One of the main reasons I believe Yeshua’s return will be during the Fall Feasts is because I see a link between the 21 trumpet blasts that occur during SUKKOT (Feast of Tabernacles) and the 21 judgements we are told about in the Book of Revelations.
Recall that on the final day of SUKKOT, right before the High Priest entered the Temple grounds, the Levites would blow their trumpets 7 x 3 times.
When we go to chapter 8 of the Book of Revelations, we are told that when God begins to pour out His wrath onto the entire planet, He unleashes a series of 7 judgements, then there is a pause, He unleashes 7 more judgements, then there is a pause, and then He unleashes the final set of 7 judgements.
Altogether there are 3 sets of 7 judgements.
And all of this is to take place right before Yeshua, our High Priest, makes His entry and assumes his rightful place in the Temple as our King.
Let’s take a look at a famous New Testament verse that I believe is directly connected to the Fall Feasts.
“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.
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 Messiah will rise first.
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.”
-1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
These NT verses have been made particularly famous by Evangelical Christians who call this event the Rapture and there is no end to the speculation concerning when exactly this “rapture” will occur.
We’ll talk about the timing of the rapture later but for the time being I want you to notice that the word “shout” is connected with the return of the Lord and the trumpet of God.
This is important, so let me say that again.
There is a connection between the word “shout” and the trumpet blast.
Now the Hebrew word for “shout” is RUA.
And, the proper Biblical name for the first Fall Feast is YOM TE-RUA.
I know this day is also called ROSH HASHANAH but that’s more of a nickname that’s not actually used in the Bible.
So here’s the thing.
When YOM TE-RUA is translated, it is usually rendered as “the Day of the Trumpet Blasts” or “the Day of the Trumpet Shouts”.
However, the most common English rendering of YOM TE-RUA is “the Feast of Trumpets“.
I would say any variation of these translations is correct because out of the about four specific terms used to refer to trumpet or shofar blasts in the Scriptures, one of them is indeed called “the TE-RUA” or “the shout“.
So YOM TE-RUA or the Feast of Trumpets happens about 2 weeks before SUKKOT begins.
And we’re told in 1 Thessalonians that the Messiah will return “with a shout”.
And we’re also told that that shout is connected to the trumpet of God.
Now here’s what I think and I reserve the right to be wrong.
I don’t think “the shout” mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 16 is referring to a “shout” like a loud cry.
I think it is referring to a trumpet blast.
So let’s piece all of this together.
POINT ONE:
The shout in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 is referring to a trumpet blast and not some human vocal cord type of shout.
POINT TWO:
The shout mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 is connected to the trumpet of God.
POINT THREE:
This “shout” or TE-RUA announces the return of Messiah.
POINT FOUR:
The Feast of Trumpets occurs JUST BEFORE the Feast of Tabernacles which represents the final harvest or ingathering of believers into the Kingdom of God just prior to Messiah returning.
POINT FIVE:
Therefore, I believe that 1 Thessalonians must absolutely must be referring to the Feast of Trumpets.
The Scriptures lay out the pattern for the return of the Messiah and they precisely follow the pattern of the Fall Biblical Feasts!
First, there is the TRUMPET BLAST.
Second, there are the 3 sets of the the 7 judgements that written about in Revelations.
And then, finally, Messiah returns!
So for all those folks who hold to a pre-trib or mid-trib viewpoint, sorry but I have to say that violates every God-ordained pattern we see in Scripture.
The truth is nowhere in the Bible does it say that believers will not experience the tribulation.
The Scriptures only say that HASHEM will cut short His divine judgements, because if He didn’t no living thing would survive on planet earth.
Interesting article. Can you document for me:
“Recall that on the final day of SUKKOT, right before the High Priest entered the Temple grounds, the Levites would blow their trumpets 7 x 3 times.”
Mishna and Talmud
Thank you for the article. Isn’t this the same trumpet in Matt 25:31f, the last trumpet in Revelation, after God judged Jerusalem – Babylon, the Great City where the Lord was crucified?
Hi, thanks for the great information. Do you have any scripture verses showing the 7 x 3 trumpet blowing and blowing trumpets at Tabernacles. Again Thanks
Hi Robyn,
There aren’t verses specifically referring to the referencing the “7 x 3 trumpet blowing” in the “Old” or New Testaments.
However, there are references to the use of trumpets in various contexts, including religious festivals and ceremonies such as in these 2 verses:
“Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.”-Leviticus 23:24
“Seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.”-Joshua 6:4-5
Hope this helps.
Be blessed.
You do not know how to rightly divide. At the rapture Jesus says He will appear to those who are watching. At His second coming EVERY eye will see Him.