Most of
Christianity believes that God's Holy Days, including the Feast of
Trumpets, were "done away with" that they have no relevance today.
But nothing could be further from the truth!
You may have heard the term "planned obsolescence."
People often use this term to describe products that, seemingly by
design, outlive their usefulness within a given period of time.
We've all had experiences with manufactured goods,
such as automobiles or appliances, that function for
only a short time and then cease to work.
Consider, for instance, the car that breaks down even before it is
completely paid for. It's as if the manufacturer wants you to be forced
to buy another!
Is God's law outdated?
It's unfortunate, but some who consider themselves Christians are under
the impression that God uses "planned obsolescence" when it comes to
His law and His plan for mankind!
Millions believe that Christ's crucifixion did away with the
need to keep God's commandments
including God's Holy Days, which outline His plan.
It's true that God no longer requires certain
acts of His people. for example,
Christ's sacrifice eliminated the need for God's
people to perform animal sacrifices (Heb. 10:1-6)
But man has taken it upon himself to declare obsolete other areas of
God's instructions that God definitely has not (Mark 7:6-9).Christ
Himself said: 'Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say
unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no
wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled" (Matt. 5:17-18),
God's Law, including those instructions that concern God's Holy Pays, is in force today.
One of the festivals God commands us to keep is the Feast of Trumpets,
which this year falls on September 18. Most professing Christians
have not even heard of it. They have been blinded to this important
Festival of God, though the Feast of Trumpets is designed to have
important meaning for us in the 20th
century.
.
Christ's death did not at all do away with the need for us to keep the
Feast of Trumpets today. This Holy Day of God is relevant now and very
much so.
Origin of the
Feast of Trumpets
God first introduced the Feast of Trumpets to ancient Israel after the
dramatic exodus from Egypt, commanding them to keep this day as a
Sabbath, a holy Convocation (Lev.
23:23-25.
Notice that the Israelites were to mark this particular day as a
memorial of the meaning Trumpets had for their nation, both
physically and symbolically.
God instructed them to use silver trumpets to gather the tribes for
assemblies and to signal when it was time to move during their
migration to the promised land. The Israelites were to blow the
trumpets when they were preparing to attack or to defend against an
attack. Moreover, trumpets were blown during God's festivals and
at the beginning, of each month. Each use
of the trumpets gave added meaning to the festivals as the Israelites understood them
(Num. 10:1-10).
Since the Israelites awestruck and trembling, had already experienced
God's tremendous use of a blaring trumpet when God gave
them the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 19:19), they were
familiar with the use of trumpets in correlation with
momentous events in their lives!
God continued to associate trumpet blasts with important events after
that era as well — and He does so for us today
.
The Warning Message Today
The Bible shows' that during Israel's later history,
which was heavily|y punctuated with conflicts and rebellion, trumpets
continued to be used as warning devices, to call to arms or as preludes
to important messages always to mark an event of tremendous import
to the whole nation. God used the prophets, among them Isaiah, Ezekiel,
Hosea and Joel, to warn Israel about punishments He would bring upon
them for their constant rebellion against His laws. These
prophets were to use their voices like trumpets to blare their
warnings to God's people.
Notice, for example, God s
instruction to Isaiah: "Cry
aloud, spare not, lift
up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people
their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins"
(Isa. 58:1). See also Hosea 5:8 and Joel 2:1.
Portions of the prophets' warnings were fulfilled, in type by
ancient Israel's captivity. Yet many of these prophecies are dual,
having both ancient and modern fulfillments. Such is the case with
the message of the prophet Ezekiel.
God set Ezekiel as a.watchman to Israel. Ezekiel, through his message,
symbolically blew a trumpet of warning to God's people (Ezek.
33:1-7)
Ezekiel's warning, however, did not reach the house of Israel, because
they had already gone into captivity! Ezekiel's visions of Israel's
impending destruction were given "in the fifth day of the month, which
was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity" (Ezek.1:2).
Jehoiachin went into captivity in 597 B.C. or about 125 years
after, the removal to Assyria, of the last of the northern tribes,
which occurred from 721-718 B.C
. '
If Ezekiel's message did not reach ancient Israel -- could not have reached them — for whom was it intended?
God's warning through Ezekiel was- intended for the modern
descendants of the ancient Israel — the peoples of the United
States, Britain and, in general, northwestern Europe today!
For more information on who the modern descendants of ancient
Israel are and how they are Identified in Bible prophecy, write for a
free copy of our, booklet, The United States and Britain in Prophecy.
Ezekiel's message is reaching the modern Israelites. God has set a
modern day watchman to thunder to our peoples the impending
consequences of their sins. That watchman is Christ's present-day
apostle, Herbert W. Armstrong, and this Work.
The Trumpets of Revelation
The book of Revelation outlines God's future use of trumpets. This
message is for the entire world, and concerns events before and
including the return of Jesus Christ, who will soon return to rule
this earth with God's government.
This
message about God's end-time use of trumpets begins with the opening,
in heaven, of Revelation's seventh seal (Rev. 8:1-2)." Seven angels-
are given seven trumpets to blow. The blowing of these trumpets
represents God's intervention in world affairs just after the world has
endured Satan's wrath and the heavenly signs (Rev. 6:9-14)
Notice what Happens when the first four trumpets are
blown: At the sound of the first trumpet supernatural fire will burn
the grass and one third of the earth's trees. At the sound of the
second trumpet God will kill a third of all sea life. People will
no longer freely sail the oceans. Dead, bloated, stinking carcases
of sea creatures will abound.
