Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] All right, let's take our bibles and turn to the book of numbers, chapter 29.
[00:00:10] We will not stay here very long.
[00:00:12] As we will need to look at several other passages of scripture for the message tonight. But let's look at numbers, chapter 29.
[00:00:20] Starting in verse number one. We're going to continue our study on the law. And specifically, we are in the.
[00:00:28] Let's see the one, two, three. The fourth, I believe the fourth of the jewish feasts in the law. And so tonight we're going to look at the feast of trumpets. The feast of trumpets. So let's look at numbers 29, verse number one. The Bible says. And in the 7th month, on the first day of the month. Ye shall have an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work. It is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you. And ye shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet. Savor unto the Lord. One young bullock, one ram and seven lambs of the first year without blemish. And their meat offering shall be a flour mingled with oil. Three 10th deals for a bullock. And two 10th deals for a Ram. And one 10th deal for one land. Throughout the the seven lambs and one kid of the goats. For a sin offering to make an atonement for you. Beside the burnt offering of the month. And his meat offering. And the daily burnt offering. And his meat offering. And the drink offerings according to their manner. For a sweet savor. A sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, thank you again for the opportunity to meet together. Lord, as we look at your word now, I pray that it would. You would cause it to benefit and help and strengthen and edify your people. Lord, just guide me to know what to say. And help your people to be able to receive it in a way that helps them indeed. In Jesus name. Amen.
[00:02:00] Now this. I'll be honest with you. This thus far this feast is probably the most difficult that I've come across as far as finding the connections as it relates to typology. Because we know that all the feasts, all of the law, all the aspects of the law are prophetic. In other words, they did not exist, like many of the Jews believe to this day. They did not exist as an end in and of themselves. But rather, they foreshadowed something greater and more complete and final. And that's what we've studied here. But sometimes when you get to some of these feasts. And some of these aspects and characteristics of the law. It gets kind of. It gets kind of hard to see how it relates. But we're going to try to do that tonight with a feast of trumpets.
[00:02:44] Now, what you'll notice first of all, in verse number one, is that it says here, and in the 7th month, on the first day of the month, you shall have an holy convocation. All right, the 7th month. So for those of you that are kind of catching up, remember the Passover occurred on what time of the year, what month? Of the jewish month. Yeah, the first month. And it occurred on the 14th day of the first month. And then the 15th day of the first month occurred was the first day of unleavened bread. And remember, last week or not last week, but a couple weeks ago, we saw how that on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the day after the special Sabbath, is when you had the feast of firstfruits, right? And then you counted from, you counted from the feast of unleavened bread, seven sabbaths. And the day after that last, that 7th sabbath began, the feast of weeks, which is Pentecost. And that reference has reference to the Holy Spirit.
[00:03:50] And so, okay, so you're basically in the first month. All of that takes place in the first month and then a couple of months later. So now you're in the third month.
[00:04:04] I'm calling the jewish reckoning, not our march, but the jewish reckoning is when you have Pentecost or the feast of weeks. And then there is about a four month gap, the four month gap. And there's nothing going on. As far as the rituals and the religious calendar of the Jews, there's nothing going on. So there's this dead space. Now there are things that are going on. Remember, the feasts of the Jews are attached to. What does anybody remember?
[00:04:36] What's that?
[00:04:38] The moon? No, that's the calendar is attached to the moon. The feasts are attached to harvest, the harvest. It's attached to the agricultural year. So the agricultural year starts around April, around Passover, and then it ends around the 7th month. Okay, now here's what you have to understand. If that's the agriculture year, when harvest first starts at that point during Passover, and it continues, that means what are they doing during that time? That means they're doing stuff. They're gathering the fruit of different kinds. In fact, during this time, during these four months, approximate four or five months, there are various harvests that are happening. Remember barley harvest and then wheat harvest. But there are also fruit trees that are harvested like olive trees and fig trees and pomegranate trees and many other types of trees and the other big one is grapes. That all happens in this span of time during this cultivating year.
[00:05:40] Now, so we saw how that the passover in prophecy is a type or represents the cross. And then we saw the feast of unleavened bread. That refers to the believer, right? But then after that is the feast of firstfruits. That's the resurrection. And then you get beyond that. You go into the feast of weeks, which is Pentecost. It actually happened on the very day that Pentecost happened. But then after Pentecost, there's this long stretch of time where they're not doing anything except cultivating the land, gathering the fruit in, working in the fields.
