THE MEANINGS OF THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS
by Jeff Smith and Doug Ward
We have had much to say in this issue about the beautiful symbolismof the fall
festival season. We are aware, though, that this symbolism is currently a
controversial issue in the WCG. For example, the following remarks about the
Feast of Trumpets recently appeared on an internet forum in which we
participate:
``As a Holy Day, Trumpets is perhaps the most `shadowed'
of the Lev. 23 days. What it meant to Israel and what it foreshadows about
Jesus are less clear than with the other days. Indeed, in Israel its meaning
evolved over time as reflected in rabbinic practice and
interpretation.
``In the WCG, we chose to assign to it a
futuristic orientation related to the Day of the Lord and Jesus' second advent.
We have little scriptural or historic precedent fordoing so, but then the new
covenant gives us great latitude with regard toworship days.''
These remarks have provided us with much food for thought. In thisarticle,we
would like to examine them in some detail.
We agree with the author of
the remarks (who will remain nameless here) that ``the new covenant gives us
great latitude with regard to worship days.'' Whatever form our worship takes
on, the important thing is that we worship ``in spirit and in truth'' (John
4:24). The great works that God has performed in the past, carries out in the
present, and has planned for the future are worth celebrating on an annual
basis-in fact, leaders of other denominations have expressed their approval of
such traditions. So in a sense, we need offer no justification for our Feast of
Trumpets celebrations. In answer to the traditional festival question, ``Why
are we here?'', we can rightfully answer, ``Why not?''
We also
acknowledge that the Feast of Trumpets is the festival about which the Bible
gives us the least amount of direct information. It is not associated with any
particular facet of theExodus, and there is no scripture that explicitly tells
us its meaning. TheBible introduces it simply as a ``remembrance blast'' (Lev.
23:34) and a ``day of blowing'' (Num. 29:1). But is it fair to say that there
is ``little scriptural or historical precedent'' for associating the Feast of
Trumpets with the events to occur at the close of this age? We think not. Our
aimin this article is to carefully evaluate our traditional teachings on the
meanings of the Feast of Trumpets and demonstrate how these teachings can be
enhanced by further information from the Bible and history.
Our
understanding of the meanings of the Feast of Trumpets has alwaysbeen based on
the conviction that the annual festivals tell the story ofGod's plan of
salvation, along with the observation that the events associatedin the
Biblewith the blowing of trumpets fit remarkably well into their appropriate
placein that story. We next examine the biblical support for this
understanding.
The Festivals as Types
Revelation
13:8 tells us that God planned to send Jesus as our Savior ``from the
foundation of the world.'' As Jesus taught His disciples after His
resurrection, God inspired the Gospel to be proclaimed in various
waysthroughout the Old Testament (Luke 24:44-46). One way in which Jesus'
coming and mission are predicted is through a wonderful series of direct
prophecies, such as Micah 5:2, Isa. 9:6-7,and Isa. 52:13-53:12 [6]. But even
more frequently, theGospel is announcedsymbolically through special people,
events, and ceremonies. These special symbols are called ``types'' (see the
Glossary on p. 22). The New Testament writers explicitly recognized a number of
different typesin the Old Testament, including the events of the Exodus as a
type of the Christian experience (I Cor. 10:1-11), Adam as a type of Christ
(Rom. 5:14),the flood as a type of baptism (I Peter 3:20-21), and the old
covenant tabernacleand priesthood as types of Christ's heavenly priesthood
(Heb. 8:5; 9:24). (See Chapter 1 of [2] for an enlightening discussion of
biblicaltypology.)
Did God design the annual festivals as types? There
is ample biblical evidence that He did, and that the New Testament church
understood that He did. Thisis especially clear for the spring festivals. The
Bible identifies Jesus as the true Passover lamb (John 1:29, I Cor. 5:7,I Peter
1:19) andas the Firstfruits of the spiritual harvest (I Cor. 15:20-23),the
fulfillment of the wavesheaf offering of Lev. 23:9-14. It identifies leavening
as atype of sin and the Days of Unleavened Bread as symbolic of the
cleansingfrom sin that we receive as a result of Christ's sacrifice forus (I
Cor.5:6-8). It sees the Christian church as a spiritual spring harvest,
thebeginning of the salvation of mankind (Rom. 8:23, James 1:18).These
connectionsare accentuated and reinforced by the fact that Jesuswas crucified
on thevery day on which the Passover lambs were killed and resurrected on the
dayof the wavesheaf offering; similarly, the spiritual spring harvest beganwith
the coming of the Holy Spirit on the very dayof Pentecost. All of this
symbolism has been well understood by the ChristianChurch through the
centuries, as has been carefully documentedin [1, 4].
