Feast of
Trumpets, 2002
Pastor Joe Fuiten,
Annual Business meeting is
in three weeks. We will vote on buying
the Totem Lake Property as well as elect two new Deacons.
This Wednesday is the 9/11
remembrance service.
“Special Appointments with
God” is available at the book table.
Our teachers will be
prayed over in both services.
This morning I am going to blow the Shofar as I have done for many years on this Sunday
celebrating the Feast of Trumpets. This
day is absolutely rich in weaving the whole story of the Bible together.
First, there is the Shofar
itself. The usual Scripture reading for
this day is the story of Abraham and Isaac, particularly God’s rescue of him
with the ram caught in the thicket.
Isaac asked Abraham, “I see the wood and the fire, but where is the
sacrifice?” Abraham answered
prophetically, “God will provide himself a sacrifice.” We know that Jesus became the ultimate
sacrifice, but the ram in the thicket was the immediate answer. So the ram’s horn became associated with this
day.
Secondly, when we hear the sound of
the Shofar we are to think about its ten different
meanings. Among those ten[1]
would be
And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were
perishing in
God has ascended amid
shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.
In the New
Testament, we understand that the return of the exiles to
We have mentioned that the shofar is associated
with Abraham's offering of Isaac in the
Properly blown, I would blow three medium blasts, nine short blasts, and a long blast. A distinguishing feature of the celebration is that last, climactic blast, the Teki'at Shofar. This is not the usual series of short bursts, signaling alarm or bad news. Rather, it is a long blast, signaling victory or good news. It is this last blast that is referred to as the “last trump.”
In Paul's Resurrection Chapter, I Corinthians 15:51-52, he describes the event which has now become known as "The Rapture" of the Church:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
As I understand it, this is the next event on God’s
calendar. We will hear the long blast
from heaven and everything will be changed.
The “last trump” is the other bookend for what Jesus began with his
sacrifice on the cross, the very event foreshadowed in the ram caught in the
thicket. It will be a long blast. It will be a victory blast. When Paul used the expression, the “last trumpet”,
he was knitting the second coming of Christ firmly into his Jewish
understanding of what God had been doing from the beginning.
Last year, on the Feast of Trumpets, we were still
staggering under the blow of 9/11 only three days before. I preached that 9/11
was an awakening blast. 9/11 was like
the nine shorts blasts on the shofar that sounded a
warning. It was like the beginning of
birth pangs; a sharp contraction that said get ready because a baby is
preparing to be born. In Matthew 24:6-8,
Jesus used that very analogy: “You
will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.
Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All
these are the beginning of birth pains.”
When the time of delivery comes, it will not be unlike that first brief
contraction. It will be sharper and more
intense, but it is the same type of pain.
Nine short blasts prepare for the long blast of victory.
In light of all that is to happen, possibly the dominant
theme of Feast of Trumpets for us is repentance.
During the ten days of the Feast of Trumpets a person is
to repent and prepare for the Day of Atonement.
Repentance prepares the way for forgiveness. Just as communion provides a monthly
opportunity to remember our sins, the Feast of Trumpets gives us an annual
review of our lives. Do we really need
to repent? We are Christian people. Why should we repent.
I met with a group of friends Thursday night. Each person shared a bit of their story. Several people mentioned the struggles they
had experienced in churches. They had
been hurt. Churches had literally shut
their doors. I didn’t like hearing it
but I knew it was true.
One of the young ladies is a seeker. Her heart is starting to open to the
Lord. In the middle of the week I had
talked to her about the important milestone where we go from God on the outside
to God on the inside. I talked about
opening the door of our heart so that Christ could come in. Do you know what she said? Bear in mind, this is a lady who is a PH D in
nuclear physics. She is a
scientist. Was her concern that the
Bible would somehow be inadequate? Not
really. Did she worry that science would
disprove God? Not in the least. She said to me, “I am not worried about Jesus
coming into my life. I’m worried about who
he might bring with him.” The Christian
people she had known were not people she could respect. At that very moment,
they were keeping her from fully opening her heart to Jesus.
I wonder how many people we have kept out of the
If you knew that the sound of my shofar
today would signal the coming of the Lord, is there a prayer that you would
pray? If yes, why don’t you pray that
prayer right now?
You can get ready for the sound because you can see me
lift the shofar and prepare to blow it. When the “last trumpet” sounds, you will not
see the preparation other than the “birth pains” that you are seeing around
you. It will kind of be expected, but
also a surprise.
Let God use this moment of preparation to speak to your
heart. Have a repentant heart. Have a soft heart toward God. Rather than taking a self-justifying stance,
agree with God. Turn from your way and
go God’s way. As you hear the sound,
think about what it means.
…………Shofar………
There are three responses that indicate that
we understand.
First, as you repent, do your best to go back
and make anything right that you cannot.
If you cannot, leave it with God.
But if you can make it right, do it.
Second, make the most of today and its
opportunities. For myself, I want to
build that High School. I want to
acquire that
Third, I want to understand the “birth pains.” What is happening in my world is for a divine purpose. I want to be exactly where Jesus is on this. I want to work with him now in preparation for the “last trump” which could sound at any moment.