A Call to Repentance

I've been here quite a while. I've given lots of Feast of Trumpets messages. I guess I gave 18 of them in Oklahoma City. I was reviewing those messages before I prepared the Feast of Trumpets message that I gave just a couple of days ago. I was struck at how loud and clear God has always warned His people before He executes judgment. God warned the people before the flood. The Bible tells us that. He warned them. About 120 years He took warning them. He warned Nineveh through sending the prophet Jonah.

That actually did some good for the Ninevites for a while, anyway. God also warned the house of Israel before they were taken captive into Assyria. He warned the house of Judah before they were taken into captivity and before the temple was destroyed. Now, we know that the Feast of Trumpets is a call to assemble when the blowing of the shofar would take place. Israel would gather together. It's also used for a number of other reasons. It's a call to war.

Blowing of the trumpet is also called to assemble the troops together to announce perhaps the coming of the king, also to move troops around. The trumpet would be blown. So there's a number of reasons why a shofar would be blown. What I'd like to focus on today is a warning message that God gives us on the Feast of Trumpets.

Now, I know I'm a couple days late, but I really wanted to give this message to all of you because I think it is an important one that we certainly need to consider. And I'm not really sure what all was said on the Feast of Trumpets, but I have a feeling that this is probably something that if it was covered to some degree it was not covered to the extent that I'll be discussing it today.

The trumpets, the Feast of Trumpets, should serve as a warning or wake-up call that Christ is indeed returning, and the Bride of Christ is to be very busy making herself ready for the Christ coming. Now, there are a number of other vital lessons that we learn from the Feast of Trumpets, but this is one that we really need to consider.

That it is a warning message that the bride needs to make herself ready for the return of the groom, for the return of Christ. Also, we need to realize that the Feast of Trumpets is also a call to repentance. It is a time to consider our own lives, how we've been living, and perhaps what we should do to change. Now, the Jews believe that the Feast of Trumpets reflects God's desire to summon his people, to call his people, to repentance, so that he can vindicate them on the day of his judgment, the day of atonement.

The day of atonement is coming very soon now. We know there are 10 days between the Feast of Trumpets and the day of atonement. We're just a week away now. The Jews believe that the 10 days between the Feast of Trumpets and the day of atonement is a period, a time of judgment for them. They call these days, these 10 days, the days of all, A-W-E, the days of all, or the days of repentance. And they pray many prayers of repentance or penitence, seeking God's forgiveness and God's mercy.

They seek a favorable judgment from God, and they see the day of atonement as their judgment day. So, these days that we're in now, the Jews would look at as days of repentance, days of soul searching, of considering the life that we've been living, and again, whether or not we need to repent and change our behavior. At the blast of the 7th Trumpet, it's very likely that Jesus Christ will return to the earth at that time.

That's what the Scripture indicates. He will return to this earth, and salvation will be with him. It says he's bringing salvation with him. But who is he bringing salvation for when he returns? Is it for the whole world? Not in the strictest sense, because only when he returns the first time, or the second time, he's, I'm really going to get myself in trouble here.

This is not what I meant to say. When he returns, it will be for the first fruits, primarily. I mean, it's going to be for the whole world, obviously. But as far as salvation, he's bringing salvation for the first fruits. He's not bringing salvation at that time, right then, for the world. Now, it is different for those who are first fruits, though, because we know that we will be changed in a moment at the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet.

We will be changed to spirit. We will be born into the family of God at that time. So it is a very special, obviously, a very, very special time for us. And we know that God will eventually call everyone, but in his own order. In fact, let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, where we read that the Apostle Paul understood that now is not the only day of salvation.

This is a very important understanding. I was meeting, I met with someone yesterday, a brand new person who had called me in the Tulsa area, and I was explaining to him that now is not the only day of salvation. He really had never heard this before.

And it is vital for our understanding. If we go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 20, but now Christ has risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Obviously, he's talking about those who have died. For since by man came death, that is, of course, speaking of Adam, by man, notice it's capitalized as speaking of Christ, by man or by Christ also came the resurrection of the dead. For as an Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order, Christ the first fruits, Christ is the very first of the first fruits. Afterward, those who are Christ at his coming. There will be a group of people that will be Christ or that will be changed at the return of Christ. Verse 24 says, then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father. Now Paul skips over some information here, but it's true what he says is true. Then after that period comes the end when Christ will deliver the kingdom to God the Father. Of course, the great white throne judgment period, the thousand years before that, will also take place. There will be certainly a second resurrection where billions of people will be resurrected, and they will have their opportunity for salvation at that time. So again, it's important that we realize that now is not the only day of salvation, but it is the only day of salvation for those who are among the first fruits, those who receive the Spirit of God in this physical life. Today, it is our day of salvation.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 50, if we drop down to verse 50, here it says, Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep.