Given that the
typology of the spring festivals has attained such remarkable fulfillment, is
it not reasonable to infer that the fall festivals also foreshadow major
milestones in the unfolding of God's plan? The WCG has given an affirmative
answer to this question in the past, and several recentChristian sourceson the
annual festivals (e.g., [1-3, 5]) concur. There are strong biblical and
historical arguments in favor of such a view. First, there is the
eschatological symbolism of the Feast of Tabernacles. We know that the Feast
commemorated God's protection of the Israelites while they lived in ``booths''
duringtheirforty years of wandering in the wilderness. Later, in the time of
theprophets, it also came to picture the messianic kingdom, in which the
righteouswould enjoy safe dwelling places (e.g., Isa. 32:18; 33:20;Zech. 14:11,
16). This connection between the Feast and the millennium wasrecognized by
theChurch in its early centuries; in [4, Chap. 20], Danielou cites examplesfrom
the writings of Methodius, who died around A.D. 311.
The association of
the Feast with the messianic age is also reflectedin post-exilic Jewish
festival liturgy [4]. Psalm 118 was traditionallysung on the seventh day of the
Feast, and v. 26 (``Blessed be he that comethin the nameof the Lord ....'') was
seen as a reference to the Messiah. Onecelebration of the seventh day of the
Feast was the water libation ceremony,in which water was drawn from the pool of
Siloam and poured out on the altar. The water in this ceremony came to be
associated with the healing, purifying ``waters'' of the Holy Spirit that would
be poured out in the messianic age (Isa. 44:3; Ezek. 47:1; Zech. 14:8). When
Jesus proclaimed Himself on that day to be the source of the Spirit (John
7:37-39), He was saying that Hewas the Messiah and the fulfillment of the
ceremony's symbolism. His audience recognized the import of His proclamation
(v. 40-41).
A second indication of the typological nature of the fall
festivals is givenby the fact that all of the annual festivals are listed
together inLev. 23, implying that they form one unified whole. There is also an
orderlyprogressionin their symbolism at several levels, suggesting that God
intendedthem, asa unit, to tell a story. On one level, they tell the story of
theannualharvest in Israel, from spring to fall. On a second level, they
tellthe story of the Exodus,from the deliverance of Israel at Passover, to
thegiving of the law at Sinai during the Pentecost season, to the
wildernessjourney and arrival in the Promised Land pictured by the Feast of
Tabernacles. A third level is the story of the salvation of the world, from
Jesus'Passover sacrificeto the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on and after
Pentecost,and on to the time when God will tabernacle with mankind forever
(Rev. 21:3). Finally,the festivals tell the story of the salvation of
individual Christians,from our acceptance of Christ's sacrifice to our
receiving and followingthe lead ofthe Holy Spirit, and onward to eternal life.
As nineteenth-centuryLutheran preacher Joseph Seiss wrote in [7], ``There are
three general aspectsin which these remarkable festivals may be considered.
They had importantrelations to the peace and prosperity of the Jews as a
nation; they embodieda great religious idea; and they presented chronological
prefiguration ofthe great facts of our redemption.''
Given the
chronological progression in the typology of Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast
of Tabernacles, it is reasonable to believe that the festivals which fall
between Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles-the Feast of Trumpets and the
Day of Atonement-would have symbolism involving events to occur between the
founding and growth of the Church and the establishmentof the millennial
kingdom, events like the Day of the Lord, the first resurrection, and Christ's
return to judge the nations and be crowned as king over the earth. We have
endorsedsuch a belief in the past, as do references [1-3,5], pointing tothe
fact that these very events are associated in the Bible with the blowingof
trumpets (e.g., Joel 2:1-2, I Thes. 4:16-17, I Cor. 15:51-52, Matt. 24:30-31,
Rev. 11:15-18).
