The Day of the Lord – God’s Wrath
There are many passages in the Older Testament that portray a day of battle, a day of gloom, a day when the Lord will fight against the enemies of Israel. This day is
known as the “Day of the Lord.” This is the day when the sound of the Shofar calls to battle, a day of desolation to the enemies of God. The Day of the Lord is a day of battle, a day of darkness, a day of great death and destruction: It is no co-incidence that the day falls on the 1st day of the 7th month and so is always a new moon (invisible moon)
But even as the darkening of the moon in the night heavens announced the Feast of Trumpets, so, too, the heavens will be divinely darkened in a future day as the Day of the Lord commences. Joel revealed: Joel 2:1 – “Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD is coming… ‘The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the Lord (Joel 2:31; cf. Isa. 13:9-10; 34:4, 8; Joel 3:15; Acts 2:20).
(Zeph. 1:14-16). That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of trumpet…’
Isaiah 13: 6 – “Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.”
Isaiah 13:9 – “Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it.” Isaiah 34:8 – “For the LORD has a day of vengeance, A year of recompense for the cause of Zion.”
Zephaniah 2:3 – “Seek the LORD, All you humble of the earth who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the LORD’S anger.” Malachi 4:5 – “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.”
In the Newer Testament, too, we see this portrayal of the Day of the Lord: 2 Peter 3:10 – “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2 – “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.”
The Resurrection –The Last Trump
Resurrection of the Dead and the Regathering of Israel
Ancient Jewish tradition held that the resurrection of the dead would occur on Rosh Hashanah. Reflecting this tradition, Jewish gravestones were often engraved with a Shofar. Both of these events – God’s last trump and the resurrection of the righteous – are intricately connected to the Rapture of the Church in the New Testament.
The Apostle Paul writes, “I Cor 15 v 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, v 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 imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15) The sound of the Shofar plays an integral part of this regathering in Jewish thought: not only in the “regathering” of Israel, but also in the call to battle. BOTH concepts are conveyed in the New Testament with the Second Coming of the Messiah!
Conclusion The Feast of Pentecost called the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Trumpets do not have a name in the scriptures – just a description. The concept of the Gentile Bride was hidden theme of the Bible waiting to be revealed and explained by Rabbi Paul in the New Testament. So these two Feasts of the Lord speak to us as Christians, and mysteriously relate directly to us.
Pentecost was fulfilled 1900 years ago. The long summer of the wheat harvest is soon over. The next Feast of the Lord is the Feast of Trumpets. Will we suddenly realize the Day of the Lord has arrived? Jeremiah 8 v 20 the people cry out, “The summer is gone, the harvest is over, but we are not saved.
The fall festival season begins with a 40-day period called, in Hebrew, Teshuvah, which means “to repent or return.” This 40-day period begins in the sixth month of the religious calendar, the month of Elul, and concludes on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement. (See the notes on the month of ELUL to understand the 6th month). Each morning in the synagogue following the morning prayers, a Shofar is blown warning the congregation.
The message is Time is Short – Consider your ways.
