Post by Watchman on Sept 4, 2006 12:48:35 GMT -5
Leviticus 23 is the main chapter that outlines all of God's Holy Days. Let's learn what it and other passages in the Old Testament reveal about the Feast of Trumpets.
1. When is the Feast of Trumpets to be held each year? Leviticus 23:23-25.
COMMENT: Seven is God's special number signifying completion and perfection. The seventh month of God's sacred calendar contains the final festivals outlining God's Master Plan of salvation. The first day of the seventh month marks the beginning of the final phases of God's plan.
2. Is the Feast of Trumpets one of God's annual Sabbath days? Verse 24. Are God's people permitted to do their secular work on this annual Sabbath? Verse 25.
3. Are God's people commanded to come together before God in a holy convocation on this Holy Day? Numbers 29:1.
4. What unique activity was commanded for this fourth Holy Day? Leviticus 23:24. Was this day to be "a memorial of blowing of trumpets"? Same verse.
COMMENT: It is from this ceremony that the Feast of Trumpets gets its name. The Hebrew statement, "a memorial of blowing of trumpets" signifies "a memorial of triumph, or shouting for joy [with trumpets]" (The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, Fleming H. Revell Company, New Jersey; originally published by Bagster and Sons, Ltd., London).
5. Did ancient King David understand that the Feast of Trumpets was to be a day of singing and shouting for joy? Psalm 81:1-4.
6. How were the trumpets to be blown on the Feast of Trumpets? Read and summarize Numbers 10:1-10, especially noting verse 10. Were silver trumpets to be used to announce the feasts and to call God's people to assemble? Verses 2, 10.
COMMENT: In addition to the silver trumpets that were blown on the Feast of Trumpets, something else was blown. Jewish tradition preserves the record that in addition to the silver trumpets (chatsotserah in Hebrew), a ram's horn (shophar in Hebrew) is also blown annually on the first day of the seventh month—the Feast of Trumpets (Talmud, "Rosh Hashana," Mishnah 26b).
The silver trumpets could produce a variety of musical notes, but the ram's horn produced only a piercing blast. This piercing blast is often referred to in the Bible as a shout, or noise—it did not have a musical connotation but signified a warning.
7. Is the tremendous sound of the voice of God compared to the sound of a great trumpet, or the blast of a ram's horn? Exodus 19:16-19; 20:18; Revelation 1:10.
8. Were trumpets blown specifically on days of gladness, solemn days and at the beginning of months—including the seventh month? Numbers 10:10.
COMMENT: The Feast of Trumpets is a day of gladness and great rejoicing, but it also has a contrasting note of solemnity to it. That is because of the earthshaking events that will occur just before Christ's return. It was the blast of the ram's horn that gave great solemnity to the Feast of Trumpets.
Trumpets an Alarm of War
Since the use of the shophar or ram's horn on the Feast of Trumpets makes that feast day unique, what did the sound of the ram's horn mean to Old Testament Israel? Let's understand how the ram's horn was used, and what its piercing sound signified to those who heard it.
1. What was Jeremiah's reaction when he heard the sound of the ram's horn? Jeremiah 4:19-21.
COMMENT: The trumpet, or ram's horn, was used as an alarm of war. Its sound filled those who heard it with fear because they knew it signified that the horror of war was imminent! It is this warning of an imminent crisis that sets apart the Feast of Trumpets from God's other Holy Days. It is this warning of war that gives the joyous Feast of Trumpets its contrasting note of solemnity.
2. Was a ram's horn sounded when an approaching enemy was seen by a watchman of the Israelites? Ezekiel 33:2-6.
3. Whom has God set as "watchmen" over His people? Verses 7-9. Are God's faithful servants through all ages responsible for warning the world of impending war? Amos 3:6-7. Also see Isaiah 58:1.
COMMENT: In ancient Israel, trumpets were also blown as a prelude to important messages. The Old Testament prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, symbolically used their voices like trumpets to blare warnings to God's people. And God's servants today are doing the same thing.
4. Has God revealed to His true servants what is going to happen before Christ's return to earth? Read and summarize Matthew 24:1-14. What is the message God's faithful servants are bringing to all nations? Verse 14.
COMMENT: God's true Church in this end-time generation is preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God to the nations of this world by means of television, radio and the printed page. People in all walks of life are being warned that before the restoration of God's government to this earth, there will come, first, great errors in religious teaching, then wars and rumors of wars, then religious persecution, ending in the most terrifying world war this world has ever experienced!
We are—at this time—in the recess between rounds two and three of these world wars. World War III is coming, and only those who are accounted worthy in God's Church will fly into a wilderness where God will protect them.