[00:06:17] And that has reference to this time in which we live now, because we've already experienced Pentecost. Every person in this room that is a child of God has experienced Pentecost. Did you know that? Now you say, well, I've never spoken in tongues. Don't say that. Every time you get up in the morning, you speak in tongues.
[00:06:34] It's just you speaking English.
[00:06:38] But you, as a child of God, have experienced Pentecost, because if you are a child of God, you have the spirit of God indwelling you. That is the essence of Pentecost. The tongues is not the essence. The tongues is just the sign that was for that particular occasion. But so we've all experienced Pentecost. But since that time, we've been living in this period where what has the Lord been having us to do? He says, the Lord says, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest. In other words, in this intervening time, these four or five months between the cross between Pentecost and the next major event on God's calendar, the Lord has jobs for us to do. That is going out into his field. And the Bible says occupying until he comes. What does that mean? That doesn't mean just sit down somewhere. Occupy means it's related to the word occupation. That means you're working in God's field. Do you see the correlations here? There's this huge span of time in the middle, and then you get to the 7th month. Now, all the rest of the feasts happen in the 7th month. One happens on the first day, one on the 10th day, and then a little bit after that is the last one, the feast of tabernacles. And so on the first day of the month. This is a small feast. There are some sacrifices, but it's not a huge deal. This is not one of the pilgrimage feasts where all the men were or all the families were to go to Jerusalem. This is a rather minor event, but it involves the blowing of trumpets. Now, I know what you think of as a trumpet. A trumpet. And what I think of as a trumpet is not what you're thinking of in this case here. There are two kinds of trumpets in the Bible. There's an animal's horn that is blown as a trumpet. And then there are silver trumpets that are mentioned in the Bible. But here's what I want you to understand. This was the day of blowing of trumpets. Now what's interesting now is if you've ever looked at the calendar and you've seen the jewish calendar, this is the day of Rosh Hashanah, which means the head of the year is considered to be the first day of the year. Now you say what first day of the year? I thought the first day of the year was in April, right before pass. There are actually four first day, four different years in a single year in the jewish reckoning. So it gets kind of confusing. So, but we look at trumpets. Trumpets are the main thing in this feast here. So let's look at trumpets really quick. All right. Let's look at the first example of first mention of trumpets in the Bible. In Exodus chapter 19. Really quick. Exodus 19 and verse number. This is at Mount Sinai. Now, Exodus 19 and verse number 13. The Bible says this.
[00:09:42] There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through talking about the Mount Sinai. Wherefore, if be be beast or man, it shall not live. When the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. All right. Now you say, well, that's kind of random and nebulous. Yes, it is. But notice, how is the trumpet used? In this case, the trumpet first time is mentioned in the Bible. The principle of first mention dictates that in many cases, the first mention of a thing in the scripture gives its characteristics as it will be seen in the rest of scripture. All right, so how is it used? What you see in this verse is that the trumpet was used to call an assembly to gather people together. That's what I want you to see. Look at numbers, chapter ten, if you would look at that really quick, since we're already in this section of the Bible.
[00:10:39] Numbers, chapter ten, verse number one.
[00:10:51] The Bible says, and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, make thee two trumpets of silver, of a whole peace shalt thou make them, and that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly. So these are the ones that are used during the feast of trumpets, okay?
[00:11:10] 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 of the congregation. So let. Listen. This is not like rocket science here. I know. This is not like. You're not diving deep tonight. Okay?
[00:11:31] So basically, the person that is blowing the trumpet, the sound of that trumpet, which is called a trump, okay? That's the sound of the trumpet. Whenever that is blown, how many of you have been. How many. How many of you have been in the military? Brother Stewart, Brother Vernon, brother Adam, brother Phil, brother Ken? What do you do when you hear the Star Spangled Banner played? Doesn't matter what you're doing, where you're at. What do you do?
[00:12:02] The code requires that you turn to the music. Even if you can't see the flag or hear it, or you don't know the source of the music. Code requires that you come to attention. You face the sound of the music. And then if I believe it says, if you can see the flag, then you render a salute. I'm not sure if. Anyway, Brother Phil can fill us in because he probably remembers that.
