Israel's Holy Days, Part 3

Israel’s Holy Days

Part 3, The Day of Trumpets—“The Year of Recompense”

Chapter 20, Part 3 Preview: (Back to Part 1 ). The Day of Trumpets represents a triumphant return of both “The Lord and His Christ” to claim Their earth (Acts 4:26, Revelation 11:15, 12:10). But for what purpose? The Scriptures in Part 3 comprise some of the “fine print” of the event that has captivated the thoughts of Christians for many centuries (but not so much their intellects). When we look at the trumpet Scriptures of prophecy we see the unmistakable connection between the Day of Yehovah and trumpet blasts declaring war one more time—the big one! This war will dwarf all past wars. The Victor will be totally unscathed while the losers will utterly cease to exist!

The Day of “the Lord” (Yehovah) is foreshadowed annually on the Day of Trumpets:

Here are some highlights of the coming Day of Yehovah:

Isaiah 13:6-12 Wail; for the day of [Yehovah] is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore all hands will be feeble, and everyone’s heart will melt .... 9 Behold, the day of [Yehovah] comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners out of it. 10 For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. 11 I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will humble the haughtiness of the terrible. 12 I will make people more rare than fine gold, even a person than the pure gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place in the wrath of [Yehovah] of Armies, and in the day of His fierce anger.

Zechariah 12:1-3 An oracle. The word of [Yehovah] concerning Israel. [Yehovah], who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says: 2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, and on Judah also will it be in the siege against Jerusalem. 3 It will happen in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it. WEB

Here is what will happen to all of the traditional religious leaders of our people who survive the Day of Yehovah:

Zechariah 13:2-5 It will come to pass in that day, says [Yehovah] of Armies, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land. 3 It will happen that, when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him, ‘You must die, because you speak lies in the name of [Yehovah]; and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies. 4 It will happen in that day, that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision, when he prophesies; neither will they wear a hairy mantle [or any other religious garb] to deceive: 5 but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondservant from my youth. WEB

The Day of Yehovah involves the whole world—EXCEPT for most of Israel:

Zechariah 14:1-5 Behold, a day of [Yehovah] comes, when your spoil will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3 Then [Yehovah] will go out and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle. 4 His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in two, from east to west, making a very great valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 You shall flee by the valley of My mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azel; yes, you shall flee, just like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. [Yehovah] my God will come, and all the ‘holy ones’ [or Saints (off site)] with you. WEB

On the Day of Trumpets of what is likely to be 2027 AD (or whenever the next Jubilee year is) “The Lord and His Christ” will take over the earth by force! All of the armies of the world will be fooled into thinking that they should fight against this “invasion from space”! When we look at the trumpet Scriptures of prophecy, we see an unmistakable connection between the Day of Yehovah and the use of trumpets to declare war! The Day of Trumpets commemorates the Day of Yehovah, and it lasts a full year (Isaiah 34:8)! The Day of Yehovah is referred to in nearly thirty prophecies. At the very same time that Israel is coming out of the Great Tribulation, the rest of the world is entering the Day of Yehovah! It is the final year of the sixth millennia—the Jubilee year. It is also “Judgment Day”!

Isaiah 34:8 For it is the Day of the [Yehovah’s] vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion. NKJV (Also see 61:2 and 63:4)

Unlike Unleavened Bread and Pentecost, Trumpets has virtually no explanation whatsoever in Exodus and Leviticus. All we are specifically told about Trumpets is that it is a Holy “memorial of blowing of trumpets”, and when to celebrate it. The only way to determine why it is celebrated is by understanding its placement in the end time sequence of events, especially as revealed in the book of Revelation, as well as reading the prophecies associated with the sounding of trumpets.

The following ten passages all use the word “trumpet”. In every one of these particular examples the Hebrew word is Strong’s [07782], showphar (sho-far’), specifically a horn or ram’s horn. The first two references tie trumpets to the first time that Israel was formally introduced to their God, following their Egyptian captivity.

Exodus 19:16-19 Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because [Yehovah] descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. 19 And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.

