| Ezra Read Law to the Returning Jews from Captivity Nehemiah 8:1-12, "Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. "So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose; and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. Then all the people answered, "Amen, Amen!" while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law; and the people stood in their place. "So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep." For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." "So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, "Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved." And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them. The Day of Trumpets is New Moon, with Blowing of Trumpets Numbers 10:10, Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with trumpets over your burnt offerings . . . that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God. Psalm 81:3-4, Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed [Hebrew: "at the full moon"], on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. NOTE: Properly translated, this verse does not show the Day of Trumpets is a feast (Hebrew: hag or chag) day. It is a festival (moed), but not a Feast Time (hag) like Passover/Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Numbers 28:11, And in the beginnings of your months ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year without spot. Trumpets used to Notify, Warn Numbers 10:2-9, Make thee two trumpets of silver . . . for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle . . . . And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee . . . they shall blow an alarm for their journeys . . . . And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations. And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. Examples of trumpets to call soldiers to battle: (1) Phinehas, Numbers 31:6; (2) Ehud, Judges 3:27; (3) Gideon, Judges 6:34, 7:8-22; (4) Saul, 1Samuel 13:3. Trumpets Signified Crowning a King, or Revolt 2Samuel 15:10, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron. 2Samuel 20:1, . . . a man of Belial . . . Sheba . . . blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David . . . every man to his tents, O Israel. 1Kings 1:34, 39, And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon . . . . And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon . . . and all the people said, God save King Solomon. 2Kings 9:13, Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king. 2Kings 11:12, 14, . . . they made him [Joash] king, and anointed him . . . the king stood by the pillar, as the manner was . . . and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets . . . . God's Voice is Full of Awesome Power, Like a Trumpet Revelation 1:10-11, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. Revelation 4:1 . . . a door was opened in Heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me. Day of Trumpets should place us in a reverent attitude Amos 3:6, Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Psalm 2:11, Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Hebrews 10:31, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Trumpets and the Lord's Judgment Day Joel 2:1, 2, 11, Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness . . . . And the LORD shall utter His voice before His army . . . for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? Psalm 98:6, 9, With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King . . . for He cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall He judge the world, and the people with equity. Christ comes to Rule Earth on the Day of Trumpets Psalm 47:5, 7, 8, God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet . . . . For God is the King of all the earth . . . God reigneth over the heathen: God sits upon the Throne of His holiness. Zechariah 9:14, And the LORD shall be seen over them, and His arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. Revelation 11:15, And the seventh angel sounded [the seventh trumpet] . . . The kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever. Righteous Dead will be Resurrected on Trumpets Matthew 24:31, And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds . . . . 1Corinthians 15:52, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1Thessalonians 4:16-17, For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which 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. For the righteous, instead of a day of wrath, the trumpet will signify a day of joy. Psalm 89:15, Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of Thy countenance. Psalm 98:6, With trumpets and sound of the cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King. Message to us on the Day of Trumpets: Better be alive now or you will never be resurrected later! Ephesians 5:14-16, Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead [Isaiah 26:19 compared with Isaiah 27:13], and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Israel to be Regathered at the Sound of the Trumpet Isaiah 27:12-13, . . . ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, 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. Trumpets, Atonement closely related Joel 2:15, Blow a trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. [Why? verse 1, the day of the LORD is at hand] Blow ye the trumpet in Zion . . . for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand. [What should we do because of this nearness?, verses 12-13] turn ye even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting . . . . Leviticus 25:9, Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee [50th year of release, or liberty, when every man returns to his possessions, verse 10] to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. NOTE: Christ's coming is likened to a jubilee year, in which He releases the world from bondage to Satan. He comes on the last trumpet (Revelation 11:15) so here we see that the relation between Trumpets and Atonement demonstrates that one of the first things Christ does when He returns is to give liberty [jubilee] to the earth. The Day of Trumpets is a Memorial Memorial is from the Hebrew word zikrown, which means memorial, record, remembrance. Passover and Trumpets are both Holy Day memorials. Passover reminds us of Israel's exodus from Egypt and the death of the Messiah. Trumpets is a memorial of the greatest event in human history: the return of the Messiah to establish His kingdom. Exodus 12:14, 13:9, And this day [Passover] shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever . . . . And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt. Leviticus 23:24, . . . a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Numbers 10:10, Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God. Joshua 4:7, . . . That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. Trumpets Scripture Readings Psalms which begin with "The LORD reigneth," were originally designed for recitation at the new year festival. See Psalm 93, 97, and 99. Three types of shofar notes are blown: A short base blast ending abruptly A long resonant blast Quavers, or a series of trills, like a person wailing in distress.