[00:12:28] But anyway, the point being is that even that song is kind of like an assembly. Well, that's kind of what this is, is whoever blows that trumpet, the people know to go to that place where the sound is coming from.
[00:12:43] Everybody follow me. So it's a symbol or it's a tool used to gather the people together. Notice verse four. And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee. When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward.
[00:13:03] When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey. Then they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.
[00:13:12] But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. And the sons of Aaron the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And they shall be for you for an ordinance forever throughout your generations. And if you 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. Note that. Saved from your enemies. Because the trumpet is blown also in the day of your gladness and in your solemn days and in the beginnings of your months, which is the feast of trumpets, happens on the first day of the month, 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. Now, you think, man, why did you read all ten verses on that? I want you to see the way the trumpet is used in the Bible, just for time's sake. If you want to note this, you can look at judges, chapter six, verse 34. You can look at Jeremiah, chapter four, verse five. Both of which further describe the use of a trumpet as a tool to gather people together. You know why? It's very simple.
[00:14:29] Normally, if you would want to. If you wanted to gather a group, you would do it by word of mouth. You say, hey, meet us here, whatever.
[00:14:36] But a trumpet is one instrument that can gather everyone simultaneously together, right? It's loud, so anyone can hear. It knows, right? Comes from one source.
[00:14:52] So what is this talking about? What does the feast of trumpets mean as a matter of its representation? Because we know it represents something.
[00:15:01] Well, look at Ephesians, chapter one.
[00:15:05] Ephesians, chapter one.
[00:15:21] Ephesians, chapter one, verse number ten.
[00:15:29] The Bible says this, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times. Now pause there for a second.
[00:15:39] The dispensation of the fullness of times.
[00:15:43] That's a prophetic term, right? The fullness of times refers to when something that has been predicted and foretold is its time has elapsed and it is due to be done. Okay? The times of the Gentiles is something that's mentioned in the book of Daniel. In other words, there's a time has elapsed and now it's due. The alarm is ringing. All right, that's what we see here. That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he, the Lord Jesus, might gather together.
[00:16:17] Might gather together in one. All things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. All right? So in Christ.
[00:16:31] Now, all of us that have believed in Christ, we are all in Christ. By faith. We are in Christ. That's what the spirit of God does, and we trust in Jesus. He puts us in Christ. But, you know, there are people that have died that are also in Christ. They asleep in Christ, right? So they're in Christ. We're in Christ. But the thing is, we are not gathered together.
[00:16:50] The Lord says here there will be a day when the time is right that everyone that's in Christ will be gathered together. You see this? Gathered together.
[00:17:02] All right, look, at first I'm sorry. Second Thessalonians. Really quick. Chapter two.
[00:17:09] Second Thessalonians, chapter two.
[00:17:14] Verse number one says this. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him. You see that?
[00:17:40] So here the coming of the Lord is related to being gathered together as the people of God. Does everybody see that? I'm just. We're hitting one little point at each stop, and then we're going to keep going. Okay? So when the Lord comes. When the Lord comes, notice the language.
[00:18:02] And by our gathering together unto him. Let me just give you a little word of warning. When the Lord Jesus comes, physically, literally, and he calls us to him, we will be with him.
[00:18:17] Okay.
[00:18:19] The thing I want to remind you of is, you know, we talk about heaven a lot and how that christians are going to heaven, and that's true. When the Lord comes for us and we're gathered together unto him, we're going to heaven. Now, we're not staying there all that long, though, because we talk about going to heaven, the streets of gold and all that. But what we're actually describing with all of that is actually the new Jerusalem, which is something yet future. Right.
[00:18:46] And often what we. I think we missed the mark because we talk about heaven so much. And I said this as I was thinking about this, what I was going to say, the song Beulah land came to my mind.
[00:19:01] Now, how many of you like the song Beulah Land? It's a very beautiful song. You know what? That song doesn't say one word about Jesus.
[00:19:11] It doesn't.
[00:19:13] The song is all about our desire to go to heaven. But look at this verse. It says, our gathering together. What's the last two words unto him?
[00:19:28] You see that? That's heaven.
