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The Spiritual Significance of the Holy Days, Part 5B

Trumpets

[Study Aired September 12, 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.

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.

We paused our last study to come back to the story of the conquest of Jericho by marching around it with seven priests blowing seven trumpets for seven days. Jericho was conquered, and Israel was in a figure resting while that conquest took place by the hands of our Lord.

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.

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 from the foundation of the world.

The battle of Jericho as well as all of Israel’s battles were “finished from the foundation of the world.” That is why the Lord spoke to Joshua as if the battle had already been won:

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.

‘Have given’ is in the Hebrew Qal stem which equates to the Greek aorist tense. Both are defined as verbs which have no regard to tense. What that means is that ‘I have given’ is an is, was, and will be statement. All of Israel’s battles, whether they won or lost, were all “finished from the foundation of the world.” The same can be said for anything that has been done, is being done, or will be done in the history of mankind. For this reason we are plainly told this about God’s perspective on the lives of all men of all time:

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.  (ASV)

These words are written ‘for our admonition’:

1Co 10:11  Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. (ASV)

We are told that circumcision signifies “the putting off of the flesh.”

Col 2:11  In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

Israel had been circumcised at Gilgal just a few weeks before the conquest of Jericho. Circumcision signifies that the day of judgment “begins at the house of God”, and that judgment has been “begin[ning] at the house of God” since that kingdom was first established within us. Judgment is accomplished in all men “each in his own order” (1Co 15:23). The seven priests with the seven trumpets circling Jericho demonstrate, and the festival of trumpets itself signifies, that in time God’s trumpet judgments will include “all [who are] in Adam.” That judgment has been, is being, and will always be administered by the “seven priests” who are also called the seven angels of the seven churches, which angels we are also told blow the seven trumpets. It is the book of Joshua which shows us the seven trumpets are blown by seven priests, and it is the book of Revelation which shows us that the seven angels of the seven churches signify those who keep the sayings of the prophecy of the book of Revelation. The entire prophecy is addressed “to the angel of the [seven] churches.”

Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Rev 2:1  Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus [Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea] write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

The book of Revelation, and indeed all scripture, is addressed “to the seven churches”, and is also addressed to “the angel” of every church. If we want to know who the seven priests who are blowing the seven trumpets as Israel marches around Jericho, if we want to know who they signify, then we must first know who the seven angels of the seven churches signify. So who do those seven angels signify? “One of the angels” tells us who they all signify:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The “second witness” to this Truth is found in:

Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

This book is addressed to the seven churches and to the seven angels of the seven churches. It is they are are commanded to “read, hear, and keep… the things written therein.”

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

That is who the seven priests of Joshua 6 signify. It is each of us who are admonished that we will be blessed if we “read, hear, and keep the things which are written therein.”

The seventh trumpet consists of ‘seven vials’ which “fill up the wrath of God” (Rev 15:1and 6). The Canaanites and the giants in the land of Canaan signify our weaknesses and our passions and our rebellious carnal mind. The destruction of the walls of Jericho on the seventh day of blowing of trumpets signifies the wrath of God being poured out upon the kingdom of our rebellious old man, the man of sin, the beast within every man.

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Rev 15:6  And the seven angels [you and I and our fellow servants, the seven angels to the seven churches] came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.

The fact that these seven angels “came out of the temple” proves that they are the seven priests which the seven priests of Joshua 6 prefigure and foreshadow. Only the priests were permitted to enter into the temple. Anyone who was not a son of Aaron, anyone who was not a priest was to die, and the priest who let them in was to die also:

Num 18:2  And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.
Num 18:3  And they [the Levites who are not the sons of Aaron] shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.

It is these same seven angels who pour out the seven vials of the wrath of God which are essential to “consume [the man of sin] with the spirit of [their] mouth, and destroy [him] with the brightness of His coming.”

Jos 6:13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

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

Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

Who are these seven angels? Here is “one of” the seven angel’s own answer to that question:

Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him [the angel of Rev 17:1]. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Rev 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

This angel tells us that he signifies the very churches and angels to whom this whole prophecy is addressed… “I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book.”

It is through the blowing of the seven trumpets by the seven priests that Jericho’s walls, typifying the walls and fortifications of the kingdom of the beast within us, are destroyed. As we showed earlier it all “begins at the house of God.”

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?

“Begin at the house of God” does not mean that the judgment which “must begin at the house of God” is the one and only judgment mentioned in scripture. This judgment which “begins at the house of God” is the first of the Lord’s judgments. This first judgment prepares those who are being judged first “in this present time” to “have part in the first resurrection”, which Christ refers to as “the resurrection to life”:

The resurrection

John 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto life [Rev 20:6]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [Rev 20:11].

The judgment of this present time is just the beginning, and it begins within His own “house”, His firstfruits, His “body, which is His church.” This is how Paul describes this judgment which “begins at the house of God.”