The shofar is blown at set ways during the Jewish service after which various verses are recited: "Kingship verses" to celebrate God's kingship, Exodus 15:18; Numbers 23:21; Deuteronomy 33:5; Psalm 22:28, 24:7-10, 93:1; Isaiah 44:6; Obadiah 1:21; Zechariah 14:9; Deuteronomy 6:4; "Memorial verses" Genesis 8:1; Exodus 2:24; Leviticus 26:42; Psalm 111:4, 5, 106:45; Jeremiah 2:2; Ezekiel 16:60; Jeremiah 31:20; Leviticus 26:45; "Shofar verses" Exodus 19:16, 19, 20:18; Psalm 47:5, 81:3, 98:6, Psalm 150; Isaiah 18:3; Zechariah 9:14; Numbers 10:10.
Jewish Customs that have meaning for Christians Elul, the sixth month, precedes Tishri. Jewish tradition holds that Moses went up on Sinai on Elul, to receive the second tablets of stone, stayed there 40 days, until the Day of Atonement when he brought the Law again to Israel. Jews read Psalm 27 during the month of Elul. Verse 1, "The LORD is my light," [compare with "brightness of His coming," 2Thessalonians 2:8, this is referring to the Day of Trumpets] and my salvation [referring to the Day of Atonement, on which our sins are atoned, see Leviticus 16:34] shows that this Psalm is about the Fall Festivals. Verse 5, "For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock [Petra?]," refers to the Day of Tabernacles. The theme of Psalm 27 is about faith and trust in God, the desire "to dwell in God's house," the appeal to God to not hide His face, teach us His ways, answer our prayers. This Psalm evokes an introspective mood, which is the purpose behind the solemn days of Trumpets and Atonement. Jews also read Micah 7:19, "He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea," reminding us that God will forgive. Jews have a custom of going to a river and reciting this and other penitential verses. A "custom" that we may do on the Day of Trumpets is to remember our baptism, considering whether we have really buried the old self. "Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, Call ye upon Him while He is near," Isaiah 55:6, implies there is a time when it is easiest to seek God. Jewish Rabbis feel that the Ten Days from Trumpets to Atonement are such a special time, when men should submit themselves to severe self-scrutiny in the effort to improve the quality of their lives. A Jewish custom during and after Trumpets is to greet one another with, "May you be inscribed (or sealed) in the Book of Life for a good year." Stopping and considering whether or not you are in the Book of Life is a good lesson for us today of the Feast of Trumpets (see Revelation 3:5). Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929) wrote: "The horn blown on New Year's Day at the peak of the festival stamps the day as a 'day of judgment' . . . . [on this day] the individual in all his naked individuality stands before God." Maimonides, the great Jewish teacher, summed up the meaning of the Trumpets as follows: "Awake, ye slumberers, from your sleep and rouse you from your lethargy. Make search into your deeds and turn in repentance. Remember your Creator, you who forgot truth in the trifles of the hour, who go astray all your years after vain illusions which can neither profit nor save. Look to your souls and mend your ways and your actions let every one of you leave his evil path and his unworthy purpose. Seek the way of God; this is the meaning of life." Ten Reasons why God Commanded us to keep the Day of Trumpets The first reason: Because this day is the beginning of creation, on which the Holy One blessed be He, created the world and reigned over it. Just as is with kings at the start of their reign -- trumpets and horns are blown in their presence to make it known and to let it be heard in every place -- thus it is when we designate the Creator, may He be blessed, as King on this day, for David said: With trumpets and sound of the horn, shout ye before the King, the Lord, Psalm 98:6. The second reason: Because the day of New Year is the first of the ten days of repentance, the shofar is sounded on it to announce to us as one warns and says: "Whosoever wants to repent -- let him repent; and if he does not, let him reproach himself." Thus do the kings: first they warn the people of their decrees; then if one violates a decree after the warning, his excuse is not accepted. The third reason: To remind us of Mount Sinai, . . . The blare of the horn grew louder and louder, Exodus 19:19, and that we should accept for ourselves the covenant that our ancestors accepted for themselves, as they said we will do and obey, Exodus 24:7. The fourth reason: To remind us of the words of the prophets that were compared to the sound of the shofar, as it is said: Then whosoever heareth the sound of the horn, and taketh not warning, if the sword come, and taketh him away, his blood shall be upon his own head . . . whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul, Ezekiel 33:4-5. The fifth reason: To remind us of the destruction of the Temple . . . , O my soul, the sound of the horn, the alarm of war, Jeremiah 4:19. When we hear the sound of the shofar, we will ask God to rebuild the Temple. The sixth reason: To remind us of the binding of Isaac who offered his life to Heaven. We should also offer our lives for the sanctification of His Name, and thus we will be remembered for good. The seventh reason: When we will hear the blowing of the shofar, we will be fearful, and we will tremble, and we will humble ourselves before the Creator, for that is the nature of the shofar -- it causes fear and trembling, as it is written: Shall the horn be blown in a city and the people not tremble? Amos 3:6. The eighth reason: To recall the day of the great judgment and to be fearful of it, as it is said: The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and hasteth greatly . . . a day of the horn and alarm, Zephaniah 1:14-16. The ninth reason: To remind us of the ingathering of the scattered ones of Israel, that we ardently desire, as it is said: And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great horn shall be blown; and they shall come that were lost in the land of Assyria . . . and they shall worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem, Isaiah 27:13. The tenth reason: To remind us of the resurrection of the dead and the belief in it, as it is said: All ye inhabitants of the world, and ye dwellers on the earth, when an ensign is lifted up on the mountains, see ye; and when the horn is blown, hear ye, Isaiah 18:3.