[00:19:31] Heaven is not a place. In fact, we talk about the streets of gold, but really, that's. We still got at least a thousand years before all that heaven is about Jesus and being with him as the people of God altogether. You see? And that's why it's so striking to have a song about heaven. But then it doesn't mention Jesus, and Jesus is heaven. Right? Jesus.
[00:19:57] I'm not trying to make some doctrinal point here. Heaven is a place. But what I'm saying is, once we're gathered together unto the Lord, we will not remain up in the heaven where the Lord's throne is. No. When he returns to have it in his kingdom, we will be with him upon the earth, ruling and reigning with him. That's not heaven. That's here now, it'll be a lot better than it is now, but that's here. But we'll be with him nevertheless.
[00:20:22] And then after that's over, then, I mean, who knows? New Jerusalem, that's not really heaven. New Jerusalem is a city that's, I guess, suspended from the earth. I mean, is that probably a good way theologians? Is that a good way to describe it in revelation 21 there?
[00:20:40] But the point is we get our details wrong because we're picking up, you know, what the songs say and all that. But the most important thing is that we are going to be gathered together with Christ. That is all that matters. The streets of gold and all that. None of that matters. This is all that matters. And this is what we mean when we say the coming of the Lord and our gathering together under him. Now, look at first corinthians, if you would, chapter 15.
[00:21:12] 1st corinthians, chapter 15.
[00:21:17] Now, you all know this song, verse 51. This song, this verse, this passage.
[00:21:23] I got song on my brain.
[00:21:25] One corinthians 1551. The Bible says this. Behold, I show 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. What does it say? Trump.
[00:21:42] For the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Now, when does this happen? When does this change happen? Now, what's interesting is this passage is not really about the coming of Jesus. It's actually about the new body. Now, we know that happens at the same time, but that's the emphasis of this passage, is the new body. But notice this happens when a trumpet sounds. Okay, now go back to one thessalonians.
[00:22:17] Go to first Thessalonians, chapter four. And I know you know where I'm going, but let's look at it anyway.
[00:22:28] Now, even though first corinthians 15 and one, thessalonians four are talking about the same basic event, the emphasis is totally different.
[00:22:39] First Thessalonians four does not talk about our bodies and having a new body. That's one corinthians 15, 1st Thessalonians four talks about the coming of the Lord. We know it happens at the same time, but it says this. Notice what it says. Verse 15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. That's the sound of the trumpet. 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. Notice you see that again, meet the Lord, not go to heaven. Meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be in heaven. No. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Now we know the Lord's going to take us to heaven. We know that we have a place prepared. We know all that. What is the emphasis on? All right, let's summarize it all together.
[00:23:46] Trumpet, in the Bible refers to an instrument used to gather and assemble people at the coming of the Lord for his people. A trumpet is sounded, at which time immediately those who are alive are instantly changed into his image with a new body. And those who are dead rise from the dead, live again in an incorruptible body. And we rise in the clouds. Gravity lets go. And we go meet the Lord in the air, and we're with him forever. We're gathered together once and for all, all that are in Christ, both dead, asleep, and those who are living.
[00:24:30] Okay, so what I'm putting forth is that the feast of trumpets in the typological picture is, is actually a reference to this gathering together of God's people. But notice this huge span of time between Pentecost and the feast of trumpets when we're supposed to be working in the field. And now it's come time for the trumpets to sound. The people are gathered together. Now, as we go further into the later feast, we'll find that there's other reasons, there's even more reasons to believe that that's what this is referring to. But I have to add one more thing.
[00:25:10] This is not the only gathering in the Bible, in the New Testament. Rather, look at Matthew, chapter 24.
[00:25:21] Because as a believer in Christ, as a part of the church of God, of course we're looking forward to the day when the Lord comes, like we just read.
[00:25:31] But there's another gathering mentioned, a different gathering. Matthew 24, verse number 29.
[00:25:43] Verse 29 says this, immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
[00:26:13] And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet.
[00:26:19] And they shall gather together. All right, so you see the same principle here, right?
[00:26:25] They shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to another. Now here's a danger. Interpreters often do this. They take a word that refers to christians, right, that refers to God's people.
[00:26:40] And everywhere they see that word, they think it's talking about me.
[00:26:44] That's a common thing in the Old Testament. You read some bibles that are.