5. For what reason does God bring war on a nation? Compare Isaiah 58:1 with Jeremiah 4:22 and Hosea 4:6; 8:1-4.
1. When is the Feast of Trumpets to be held each year? Leviticus 23:23-25.
COMMENT: Seven is God's special number signifying completion and perfection. The seventh month of God's sacred calendar contains the final festivals outlining God's Master Plan of salvation. The first day of the seventh month marks the beginning of the final phases of God's plan.
2. Is the Feast of Trumpets one of God's annual Sabbath days? Verse 24. Are God's people permitted to do their secular work on this annual Sabbath? Verse 25.
3. Are God's people commanded to come together before God in a holy convocation on this Holy Day? Numbers 29:1.
4. What unique activity was commanded for this fourth Holy Day? Leviticus 23:24. Was this day to be "a memorial of blowing of trumpets"? Same verse.
COMMENT: It is from this ceremony that the Feast of Trumpets gets its name. The Hebrew statement, "a memorial of blowing of trumpets" signifies "a memorial of triumph, or shouting for joy [with trumpets]" (The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, Fleming H. Revell Company, New Jersey; originally published by Bagster and Sons, Ltd., London).
5. Did ancient King David understand that the Feast of Trumpets was to be a day of singing and shouting for joy? Psalm 81:1-4.
6. How were the trumpets to be blown on the Feast of Trumpets? Read and summarize Numbers 10:1-10, especially noting verse 10. Were silver trumpets to be used to announce the feasts and to call God's people to assemble? Verses 2, 10.
COMMENT: In addition to the silver trumpets that were blown on the Feast of Trumpets, something else was blown. Jewish tradition preserves the record that in addition to the silver trumpets (chatsotserah in Hebrew), a ram's horn (shophar in Hebrew) is also blown annually on the first day of the seventh month—the Feast of Trumpets (Talmud, "Rosh Hashana," Mishnah 26b).
The silver trumpets could produce a variety of musical notes, but the ram's horn produced only a piercing blast. This piercing blast is often referred to in the Bible as a shout, or noise—it did not have a musical connotation but signified a warning.
7. Is the tremendous sound of the voice of God compared to the sound of a great trumpet, or the blast of a ram's horn? Exodus 19:16-19; 20:18; Revelation 1:10.
8. Were trumpets blown specifically on days of gladness, solemn days and at the beginning of months—including the seventh month? Numbers 10:10.
COMMENT: The Feast of Trumpets is a day of gladness and great rejoicing, but it also has a contrasting note of solemnity to it. That is because of the earthshaking events that will occur just before Christ's return. It was the blast of the ram's horn that gave great solemnity to the Feast of Trumpets.
Trumpets an Alarm of War
Since the use of the shophar or ram's horn on the Feast of Trumpets makes that feast day unique, what did the sound of the ram's horn mean to Old Testament Israel? Let's understand how the ram's horn was used, and what its piercing sound signified to those who heard it.
1. What was Jeremiah's reaction when he heard the sound of the ram's horn? Jeremiah 4:19-21.
COMMENT: The trumpet, or ram's horn, was used as an alarm of war. Its sound filled those who heard it with fear because they knew it signified that the horror of war was imminent! It is this warning of an imminent crisis that sets apart the Feast of Trumpets from God's other Holy Days. It is this warning of war that gives the joyous Feast of Trumpets its contrasting note of solemnity.
2. Was a ram's horn sounded when an approaching enemy was seen by a watchman of the Israelites? Ezekiel 33:2-6.
3. Whom has God set as "watchmen" over His people? Verses 7-9. Are God's faithful servants through all ages responsible for warning the world of impending war? Amos 3:6-7. Also see Isaiah 58:1.
COMMENT: In ancient Israel, trumpets were also blown as a prelude to important messages. The Old Testament prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, symbolically used their voices like trumpets to blare warnings to God's people. And God's servants today are doing the same thing.
4. Has God revealed to His true servants what is going to happen before Christ's return to earth? Read and summarize Matthew 24:1-14. What is the message God's faithful servants are bringing to all nations? Verse 14.
COMMENT: God's true Church in this end-time generation is preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God to the nations of this world by means of television, radio and the printed page. People in all walks of life are being warned that before the restoration of God's government to this earth, there will come, first, great errors in religious teaching, then wars and rumors of wars, then religious persecution, ending in the most terrifying world war this world has ever experienced!
We are—at this time—in the recess between rounds two and three of these world wars. World War III is coming, and only those who are accounted worthy in God's Church will fly into a wilderness where God will protect them.
5. For what reason does God bring war on a nation? Compare Isaiah 58:1 with Jeremiah 4:22 and Hosea 4:6; 8:1-4.