By Pastor F. M. Riley

“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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

1 Corinthians 15:51-52.

Introduction

Rosh HaShanah, 2009, is past!  The so-called “Last Great Trumpet” signaling the official end of Rosh HaShanah has been blown.  The resurrection and rapture of God’s people has not taken place.  Obviously the “Gates of Heaven” did not open.  It is time for some serious contemplation on what the Jewish Rabbis teach about Rosh HaShanah and the holy days following it.

I freely admit that the “traditional” teachings of the Jewish Rabbis about Rosh HaShanah have always been a problem for me, primarily because I don’t find a verse of Scripture in the Bible which says that “the Gates of Heaven” are opened on Rosh HaShanah.

I don’t find anywhere in God’s Word where the Scriptures say that a judgment occurs on Rosh HaShanah.  And I can’t find any Scriptural proof of a number of other claims made by the Jewish Rabbis about Rosh HaShanah which are based on Jewish “tradition.”

Folks, the Lord Himself had some very choice words to say about the “traditions” of the Jewish elders.  Read them for yourself in Matthew 15:1-9 and Mark 7:1-13.  There is never a time when men’s traditions take precedence over the explicit statements of God’s Word.  Never!

If we claim to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior then we should be going by what His Word actually and literally says, and not by what some would like to make it say.  Period!

Folks, I am not making these statements to offend the Jewish people, for I have a deep love for the Jewish people, but my love for them is not based on some “mythical” belief that they are a perfect people who can do no wrong.  Sic!  The truth is, unbelieving Jews are just as lost in sin as unbelieving Gentiles, and all unbelievers need to be saved.

Jewish “tradition” carries no more weight with the Lord than Gentile “tradition.” God’s people don’t go by “tradition.”  We go by the inspired Word of God, and it is far past time that many today who claim to be “God’s people” get back to the inspired Word for spiritual enlightenment and guidance.

Now let’s go to the inspired Word and consider a totally different viewpoint on the meaning of “the last trump”…….

The First Trump!

Has it ever occurred to some of our readers that the very first time a “trumpet” is even mentioned in God’s Word is found in Exodus 19:13?  What was the occasion?  The context clearly reveals that the first mention of a “trumpet” in God’s Word is connected with THE GIVING OF THE LAW.

The “trumpet” on this occasion was not being blown by any of the Israelites.  We are not told who was blowing the “trumpet,” but it most certainly was being blown, and the Scriptures state that it was “exceeding loud so that all the people that was in the camp trembled,” that it “waxed louder and louder,” and that “all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking…..,” Exodus 19:16; 19:19; 20:18.

These are the events that occurred when Almighty God gave THE LAW to Israel by the hand of Moses. Obviously, either the Lord Himself was blowing the “trumpet” at that time, or He was directly responsible for having it blown.

The inspired writer of Hebrews even places emphasis on this occasion when he assures the Jews [and others] living in this present “dispensation of grace” that “…ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a trumpet…..,” Hebrews 12:18-19.

Thank God that we New Testament believers did not have to approach the Lord in such terrible fear, but rather the Lord brought us unto Himself by His grace, mercy, and love.  If you are a true believer lift up your voice and give Him praise!

An often overlooked Truth…..

In Daniel 9:24 the prophet Daniel was explicitly told, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”

If one is going to believe this Scripture as stated, instead of trying to explain it away or misapply it, then it explicitly states and teaches that Daniel’s people; the Jews, were under a “determined” [decreed; appointed] period of “seventy sevens” of years; 490 years.

The three verses which follow then divide the 490 years into three periods of time and clearly state what is to occur in each period.  But now here is the point that many overlook or ignore today…..

At the time Daniel received this prophecy, the Jewish people were living UNDER THE LAW.  The angel Gabriel, in giving Daniel the prophecy, then in effect also was telling Daniel that 490 more years of LAW were “determined” upon his Jewish people.

Why do so many of God’s people who study this prophecy in Daniel 9 either overlook or ignore this simple GLARING truth?  This entire period of 490 years was 490 years of LAW.  Now let’s see how this applies to our study…..

The careful Bible student can easily determine that both the first and second divisions have been fulfilled.  In fact, it can literally be calculated that the second division ended on the exact day that the Lord Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on the donkey as recorded in Luke 19:28-48, Matthew 21:1-16, Mark 11:1-11, and John 12:12-15.

This made a total of 69 weeks of years or 483 years that had been fulfilled out of the “determined” 490 years.   THEN THE DISPENSATION OF GRACE INTERVENED!  The third and last division consisting of one week of seven years is yet to be fulfilled exactly as prophesied in Daniel 9:27.

Folks, when it begins it will be SEVEN MORE YEARS OF LAW for the Jewish people.  This isn’t hard to see and understand at all.  There it is right before your eyes in the Scriptures.

This is obviously why the Lord Jesus Christ Himself told the Jews that He did not come “…to destroy the law, or the prophets…,” and that not “…one jot or one tittle…” would “…pass from the law, till all be fulfilled,” Matthew 5:17-18.

While Christ fulfilled the Law for all New Testament believers who are willing to receive it [Colossians 3:13-14], the unbelieving Jews still have 7 more years of Law to live under before the prophecy of the 70 Weeks of Daniel are fulfilled.