In other words, we're not all going to die, but we shall all be changed. There will still be some people living when Christ returns, and some of those people will be the first fruits. They will be among the first fruits. 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. For this corruptible, speaking of this flesh, this corruptible must put on incorruption. This flesh must become spirit, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. So we are looking forward to this time, to the fulfillment of these days, when the first fruits will be born into the family of God, will no longer be physical, but will become spirit beings, just like Christ. We will be like Him. We will see Him as He is. What a wonderful, tremendous blessing we have in store. What a wonderful reward we all have to look forward to. In John chapter 5, and I suppose you probably covered some of these verses on the piece of trumpets, but it won't hurt you to hear them again.

John chapter 5 verses 28 and 29, Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. Now again, everyone in His own order, however, first the first fruits, they are going to be resurrected in the first resurrection, the better resurrection as we read about in Revelation. So there will be a resurrection to life for the first fruits, and then later on there will be a general resurrection after the thousand-year period during the great white throne judgment period, and people will have an opportunity at that time to either accept Christ as their Savior or to reject Christ and to reject God's way of life.

It says they will hear His voice, His shout, or His trumpet call. If you look back here, all who are in the graves will hear His voice. They will hear His shout. They will hear that trumpet call when Christ returns. Those who are Christ, those sheep who are listening to the great shepherd. So the Feast of Trumpets is reflective also of a day of judgment, but a day of judgment for whom? That's right, for you and me. This is our day of salvation, so it is important that we consider this. This is a time, a day of judgment for the first fruits. At the blast of the seventh trumpet, those who are first fruits, those who are called, chosen, and faithful. It has to be all three, called, chosen, and faithful. They will rise from their graves if they've died, and those saints who are living at the time will be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye.

Those who are not among the first fruits, they will remain asleep in their graves.

They're not going to be resurrected at that time. This is a better resurrection.

This is for the first fruits. The others won't hear the voice. They won't hear the shout. They won't hear the trumpet call. They will remain in their graves.

So again, the same is true here on the earth. Those who are living, if you are a saint, you will be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. But if you're not one of the saints, you'll still be living in the flesh. You will be one of the few survivors.

It could be that only 10% of the world's population will actually survive the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord. So many billions of people are going to die.

It's going to be a frightful time. So those who live in the flesh into the millennium will have seen the frightful return of Jesus Christ. You know, they're going to wonder what's going on, what's happening here. Christ is coming back in great power and glory, and it is not going to be something done in a corner. All people will know when Christ returns. The Feast of Trumpets is also a day of judgment for the world in the sense that the world will be judged and punished for its many sins. It's very likely that the Feast of Trumpets will begin the Day of the Lord. Now, again, I say it's likely that the Feast of Trumpets will begin the Day of the Lord, and it will also end the Day of the Lord at Christ's return. That's a bit of speculation based on Scripture. You know, I don't know that we can say for sure that Christ is going to return on the Day of Trumpets.

Many people believe that He will. Some obviously don't necessarily see it that way.

But the Day of the Lord will probably last a year. Again, that's based on some scriptures. For example, there's an article here on the exciting Feast of Trumpets where Mr. Hooser mentions, he says, the blowing of these trumpets apparently takes place over the course of a year. He's speaking about those trumpet plagues in the book of Revelation, the seven trumpets that will blow.

He says they will likely take place over the course of a year since Isaiah 34.8 refers to this time as the Day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion. He mentions that one trumpet plague will take five months. So it's going to be likely a year the Day of the Lord.

A day is as a year. In prophecy, also, we understand that principle.

So we have some very interesting times ahead of us. There's no doubt about that. There's no question about it. These plagues are going to be poured out during the Day of the Lord. Now, the Feast of Trumpets is symbolic, again, of a Day of Judgment for the firstfruits. Now is our time of judgment.

Again, it's also symbolic of a day or year of judgment and punishment for mankind's sins.

The Day of the Lord, when God will pour out his vengeance on people who have rejected him. You know, we have many atheists today. We have many agnostics, people that don't believe in God.

They don't trust God. They don't understand who he is. They rejected the Ten Commandments.

They're living in sin, and God's going to send a message. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, we probably did go here on the Feast of Trumpets, but let's go review it again in light of this sermon. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

Verse 13. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13. But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep or those who have died, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord. Paul evidently believed he would be one of those who would be alive. He got that wrong. It is possible to get things wrong. Paul did. Others have gotten these things wrong. But those who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep or those who have died, which obviously this corresponds with what we've read in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 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. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Now we know that Christ is coming back on the Mount of Olives according to Zechariah chapter 14. So we're going to meet Christ in the air. We're going to put down the rebellion.

The battle of Armageddon will be waging. They're going to turn on Christ as He returns and on the angels that will be coming back with Christ and all of the saints who have been changed to spirit.

