Gospels Part 014
In our Know Your Sword series, as we examine at what the biblical Holy Days teach us about Jesus Christ, we now come to the Feast of Trumpets, commanded in Leviticus 23:23-25.
This Holy Day foreshadows the second coming of Jesus Christ, and today we will explore what it teaches us about His role in things to come.
Jesus Himself talks about the symbolism of the trumpet in Matthew 24:30-31:
"Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
In several places the sound of trumpets is tied to Jesus Christ’s second coming! This is an event we look forward to with great anticipation.
Notice in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 the apostle Paul’s description of the resurrection of the dead at the time a great trumpet announces Christ’s return:
"Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
We find this again mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:16:
"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first."
These passages tell us that Jesus Christ will fulfill the symbolism behind the Feast of Trumpets. At His return all of God’s faithful people of past centuries will be resurrected to eternal life in the family of God. And those still alive at that time will be miraculously transformed into spirit beings as Paul described.
Jesus Christ is at the center of this Feast too. It is all about His return to earth and the world-transforming events this will bring. At His second coming, the trumpet shall sound, announcing the arrival of the King of Kings. As Revelation 11:15 tells us, loud voices proclaim, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
But until the sound of the trumpet is heard, this Feast is still pointing to the future, and its meaning is still to be fulfilled—with Jesus Christ at its center.
If you’d like to learn more about this biblical Feast and its meaning, search ucg.org for “Feast of Trumpets.” You’ll find dozens of articles and sermons exploring this biblical Feast in much greater detail. And our free study aid, Why Were You Born? describes our purpose in life, which is to be a part of God’s immortal spirit family!
© Scott Ashley, 2025. All rights reserved.
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Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
