A couple of years ago I wrote about the Feasts commanded by G-d, and used the information I found online as fact. That worked OK for the first 4 feasts. Their obvious fulfillment in Yeshua/Jesus are absolutely on track. But - I have learned that my earlier writing about the 5th Feast is likely in error, which would mean my source of information was inaccurate. I am not ready to declare that with absolute certainty - - but I am leaning that direction.
Last Spring I asked God if there really is a 'rapture' of the saints separate from His Second Coming, which is when He will return to earth, and very specifically to Jerusalem.*
God's response was immediate. He told me, "Study the Feasts." I started reviewing them from the beginning - - and found that the first 4 were in perfect alignment with the earlier research I had done, and that Jesus fulfilled them perfectly - - and on the exact day they occurred in the year of His crucifixion and resurrection. But then I got to the 5th Feast and had such strong caution about what I had previously accepted as fact, that I got stuck.
I've chuckled a bit at God's telling me to study the Feasts.... I am not a scholar - - but I do love Bible study, and I love discovering nuggets of truth and uncovering tidbits I hadn't previously paid attention to.
I have browsed throughout the summer - - but felt overwhelmed by tackling something so beyond me - - until I realized that I don't have to enter the challenge with an expectation that I will come out the other end with any final answers. I was just told to study them - - not provide answers. And so, study I will.
My nugget for the day is the trumpet. I had assumed that since 'shofar' is often translated 'trumpet' that the final trumpet blast would actually be the blowing of the shofar - - but I found something 'new to me' today that lends credence to the trumpet blast announcing Jesus' return actually being a trumpet.
In Numbers 10, Moses was instructed to make 2 silver trumpets, which were to be blown at the time of their feasts and gatherings to summon the people. I was a trumpet player, so that caught my attention. I don't care if the trumpet he blows is a silver trumpet or a shofar - - but it piqued my interest. I had never noticed that specific detail before.
The other thing about today is that it is the last day of the Jewish Civil Year 5774. At sundown tonight begins Year 5775. Tishri 1 is the beginning of the Calendar's Civil Year for the Jewish people, and is the celebration honoring the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, which marks the beginning of measured time. (It is the 7th month of their religious calendar, but the measurement of time is based on the Civil calendar.)
Tishri 1 is the Feast of Trumpets /aka/ Rosh Hashanah. I firmly believe that in the year Jesus returns He will come at the Feast of Trumpets. The Bible says we will not know the day or hour - - and that is true, because we won't know which year His return will be - - but we will know the season! With all that is prophesied about the end of time - - wars and rumors of wars, disasters in diverse places, knowledge increasing, men calling good evil and evil good, being lovers of pleasure instead of lovers of God, the love of many waxing cold...it sure feels like the season.
Even so, Come, Lord Jesus.
May the trumpet blast this year be a reminder of His soon return. The Feast of Trumpets marks the beginning of 10 high holy days - - days of introspection and repentance - - and will end with The Day of Atonement on Tishri 10.
As the Jewish faithful shout each year as part of this celebration, "Next year in Jerusalem!"
The trumpet shall sound! The dead shall be raised! Raised in the twinkling of an eye.
(As part of their New Year's tradition, Jews around the world will eat apples dipped in honey to welcome 5775.)
*When He returns, Jesus will enter the Golden Gate in the Eastern Wall of Temple Mount, a gate that has been sealed shut since 1517 when the Turks conquered Jerusalem. Their reason for sealing it shut: they heard that the Messiah would return through it and they sealed it to prevent that from happening. They also made a cemetery just outside it for added security, as they believed no devout Jewish rabbi would go through the cemetery, for fear of being defiled.... Don't you wonder at man's goofy reasoning?
In the first few verses of Ezekiel 44 you can read the prophecy that the gate would be closed and not opened again until the 'prince' - - the Messiah - - comes.