After this, a third trumpet is blown and a third of the earth's
fresh water will turn bitter. The result? The death of
many humans. Finally a fourth trumpet is blown and one third of
the light from the sun, moon arid stars will be eliminated
(verses 7-12).
These.terrible plagues are released on the earth by an angry, righteous
God, who will be forced to
shake carnal, rebellious humanity to its senses!
We come now to the final three trumpet plagues or "woes" (Rev. 8:13).
When the fifth trumpet is blown, the bottomless pit is opened
(Rev. 9:1-11). What emerges is the beast power described in
Revelation 17:8-14, the final resurrection of
the Holy Roman Empire. This beast will have
ensnared the world in its satanically inspired, Babylonish
religion and political System.
If.you have not already, done so, why not request a copy of our informative booklet, Who Is The Beast? It's absolutely free.
Horrible weapons, symbolized by locusts, are unleashed. They have
the power to torment men for five months, perhaps through the use
of chemical biological or radiological weaponry. The beast
power will use these Weapons on the nations to the northeast
of Palestine (Dan. 11:44).
This attack will result in a counterattack. The sixth angel sounds and
an army from east of the Euphrates River — an army of 200
million men! — emerges, Welding more frightening weapons. This
conflict will destroy one third of Mankind (Rev. 9:13-19, Isa. 13:4-10)!
And yet, as unbelievably as it may seem, mankind will not repent
(Rev) 9:20-21) - The third "woe" — God's final trumpet plague
— is yet to occur.
The Seventh Trumpet
"And the seventh angel sounded; 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 for ever and ever" (Rev. 11:15).
Jesus Christ will return in power and, resplendent in glory to
seize control of this world (Rev. 19:11-21).The saints will be
ressurected to eternal life to rule with Christ (1 Cor. 15:51-52,
Rev. 5:10).
But it will take the seven last plagues, which compose the seventh
trumpet, to complete the job of bringing mankind under the control of
God.
These, final plagues are described in Revelation 16. First,
painful
sores will appear on those still subservient to the beast (verse 2).
The second and third plagues turn the seas rivers and springs of
water into blood (verses 3-7)
The forth plague turns the normally life-giving sun
into a life-destroying power as the sun heats the earth to incredible
temperatures. This fourth plague will still not bring
mankind to repentance. (verses 8-9) The fifth
plague plunges the beast's realm into darkness . (verses 10-11)
With these nightmarish plagues completed, mankind will be united
to fight Christ at His return. Satan the devil, working through the
beast (the end-time military leader) ..and
the false prophet (religious leader), will gather the "kings of the
east" to join the armies that remain from the devastated beast power.
The gathering location will be Armageddon (verses 12-16),
the site of ancient Megiddo, in the valley of Jezreel about 20
miles south of the modern port of Haifa. Many wars have been fought at
this
site.
Put the combined efforts of these, Satan-inspired powers, will be to no
avail. The seventh and last plague will seal their fate. The mightiest
earthquake in history will occur. Dormant volcanoes will erupt.
Hailstones weighing 100 pounds (the modern equivalent of a "talent")
.will fall from the skies (verses 17-21)
Christ's, climactic battle with these armies will occur at Jerusalem:
''Behold, the day of the Lord
cometh and thy spoil shalt be divided in the midst of thee.
For I will
gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city
shall be taken, and houses rifled, and the women ravished and half
of the
city shall go forth into captivity and the residue of the people
shall not be cut off from the city
"Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations,
as when He fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in
that day upon the mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the
east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst there of toward the east and toward the
west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of. the
mountain shall remove toward the north and half of it toward the
south" (Zech. 14:1-4).
God's government will be established. Those of us who qualify to
be born into the family of God will begin the process of reconstructing
the world - the right way this time - through the remaining human
beings.
A trumpet will be blown to gather Israel from the places in
which they have been captive. The.Israelites will
be brought to the land of Israel to live and
worship God. (Isa.27:12-13)
A new age will dawn upon mankind - an age filled with happiness,
abundance and true peace, which the world has not
known since
creation.
Meaning of this Feast
The meaning, then, of The Feast of Trumpets, which pictures Christ's
return to establish God's kingdom on the earth is revealed
by the various uses of trumpets throughout the Bible.
Old Covenant Israel had a limited, physical understanding of the Feast
of Trumpets. But the Philadelphia era of God's Church understands, through God's Word and with the help of God's Holy
Spirit, its commission to offer this dying world this tremendous
news about the future.We are. to provide the trumpet blast
that gives the Gospel of Jesus Christ to this world.
The Feast of Trumpets is not obsolete at all. God has
placed great meaning in it.We need to rehearse that meaning each
year, by keeping this Festival.
By doing so, we show our obedience to God's Word.
We proclaim our "belief in God's warning messages, the return of
Jesus Christ and the resurrection
of the saints. In addition we prepare ourselves for the
Family of God!
Truly, God has been gracious to give us this Festival!
by George Kackos reprint from the GOOD NEWS magazine August 1982
The Feast of Trumpets and Your Future