Day of Trumpets and Revelation There are so many staggering problems in the world today. Is there a solution? Yes, thank God, there is! We need the Kingdom of God. Jesus Christ preached the Gospel of the Kingdom of God when He was on this earth in human form. This is the message that the churches should be preaching as a warning and witness to the world. This message says that Christ will return and set up the government of God on this earth. This part of God's Plan for us and the rest of the world is the essence of the Day of Trumpets. Seventh Month God's Plan began in the First Month of His Calendar (Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread), continues fifty days later (Pentecost), and will end with the seventh month of His Calendar. The first day of the seventh month (seven is the number for perfection and completion) is the Day of Trumpets which will herald the return of Jesus Christ who will set up the Kingdom of God and bring to an end all that is now wrong in this world. The Day of Trumpets will begin the Great Fall Harvest, during which time all of mankind that responds to God's call will be saved and become a part of the Kingdom of God. It is time for those now called to let God's trumpet sound in our lives as we strive to overcome our problems so that we can be in God's kingdom. Trumpet Plagues The Day of Trumpets, the pivotal middle festival in God's Plan, is not a pleasant time for earth's inhabitants. It is a time of destruction as God and Jesus Christ tear down Satan's world and prepare to set up the Kingdom of God. Great plagues are visited upon the inhabitants of the earth as each trumpet is sounded, ending with the Seventh Trumpet and the Seven Last Plagues including the Battle of Armageddon, Revelation 16:16. Triumphal Return Although the sounding of the trumpets will bring bone-chilling, terrifying and cataclysmic destruction and ruin to this world, there is also a very joyful note: the heralding of the triumphal return of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords. With Him He will bring His people (saints) who will reign and rule with Him on this earth. The government (kingdom) of God will bring the wonderful joy, happiness, and peace that this world has agonized and longed for. The Day of Trumpets comes to fulfillment as Jesus returns to stand on the Mount of Olives. At this time the Mount will cleave in two and healing waters will flow east and west into all the world, Zechariah 14:4, 8. The Seven Trumpets of Revelation | | | | | Trumpet | | What Happens | | | 1st Trumpet
(Revelation 8:7) | | 1/3rd of all Trees Burnt | | | | | 2nd Trumpet
(Revelation 8:8-9) | | 1/3rd of all Sea Creatures Die | | | | | 3rd Trumpet
(Revelation 8:10-11) | | 1/3rd of all Fresh Water Poisoned | | | | | 4th Trumpet
(Revelation 8:12) | | Sun, Moon, Stars Darkened by 1/3rd | | | | | 5th Trumpet
(Revelation 9:1-12) | | Bottomless Pit Opened;
Locusts, Scorpians;
People on Earth Tormented | | | | | 6th Trumpet
(Revelation 9:13-21) | | Four Angels Loosed;
Army of two-hundred million;
1/3rd of all Mankind killed. | | | | | 7th Trumpet
(Revelation 15:1 ,7-8; 16:1-21) | | Seven Last Plagues | The Seven Last Plagues of the Seventh Trumpet: 1st -- Boils & Sores 2nd -- Sea Becomes Blood 3rd -- Fresh Water Becomes Blood 4th -- Sun's Heat Becomes Red Hot 5th -- Darkness 6th -- Battle of Armageddon 7th -- Thunder, Lightning, Great Earthquake, Great Hail Christ Returns (Revelation 19:11-16)
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