It says, we will meet the Lord in the air and thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Therefore comfort one another with these words. And these are comforting words to know that in the end God wins, the saints win, and we need to be on the right side.

So again, when is this period of judgment for the first fruits? When is it?

Well, let's go to 1 Peter chapter 4 and see what Peter says about the time of judgment. 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 12. Peter says, Beloved, do not think it strains concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproach for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, as a thief or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters, gossiping and so forth. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, that is a true follower of Christ, a true disciple of Christ. Let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. So Paul is saying that the time is here for the firstfruits, for the saints of God. This was 2000 years ago, roughly. The time had begun when the Christian church began, and even before that, certainly judgment was upon David, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, because it was their day of salvation. God granted them His Spirit.

It was their time to change, to grow, to overcome, and to remain faithful, called, chosen, and faithful.

So the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. He's speaking of God's church for the saints. And if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? So it is very, very important that we realize that now is our day of salvation. This is our time of being judged. In Revelation 11, it speaks of the seventh angel sounding. Again, likely you may have gone to this on trumpets. Revelation 11 verse 15.

When Christ returns, He's bringing a reward with Him. It is salvation, and it is an opportunity to rule and reign with Him. You should reward your servants and the prophets and the saints, and those who fear your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.

Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the Ark of His covenant was seen in His temple, and there were lightnings and noises, thunderings and earthquake, and great hell. So when the seventh angel sounds, the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and Christ will reign then forever and ever.

In Revelation 17, it speaks of the beast power that will arise.

Ten nations or kings will give their authority to the beast. Revelation 17 verse 13. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.

These will make war with the Lamb. When the Lamb returns, when Christ comes, they will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them. There's really no contest.

God is far more powerful than any beast power. For He is Lord of lords, and He is King of kings.

So who are these other lords and kings? The saints. The saints who are changed into spirit, coming out of the graves or being changed while they're alive, being changed into spirit.

So He is King of kings and Lord of lords, and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful. I think that's as far as we need to read for now. Let's go to Revelation 19 and read a few verses here.

After these things in verse 1, I heard a loud voice. I'm in Revelation 19 verse 1.

After these things, I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Alleluia, salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God.

For true and righteous are His judgments. Because He has judged the great harlot, who corrupted the earth with her fornication. It's speaking about a Babylonish mystery religion, a system that has been working for thousands of years, basically since Adam and Eve were created just shortly after that.

This system began, certainly the Tower of Babel, Nimrod, Semiramis, you know, it was certainly working at that time.

And we see it still working today in the holidays that people keep. They are just ancient days being observed and kept today.

So salvation, glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God. Verse 2, For true and righteous are His judgments. Because He has judged the great harlot, who corrupted the earth with her fornication, with her adulteries and fornications, with various nations of the world, all of them combining together, doing these things, sinning against God, learning the way of the heathen and the pagan and doing these things that are an abomination, it says in God's sight. And He has avenged on her blood, on her the blood of His servants shed by her. Many have died over the years. The disciples were all martyred, except perhaps John, and there's evidence that he may have been martyred as well. So they've shed a lot of blood over the years, and they will continue to shed blood in the last days. Some will lay their lives down and will become martyrs. Others, of course, will be protected and taken to a place of safety where they're kept from this system. Verse 3, again, they said, Hallelujah, her smoke rises up forever and ever, and the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who sat on the throne, saying, Amen, Hallelujah. Then a voice came from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all His servants, and praise those who fear Him, both small and great. Notice verse 6, and I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude as the sound of many waters, as the sound of mighty thundering, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. And let us be glad and rejoice, and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. Now, who is His wife? His wife. Who is the bride of Christ? It is the Church of God, who is to become without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. So we are still in the process, aren't we, of growing and overcoming? We're not there yet. We're still in the process of growing and overcoming, and undoubtedly, God will be gracious in granting us repentance along the way.

The Lamb has come, the wife has made herself ready, and to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen. Clean and bright for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

Then He said to me, Right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

And He said to me, These are the true sayings of God. These are the true sayings of God. These things will be accomplished. They will come to pass. So the Church needs to be making itself ready.

Individually and collectively, you as one of God's saints, you need to examine your life. Now, we talk a lot about that around Passover time, and well, we should. But there are many parallels between God's Holy Days. Now is also a good time to examine yourself and to consider whether or not you do need to repent and you do need to change your behavior. Now is our time to be faithful.

Yes, the Passover pictures our acceptance of Christ as our Passover Lamb who shed His blood for us.

And the Days of Unleavened Bread picture putting sin out of our lives and becoming unleavened, putting on the mind of Christ, allowing Christ to live in us. Pentecost pictures the granting of God's Holy Spirit to His firstfruits, and it symbolizes the beginning of the Christian Church, the true followers of Christ.