Just in passing this brings up another point.  The last time I checked we New Testament believers were living under GRACE.  Since we are still living in the “dispensation of grace,” and under grace, then it is obvious that the 70 Weeks of Daniel and/or the seven year Tribulation [they are one and the same period of time] has not started, we are not in it, and will never be in it, Revelation 3:10.

If it had already started as some today are claiming, then the whole world would be living in the last 7 years of Jewish LAW.  Pardon my vernacular, but “they ain’t and we isn’t!”  Is that clear?

The Last Trump!

Now I have clearly demonstrated that the first “trumpet” was blown at the giving of the Law to Israel, and that the Scriptures plainly and explicitly teach that Israel has to go back under the Law for another seven years.  Since the giving of the Law to Israel was originally accompanied by the sound of a “trumpet,” then is it unreasonable to believe that the giving of the last seven years of Law to Israel may not also be accompanied by the sound of a “trumpet?”  Well…??

Is it then unreasonable to think that Paul’s reference to “the last trump” in 1 Corinthians 15:52 may be referring to the reinstitution of the Law upon Israel again for the last seven years of the Tribulation [70th Week of Daniel]?   Well…??

Is it unreasonable to think that Paul may have been inspired of God to mention “the last trump” in contrast to the first “trumpet” that sounded at the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai?  Well…??

A Wee Little Clue…??

I have repeatedly told my readers that I do not know the day nor the hour when the Lord is coming to resurrect and rapture His people to glory.  But I have also had high hopes that it would be during this present season of fall holy days beginning with Rosh HaShanah.

I still hope that will be the case!  Rosh HaShanah is now past, but there yet remains this season of Jewish holy days which extends clear through October 11th.  Go back and read Leviticus 23 again and count the number of days involved in the fall holy days, and then compare the Jewish calendar with your calendar.

You will find that the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles [an 8 day observance] ends on October 11th.  But let’s go to another often overlooked or ignored Scripture dealing with a “trumpet.”

In Psalm 81:3-4 the inspired Word states, “Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.  For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.”  Now isn’t this interesting?  What “feast day” is being spoken of here as “the time appointed”?

Let’s take a look at a literal translation of this third verse as it actually appears in the Hebrew text.  It may get even more interesting…..

“Blow in the new moon the ram’s horn at the full moon on our feast day.”  This is a literal translation of verse 3 as set forth in Hendrickson’s Interlinear Hebrew Greek English Bible.  I invite and urge our readers to look this up in your own Hebrew Bible or Lexicon, or compare it with other translations for yourself.  It is a faithful translation of the Hebrew text.

This verse is an explicit command for the Jews to blow the shofar during the time of the new moon.  But just anytime during the new moon?  Not hardly!  They are explicitly commanded to blow it on a feast day when the moon is full.  Now when would that be?

Folks, look at your calendars in an overview with the Jewish calendar.  The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, which begins on Tishri 15, falls exactly ON OCTOBER 4TH  which is also the night OF THE FULL MOON. The Jews are explicitly commanded to blow the shofar at this exact time on this exact “feast.”

Is it possible that at that very time when the Jewish Rabbis blow the shofar, that the Lord Himself may cause the “the trump of God” [1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 15:52] to sound?  I don’t know!  But I sure think it worth watching for!

A few weeks ago I wrote a study on the vision given to the prophet Habakkuk.  The title of the study is “It will not be a lie!”  In that study I set forth a literal translation of Habakkuk 2:3, where the Lord told Habakkuk, “For the vision is still for the appointed festival…”

Now what did we just read in Psalm 81:3, “…in the time appointed…”  Glory!  Praise God!  Hallelujah!  Praise and thanksgiving to the Lord of Glory!  Thank you Lord Jesus!  Thank you Heavenly Father!  Praise the Lord!

Conclusion

Did the Lord give His people A CLUE in Psalm 81:3 to the timing of the resurrection and rapture during this present fall holy day season of the Jews?   I do not know!  I cannot dogmatically say!  Will the Lord come on the Feast of Tabernacles?  I do not know! I cannot emphatically state such to be true.  But neither can I frivolously dismiss this clear command that the Lord gave to Israel.  Think about it!

Well Rosh HaShanah is now past and gone.  Some have already written, scoffing at me and telling me they are giving up looking for the Lord to come, and I should too.  Give up!  I will never give up my “blessed hope” in the faithful promises of my Lord.

I will keep right on believing in His promises, watching, waiting, studying, researching, praying, warning, and witnessing until the day my precious Lord splits the eastern sky and comes to resurrect and rapture His people to glory.

You dear reader, can either watch and wait with me in simple child like faith in our Lord, or you can join the crowd of scoffers and doubters and mockers.  I never want to be associated with that crowd.  The choice is yours.  I have made mine!

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful,” Psalm 1:1.

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Permission is granted to any true believer and to any Bible believing Christian ministry to reproduce this study to share with others, or to quote from it in context as written.
This ministry is financed solely by freewill offerings.

Please address all comments, questions, and correspondence to:  Pastor F. M. Riley, Last Call Gospel Ministry, 3900 Clark Lane  C-10, Columbia, Missouri 65202.
My email address is:     fmrglbd5@yahoo.com

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