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Feast of Trumpets, namely, is to reassure the people that God will remember and vindicate them on the day of judgment. The same truth is expressed in the vision of Daniel 7, where the Ancient of Days pronounces "judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom" (Dan 7:22,
Old Testament
The Festival of Trumpets (which I shall refer to just as Trumpets from now on) occurred on the first day of the seventh new moon of the year.
It could be argued that this festival was only a highlight of the normal years celebration of the sighting of the new moon (the seventh month being a special time because of the importance of the number seven representing wholeness and completeness) but it appears that it was, in effect, quite different as the following pages illustrate.
Consider, for example, Num 29:1-6. In v.6, after listing the offerings for Trumpets, it reads
...besides the burnt offering of the new moon
inferring that it was something different and set apart from the celebration of the sighting of the new moon.
The Biblical celebration
Lev 23:23-25, Num 29:1-6, Ps 81:1-5, Ezra 3:1-6, Neh 8:1-12
We may never have heard of Trumpets - indeed, the celebration and ordinances concerned with the day are only directly mentioned more often than the Festival of First Fruits. More than this, though, the name Trumpets is not given to the Festival in Leviticus chapter 23 or Numbers chapter 29 so that it would be easy to overlook the name and not know whats being referred to.
Therefore, we need to fix in our own minds the Scriptural command to understand not only what the Israelite was commanded to do but what He was celebrating on that day each year (which, as we will see, is by no means easy to determine).
Before we look at both the significance of the trumpet and attempt to get some meaning out of the reason for the command of the festival to be celebrated, there are a few straightforward observations which can be made.
The festival was to be celebrated on the first day of the seventh month or new moon (Lev 23:24, Num 29:1) and was to be of one day duration (Lev 23:24, Num 29:1). It was also to be a holy convocation, a day of solemn rest - that is, to be treated like a sabbath (Lev 23:24, Num 29:1) and was to be a memorial, a day of remembering something (Lev 23:24) though, as well see, what exactly it was to remember is far from certain.
Special sacrifices were also commanded to be offered on the festival day which were in addition to those normally offered at the new moon (Lev 23:25, Num 29:2-6). There are a couple of incidents also recorded for us in the later pages of Scripture which took place on the first day of the seventh month.
In Ezra 3:1-6 we read about what happened when the restoration of the sacrificial system/covenant came about upon the return of the Jews to the land of Israel. When the exiled Jews returned from captivity, the offerings and sacrifices were resumed on the first day of the seventh month (Ezra 3:6). Neh 8:1-12 additionally records that on this same occasion of the first day of the seventh month, there was a conviction of sin that fell upon the Israelites which led to repentance when the returned exiles gathered together to hear the reading of the Law (Neh 8:2). When the Israelites heard it read aloud they wept but were encouraged to rejoice before the Lord as the day was holy to Him (Neh 8:9).
1. The trumpet
Lev 23:24, Num 29:1
This festival was to be different from all the others in that trumpets were to be specifically blown - hence, the festivals name. However, the phrase blowing of trumpets is only one word in the original Hebrew, which is transliterated as teruwah (Strongs Hebrew number 8643), which can have various meanings including shout and joy. Though the actual meaning is difficult to be specific about, it appears that when its used of a trumpet blast, it means not the instrument used but the noise that comes from the trumpet.
Thats quite significant when we think about the implications of the festival.
As the sound is the requirement of the passage in Leviticus chapter 23, the type of trumpet used to convey that sound is unimportant. So, too, the Jews taught Israel that the nations obligation at the festival was not to blow the trumpet nor was it to see the trumpet, but to hear the sound of it (Rosh-ha-shanah 3:7). It didnt matter that the Jew couldnt be near enough to the player nor that he didnt have the ability to play it for himself, but his sole obligation was to hear the sound of the official (I presume) trumpet being blown.