In the period of time between Pentecost and trumpets, this time that we've gone through since Pentecost and now, it also pictures our day or time of salvation. So if you think about it, it does picture this day of salvation that we are under as the firstfruits.

So we shouldn't take any day lightly because every day pictures a time of repentance. We ought to be repenting on a daily basis before God. So now is our time to be faithful. We have been called and chosen. Will we remain faithful?

So ask yourself, how have you been living your life since the spring holy days?

Have you remained unleavened? Have you been perfect? Probably not. I haven't been perfect.

I know that. I've slept. I've fallen. I've sinned against God, probably in more ways than I even realize. So if you slipped and sinned, or when you slipped and sinned, were you repentant? Were you sorry with a godly sorrow for what you had done? And did you seek repentance? Have you been seeking God's forgiveness and His repentance? If so, then you will remain called, chosen, and faithful.

Because again, we fall short. We're still in the flesh. And Paul showed very clearly that there is a great war going on in our flesh. We are to walk in the Spirit, but unfortunately there are times when we are tempted and when we give into the flesh, when we sin against God, every sin needs to be repented of. No sin should be taken for granted. No sin should be taken lightly. And again, I've said this in the past. If you haven't learned the lessons of the spring holy days, you certainly aren't going to look forward to the fulfillment of the fall holy days. If you haven't learned the lessons of the spring holy days, which obviously are repentance as well, we repent at Passover. We've accepted Christ as our Savior. We've repented. We're putting sin out of our lives. We're becoming unleavened. If we haven't learned those lessons, and if we're not practicing that way of life, then we're not going to look forward to Christ's return because that's not going to be a good thing. So we need to be making ourselves ready for Christ's return. And again, that's a big problem with the Jews as well.

They didn't recognize and acknowledge and accept Christ as their Savior.

So they are ignorant of the true meaning of the spring holy days and the Feast of Trumpets.

The return of Jesus Christ is going to catch the Jews by surprise. They don't understand the true, complete meaning of the Feast of Trumpets because they never acknowledged or recognized Christ's first coming.

They do, however, understand aspects of the Feast of Trumpets that we as the first fruits can also apply and use to help us be better prepared for the return of Christ and the fulfillment of the meaning behind the Feast of Trumpets. So I'm going to share some of these things with you for the remainder of the sermon. What is now known as the Feast of Trumpets has no title or has no explicit reason for its observance in the Bible. It's not spelled out explicitly.

It is simply called the Day of Blowing or a Remembrance Blast. Let's go to Leviticus 23.

By the way, it's easy to remember where you find trumpets because it's Leviticus 23.

Leviticus 23 is the chapter we all know, or many of us at least know, that that's where you find the Holy Days. Verse 23 begins the Feast of Trumpets. And of course, trumpets is kind of in the middle there, isn't it? You've got the Spring Holy Days, you've got Pentecost, you've got trumpets, you've got the Fall Holy Days. Verse 23, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, according to God's sacred calendar, you shall have a Sabbath rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation, a commanded assembly. We already get together on the Feast of Trumpets, and you shall do no customary work on it. You shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.

And then it talks about 10 days later, the day of Atonement comes.

And we look forward to the day of Atonement, more because it's a very spiritual day, not so much because we're not going to be able to eat on that day or to drink water. But we know that it is a very spiritual day. It really is a wonderful day. In Numbers 29 verse 1, Numbers chapter 29 verse 1, here again it shows that it is a day of blowing of trumpets. Numbers 29 verse 1, And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation, you shall do no customary work, for for you it is a day of blowing the trumpet.

Again, a holy convocation. Since the blowing of the trumpet or the shofar was the distinguishing characteristic of the day, it became known as the Feast of Trumpets. It was one of God's holy days. It was a feast day. The biblical texts give no specific reason for observing the feast. Perhaps it was because the reason was too obvious to require comment.

The blowing of the trumpet was understood to be a call to stand trial before the heavenly throne, according to the Jews. That's what they got out of this. It was a call to stand trial before the heavenly throne to give an account of one's deeds and to receive the promise of God's mercy. Now, you remember on the day of atonement, the high priest would come in once a year into the holy of holies, and he would make an atonement for the people. And their sins would be forgiven as the high priest. Now, we know that Christ is our high priest today. A little different relationship, but the Jews looked at that physical high priest that would go in there once a year to make atonement for all their sins. That was the day of judgment for them. And these 10 days in between trumpets and the day of atonement, they took very seriously as a time of examination and of repentance.

Now, the prophets used the metaphor of the shofar to call the people to repentance and return to God.

For example, the prophet Joel called for blast of the shofar in Zion in Jerusalem to impress the people with their needed repentance. Let's go to Joel chapter 2. Joel chapter 2.