[00:26:51] You look at some titles, they have titles in the text, you'll find some bibles that have an amillennial view, will refer to Israel as the church because they look at the Old Testament and they see themselves. And God's not talking about them, he's talking about something else. But that's what they see.
[00:27:12] Well, notice what it says here. The trumpet sounds. In this case, God's elect are gathered from all over the earth.
[00:27:23] But this gathering is different than the gathering that we just read about. Remember what we just read in one Thessalonians four. The Bible says, the Lord descends himself here. The Lord, there's a sign of the son of man in heaven and he sends his angels. Well, that's different than him coming himself. And not only that, but the gathering is different. Well, I won't have time to go into all the details. Maybe one day we can do a study on this. But this gathering here is not a gathering to go meet the Lord in the air. At this moment, Jesus is coming back and he has fire in his eyes.
[00:28:04] He has a sword coming out of his mouth. He has judgment on his mind. And he comes back in order to destroy his enemies and set up the kingdom that was foretold and promised to him from the earliest of times. And there are a whole lot of people on earth that do not want him there.
[00:28:27] In fact, revelation tells us that they gathered together in order to war against this appearance of Christ in the air, this sign of the Son of man in heaven. They're not happy about it. You know what he's going to do? He's going to wipe them out. But before he does that, he gathers his people, the elect. It's called the elect. Together, he's preserving them.
[00:28:51] These people. This is not a description of people who are given resurrected bodies and go to be with the Lord in the air. No, no, no. These are people on earth who in their natural bodies are present and alive when Jesus returns to set up his kingdom. And this fits, it fits entirely within the doctrinal teaching in the bible of the kingdom, which, which is the kingdom of God will have people in it, right at the end of the thousand year reign of Christ, there will be people who rebel, right? There will be kids that will be born, people that will rebel. Where did they come from?
[00:29:31] They came from the people who were present when Christ returned, who were just like you and me are right now. They believed they trusted in Jesus. They were expecting his coming. And when he comes, they're happy. And in fact, the group that is the most joyful in this are the jewish people. Do you know why? Because at this moment that we're reading, they are about this far from being totally annihilated by the antichrist.
[00:29:59] So the Lord, and this is all prophesied, I could read it. I won't for time. But this is all in Isaiah 27. But the Lord at that moment comes to them. And the Old Testament says that the trumpet sounds, and the Lord will deliver them.
[00:30:16] Lord will deliver them, and they will go into the kingdom that God promised them.
[00:30:22] So this gathering, as I said before, is a gathering different than the gathering for the church. As we saw in one corinthians 15, the church will be instantly changed, whereas these people will retain their natural bodies to go into the Christ's kingdom on earth for a thousand years. Now, this is just, again, another issue where when you read the Bible, you have to understand that God's not always talking about you, right? That's an affliction all of us have. We think everybody's talking about us. In other words, you see somebody, you know, you see somebody and their two people are having a conversation. It's kind of quiet, you know, and you walk by and it kind of gets quiet. And what do we automatically assume?
[00:31:02] They talking about me? They talking about me. Well, the Lord's not talking about us in every passage of the Bible. He has a lot of other things he's got to. He's got to deal with and talk about.
[00:31:14] But this is one case where this elect are people that are present when Jesus comes to set up his kingdom.
[00:31:26] And so the Lord sends his angels. But notice, the thing I want you to see is the trumpet. The trumpet blows, and that's the time when the Lord gathers his elect at this point also. So what you actually have is you have two gatherings. You have the gathering of the church before any of this trouble and judgment that God brings upon the earth. And then you have, at the end of all of that, you have a gathering of God's elect at that time, people that have believed in Christ at that time, who are also gathered to go into his kingdom. But here's the thing. It doesn't matter if you're looking at this one or that one. It fits the prophetic timeline of the typology. And here's why. Because after Pentecost, the next feast is the feast of trumpets.
[00:32:12] And the feast of trumpets indicates that final gathering of God's people. Because right after God's people are gathered together, the trumpets sound. They go to the sound of the trumpet.
[00:32:25] Then they go into the next feast. And the next feast is the one that represents the millennial reign of Christ.
[00:32:33] But again, it follows the prophetic timeline that was set forth in the days of Moses, even under the law. Let's pray together.
