and make an audit of this world’s condition. What will He see? Will His accounting of the condition of men’s lives show, a people who love and worship their creator God — or not!
After six thousand years of human misery, wars and sin, there will be only a precious few righteous men crying out for the day of Christ’s return in power and great glory: Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
This world routinely curses God and everything He stands for. The great preponderance of mankind stands in opposition to God and His way of Life. Therefore, after Satan’s Tribulation, God will usher in the Day of the Lord which will see trumpet plagues poured out on evil mankind.
Whenever you see “Day of the Lord,” think of the Feast of Trumpets. God is not going to tweak things on this earth just a little bit. No, He is going to utterly clean, house. In today’s sermon, we will be looking at many Scriptures which chronicle the events soon to come—in God’s own words.
The Feast of Trumpets pictures a most significant event in the Plan of God—and that is Christ’s victorious return. We are speaking of the dramatic second coming of Jesus Christ in supreme power over all the earth. And for that, we are humbly and eternally grateful.
This evening as you are returning home from your Holy Day of Convocation — if you will look in the western sky, you will see a bright sliver of the moon just over the horizon. God said that He put it there in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and to be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: (Genesis 1:14). The Feast of Trumpets falls on the first day of the seventh month—today.
Leviticus 23:23-24 The Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. [The Title comes from, right there]
Leviticus 23:25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Being obedient and thankful to our Great God we will now take up an offering unto the LORD, as He has directed us to do. While we are doing so, I will blow my three-foot-long ram’s horn — the Biblical “trumpet” — the shofar with its distinctive sound of, alarm. While I am blowing the shofar, picture Jesus Christ gathering together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
— Offering taken up — Blowing of the shofar —
The Feast of Trumpets shows that Jesus Christ will return as Lord of lords and King of Kings. Trumpets is the next Feast of the Lord to realize its prophetic fulfillment in the Plan of God. Even now, we are counting down to the return of Jesus Christ. This foolishworld will be caught unawares by the Day of the Lord.
Joel 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion [God’s People], and sound an alarm [blowing of the shofar] in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the Day of the LORD is coming, for it is near at hand;
Brethren, do we realize just how close we are to end-time events? God is telling His Church brethren that … it is near at hand;
Joel 2:2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there has not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
Joel 2:3 A fire devours before them; and behind them a flame burns: the land is as the Garden of Eden before them [full of blessings and abundance], and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
God is speaking of the total devastation of the earth. The destruction and desolation will be total. The Day of the Lord’s wrath, the prophesied Day of the Lord, will help all people focus on the sovereignty of God (Isaiah 2:11-17). All the earth will be humbled and brought down – low down – by the power of our Great God:
Isaiah 2:11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
Isaiah 2:12 For the Day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon, everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low:
Dignitaries, Prime Ministers, Presidents, rich and mighty men, standing as tall as trees, shall be brought low.
Isaiah 2:13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, [haughty men]
Isaiah 2:14 And upon all the high mountains [ungodly nations], and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
Isaiah 2:15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,
Isaiah 2:16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
Isaiah 2:17 And the loftiness of proud, conceited and arrogant man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
There will be no great men strutting their wealth and power. You might say, “We are the wealthiest and strongest nation on the face of the earth.” (We hear that often.) But God tells us that we have built our defenses in vain, for the Day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst (Zechariah 14:1). Only those humble and contrite people who know their Lord and master will survive. God’s wrath is coming on this evil world because they have sinned against the LORD.
Zephaniah 1:14 The Great Day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hastes greatly [that means that He is coming fast], even the voice of the Day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Zephaniah 1:15 That day is a Day of Wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zephaniah 1:16 A Day of the Trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
Zephaniah 1:17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
Zephaniah 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
Jesus Christ is coming soon! As loving as Jesus is, as compassionate as Jesus is keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and patient as Jesus is, He is not soft-headed when it comes to the anti-Christ movement. There is coming a final judgment when the glory of the Lord will be seen and felt by those who hate God. The Tribulation precedes the return of Jesus Christ pictured by the Feast of Trumpets.
Isaiah 66:15 Behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire.
Isaiah 66:16 For by fire and by His sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
God will plead for repentance—that mankind would turn to the Lord. Let’s look at Jesus’ own words about how far-reaching His hand is.
Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the Tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
Jesus had previously inspired Joel with these same thoughts.
Joel 2:30 I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible Day of the Lord comes.
Jesus will pour out seven trumpet plagues.
Revelation 8:1 When he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Revelation 8:2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
The Tribulation will be the final wake up call for many of the Church brethren who have been negligent in their practice of true Christianity. It will be the most tragic period ever for those who once knew the truth of God but were remiss in living their faith to the full.
Only the faithful brethren of God’s Church who are living Christian lives will be spared the horrors of the Great Tribulation. Practicing Christians will be spared the horrors of the Tribulation. Their resurrection to reign and rule with Jesus Christ will come at the sounding of the very last trumpet.
Do not be mistaken: The Trumpets (Plural) begin to sound on a Feast of Trumpets, but the last Trumpet, the resurrection Trumpet, (singular) will be sounded on a Feast of Pentecost. It is wise to study out the sequence of the Holy Days and the sounding of the Trumpets of the Lord. In the same way that the wave-sheaf offering—with oil— represented Jesus Christ, the two wave-loaves offered on Pentecost—baked with leaven,
(Leviticus 23:17) represent God’s spiritual firstfruits.
Not all the saints will have to die. The saints will be raised incorruptible – in the image of God.