Joel chapter 2 verse 15. Blow the trumpet in Zion. I believe that's the word shofar.

Blow the shofar in Zion, the ram's horn. By the way, I did blow the trumpet on a piece of trumpets. I took my shofar that I'd gotten from the land of Israel.

I think I blew that here once, didn't I? Does anyone remember me bringing the shofar here?

I thought I did, maybe on the day of atonement. Yeah, Peyton remembers. All the older people don't remember anything, but the young... that tells us something. I'm pretty sure that I did bring it and blew it here once upon a time. Anyway, verse 15, it says, Blow the trumpet in Zion.

Consecrate a fast. Call a sacred assembly. Gather the people. Sanctify the congregation. Assemble the elders. Gather the children and nursing babes. Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber and the bride from her dressing room. Let the priest who ministered to the Lord weep between the porch and the altar. Let them say, Spare your people, O God, or O Eternal, and do not give your heritage to reproach. That the nation should rule over them. Why should they say among the people, Where is their God? So blow the trumpet. Consecrate a fast. Call a sacred assembly.

So it's likely that this is a reference to the Feast of Trumpets and also to the Day of Atonement, since he mentions three major characteristics of these days, the shofar, the fast, and the solemn assembly. Now, during the religious reformation of King Asa, the Israelites entered into a covenant to seek the Lord. Let's go to 2 Chronicles chapter 15. This is probably something that you haven't paid much attention to. I haven't really looked at very closely. Perhaps you have, but I would guess some of you haven't. 2 Chronicles chapter 15. I'd like to read several verses here, because it's germane to what we're talking about today. Now, the Spirit of God, I'm in 2 Chronicles chapter 15. Now, the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Obed, and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin, the Lord is with you, the Eternal is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. Now, that's very, very important that at this time of repentance that we are drawing near to God, because if we do, he will draw near to us. He will grant us repentance, but if we continue in our sins and we don't draw near to God, then we get further and further away from God, and sin becomes a stronghold. The Bible speaks of casting down strongholds. Sins can become addictive. They can become very addictive. So, it's important that we seek God and we do not forsake him. For a long time, Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law. So, they had gotten away from God. They had strayed from God. For a long time, it says, they were they they have they have been without the true God.

They've been without a teaching priest, and they went been without the law. So, they were very far away from God. But when in their trouble, they turned to the Lord God of Israel and sought him.

He was found by them. Now, the key is to repent before you're really in trouble, though, isn't it? I mean, why do we have to wait until we're really in trouble? Repent sooner. Repent immediately.

Always be in a state of repentance so that you don't have to go through some of these difficult times that Israel went through. Verse 5, and in those times, there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in. People were coming and going. There was no peace. They weren't obeying God. They weren't following him, and they were paying a price for it. Be sure your sins will find you out. But great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the land. So, nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, there was war. They were fighting amongst themselves. For God troubled them with every adversity. God sent these troubles and adversities upon them, and He certainly allowed them as well. But you be strong, and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded. You know, we will be rewarded for our work. We should not become weary in well-doing. We should continue to do our work. We do not labor in vain. That's what God's telling us today. We need to be encouraged to keep up the good work, because I know that there is much good work here.

But if there's also a need to repent, we need to acknowledge that. We need to repent. I know I need to repent of my sins. I suspect you're in the same boat I am. And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Obed the prophet, he took courage, and he removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim. And he restored the altar of the Lord that was before the vestibule before the vestibule of the Eternal. So great reforms were taking place here. He had curries now. He had repented. The law was going forth again, and Asa was repenting. Verse 9, Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon. For they came over to him in great numbers from Israel, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. Okay, that's when we're really going to see some changes when people see that the Lord God is with us. Perhaps it's because of timing more than anything else right now, that we don't see more people coming. I think back in the 60s there were certainly more people being called. I don't think anyone can deny that. I mean, there were people were coming out of the woodwork. They were being called. For some reason, that's not happening now. Maybe we need to do more soul searching to figure out why that is. Perhaps it is just timing. Perhaps God will turn on the spigot again, and we'll see more. I've been getting some more calls the last couple weeks anyway. Now, whether or not it will continue, I don't know. Anyway, it's interesting to consider. They came over in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month in the 15th year of the reign of Asa. And they offered to the Lord at that time 700 bulls and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought. And they sacrificed these animals to God. They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all of their heart and with all of their soul. And whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death. That's how serious it was. That's how seriously they were taking it. Whether small or great, whether man or woman, didn't matter. Then they took an oath before the Lord with a loud voice with shouting and trumpets and ram's horns or shofars. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul.