In summary, the traditional WCG understanding of the
meanings of the Feast ofTrumpets was based on some rather strong circumstantial
evidence: (1)There is broadconsensus in the Christian world on the prophetic
symbolismof Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. (2) This
symbolismindicates that the typology of the festivals lays out chronologically
thestory of God's plan of redemption.(3) Finally, the Feast of Trumpets
fallsshortly before the Feast of Tabernacles in the calendar, and trumpet
imageryis associated in the Bible with events to occur shortly before those
picturedby the Feast of Tabernacles.
Trumpet Symbolism and the Feast of Trumpets
The
argument outlined above can be substantiated further by evidence linking
biblical trumpet imagery with the Feast of Trumpets itself. Such evidence is
available in the Jewish theologyand festival traditions that had beendeveloped
by the first century A.D. With a better knowledge of the religionof Jesus'
time, wecan come to a deeper awareness and understanding of NewTestament
festival imagery (see [2,3]).
A particularly interesting section of
Scripture in this regard is the description of the seven trumpets of Rev. 8-9,
11. In this partof the book of Revelation (a book full of festival symbolism!)
six trumpets announce plagues designed to call the world to repentance (see
Rev. 9:20-21) before a seventh trumpet proclaims the judgment of the world
(Rev. 11:18). There is a striking parallel here with Jewish festivaltraditions.
In the Jewish tradition, the shofar is sounded on the first day of each
of the first six months of the Hebrew calendar. Thesetrumpet blasts are also
seen ascalls to repentance, reminders of the time ofjudgment that begins when
theshofar is sounded on the Feast of Trumpets (the first day of the
seventhmonth) and continues until the Dayof Atonement.
The context of
this section of Revelation gives further indication ofits connection with the
Feast of Trumpets. It begins in Rev. 8:1-5 withan offeringof incense and the
prayers of the saints at a golden heavenlyaltar,giving the passage a worship
setting. It is immediately followed,in Rev. 11:19, by the opening of the Most
Holy Place of the heavenly temple,where the ark of the covenant is seen. The
imagery here is that of the Dayof Atonement, the only time when the High Priest
ministered before the arkof the covenant (Lev. 16). Again, in Jewish tradition,
a judgment periodbegins on the Feast of Trumpets and reaches its culmination on
theDay ofAtonement. That tradition seems to be reflected in the symbolismof
Rev.8-11.
The theology of this passage provides yet another link with
the Feastof Trumpets. Aswe mentioned on p. 23, the Feast of Trumpets is
introducedin Lev. 23:24as a ``memorial of blowing of trumpets'' or
``remembrance blast'' (ziccaron teruah in Hebrew) ). The word
ziccaron (``remembrance'') has special significance in the Jewish
theology of the Feast of Trumpets[2,3]. In that theology, the festival calls
upon people to remember God,and it also calls upon God to``remember'' His
people and His covenant (Num.10:8-10). In Rev. 8:1-5, the prayers ofthe saints
are a plea to God to rememberHis people (see also Rev. 6:9-10),and God responds
powerfully by sendingthe seven trumpets. The kingshipof God (Rev. 11:15, 17) is
also a themelong associated with this festival.In Jewish tradition, three
``pillars''of the Feast of Trumpets are kingship, remembrance, and the sound of
theshofar. All three are picturedin Rev. 8-11.
The trumpet symbolism in
Rev. 8-9, 11 does, then, relate closely to the Feastof Trumpets. There are
possible Feast of Trumpets connections withsome other New Testament passages,
too. For example, Paul states in I Cor.15:52 that the resurrection of the
saints will occur ``in a moment, in thetwinkling of an eye, at the last
trump.'' According to Chumney [3], theterm ``last trump'' in Jewishtradition
refers specifically to the blowingof the shofar on the Feast
ofTrumpets.