The spiritual principle in this legislation is that God uses the instrument of His choosing but the disciple must recognise the voice as being Gods. Its important to listen for the sound and not be obedient to the instrument alone. Human instruments and channels for the transmission of Gods voice are His way of communicating with His people (I Cor 14:7-8) but, if what comes out from us is confused and not understood, then were being used to little or no profit.
Gods message to the disciple of Jesus through the prophets still lives on. Its been written down for their understanding, yet the instruments God used to convey that message have long since perished. The sound needs to be obeyed, but the instrument is only the means whereby the sound is produced (Ezek 33:2-5) and not the object that should be followed. Scripture, then, is the trumpet through which God blows so that followers may hear His voice, but the Bible is not to be worshipped. People are also the instruments God uses to speak through to others, but men are not to be blindly followed, neither are they to be put onto pedestals (from which they invariably fall!).
Take, for example, Balaam who wasnt a righteous man (Num 31:16) yet he was Gods chosen instrument to prophesy over Israel for good (Num 23:24). And the ass was just a dumb animal and certainly not born again, but God used it to speak His word to the prophet Balaam (Num 22:28-30). Indeed, perhaps, in the circumstances, thered be a good theological case for seeing the donkey being the more spiritual one of the two characters in the story!
Similarities of usage exist between the two main types of instruments translated trumpet in the OT (shophar - Strongs Hebrew number 7782 and chatsotserah - Strongs Hebrew number 2689) so that specific use of one rather than the other to denote differing concepts is unlikely. For example, both could be used as an instrument of war (Shophar (rams horn) - Judges 7:8,18-20,22, Josh 6:4,6,8-9,13,16,20, Jer 4:19-21, 6:1, Ezek 33:3-5, Joel 2:1-2, Job 39:25, Amos 2:2. Chatsotserah (silver trumpet) - Num 31:6, II Chron 13:12,14) during the anointing of a king (Shophar - II Sam 15:10, I Kings 1:34,39, II Kings 9:13. Chatsotserah - II Kings 11:14) and used in both praise and rejoicing (Shophar - II Kings 11:14, Ps 98:6, 150:3. Chatsotserah - II Chron 5:13, Neh 12:41, Ps 98:6 and various passages in I and II Chronicles).
Concluding, it was the sound of the trumpet that was important during the festival and neither the means whereby the sound was produced (that is, the person), nor the instrument itself.
2. The meaning
The Jews, seeing that Scripture didnt appear to adequately detail the meaning of the festival, invented a vast array of interpretations to be included in the days festivities. Whether these were ever part of the original meaning of the festival is impossible to determine and its best that we totally ignore these traditions and stick to what we can find evidence for in Scripture - otherwise well find ourselves being misled by man-made inventions that have little or nothing to do with Gods original plan.
Even by staying with Scripture alone, ideas about what the remembrance was directed towards and by whom (Lev 23:24) remain speculative even though there are a number of hints in other Scripture passages.
Ps 81:3-5, one of Asaphs psalms, tells us that God ordained that trumpets should be blown at the new moon and on our feast day (not days, which would refer to more than one, but day) when He
...went out against the land of Egypt Back to top of page
If this is a direct reference to the Festival of Trumpets - which is a strong possibility as far as I can determine - then its meaning would be something like a remembrance that God is the Warrior who fights on His peoples behalf (see also below for additional details).
But we should also consider the specific commands of God as to when to use a trumpet before the ordinance was laid down, as this may give us pointers as to the precise meaning. Five times, then, trumpets were commanded to be blown:
a. The trumpet was to be blown on every forty-ninth Day of Atonement to announce to Israel that the fiftieth year of Jubilee had arrived (Lev 25:9).
In NT times, the Jews came to proclaim the year of Jubilee on the first day of the seventh month instead (Rosh-ha-shanah 1:1, 3:5) but, as has been seen in the notes on Yom Kippur under The Year of Jubilee, theres a great deal of significance as to why the tenth day of the seventh month was chosen by YHWH which is lost if the Laws commands are ignored.
b. It was a call to assemble together (Num 10:3-4).