Exodus 20:18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.

Psalm 81:3 Blow the trumpet in the new moon...

The following passages deal with the end of this age when the Day of Yehovah is about to begin. At this time “The great trumpet”, or showphar, will signal the end of Israel’s captivity—when they will be introduced to their God. See for yourself:

Isaiah 27:12-13 During that day, Yehovah will thresh from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the stream bed of Egypt; and you descendants of Israel will be gathered one by one. 13 Also during that day, a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and those who were banished* in the land of Egypt, will come; and they will worship Yehovah in the Holy Mountain, in Jerusalem. GBT

Jeremiah 4:19-20 O my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart! My heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. 20 Destruction upon destruction is cried, for the whole land is plundered. Suddenly my tents are plundered, and my curtains in a moment.

Before the next captivity, God will send watchmen, with a message of war and a message of repentance.

Ezekiel 33:5-6 ‘He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. 6 ‘But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’

Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of [Yehovah] is coming, for it is at hand ....

Joel 2:15-20 Blow the trumpet in Zion, set aside a holy fast, summon the Festival Assembly; 16 gather the people, set aside the congregation as holy, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babies; the bridegroom should leave his chamber, and the bride her dressing room. 17 The priests who minister to Yehovah should cry between the porch and the altar; they should say, “Spare Your people”, O Yehovah, and dont allow Your possession to be *scorned by the enemy*, allowing the nations to rule over them. Why should the nations ask: “Where is their God”? 18 Then Yehovah will be zealous for His land, and pity His people. 19 Yehovah will say to His people, “Look, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied with it; I will no longer allow you to be the scorn of the nations.’ 20 Instead, I will remove the northern army far from you, and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, with his face toward the eastern sea and his back toward the western sea; his stench will come up, and his foul odor will rise, because he has done monstrous things. GBT

Leviticus 25:9-12 Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10 You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field.

Israel will not be driven into the sea!

Zephaniah 1: 14-17 The great Day of [Yehovah] is near; it is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the Day of [Yehovah] is bitter; there the mighty men shall cry out. 15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers. 17 ‘I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against [Yehovah]; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like refuse.’

Zechariah 9: 14-15 Then [Yehovah] will be seen over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. [Yehovah] GOD will blow the trumpet, and go with whirlwinds from the south. 15 [Yehovah] of hosts will defend them ....

This next two references to trumpet blasts concern the time when God’s truths begin to spread out beyond Israel:

Isaiah 18:3 All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth: When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it; and when he blows a trumpet, you hear it.

Revelation 11:15 The seventh *holy Messenger* sounded; and there were voices and thunders, that said, “The kingdoms of the world have become the kingdoms of our Yehovah and of His the Messiah; and They* will reign forever and ever”. GB

I believe that all of these trumpet blasts have to do with the “hidden” meaning of the Day of Trumpets.

Leviticus 23:24 Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpet, a holy convocation.

While technically the usage of the word “trumpets” (1299) in the above reference has a somewhat broader meaning than showphar, and can refer to shouting, the use of a wind instrument has always been an excellent means of sounding an alarm, as in Numbers 31:6. Even a siren is just an “automated trumpet”.

This expanded use of the word, that includes the showphar, would fall right in line with the trumpet like voices in the following references: 1 Timothy 4:16, Hebrews 12:19, Revelation 1:10, 4:1, 8:13

The Karaite Korner (a non rabbinic Jewish website) interpretation of “the Day of trumpets”, is interesting. Quotations from Nehemiah’s web site are provided below. However, because he rejects “the Revelation of Yeshua (Jesus, off site) the Messiah” his understanding is limited. Because the Jews actually shout prayers, they, grasping to add meaning to the day, believe that the symbolic meaning of the day is actually fulfilled by shouting out prayers!

