In 1945, a correspondent for the Times of London reported on the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. He famously said, “It is my duty to describe something beyond the imagination of mankind.” What he had witnessed was so horrifying, people couldn’t understand it. Their imagination couldn’t come to grips with it.
What the Bible describes about the horrors about to come upon this world defies the imagination. What mankind is going to do to himself before Jesus Christ returns to put a stop to it will be the worst inhumanity and barbarity this world has ever seen! (Matthew 24:21; Daniel 12:1; Jeremiah 30:7).
The prophecies of that future time are the focus of the very beginning of the fall holy days. The first of these festivals is the Feast of Trumpets. Yet though it points to that unimaginable suffering—the main focus of that holy day is a cause for the greatest joy and celebration we could experience!
“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” (Numbers 29:1). This festival is a day of blowing the trumpets. We have something on this day to really trumpet!
Anciently, when Israel heard that sound, quite often it signified war. That was disturbing. It meant that people were going to be dying.
That is certainly true of this end time and of what the trumpets—not just one but several trumpets—on this holy day signify.
The Day of the Lord
In the book of Revelation are seven seals: first, false prophets; then war, famine, pestilence, the Great Tribulation, the heavenly signs (Revelation 6). The seventh seal includes seven trumpets (Revelation 8). That trumpet countdown is the “day of the Lord”—a year of God’s wrath against a sinful world.
Those seven trumpets bring curses upon the entire Earth: trees and grass burned, seas turned to blood, rivers and waters made bitter, injury to sun, moon and stars (verses 7-12). Then the fifth and sixth trumpets are woes: a German-led empire attacking Russia and the eastern kings, then those kings counterattacking with an army of 200 million soldiers—a gigantic murdering machine like the world has never seen! (Revelation 9). But it is going to see it soon, as part of the fulfillment of the day of Trumpets!
We need to recognize just how close this world is to the end of the age of man. God emphasizes this in the Feast of Trumpets—and we are extremely close to the fulfillment of this day! Preparations for these prophecies are already unfolding before your eyes.
It seems to me that the time we are in now—more than any I have ever seen—is the beginning of where all the major prophecies are unfolding! All kinds of prophecies are tied to the sequence of events described in Revelation, and it seems you can see it all happening already. You can see events hurtling toward the fulfillment of this trumpet countdown!
Those troubled, plague-filled events are described in many prophecies. Read Joel 1:12-16, which describe the conditions of the Day of the Lord: “The vine is dried up, … even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. … Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.”
Read Zephaniah 1:14-18: “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord ….” This is horrible suffering—beyond the imagination of men!
We must grasp this—and recognize our responsibility to warn this world. “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand” (Joel 2:1). We must blow the trumpet!
After all those plagues, then comes the seventh trumpet: “And the seventh angel sounded; 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” (Revelation 11:15). The last trump is going to be led by Jesus Christ Himself—the conquering King!
When He returns, there will be another terrible war: Christ will gather all the armies of Russia and China and the Holy Roman Empire and their allies and fill the Jehoshaphat Valley with their blood up to the horses’ bridles for 200 miles! (Revelation 14:14-20). That is a reality we must come to grips with—and it will happen when the Feast of Trumpets is fulfilled.
But realize this: As catastrophic as the events pictured by Trumpets are, it is also a day of celebration for God’s people. It won’t be long before Jesus Christ is ruling this world!
Praise and Thank God
As Hannah prophesied, “My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation” (1 Samuel 2:1). This is a wonderful thing to rejoice in: your salvation! God is saving you! He is giving His firstfruits opportunities that nobody else will ever receive.
“There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God” (verse 2). Hannah really praised God to the heavens! If you want victories in your trials, tests and personal battles, follow Hannah’s example: Praise God!
“Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength” (verses 3-4). This lady had remarkable prophetic vision. She was close to God, and God filled her mind with prophecy.
“He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory …” (verse 8). She is talking about King David and his throne—and David hadn’t even come on the scene yet! But she bore a son named Samuel who paved the way for King David.
When Christ returns to sit on that throne of glory, we are going to join Him on that throne for all eternity! What a wonderful vision!
Verse 8 concludes, “… for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them.” God’s firstfruits are those pillars—and God is going to set the whole world upon them! How important that each member of God’s Church works to become a pillar—the greatest, strongest pillar you can possibly be. We really need pillars in this Church!
“The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed” (verse 10).
What a vision is wrapped up in the fall holy days—beginning with Trumpets, which pictures the time when God’s adversaries shall be broken to pieces and God shall give strength unto His King: the King of kings, Jesus Christ! He will judge the whole Earth, and God is offering us the opportunity to rule right alongside Him.
What a magnificent reward! But we are going to have to fight for it. We must fight spiritually with all the strength and power God gives us. And as we yield to Him, He will bless us with miracles. Even as the world falls to pieces, He will protect us.
We have so many reasons to praise God! How blessed we are, and how God looks after us. Oh, how we need to be praising God like Hannah did. Keep thanking and praising God all the time and following the lead of our Commander—and in the end, we are going to shine like the stars forever and ever and ever. That too is something beyond the imagination of mankind! But it is a reward truly worth fighting for!