You know, one of the great commandments is to love God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our might. They rejoiced and they sought God with all of their soul, with all of their might. And He was found by them and the Lord gave them rest all around. God blessed them and God gave them rest. So if we do want to be blessed, we certainly need to be obeying God. We need to be following Him and keeping His commandments faithfully. So we should learn the lessons of King Asa and of this time period, this time of repentance. In Isaiah 58 verse 1, Isaiah 58, Isaiah explicitly associated the sound of the shofar with an admonition or warning against sin.

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. The blowing of the trumpet. It's a time of warning. It's a time of showing one another that we are sinful people who need to repent of our sins and draw nearer to God.

Now, according to Samuel Bakiyoki, who I believe is the seventh day of Venice, I guess he still is. I don't really know what he's been doing for several years since I've checked in on him or what he's been doing. I have met him. Some of you have probably met him as well. Anyway, Samuel Bakiyoki wrote a book about the spring holy days and the fall holy days. He wrote two books, one about the spring holy days, one about the fall holy days. He says, The literal and figurative usages of the shofar by the prophets to warn people of their sins and call them to repentance was most likely derived from the Feast of Trumpets. The annual trumpet call to repentance and cleansing in view of the judgment conducted in the heavenly court during the 10 days running from the Feast of Trumpets to the Day of Atonement. Now, this is how you can't really find it in the Bible, but this was basically their tradition, the Jewish tradition. It was things that they believed about this heavenly court that was being conducted.

In his book, entitled What Christians Should Know About the Jews and Judaism, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein explains that the shofar is sounded on Rosh Hashanah or the Feast of Trumpets, which means the beginning of the year. Speaking of this civil or the agricultural year, it was sounded to arouse us from our moral reverie, to call us to spiritual regeneration and to alert us to the need to engage in what's called teshuvah or repentance.

The shofar is the clarion call to perform teshuvah or repentance, to search our deeds and mend our ways before the awesome Day of Judgment. Again, the Day of Atonement was looked upon as a Day of Judgment. It is a reminder of our need to confront our inner selves just as God confronted Adam after he sinned in the garden with the question, where are you? God knew what was going on, so he says, where are you, Adam? Adam's hiding because he knew that he had sinned.

So God knows us, too. He knows whether we've sinned or not. He sees everything, so we can't hide from him. Now, in a similar vein, the Greek Jewish philosopher, I'm sorry, the great Jewish philosopher, you can't have a Greek Jewish philosopher. Well, maybe you could have it. I don't know. Anyway, the Jewish philosopher Mamanites explained that the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah or Trumpets is a wake-up call for people to abandon their evil ways and return to God. Awakow you sleepers is what Mamanitis says. I'm quoting from him now. Awakow you sleepers. Awake from your sleep. Search your deeds and turn in repentance.

O you who forget the truth in the vanities of time and go astray all the year after vanity and folly. I think sometimes we are guilty of that. We go astray after vanity and after foolishness that neither profit nor save. Remember your Creator. Look at your souls and better your ways and actions. Let every one of you abandon his evil ways and his wicked thoughts and return to God so that he may have mercy on you. The shofar beckoned the people with a solemn message of warning to repent for the time of judgment had come. It called upon the people to examine their lives.

To mend their ways and to experience a divine cleansing. The blowing of the shofar on the first day of the seventh month was understood by the Jews as the beginning of their trial before the heavenly court where books would be opened and the destiny of each individual would be decided.

The trial would last 10 days until the day of atonement or Yom Kippur when God would dispose of their sins in a permanent way. They would be forgiven. Basically those sins were still around until the day of atonement. Even though there were sacrifices that were given, the yearly cleansing was very important. The high priest would go in there just once a year on the day of atonement. Again, the 10 days are called the days of all. AWE or the days of repentance. During these 10 days, a universal judgment is conducted in heaven, according again to the Jewish tradition, is conducted in heaven on the basis of records kept in books on the life of every person. So I guess their feeling was God's writing it all down. I don't think God's writing it all down. I think God knows what we've done. He knows what we need to repent of.

The rabbinical literature of the rabbi speaks explicitly of books that were opened by the heavenly court on the Feast of Trumpets. That's when they were first opened in order to decide the destiny of every human being. Now, I'm not saying I agree with all of this necessarily. I'm saying this is Jewish tradition. This is how they looked at it. I think we can learn from how they looked at these things. So the books were opened by the heavenly court on the Feast of Trumpets in order to decide the destiny of every human being. The heavenly judgment that begins on the Feast of Trumpets is sealed or confirmed 10 days later on the Day of Atonement. As the Mishnah puts it, all the human beings are judged on Rosh Hashanah, and the divine sentence is sealed on Yom Kippur or Yom Kippur on the Day of Atonement. Now, of course, we would look at that differently. We don't believe that now is the only day of salvation, but we do believe that judgment has begun at the house of God. So it is your day of salvation. It's my day of salvation. So it behooves us first fruits to consider this and to think about it. The Feast of Trumpets in Old Testament times was understood and experienced as the inauguration of a judgment process that culminated on the Day of Atonement with the final disposition of all sins committed during the previous year. So all the sins would be forgiven, in a sense, on the Day of Atonement. In the rabbinic tradition, the Feast of Trumpets is clearly seen as a day of judgment. According to John Pauline in a book he wrote entitled, this is very long, The Role of the Hebrew Cultist Sanctuary and the Temple in the Plot and Structure of the Book of Revelation. He says, the central motif of Rosh Hashanah is that of the Day of Judgment. On this day, says tradition, all who enter the world pass before the heavenly judge like troops in review. So the shofar was to call the troops. They were to assemble.