“Yom Teruah is a holiday on the 1st day of the Seventh month (Tishrei). The Rabbis wrongly call it New Years (Rosh Hashannah) when really it is a Day of Shouting (Teruah) in prayer to God. On the 1st day of the Seventh month (Tishrei) the Torah commands us to observe a ‘Day of Shouting’ (Lev 23:23-25; Nu 29,1-6) on which work is forbidden. This holiday is widely known today by the Rabbinic misnomer ‘Rosh Hashannah’. The Bible never calls this holiday Rosh Hashanah but instead variously calls it Yom Teruah (Day of Shouting) and Zicharon Teruah (Remembrance Shouting). The Rabbis renamed the holiday Rosh Hashana (New Years) claiming that the Jewish year actually begins in Tishrei. The absurdity of this claim is immediately apparent since the Bible refers to this holiday as falling out in the Seventh month (Tishrei is a later name never used in the Torah). How could New Years fall out in the Seventh month?”

“Undoubtedly the Rabbis felt a need to associate Yom Teruah with New Years because they felt uncomfortable that the Bible does not give us a reason for celebrating this holiday as it does for all of the other Biblical holidays (such as the Exodus for Hag Hamatzot and Harvest for Shavuot). However, the true nature of Yom Teru’ah can be adduced from its name. In the Bible ‘Teruah’ means to make a loud noise either by blowing a horn (e.g. Shofar Lev 25:9; Silver Trumpets Nu 10:5-6) or by shouting in prayer (Ps 100:1). The purpose of Yom Teru’ah then was probably to shout to YHWH in prayer similar to the idea commonly expressed in the Psalms such as ‘Shout unto God with a singing voice!’ (Ps 47,2) which uses the same verbal root as ‘Teruah’. The Rabbis claim that this noise making can only be done with a Shofar (ram’s horn). There is no Biblical evidence for this assertion and on the contrary as has been shown the word ‘Teruah’ can indicate various methods of noise making from shouting in prayer to blowing on the Silver Trumpets (Nu 10) all of which the Bible describes as acts of worshiping YHWH (see also Psalm 150).”

“No man knows the day or the hour”

Exactly what is it that “no one knows the day and the hour” of? There certainly are a lot of clues!

If Yeshua already told us that all of these things happen “immediately after the [tribulation] of those days”, and we know that the Tribulation lasts 1260 days, then what is this “But of that day and hour no one knows” business all about? After listing all of these specific and unmistakable signs, did Yeshua then decide to confuse the issue? Actually, He was adding the final detail! But first let’s read the account:

Matthew 24:29-36 29 Immediately after the Tribulation* of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon wont show her light, and shooting stars will fall from the sky*, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. 30 Then the *miraculous sign* of the Son of man will be seen in the sky; and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, when they see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great splendor. 31 He will send His Messengers* with a great trumpet and they will gather together His Select from the four winds, from one end of earth’s heaven to the other. 32 Learn an analogy from the fig tree. As soon as its branches become tender and it produces leaves, you’ll know that summer is imminent. 33 Similarly, when you actually see all of these things, know that He is near, even at the door. 34 I tell you for certain that the Israelite race* wont pass by*, until all of these things happen. 35 Heaven and earth will arrive* [1]; but My truths* wont pass away. 36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the Messengers* of heaven, but only My Father. GB

[1] Strong’s 3928, parerchomai, can mean both “pass away” and “arrive”! I believe that this wording is a play on the word, contrasting the future arrival of the New Heaven and the New Earth with the present and eternal nature of His words.

While todays typical Scripture reader has no idea about a surprise Holy Day, Yeshua’s audience was fully aware of the one Holy Day that comes every year but never with advance notice. In fact “no one knows of that day and hour” of the new moon of the seventh month, within a day or an hour (or both), until the crescent is actually seen—then the “trumpet” is sounded signaling that the Day of Trumpets has just begun:

Psalm 81:3 Blow the trumpet during the new [or renewing, see root word 02318] moon, at the *covered moon [1] [see root word 03680, or concealed or hidden], on our solemn Feast Day. GBT

[1] Your Bible probably translates 03677 as “full moon” rather than “covered moon” here, like the NLT, the NASB and the NKJV etc. But the root word indicates the exact opposite. The moon is virtually covered or concealed or hidden at the new moon. It is impossible for the new moon and the full moon to coincide.

