Audio Download

The Spiritual Significance of the Holy Days, Part 5A

Trumpets

[Study Aired September 7, 2025]

Lev 23:23  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:24  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
Lev 23:25  Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

This feast has less said about it here in Leviticus 23 than any of the seven festivals. There are no instructions concerning the offerings to be offered, and no particular event is being celebrated, as with the Passover and the days of unleavened bread. There is no counting of the weeks leading up to this festival, but it is worthy of our notice that there is a rather long period of time between the feast of Pentecost and the Day of Trumpets. The only instruction found in these three verses is “Ye… shall… have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.”

It is interesting to note that trumpets being blown “for a memorial” is mentioned in one other place:

Num 10:10  Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.

Numbers 29 gives us many more instructions concerning this “memorial of blowing of trumpets”:

Num 29:1  And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.
Num 29:2  And ye shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savour unto the LORD; one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year without blemish:
Num 29:3  And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram,
Num 29:4  And one tenth deal for one lamb, throughout the seven lambs:
Num 29:5  And one kid of the goats for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you:
Num 29:6  Beside the burnt offering of the month, and his meat offering, and the daily burnt offering, and his meat offering, and their drink offerings, according unto their manner, for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD.

The feast of trumpets

The events which lead up to the rulership of “this world” by the elect of God are pictured within and without by the feast of trumpets on the first day of the seventh month, in the Fall.

Inwardly, this feast signifies that part of our lives when we realize that the kingdoms of this world within us have been subdued to our Lord and His Christ. At this point we realize that the sins and passions that once had free reign no longer dominate us. Christ has taken His rightful place on the throne of our heart and mind. We still have the day of atonement and the feast of tabernacles and the last great day ahead of us, but the seventh trumpet assures us that we are being judged in this present time, and that places us in “earnest”, downpayment form in that blessed and holy first resurrection.

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded [his trumpet]; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Lev 23:23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
Lev 23:25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

We do no work on the holy days in acknowledgment that we are His workmanship and that Christ in us has labored to enter into His rest, and we of ourselves can do nothing:

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

“Which God has ordained that we should walk in them” is the same as saying “the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”

Heb 4:3  For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished [“before ordained”] from the foundation of the world.

Every holy day symbolizes a great work of God within each of us. Outwardly and dispensationally these holy days symbolize a step forward in the plan of God for all men, and yet every holy day is a sabbath because God wants us to know that He is working all things after the counsel of His own plan, purpose, and will, and not because of anything that we do:

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Every step of God’s plan for mankind is to be taken only with “a sacrifice made with fire unto the Lord.” The fire of God’s chastening and scourging does indeed entail torment, but it is a ‘fire’ which burns up and consumes all that can be destroyed by that fire.

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. [What is all of this???]
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

That which is not consumed and destroyed is purified in that tormenting fire. The torment, like the fire itself, has a purpose and an end, and that purpose and end is the cleansing and purifying of “every man.” ‘Every man… shall suffer [the] loss” of all the wood, hay and stubble, in his life, “but he himself shall [in the end] be saved, yet so as by fire.”

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Joseph is a type of Christ, our judge, and the way he dealt with his brothers who sold him into slavery in Egypt, demonstrates how the fire of the Word of God works in our own lives. It demonstrates how we are judged by the Words of our own mouth and how we reap what we have sown:

Gen 42:21 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
Gen 42:22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
Gen 42:23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
Gen 42:24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

It is an emotional thing to have to witness our own brothers and sisters being brought to true and deep repentance through the torment which their own words bring upon them. We, too, must endure this very same “godly repentance” in our own lives before we will be granted to cause our brothers and sisters to be brought to that same place and time in their lives. It takes a symbolic “Seven trumpets” of God’s judgments upon the kingdom of this world, the kingdom of our old man, to drag us to deep heartfelt repentance. Joseph could easily have said, “Hi boys, it’s me, Joseph, your little brother who you sold into slavery. Hey, don’t worry about anything. I have died for you in a sense by spending thirteen years as a slave in Egypt, and now all you have to do is to accept my generous sacrifice for all you did to me.” However, that is not what Joseph did, that is not what Christ did for you and me, and that is not what we will do for those in the lake of fire. The false doctrine of ‘substitutionary atonement’ is a lie which comes straight out of the smoke and the locusts which ascend out of the abussos, “the bottomless pit” of our carnal minds. The “smooth” words of that deceitful false doctrine (Isa 30:10) deny the need for seven trumpets to effectuate the destruction of the giants in our land (Jos 6). ‘Substitutionary atonement’ is robbing millions of any hope of being saved in this present time. It is a lie of the devil and must be revealed as such. That fire which saves us is the word of God, and this is what that word teaches us about who we are and what we will do:

Eze 14:4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

Luk 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

That is exactly what Joseph’s brothers thought of Him. In their own carnal mind they knew that it was just a matter of time before Joseph would seek his revenge against them, and that carnal reasoning tormented them for many long years. They really believed that when their father, Jacob, died, Joseph would get his revenge upon them all for what they had done to him:

Gen 50:15 And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.