When one trumpet was blown, just the elders were summoned to gather themselves together to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting. When both were blown (perhaps both trumpets were designed to produce sound at a different pitch from the other?), the entire congregation were to come together at the Tabernacle entrance. The gathering together to Moses was probably to hear what God had to say through His servant.
c. It was a call to begin to march (Num 10:5-6).
The Israelites were to break camp and move onwards on their wilderness journey to the promised land. But how did the Israelites differentiate between the blasts outlined here and in section ii above? Jewish tradition holds that the teruwah were short staccato notes (used here and elsewhere for alarm) but the call to assemble together was a longer sustained note.
d. It was blown as an alarm for war/a war cry (Num 10:9).
When Israel went to war, they were to sound an alarm with the trumpets (Num 31:6) and God would remember His people and save them from their enemies. It was as if they were calling upon God to arouse Himself and to come and fight for them. This point would fit very well with the implied meaning of Ps 81:3-5.
e. It was blown at the festivals (Num 10:10).
Israel were to blow the trumpets over their burnt and peace offerings on the days of gladness, appointed festivals and new moons. The blasts served Israel
for remembrance before your God
That is, God would hear the blasts and (like the alarm for war) remember His covenant with Israel. This points us back to the idea of remembrance as contained in Lev 23:24 at the Festival of Trumpets.
Each usage may or may not have relevance with regard to the festival. Looking back into the passages of Scripture causes us to conclude that we find it almost impossible to make a dogmatic statement as to the meaning of the original command to remember the day as a festival.
But, by looking forward to the fulfilment of this festival rather than back, well discover its true meaning.
Future fulfilment
The prophecy of Joel
And so we arrive at the controversial bit!
Differing commentators have arrived at widely diverse interpretations concerning this Festival. Primarily this has been because the Intermediate Festival has largely been ignored and has gone uninterpreted - this leads on to an interpretation of the festival normally in terms of the proclamation of the Gospel (the trumpet is taken to imply this) even though the OT commandment cannot be used to infer such a teaching.
Others, who see the entire seven festivals as having already been fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus Christ will interpret it, again, in similar vein but, when they come to the Day of Atonement (the next festival to be considered) they then have to revert to a time previous to their interpretation of Trumpets and then seem to interpret the Feast of Tabernacles extremely weirdly!
Of course, you may think that this interpretation that I offer here is just as weird. However, one thing youll see if you read the entire set of articles on the Festivals is that their interpretation presented here is done so in chronological order - my premise has been that the first four (Passover through Pentecost) were fulfilled to the exact day or in the correct age, that were currently experiencing the Intermediate Festival and that the fulfilment of the final three is still to be fully fulfilled at the Lords Second Coming.
This overall interpretation takes the festivals as a whole, as one unit and, in my opinion, is the only way of accurately coming to an understanding of what God still intends to do both with His people according to the flesh (the Jews) and for His Church (believing Jews and Gentiles).
To understand the significance of the Festival of Trumpets, then, I believe that we need to come to terms with the Book of Joel, and its therefore necessary for us to understand that book as a whole and what it is that the prophets teaching.
Even if the reader is unsure as to the accuracy of the interpretation offered here, one should still think about what significance the Trumpet has (in the context of Scripture) as the return of Jesus Christ approaches. But, even more significantly, that the single day festival should be interpreted in terms of a single event as the other one day festivals have been.
The book of Joel, then, has five main themes that we will go on to look at in a little detail (though I shall attempt to be as vague as possible in my interpretation and speak in broad outlines rather than specifics as, it seems to me, theres much about the final days before the Return that will only be shaded in nearer the time).
These five divisions are:
1. The judgment of an army of locusts.
2. The judgment of an army of men.
3. The repentance of Gods people.
4. The restoration of Gods people and Gods land.
5. The judgment of the nations.