Rather than obscuring the timing of His return, Yeshua was actually indicating that He will be returning on the first day of the seventh month—following these events—just as the crescent moon would normally be making its somewhat of a “surprise” appearance. However with all of the cosmic disturbances “the moon will not give its light” anyway. The Father and the Son will be the witnesses necessary to proclaim that new moon!

Some of us actually rely on a true observance of the New Moon, from Jerusalem, to determine when the seventh month begins and this signals the Day of Trumpets. (I get an email from the Karaite Korner.) Modern Jewish calculations do not consistently coincide with visible new moons, calculations are “approximate new moons”—actual new moons must be witnessed! My friend Rick remarked that the Day of Trumpets came as a “thief in the night” for us in 2004. Even with modern computer forecasts, we can be surprised when the sighting of the New Moon does not come “as expected”. Cloud cover often delays the sighting of the new moon—adding a day to the sixth month. Was it an oversight on God’s part that the Day of Trumpets comes as a bit of a surprise each year? I think of it as a live rehearsal!

Here is my favorite “thief in the night” Scripture, but with the metaphoric meaning explained by two Strong’s numbers. I did use the word “minister” instead of “teacher”, because that is what they call themselves today.

1 Thessalonians 5:2-4 ... 2 because you certainly know, that the Day of the Master comes, like a *thieving false “minister”* [2812] in *the time of moral stupidity and darkness* [3571, 2c]. 3 When they will be saying, “Peace and quietness”, then suddenly destruction will burst upon them, like the labor pains of a pregnant woman, and they wont escape. 4 But you, brothers, arent in darkness, so that that Day will seize you like a *thieving false “minister”*. GB

If you are seized by the Day of the Master as if by a thieving false “minister” in the time of moral stupidity and darkness, it is because you will have been asleep!

The Masters’s Day

The book of Revelation goes into great detail describing the events that are accompanied by trumpet blasts.

Revelation 8:2 I saw the seven *holy Messengers*, who stood before Yehovah; and they were given seven trumpets. GB

From Revelation 1:10 we can see that the trumpet like sound of the holy Messengers, in the Greek Scriptures, are also trumpeting voices!

Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit realm on Yehovah’s Day [1]; and I heard behind me a great VOICE, like a trumpet ... GB [No, this is not a reference to Sunday!]

[1] Yehovah’s Day, aka “the Lord’s Day”, translates exactly as “the Day of the ‘Lord’” in Hebrew—the most prophesied event in the Scriptures.

The entire Book of Revelation is about the Day of Yehovah. There is only one reference to “Lord’s Day” in the Greek Scriptures, but there are over thirty other places in the Tanak [Hebrew Scriptures] describing the same events that John was describing in Revelation, using the term “Day of the Lord”.

The Day of Trumpets is associated with a battle cry. Historically, battle cries have usually been accompanied by the sounding of trumpets. The next great event, in the saga of end time prophecy, following the Second Exodus, is the Day of Yehovah. The nations of Israel will have been in captivity for most of the 1260 day period. Yet at the sounding of this triumphant trumpeting “voice”, Israel’s woes will end and the woes of her enemies will suddenly begin as Yehovah and His Messiah return!

The Day of Trumpets memorializes, in advance, the Day of the Master AND God’s conquest of the Earth!

Revelation 4:1 After these things, I looked and saw a door open in heaven! The first voice that I heard [i.e. Revelation 1:10], was like a trumpet talking with me. It said, “Come up here, and I will show you the things that must happen after this”. GB

This again, is a reference to the trumpeting voices that will be heard “on the Lord’s Day”, concerning “things that must happen after this.”

This culmination of the Trumpet plagues is described in the most glorious of terms. This is when our “Yehovah AND His Messiah” “reign forever”!

[As a side note, the word ‘He’ above is not in the Greek. The context indicates that “They” will reign. Certainly if “we will reign” (Revelation 20:5), both of “Them” are qualified as well.

I believe that actual trumpets will sound, preceding some astounding voices, as was the case just before Israel was given the Ten Commandments.