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

This verse, Colossians 1:24, reveals a great truth which many who have been deceived by the false doctrine of a “substitutionary atonement death of Christ”, will and do consider to be blasphemy. Nevertheless, Paul very clearly states that his own sufferings are for “[Christ’s] body’s sake, which is the church.” He even states that this suffering in his body is “the afflictions of Christ in my body… which are behind [Greek: lacking] of the afflictions of Christ”. It is all a work of God and not of us, but it is being done through us “for His body’s sake, which is the church” as we will discuss in our next study if the Lord wills.

The next holy day is the day of atonement, only nine days after the feast of trumpets. The day of atonement is followed five days later by the feast of tabernacles and the last great day, which we will get to in the following study, Lord willing. Every holy day reveals the order in which the Lord is working to save all of His creatures.

Before we begin our study of the day of atonement, I want to briefly review what we have so far learned through the holy days, about the plan of God to save all men of all time:

Review

The revelation of that plan begins with the Passover.

Indeed Christ was offered on the day of the Passover. Rest assured the priests and the Pharisees did not plan it that way. They were as blind to what they were doing as you and I were to the fact that we are the beast. As such we also are partakers in the crucifixion of our Lord, and we also must be “crucified with Christ” and with him we must bear the sins of the Lord’s people:

1Pe 2:24  Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
1Pe 2:25  For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

The priests and the Pharisees had no clue that it would be “through our offences” that Christ would be delivered up to be crucified, and that it would be  through our justification that He would be resurrected from the dead:

Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for [Greek: dia – through] our offences, and was raised again for [Greek: dia – through] our justification.

Romans 4:25 is an integral part of being called in Christ “before the world began”:

2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

While Peter, typifying all of His apostles, went out and wept bitterly for denying Christ when He most needed them most, they and we still must endure seven sevens of the work of God in our lives while we are being matured for the day of Pentecost, “on the morrow after the seventh sabbath.” Only then, “When the day of Pentecost was fully come” can the holy spirit come to us and enter into our hearts and form and found the church of Christ and the kingdom of God within us.

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Luk 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Pentecost is the day after which we are finally willing to die with Christ because the spirit of God has changed our hearts, and we now become Christ’s firstfruits, “endued with power from on high… and not of ourselves” (Luk 24:49, Eph 2:8-10).

Lev 23:15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Lev 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.

If we are Christ’s, then we are “”Firstfruits unto the Lord… a kind of firstfruits” because this feast typifies those who are in that blessed and holy first resurrection as Christ’s firstfruits. So the feast of Pentecost is also called “the feast of your firstfruits.” The meal offering of Pentecost is “baken with leaven” because we, unlike the head of His body, are not without sin and are therefore “baken with leaven.”

Exo 23:14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. [The number ‘three’ signifies the process of the Lord’s judgment of mankind:

The Number Three

Exo 23:15 Thou shalt keep [1] the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
Exo 23:16 And [2] the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and [3] the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
Exo 23:17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

While our Lord was a sin offering “who knew no sin”, the same cannot be said for His firstfruits, who, in Him, become a trespass offering which Christ fulfills only through “them that are Christ’s.” That is how we can be “chief of sinners” and also “fill up in our bodies what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ.” Because Christ fulfills the trespass offering only through us, the Pentecost offering is the only offering offered to God with leaven:

Lev 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.

2Co 5:21 For the man who knew no sin was made sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him (ACV)

We become the righteousness of God in Him, and He becomes the trespass offering through us… “baken with leaven.” “In Him” we offer our lives as the scapegoat (Lev 16:8-26) and the second bird (Lev 14), as a living sacrifice, “for His body’s sake, which is the church.”

Col 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church; (ASV)

1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Pentecost is the second festival season, and it signifies the third step we all must experience in the Lord’s plan. Pentecost is the summer wheat harvest, which comes fifty days after the Spring barley harvest. Pentecost is the only holy day in the Summer season. The last four steps in the process of the salvation of all men are all in the third season of the Lord’s plan for the salvation of all men of all time. These last four steps are all in “the seventh month”, and they begin with the festival of trumpets on the first day of the seventh month which we are concluding with this study.

Before that goal of God being in all His sons is accomplished, we are told that “the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death”. Add the following verse to all we have learned about the plan God for the salvation of all mankind of all time which He is revealing to us through these holy  days:

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption [flesh and blood] inherit incorruption.

Our first father, Adam, and “the first man Adam” in all of us (1Co 15:45), has demonstrated that flesh and blood are not fit to be in the incorruptible kingdom of God, simply because flesh and blood are dying corruption which can never become immortal. We are very clearly told that death must be destroyed before God can be all in all. If that is the case and if flesh is dying in every generation of mankind, how is it even possible for death to ever be destroyed since little ‘flesh and blood, corruptible, Adams’ are being born every day by the millions?

The answer to this dilemma is solved for us in the story of Samson in Judges 14:

Jdg 14:1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. [This story signifies God’s elect lusting after the doctrines of Babylon]
Jdg 14:2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
Jdg 14:3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
Jdg 14:4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines [signifying all flesh and blood, (Rev 13:16)] had dominion over Israel.