Matthew 24:31 [Jesus] shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Matthew 24:33 So likewise you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. [Revelation 6:16-17; 8:1-2]
Brethren, make no mistake about it – the great deception has begun – and is rapidly coming to a head. The great tribulation is coming unexpectedly.
Matthew 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Matthew 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved [alive]: but for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened.
That is to the brink of total destruction—annihilation! Brethren, we have the truth! We are warned in Revelation 13 & 17 not to go off on a doctrinal tangent—and there are many false Christs!
Matthew 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not.
Matthew 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Paul explains this way:
1Corinthians 15:51-52 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed,
1Corinthians 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet [singular]: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
That is when our resurrection will take place – at the last Trumpet – the seventh Trumpet! Notice how clearly it is spelled out for us in the Book of Revelation:
Revelation 11:15 The seventh angel sounded [his trumpet]; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.
Extra Scriptures to study: Isaiah 28:10); Ezekiel 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:11, 31; 3:14; Isaiah 13:6; 24:4-6; 26:21; 34:2-8; Amos 5:18, 20; Obadiah 1:15; Zephaniah 1:7; Zechariah 14:1; Haggai 2:6-7; Malachi 4:5; Acts 2:20; 1Corinthians 5:5; 2Corinthians 1:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2Thessalonians 2:2; 2Peter 3:10).
Make no mistake about it. No one will be able to stand against God’s wrath.
Revelation 6:17 The Great Day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
The faithful brethren of God’s Church will be spared the horrors of the Great Tribulation
(Revelation 3:10). Their resurrection to reign and rule with Jesus Christ will come at the sounding of the very last trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:52; 1Thessalonians 4:16-17).
The Trumpets (Plural) of God begin to sound on a Feast of Trumpets, but the last trumpet, the resurrection trumpet, (singular) will be sounded on a Feast of Pentecost. That same trumpet blast also signals the beginning of the gathering of the physical elect whose lives will be spared throughout the Tribulation. As we just saw in Matthew 24:3… His angels with a great sound of a trumpet… shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
It will be a great gathering – first the Saints, and at the same moment – the elect remnant—destined for the Millennium. As with the Saints, being chosen to receive God’s seal of protection will not be a random process, but a very selective one. We come to the resurrection of the Saints in Revelation 14 as the wrath of God continues (verses 19- 20).
In Revelation 15 we see the seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God – but they are not poured out just yet (Revelation 16:17).
We see the resurrected Saints standing before the Throne of God the Father. John reports:
Those resurrected Saints who stand on the sea of glass are spared the wrath of God. The dead in Christ will rise first, and those who are alive and converted will follow. We/They will meet Jesus in the air and proceed to the marriage of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7).
On the Feast of Trumpets, the Saints will return to earth as Christ’s vast heavenly army of spirit beings to defeat the Beast and False Prophet in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Revelation 19:14; Joel 3:1-2; Zechariah 14:1-5) and help establish God’s Kingdom over all the earth.
Brethren, we cannot be a part of the ways of this evil world – not even a little bit!
Revelation 15:2 I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the Beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
Revelation 15:3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, you King of Saints (Exodus 24:9-11).
Paul describes the soon coming time when Jesus will commence the Seven Trumpets while Christians continue to walk the face of the earth.
1Thessalonians 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who are asleep. [Those who have died in the faith]
1Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout [That is a Trumpet blast], with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who 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.
1Thessalonians 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
This brings us to the time of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in heaven (Revelation 19:1, 7-9). Speaking of Jesus Christ, “The Day of the LORD comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate.” Jesus will clean up the earth in preparation for the Millennium.
We have seen that the Bible speaks of the Day of the LORD in many, many places. They are references mostly to the last year of the three-and one-half-year Tribulation.
Christ’s Millennial work on earth begins with the Day of the Lord, and extends until death is cast in the Lake of Fire and the entire earth is dissolved (2 Peter 3:12).
Jesus’ work on the earth will come to an end at the Great White Throne Judgment and the Last Great Day when death is abolished—because death was never meant to be. Christ’s Millennial work lasts a thousand years.
After the Saints are gathered with the Two Witnesses on the sea of glass the last seven vials will be poured out (Revelation 15:2). The Saints accompany Jesus as He smites the entire earth on that fateful day of Trumpets at His return. Read about it in (Revelation 19:14). The world will be caught unawares by the Day of the Lord.
2Peter 3:10 But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be brought to judgement.
Paul has the same warning to the Church brethren not to get the big-head thinking there’s a short-cut to escape the Tribulation: There is no short-cut—only the living of our lives as Jesus lived His Life:
1Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves, you know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1Thessalonians 5:4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1Thessalonians 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
1Thessalonians 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
There is a single mention of the Lord’s Day in Revelation 1:10, and the deceived Catholic and Protestant world decides that it means to go to church on Sunday. For their circular thinking proof, they begin with the premise that everyone knows that Sunday is the Lord’s day. QED “Quod Erat Demonstrandum” –it is proven!!!
Jeremiah 46:10 This is the Day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that He may avenge Him of His adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
Isaiah adds to our narrative:
Isaiah 24:21 And it shall come to pass in That Day [Day of the Lord], that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
Isaiah 24:23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously.
Isaiah 27:12 It shall come to pass in That Day [Day of the Lord], that the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and you shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.
Isaiah 27:13 And it shall come to pass in That Day [Day of the Lord], that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
This day, the Feast of Trumpets, heralds the very day that Jesus Christ will intervene mightily to replace this world’s kingdoms with the Kingdom of God.