Another verse with significant language is I Thes. 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
risefirst.'' Chumney explains in [3] that ``shouting'', the Feast of Trumpets,
and the resurrection of the dead are all intertwined in Jewish thought. The
source of this connection is the fact that teruah, the Hebrew word for
the trumpet blast in Lev. 23:24, alsocan be translated as an ``awakening
blast'' or ``shout''. As a result,biblical references to ``shouting'' (e.g.,
Isa. 12:6, 42:1,44:23; Jer. 31:7; Zeph. 3:14; Zech. 9:9) are associatedin
Jewish traditionwith the Feast of Trumpets. Interestingly, both awakening and
shouting areconnectedwith the resurrection of the dead in Isa. 26:19, which
states inthe NIV:``But your dead willlive; their bodies will rise. You who
dwellin the dust, wake up andshout for joy.'' Chumney also mentions a
Talmudicreference [Rosh Hashanah, 16b] to the belief (familiar to many
ofus!) that the resurrection of the dead will take place on the Feast of
Trumpets.
These examples indicate that it is reasonable to associate
the Feast of Trumpets with the Day of the Lord and the resurrection of the
saints, since the Bible and Jewish tradition give hints of such connections.
Concluding Thoughts
We conclude, along with [1-3, 5], that it is inaccurate to say that there is
``little scripturalor historic precedent'' for connecting the Feast of Trumpets
with the events to come at the close of this age. Our traditional case for
themeanings of the Feast of Trumpets is admittedly indirect, based as it is
uponthe clearer typology of the other festival days, but it canbe
strengthenedwith help from the festival allusions present in several
NewTestament passages, most notably Rev. 8-11. The light provided by
Scriptureand history shows that the meanings of the Feast of Trumpets are
certainlynot shrouded in shadow.
Still, we have much yet to learn about
the meanings and history of the Feast of Trumpets and the other annual
festivals. Here are three suggestions for modern-day students of festival
symbolism:
Don't be dogmatic, especially in regard to the Feast
of Trumpetsand the Day of Atonement. Typology is not an exact science. There is
general agreement on the Christian meanings of Passover, Pentecost,and the
Feastof Tabernacles, but which prophetic events one associates withthe Feast
ofTrumpets and which with the Day of Atonement may differ, depending upon
theparticular prophetic scenario one is following [2,3,5]. This is not
surprising,since the two festivals are closely linked and both haveconnections
with trumpet symbolism. (For the Day of Atonement, this connectionis through
the announcement of the Year of Jubilee-Lev. 25:9-and throughthe traditional
blowing of theshofar at the close of that day.)
Learn about Jewish
tradition. The WCG has come to see that there is much of value in the
nearly 2000 years of Christian thought, and the same is true of the many
centuries of Jewish thought. The Old Testamentis the most important source for
understanding the background and context oftheNew Testament, but the Jewish
tradition that developed after the timeof Malachi is also a very valuable aid
to our understanding. In particular,it can help us to recognize the implicit
festival symbolism in the New Testament, especially in the writings of the
apostle John.
Focus on Christ in the past, present, and future.
Years ago, wein the WCG tended to concentrate too much on the future aspects of
fallfestival symbolism. However, all of the festivals have past and present, as
wellas future, significance [1-2]. For example, the meaning of the Feast
ofTrumpets, broadly considered, includes the ways in which God
has``remembered''His people throughout history. The ultimate expression of
God's remembranceof us is found in the coming of Jesus-in the flesh,2000 years
ago; in thelives of believers today (John 14:23); and in powerat His glorious
return. There is indeed much for us to celebrate on theFeast of Trumpets, as
onall of God's annual festival days.
References
About
the Authors: Jeff Smith lives in Peoria, Illinios,and has been a member
of the WCG since 1974. He has written a book entitledThe Gospel Medley,
a single narrative of the four gospels that is asyet unpublished. He also
creates children's plays from scripture to be performed within the local
congregation. Jeff graduated with a B.S. from Case Western Reserve University
in 1978 and earned an MBA from Bradley University in 1994.
Jeff
works as a Senior Systems Analystfor Caterpillar, Inc., and has beenmarried to
his wife Julie for 13 years. They have three children: Victoria(11), Olivia(9),
and Raymond(6).