Gtcotr/ws090121
It is clearly evident that God chose the Children of Israel as His special people. We know that the whole world watches Israel and are either angry with or jealous of them mostly because, I believe, the world knows that the descendants of Jacob have been and continue to be favored by God.
The world hates the favored child of God just like the sons of Jacob hated their brother Joseph because he was the favored child of their father. (Genesis 37) Nonetheless, it seems evident God chose the Children of Israel to teach the world some valuable eternal lessons.
God
even ordained feasts as dress rehearsals for His children each year.
1.
The Feast of Passover - Spring
2.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread - Spring
3.
The Feast of First Fruits - Spring
4.
The Feast of Pentecost - Summer
5.
The Feast of Trumpets - Fall
6.
The Feast of Atonement - Fall
7. The Feast of Tabernacles - Fall
These feasts are designed by God for us to remember what God did, to focus on what God is doing, and to forecast what God will yet do.
These feasts, like the whole of creation under God’s divine order, are repetitive events, set in motion by God, observed by heaven, and celebrated by men. They are teaching tools God uses to show the world things to come.
There are three spring feasts, one summer feast, and three fall feasts.
The Spring Feasts speak of the first coming of Jesus as:
·
The
incarnate Son of God
·
The
suffering Messiah of the Jews
· The Savior of the world
The Summer Feast speaks of the age of the Church empowered by the Holy Spirit to be the witness evangelist to the world with the Gospel of Christ.
The Fall Feasts speak of the second coming of Christ as
·
The
Bridegroom
·
The
Conquering King
· The Reigning Lord
The reason I am sharing this tonight is because we are quickly approaching the next feast which is the Feast of Trumpets.
The Feast of Trumpets signals the beginning of a New Year and a time of reset.
Once
again … these feasts are designed by God for us to:
1.
Remember what God did
2.
Focus on what God is doing
3. Forecast what God will yet do
This year the Feast of Trumpets might just be another dress rehearsal for the coming of Jesus to collect His Bride or it might be showtime … we don’t know. What we do know, as best I understand it, is that one day, on this particular feast day, the trumpet will sound from heaven and Jesus will come to collect His Bride and take us all away from off the earth for a great wedding celebration in heaven before He returns to the earth to deal with the devil and the antichrist and bring an end to the great tribulation of that day.
This year the Feast of Trumpets, also known as Rosh Shannah, will begin at sundown on Monday evening the 6th of September at sundown in Jerusalem. It will last until sundown on Wednesday the 8th. So, at some point during those two days, although we can’t predict the day or the hour, we know the trumpet will sound and the New Year and the reset will begin.
The blast of this trumpet does not signal the end of a long hard year but rather the beginning of a new year and new opportunities.
This
year might only be a year to remember what God has done …
·
What
did God do on the Feast of Trumpets?
o That’s the day that
commemorates the creation of the heavens and the earth.
o That’s the day God created
Adam.
o That’s the day Jesus
was born.
o That’s the day God
made a covenant with Israel.
o That’s the day Jesus was born.
Or
it might be a year to focus on what God is doing …
·
The
10 Days of Awe begins with the Feast of Trumpets
o 10 days of personal
reflection and repentance
o 10 days of national
reflection and national repentance
o After which God seals
the fate of an individual or nation
·
This
is the time when people are called to lay down sin and recommit their lives to
righteousness.
·
This
is a time for hope and faith in what God is doing in our midst.
·
This
is a time of worship and focus on God
· This is a time to reset our lives in line with the covenant God has given us.
And
of course, it will definitely be a year to look forward with certainty to what
God will yet do.
·
The
trumpet is meant to get our attention.
·
The
trumpet does not signal the end of a hard year but rather the beginning of a
new year which always holds potential for new things.
·
Our
perspective should be a perspective of faith for the future and not the pain of
the past.
·
It
is imperative that we respect the future and continue to believe and look
forward to:
o The trumpet from
heaven
o The resurrection of
the dead
o The rapture of the
Church
o The marriage of the
Lamb and the Church
o The beginning of the
end
o The need of repentance
in the face of judgment and damnation
o And the need for a witness before the door closes.
So,
in light of what we have read and heard, along with what we believe and teach,
we should enter this season with a heart filled with:
·
Thanksgiving
·
Repentance
· Expectation
1 Corinthians 15
52 In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the
dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
58 ¶ Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4
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.