They were to go before the shepherd's crook, sheep beneath the shepherd's crook.

God opens his great book and records the fate of each according to his desire.

Who is to live and who is to die, who is to rest and who is to rove, who to grow rich and who to grow poor. Now this again, this was how they would look at this in ancient times. Who God was going to bless, who he wasn't going to bless, so forth. Who would die that year. You know, that's how they looked at it. But they saw it as a time of judging. Like the sheep going beneath the shepherd's crook, where the shepherd is examining the sheep. He's checking them out to make sure they're healthy. They're okay. The theme of divine judgment is emphasized in the special morning service, which is called Musaf, M-U-S-A-F of Rosh Hashanah. And I'll quote from that, the most famous element of this service, as Theodore Gaster explains, is the solemn chanting of the hymn entitled, Una Tana Tokaf. Some Hebrew words. Now let us recite the majesty of this day, in which God is represented as sitting in heavenly asides, which means God is there in legislative assembly, while mankind passes before him in judgment. The great trumpet is blown, and a still small voice is heard. The angels quiver in fright, fear and trembling seize them, and they cry one to another, Behold, the day of judgment is here, when the hosts on high shall be visited with judgment, for they are now guiltless, for they are not guiltless in God's eyes.

And of course, even the angels it says will be judged. There were angels, demons, who fell, who sinned against God. So they're talking about that to some degree here. And all that enter the world shall pass before him as troops in review. Even as a shepherd tends his flock, making them to pass beneath his crook, so shall God make every living being to pass beneath his gaze, as he counts in numbers and tells them, and sets his brand upon all creation, and seals the doom of each. Now, I don't believe God's sealing the doom of all of us by any means. I think God is gracious and merciful. He will grant repentance to those who have a heart and a mind to repent, both the firstfruits and then also later on during the great white great white throne judgment period. This view of the Feast of Trumpets as the time when God judges the world, as Abraham P. Block points out, and again, much of this I've taken from Samuel Bakkioki, and you can take it for what it's worth. I don't know for sure how much it's worth.

You can be the judge of that as well. This view of the Feast of Trumpets as the time when God judges the world, as Abraham P. Block points out, has its origin in scriptural texts and in the admonitions and proclamations of the prophets and psalmists. The Rite of the Shofar was another revealing indication of the judgment aspect of this holiday or holy day.

Again, from Bakkioki's book, he says, Haim Shaus explains that the only difference between the blowing of the Shofar on the new moon of other months, because they started blowing them in the first month, on the new moon they would blow the trumpets, but they would be short blasts. He says the only difference between the blowing of the Shofar on the new moon of other months and that of the seventh month is that short blasts were blown at the new moon of other months, while long alarm blasts were sounded on the new moon of the seventh month or the Feast of Trumpets. So again, I take that as the short blasts were to remind people that the Feast of Trumpets is coming.

Every month on the new moon they would blow those trumpets.

And then on the seventh month there would be long alarm blasts because that was a real warning to repent. The blowing of the trumpets was understood to be a call to repent and prepare oneself to stand trial before God who would execute His judgment again 10 days later on the day of atonement. The importance of the Feast is indicated by the fact that the Jews anticipated its arrival on the first day of each month, again with the blowing of the small blasts on the new moon, short blasts of the shofar. These short blasts were in anticipation of the long alarm blasts to be sounded on the new moon of the seventh month. At the beginning of each month on the new moon, trumpets would be blown as a reminder and a warning of what was to come, again the day of judgment or the period of judgment leading up to the day of atonement.

Now let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 where it tells us that we will all go before the judgment seat of Christ. God has given it to Christ to be the judge. Of course, Christ is our high priest.

Christ knows our frailties. He came in the flesh. He suffered in the flesh. He was tempted in every point as we are, yet without sin. So He was tempted far beyond what you are, because generally what happens is we end up giving in. And He didn't. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 10, 1 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body.

The body is the temple of God's Holy Spirit. God wants to see what we're doing in our bodies, whether we're walking in the flesh or whether we're learning to walk in the Spirit.