Exodus 19:18-19 Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because [Yehovah] descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly 19 And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.

Exodus 20:18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.

The voices of God and His Messengers can be quite frightening. That is why Israel, in the wilderness, asked to listen to Moses instead of God directly. (Exodus 20:19)

2 Samuel 22:14 [Yehovah] thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice.

Exodus 19:16 Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

Job 37:5 God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend. [Also Job 27:2-5]

The “Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10) is the climactic conclusion of “this present evil age” (Galatians 1:4). Once the seventh angel sounds, God’s absence will no longer be a mystery. False religions and Atheism will be history:

Revelation 10:7 ... Yet in the days of the voice of the seventh holy Messenger, when he sounds, the mystery of Yehovah will be fulfilled—the *Good News* He gave to His servants the prophets. GB

In fact from that point in time and onward, there will be precious little knowledge withheld from humanity:

Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of [Yehovah], as the waters cover the sea.

The following quotation describes the entire “first coming” mission as described in Luke 4:17-19. Of course Yeshua was actually declaring, to anyone familiar with Isaiah, that He would fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1-2.

Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of Yehovah is on Me. He has anointed Me to proclaim the *Good News* to the poor; and has sent Me to heal the downtrodden* [4937], and to herald* release from bondage to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind; and to *send out* [649, apostello] with forgiveness those who were shattered 19 to proclaim the Acceptable Year* [the Jubilee] of Yehovah”. GB

The fact that He abruptly quit reading the second verse midway thru was an indication that the later portion would be fulfilled later. He did not fulfill: “And the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn ...” and all of the other “millennial” prophecies expressed in the rest of the chapter that pertain to the “second coming”. Yet the former things were fulfilled, within His human mission including the proclamation of the Jubilee year in Luke 4:19.

These later prophecies of Isaiah 61 will be fulfilled in the next Jubilee year. Yeshua will personally proclaim liberty to the captive nations of Israel as the scales are falling from their blinded eyes in the next “acceptable year of the Lord”.

You may want to continue reading Isaiah 61 to get more of the context concerning the next “acceptable year”.

“The Day of Yehovah’s Vengeance”

Isaiah 61:2-3 To proclaim the acceptable year of [Yehovah], and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, 3 to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes ....

Here are a couple of the many other references concerning the Day of Yehovah:

Jeremiah 46:10 For this is the Day of [Yehovah] GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself on His adversaries. The sword shall devour; it shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood; for [Yehovah] GOD of hosts has a sacrifice in the North Country by the river Euphrates.

We associate the number seven with God and good things, and even such things as the seven last plagues. I believe that the Day of Yehovah will occupy exactly one year; it will follow the last Sabbatical seven year cycle of this age. Daniel 9:26-27 indicates that most of the last Sabbatical cycle belongs to an evil “prince”, one whose “abominations ... makes desolate”. Even in this, Satan’s last hurrah, God is in control—regulating the Beasts coming and going within an exact time frame.

In this passage we see the Redeemer, our “Savior”, the “Messenger of His Presence” contemplating the coming time of vengeance:

Isaiah 63:4-9 For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the YEAR OF MY REDEEMED has come. [Various forms of the word “redeemed” are found 14 times in the Jubilee chapter: Leviticus 25] 5 I looked, but there was no one to help, and I wondered that there was no one to uphold; therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; and My own fury, it sustained Me. 6 I have trodden down the peoples in My anger, made them drunk in My fury, and brought down their strength to the earth. 7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of [Yehovah] and the praises of [Yehovah], according to all that [Yehovah] has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, according to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses. 8 For He said, ‘Surely they are My people, children who will not lie.’ So He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the ‘Angel’ [Messenger] of His Presence [the Messiah] saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old.

Following Satan’s allotted time, he is cut short of finishing his destruction of Israel. God will avenge the enemies of Israel for a full year.

