Understanding the Next Feast - The Feast of Trumpets*

      Many churches never teach the Feast Days of the LORD, but there is prophetic revelation within them that applies to the believers in Jesus, the Messiah/Christ. The prophet Hosea wrote that God's people perish from a lack of knowledge, and even reject that knowledge. This refusal to receive the knowledge that God has given to them leads to their destruction, as the prophet wrote, as the LORD refuses them also as His priests. We are called to be priests and kings in service to the Lord, and we are to receive and walk in the knowledge that He has given us through His Word.

     Even the heavenly bodies were created and are used by the Lord as signs, according to Gen. 1:14, to alert His people and to call them to His set times, His appointed feasts. The sign in the heavens of the Feast of Trumpets, also called Yom Teruah and Rosh Hashanah, is the new moon which will mark the beginning of the next month on the Jewish calendar. This new moon of the Feast of Trumpets is set to appear on September 22. Between now and the Feast Day is the month of Elul, set aside for prayer, repentance and return to the LORD.

      While the spring feasts dealt with Christ's first coming, the fall feasts are associated with His return. The Feast of Trumpets is called a mystery, and "the hidden day," as it requires two witnesses to declare the first appearing of that new moon in the sky. They are to be watching for it. Prophetically, the Feast of Trumpets is associated with the resurrection of the dead, the Rapture of the church, and the marriage supper of the Lamb, as we will see.

     The Feast of Trumpets is set as Law in Leviticus 23: "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD." (v. 23-25). In the blowing of the trumpets in this feast, the last trumpet is called "the wake up trumpet" which speaks of resurrection.

     The Feast of Trumpets was again commanded in the Psalms: "Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob...Blow the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and the law of the God of Jacob." (Ps. 81:1-4, excerpt).

     The prophet Isaiah brought the Word of the LORD to His people regarding a time of trouble to come. Though other "lords" have taken dominion over Judah, His people will make mention only of the name of the true LORD, their God. (Isa. 26:13). Of these other "lords", the LORD God prophesies: "They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore thou (the LORD) hast visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation..." (v. 14-15). Israel will travail for deliverance through a time of trouble like a woman trying to give birth, and the LORD assures His people: "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake (see the Trumpet of Awakening, above) and sing, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." (v. 17-21). The LORD will slay the serpent, the dragon in that day with His great and strong sword. (Isa. 27:1). Not only does Isaiah write of the LORD's promise of the resurrection of the dead of His people, but He calls them away to shut themselves in a chamber until the judgment has passed. We understand that as with Noah's ark, as Noah, his family, and the animals entered the ark, the LORD shut the door of the ark to save them from the flood. The Bridegroom, as is Christ to us, also comes for His Bride, the church of believers totally submitted to Him, who are washed in the water of the Word of God and presented to Himself the Groom, as a Bride without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish, and they are closed in the wedding chamber together for a designated time of seven days as the traditionally held Jewish wedding customs portray. (see also Eph. 5:21-27).

     Jesus is coming for a spotless Bride. Are you ready? Are you washed in the Word? Baptized both in water and in the Holy Spirit? Walking uprightly with Him?

     Not only is this Feast associated with the resurrection of the dead, but also with the rapture of the Church, or the catching away of those still alive: "Behold, I show you a mystery (see the mystery of the Hidden Day above); We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality...then shall be brought to pass that saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labour is not vain in the Lord." (! Cor. 15:51-58).

 

     Here we see how the apostle Paul connected the last trump of the Feast of Trumpets with both the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the physical change of the living believers in Christ. In another scripture, Paul wrote further: "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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you." (1 Thess. 4:16-18, 5:1).

     The resurrection of the dead believers and the rapture of the living believers is not a symbolic fable, but truth, and Paul connects these events with the trumpet of God.

     As the prophet Isaiah above compared that time to a woman in travail, trying to give birth, Paul also says: "...the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they (referring to those in spiritual darkness) shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief...Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober...putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation (see also Eph. 6:10-18). For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord, Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do." (1 Thess. 5:2-11, excerpt).

     Jesus also warned for us to be sober and to watch, and to pray to be accounted worthy to escape the things coming, and to stand before the Son of man. (Lk. 21:34-36). We are watching for the signs - in the skies and on earth, that point to the return of Christ. We are watching and preparing through the Feasts of the LORD, such as the coming Feast of Trumpets, as they are for appointed times and seasons. God has not appointed us to suffer His wrath, but we must have the knowledge that saves us from perishing, and we are to be aware and watchful, praying always.

     John the Revelator wrote that he looked and saw a door open in heaven, and heard a voice that sounded like a trumpet calling him, saying: "Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter." Immediately, by the Spirit, John found himself in heaven where he saw the throne and One sitting on the throne. The twenty-four elders in front of the throne were clothed in white linen, and had gold crowns upon their heads. (Rev. 4:1-4). White linen robes and clothing are seen repeatedly in the Book of Revelation. This apparel is also extended to the Bride of Christ: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and whited: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints...Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb...These are the true sayings of God." (Rev. 19:6-9, excerpt). 

     The Bride of the Lamb is not clothed in her own righteousness, but in His righteousness. Could the rapture of the Church trigger this beautiful and joyful marriage event? Could this Feast of Trumpets be the appointed time for this? We don't speculate on the day or the hour, but we watch to observe the signs, we pray, and we prepare ourselves.

     To find out more about the Feasts of the LORD, which are His appointed times, and God's prophetic timeline for these days, the following book is highly recommended and can be found at this link: Wake Up!

*Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 9/7/25 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on the Facebook page of Kenneth E. Stevenson Jr. Dr. Stevenson's video messages are also found on You Tube at the Kenneth Stevenson channel. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook. Also the book NAZAH: White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling is available on Amazon.