This coming Sunday, September 5th, at sundown, we will step into a ‘season’ planned before the beginning of time. The Feast of Trumpets is part one of the three-part Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Trumpets – also celebrated as Rosh HaShanah, or the civil New Year, is the fifth of seven feasts of the Lord mentioned in Leviticus 23. 

While many consider the feasts to be Jewish feasts, God declares them His. (Leviticus 23:2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations (rehearsals), these are My feasts.)

God has an amazing calendar of events that He placed in the heavens before any of us were born.  Genesis 1:14 “Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years” The word ‘seasons’ here means appointed times or feasts. Psalm 104:19 says: “He appointed the moon for seasons; The sun knows it’s going down.” God’s calendar is lunar – one where new moons mark the beginning of each month. And the feast days are on set dates like we in America celebrate Thanksgiving or the 4th of July.

Another name for the Feast of Trumpets is the “Day of the Awakening Blast.” Ultimately it will announce the coming of the Bridegroom for His Bride. Leviticus 23: 23-25 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 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 trumpets, a holy convocation. (rehearsal) 25 You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’ ”

Centuries later, the disciples asked Jesus, “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) He told them, “...learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” 

While we’ve read that His second coming would come at a time that “no man knows,” how many of us knew that He was referring to the Feast of Trumpets? The Feast of Trumpets was known by those in Ancient Jerusalem as “The Day That No Man Knows.” And why is it called this? Because it is the only feast that begins with the sighting of the new moon. “No man” could calculate the exact day or hour of when this feast day will begin.

Today we have calendars that tell us which day the new moon will appear and some even tell us the hour. But in the times of Jesus, they didn’t have access to these things. 

In His time, “two witnesses” would to stand on the walls of Jerusalem at the end of the month of Elul. They “watched” for the first sighting of the new moon. When they saw the new moon appear in the sky, they sounded the shofar. All the people in the city immediately dropped what they were doing, and they would run ran to the Temple. 

At sundown, 100 trumpet (shofar) staccato blasts will be blown and the last blast is very long and distinct from all the others previously. It is called the LAST TRUMPET. 

In Matthew 25, when Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins, it says that all the virgins were asleep. When the trumpet sounded and the cry went out that the Bridegroom was on His way, all of them woke up, but only five of the virgins were wise and had their oil lamps filled. The other five foolish virgins were not prepared.

Since the feast starts at sundown, the temple doors were only open for a short period. If people failed to make it to the temple before the door shut, they were left out of the feast. Once the doors shut, no man could get in.

The oil represents our relationship with the Bridegroom. It is not enough to know His word, we need to know Him. We must spend time with Him, learning His ways, taking on His lifestyle and partnering with Him in His mission. One cannot give this kind of ‘oil’ to someone else. Each of us must accumulate it through an intimate relationship with Him.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the LAST TRUMPET.

Please note he says changed not caught up. More about this later.

This Last Trumpet is the one sounded every year at the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets.

 This is not one of the seven trumpets mentioned in Revelation 11:8-11. Nor is it the trumpet mentioned in 1 Thessalonians:

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the TRUMPET OF GOD. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 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 thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

The TRUMPET OF GOD known as the GREAT LAST TRUMP by the Jewish people, has specific significance. We will cover more about this on Yom Kippur.

So, the Last Trumpet sounds at sundown on Sept. 5, and it is the only one blown every year on this feast day. But it marks the beginning of 10 days of repentance, also known as the Days of Awe by the Jewish people.

• He was crucified on Passover
• He went into the grave on the Feast of Unleavened (sinless) Bread
• He rose from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits
• He sent His Holy Spirit on the Feast of Weeks/ Pentecost

While we don’t know what year He will come, we can be watching in expectation. We don’t know the year of our Bridegroom’s return, but it’s more than a good chance that it will be sometime during the fall feasts.

I could write so much more, but I hope this grabs your attention to the importance of this feast for all believers.

Are your lamps filled? Are you watching?

Shalom ♥