There is yet another aspect of the coming Day of Yehovah that I am quite interested in participating in. A trumpet blast will also signify the resurrection of “those who are the Messiah’s at His coming”! We will not miss out on this splendid occasion! The “firstfruits” aspect of “His coming” alludes to a Pentecost “resurrection of the dead”. But further into the “Resurrection chapter” it says that the resurrection will take place “at the last trumpet”, and that would be after the whole “shootin match”. If this translation is correct then we would not be resurrected until after members of “the seven Churches”, (actually “Assemblies”) had already been protected from the Great Tribulation within a place of safety called New Jerusalem! However there is another way to look at this situation that resolves the seeming contradiction. The word “trumpet” (4536) is identical to the plural rendering “trumpets” in Revelation 8:2 and 8:6, and these references are referring to the exact same final seven trumpets. I believe that Paul was making the Assembly aware that the timing of the Resurrection is to be in the general time frame of all of the last Trumpets, rather than the last Trumpet specifically. There were to be many other wars and trumpet blasts between the first century and now. The details of the very last Trumpets (including the number of them) were not revealed until John’s vision of Revelation chapters 8, 9 and 11; the last book of Scripture to be written. These plagues, along with the simultaneous bowl plagues and the seven seals, constitute the Day of Yehovah.

1 Corinthians 15:12-52 Now if we announce that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, why do some of you claim that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection* of the dead, then the Messiah has not been resurrected. 14 If the Messiah has not been resurrected, then our announcement is worthless and your faith is worthless. .... 20 But now the Messiah has risen from the dead, and has become the *first person born* [1] from the dead* [2837, 2c]. 21 Since one man *brought about* death, so another man *brought about* the resurrection* of the dead. 22 For just as it was with Adam, everyone dies, so also by the Messiah, everyone will be *restored to life* [2227, 2b], 23 but everyone in their order; Messiah, the firstborn*; later* [1899], at His [2] coming, those who are the Messiah’s. 24 Then the *end of these events* [2227] comes, when He’ll have handed over the Kingdom to Yehovah the Father; when every ruler, and every government, and every powerful force* will have *been overthrown* [2673]. 25 For He must rule until [Yehovah] vanquishes* [4228] all of [Yeshua’s] enemies. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death .... 35 But someone will ask: “How are the dead raised? And what kind of body *will they return with* [2064]”? ... 51 See, I’ll explain to you a mystery; we’ll not all die, but we’ll all be transformed. 52 In the *smallest possible fraction of a second* [823, atomos] at the last [seventh] trumpet [6]; the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be transformed. GB

[1] The exact equivalent of “firstfruits” [01069] as used in the Tanak, should really be translated as “firstborn”.

[2] Or this could be translated as “Their coming”

The phrase that Paul used about death being devoured (v.54) is a direct reference to Isaiah’s statement about “a feast” during which God will see that death itself is devoured!

[While this is not a reference to the Day of Trumpets that is not actually one of the three annual pilgrimage Feasts, (See Three Times A Year!) it is nevertheless well associated with the plan of God, as illustrated by all seven Holy Days. The distinction between a Feast Day and a Holy Day are quite easily separated in Hebrew, but not in the English translations as explained in www.everlastingkingdom.info/article/29/Three Times A Year!]

Isaiah 25:6-9 And in this mountain [Yehovah] of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees. 7 And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He will [devour or engulf] [01104] death forever, and [Yehovah] GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for [Yehovah] has spoken. 9 And it will be said in that day: ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is [Yehovah]; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.’

Once we are resurrected there will be no more death for us. This is not to say that humans will no longer be born, marry, have children, and die. Ezekiel chapters 40-48 all describe the time period extending into the Everlasting Kingdom. Few dare to admit this, preferring to view these nine chapters as historic!

The following circumstances are to be a part of the coming millennium:

Ezekiel 44:9, 25 Thus says [Yehovah] GOD: ‘No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel ... 25 They shall not defile themselves by coming near a DEAD person. Only for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister may they defile themselves.

When “Jeremiah’s” “New Covenant” is actually implemented then: “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts”, people will still have to face their own mortality while they consider their opportunity to obtain immortality.

The dates for the Holy Days (Aviv/New Moon) for the current year are found at the Holydays link below.

Now for Part 4

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