The Philistines were a very religious people whose God was named Dagon. These Philistines are the Biblical type of all who are in the land of promise but they are there without the benefit of circumcision, and they are more than willing to put the teachings of their god, Dagon, ahead of the doctrines of Christ. They see their preeminence over God’s elect as proof that their God is the true God just as the Jews of Christ’s day, and the Christians of today feel toward the Lord’s ‘scattered flock.’

Jdg 16:23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

Dagon typifies the god of modern day ‘Babylon the great’  who is none other than the “great Red Dragon” who empowers the beast within all men:

Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

The entire story of Samson is a type of God’s elect whose service to God is first in the strength of our own flesh as we are married to the doctrines of Babylon, and to the modern day ‘leaven of the Pharisee and Sadducees’. This self-righteous iniquity in time brings us to our wits’ end as this story of Samson demonstrates. Only then are we finally made aware that we are blind as a bat and totally useless to God or mankind in a life of our own making while living in and among the doctrines of the enemy. Samson in his death typifies God’s elect who are more than willing to die to everything in this life to gain Christ:

Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, [the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees] but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Physically blind Samson is the type of this same mind. Here are Samson’s own words after he, in type, is finally given spiritual vision:

Jdg 16:30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

Dying “with the Philistines” is the dying of our flesh to our old man, and just as Samson delivered his people through his death, so we are delivered from our own sinful flesh through our dying daily to the power of our flesh over the new man who is being born within us as we “die daily.”

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

This is the fruit of Pentecost which introduces the church era which leads up to the day of the blowing of trumpets in our lives.

Christ’s doctrine and His own example demonstrate for us that life comes only through death:

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

It is only “through death”, the death of our old man, that our new man can be born. So it is for all men of all time, and so it is with death itself. Until death itself is destroyed, there will be no victory over death. As long as little Adams are being born, death cannot be destroyed, and that is the real reason for putting “the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan” in prison for a thousand years, just to release him again for “a little season” afterward.

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Why, after placing Satan in prison for a thousand years, would a loving heavenly Father release him upon an unsuspecting world? The answer is that God is seeking an occasion against the Philistines of that time. When Satan is loosed upon the world after it has been ruled with a rod of iron for a thousand years, mankind’s carnal mind will be ripe for the deception Satan is sent to bring upon all nations at that time. After being ruled with a rod of iron for a thousand years, mankind will be convinced by Satan that he is capable of overcoming the saints of the “blessed and holy first resurrection”, who have been their rulers for the past one thousand years. We are told that Satan is given to deceive the nations in the four quarters of the earth to “encompass the camp of the saints”, and at that very moment, just like the fall of Jericho and just like the sudden destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, fire will come down from God out of heaven and will destroy all flesh of all men “in the four quarters of the earth” so that it can truthfully be said that death is destroyed, and there will be no one left on this earth who can beget another rebellious carnal-minded Adam in a vessel of clay.

That is why it is right after being told that fire comes down from God out of heaven, that we then immediately read of “a great white throne” revealed to us for the first time. This great white throne is also revealed at the same time as we learn for the first time of “the lake of fire”:

Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. [Notice what happens immediately after the destruction of all flesh]
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life [a thousand years earlier] was cast into the lake of fire.

“The second death… is… the lake of fire”. When the second group of mankind experiences the death of their carnal mind that is the death of death, and it is “through [this] death” that life is given to all men of all time.

The four months from Pentecost to Trumpets signify this age of grace, when God is preparing a few faithful elect out of the many called multitudes who come to Him. Judas was an elect who did not leave Christ when the multitudes left Him.

Joh 6:64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
Joh 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Joh 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Christ knew who would betray Him, and yet “the twelve”, which included Judas, remained faithful even after “many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.” Still Judas was found not to have a proper wedding garment, and he was predestined to be God’s rejected elect who, like God’s anointed, King Saul, sought to kill God’s faithful elect, signified by King David. Both King Saul and Judas were the Lord’s anointed, but neither was faithful to the end. Being called and being elect are not enough to be given a wedding garment and to be in that “blessed and holy… first resurrection.”

Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Those who are with Christ in the armies of heaven will have one more necessary qualification, and that qualification is to be faithful to the end:

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful [“to the end”].

As the apostle Paul said of the Hebrews (Heb 6:9)… “I am persuaded better things of [us].”

Next week, Lord willing, we will begin our study of the day of atonement, and we will begin to see the blessings of being in that “blessed and holy… first resurrection”, and in time we will see what is the function of those blessed and holy  few who “endure [and are] faithful… to the end”.

Here is a taste of what is in store for all who are given that blessed calling:

Isa 49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

The next step in the Lord’s plan for us is signified by the day of Atonement, a day of fasting and afflicting our souls demonstrating that we realize the need to have our sins covered and be at one with our Lord.

Lev 23:26  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:27  Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Lev 23:28  And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.
Lev 23:29  For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
Lev 23:30  And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
Lev 23:31  Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Lev 23:32  It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

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