It was their own unforgiving heart that caused them to suffer in fear all those years, and so the scriptures were fulfilled which said:

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Contrary to the smooth teaching of the false doctrine of “the substitutionary death of Christ”, Christ is not in the process of saving us with “coffee and doughnuts.” Rather we are plainly told “he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.” It is much easier to be forgiven and at the same time refuse to forgive those who have trespassed and sinned against us. It would also have been much easier for Joseph to have revealed himself to his brothers to begin with than for him to have restrained himself from doing so while he tormented them as he did. Nevertheless, these things happened to them, and they are written for our admonition upon whom these very same “ends of the world have come.” That is right, these events are the events that come upon us all in “the ends of the age”, both inwardly and outwardly and dispensationally.

As the apostle warned us, and as our Lord Himself taught us, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap [by] the tormentors… till the debt is paid.”

Mat 18:32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
Mat 18:33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
Mat 18:34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Mat 18:35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

All of these lessons are learned first by those who are pictured as the firstfruits of the feast of Pentecost. The holy days build on each other. The chastening grace through faith of Pentecost is being tried:

1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

The appearing of Jesus Christ will be at “the [signified] seventh trump” for all of His elect:

1Th 4:13  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Earlier Paul had called this “the last trump”:

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52  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.
1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Revelation symbolically calls this the trumpet of “the seventh angel.”

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded [his trumpet]; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Rev 11:19  And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

These trials which the grace of Pentecost and the seven, sevens that bring us to Pentecost prepares us for the judgments of the seven trumpets which are what this feast signifies.

From Pentecost to the feast of trumpets is roughly 120 days, the time from the summer to the fall. It is during this extended time that we are being matured through fiery judgments which “begin at the house of God.” Those fiery words apply to us first, and we are the first to be judged out of our own mouths, according to the idols of our own hearts” (Eze 14:1-9).

Outwardly even the scholars of Babylon agree that this long period of four months signifies the entire church age, from Christ’s death and resurrection until the day of His appearing and the establishing of His kingdom over the kingdoms of this world. It is during this extended period of time that the house of God is being judged and being gathered together to become the manchild who will rule the nations with a rod of iron for a thousand years:

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed [the first man Adam, the beast, the man of sin within all of us], whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

“That wicked… shall [be] consume[d] with the spirit of His mouth.” In other words, “that wicked” is consumed by the fiery words of Christ in the mouths of His firstfruit witnesses.

Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

“The feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest” is the feast of Pentecost, and “the feast of ingathering at the year’s end” is the double festival of tabernacles and the last great day. Between those two festivals is this feast of blowing of trumpets and the day of atonement.

This festival, “the blowing of trumpets” is only nine days before the day of atonement, indicating that these two festivals are closely associated with each other. We are even told that “a sin offering [of] atonement” is offered to the Lord at the feast of trumpets:

Num 29:1  And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month [the day of Trumpets], ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.

Num 29:5  And one kid of the goats for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you:

That association signifies that our sins cannot be covered without first drinking the cup Christ drank and being baptized with the baptism He was baptized with, which are both typified by the trumpet judgments of Revelation 16 within our lives. This judgment is even now taking place within the lives of those who are “the house of God” and are acknowledged as such at the feast of trumpets:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

We will pause our study at this point and finish our examination of the spiritual significance of the day of the blowing of trumpets in our next study. In that study we will see how the seven trumpets which were blown for seven days were also blown by seven priests. Those trumpets culminated in “the last trump” on the last day which brought down the walls of Jericho. That was not the end of Israel’s work to overcome the giants in the land. It was only the beginning, and there is great significance “for our admonition” in the account of the destruction of the walls of Jericho by the seven trumpets being blown by seven priests.

Jos 6:1  Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
Jos 6:2  And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.
Jos 6:3  And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
Jos 6:4  And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

[Here is a link to the next study in this series.]