2 So we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 3 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. You know, we talked about having a godly conscience some months ago. I think I gave that sermon here about having a godly conscience. Well, God does say that we will go before the judgment seat of Christ. We will be judged. We are being judged daily by God. Judgment has begun at the house of God. God grants us his Spirit. He expects us to utilize that Spirit. He gives us pounds. We are to produce more pounds. He grants us his Spirit. We are to produce the fruit of his Spirit. We are to become more loving, more filled with joy, with peace, with patience, with kindness and goodness and gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. These are the fruits of God's Holy Spirit.

And we are called upon to produce fruit, to be overcomers, to put sin out of our lives, and to become like Christ, to put on the mind of Jesus Christ.

Now, the blast of trumpets on the Feast of Trumpets provides a much-needed annual wake-up call to prepare ourselves to stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, who is coming back when the trumpet blows. Rabbi Irving Greenberg helps us capture the mood of the 10 days of repentance or penitence through this vivid description. Here's what he says.

On Rosh Hashanah, or the Feast of Trumpets, the trial opens. The judge enters and takes the bench.

The evidence is reviewed. Individual Jews hasten forward to plead their cases.

The liturgy attempts to capture this mood. On Rosh Hashanah, God as creator and ruler is the central focus of the prayer. The divine quality of awesomeness and judgment stand out in the human mind. By the time of Yom Kippur, the primary liturgical focus shifts to the trial itself and to God's mercy, which more than anything else, sustains the people in the process of the judgment as the trial wears on the initial panic. See, there's panic initially because they're being judged. The initial panic or tension lightens and the people relax. They relax enough to see that the judge is not an impersonal authority who will be relentless, but rather, what good fortune, he is a loving old friend who will do all to show mercy.

Certainly, God is gracious and merciful, but he doesn't want us to take sin lightly. He wants us to have a repentant heart and a repentant mind. He wants us to take seriously our sins. When we sin, we shouldn't just sweep it under the rug and act like it was no big deal.

There's another rabbi, a medieval rabbi, who lived a long time ago during the Middle Ages, Nakamanitis. This is not mammoni, this is a different guy. Nakamanitis suggested that in human experience, Rosh Hashanah is a day of judgment with mercy, and Yom Kippur is a day of mercy with judgment. Think about that.

One of the most suggestive Jewish ceremonies at the Feast of Trumpets is called the Tashlik.

I don't know if that's how you pronounce it. It's spelled T-A-S-H-L-I-C-H.

It's the symbolic casting away of sins into a body of water. Have you ever heard of that?

Any of you ever heard of it? Maybe some of you have heard of it.

There's an actual ceremony that they do. After the morning religious service that I mentioned earlier on Rosh Hashanah, people go to rivers, they go to oceans, they go to lakes, or any body of living waters. They recite special prayers of repentance, such as this one. You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea, and may you cast all the sins of your people, the house of Israel, into a place where they shall be no more remembered, or visited, or ever come to mind. After the prayer, the people shake crumbs from their pockets into the water to express their belief that as the crumbs float away, so God will carry away their sins represented by the crumbs. God will forgive them. The inspiration for this symbolic ceremony, as well as the name of the ritual, is derived from Micah chapter 7. So let's go to Micah, so let's go to Micah, and let's see that there is some biblical basis for why they do this.

It doesn't state that they have to go do this, but they derive it from Scripture.

Micah chapter 7. So it isn't something that we have to go do, but the Jews do this because of Micah chapter 7 verse 16. The nation shall see and be ashamed of all their might. They shall put their hand over their mouth. In other words, they're going to be ashamed of themselves. They're going to be shocked once they come to understand. It says in another place that they will come to loathe themselves.

Their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent. They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the Lord our God. Revelation says that they're going to want stones to fall upon them because they're going to be so afraid.

They shall be afraid of the Lord our God and shall fear because of you.

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage. He does not retain his anger forever. You know, God does get angry at times, righteous indignation, but he does not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy. God does delight in mercy. God is very merciful. He's very compassionate. He's very willing to grant repentance. He just wants to see somebody who wants repentance.

So when you fall short, when you sin against God, admit it. Admit it.

Go to him and ask him to forgive you. He will, but you have to take it seriously. You can't, you know, act like it didn't happen.

He will again have compassion on us and he will seduce our iniquities. Okay, here's the part where they get this tradition.

You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

So they take this. Tashlish means they casting. That's what the word means. It's the Hebrew word. It means to cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea. He says, You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to our fathers from days of old. God has promised to be merciful and to forgive us.

So that's why they do this ceremony based on Micah chapter 7. They want God to cast their sins away.

We want God to cast our sins away and to remember them no more.

The blowing of the shofar during the 10 days of penitence or repentance. This again is from Bakiyoki's book, served not only to call upon the Jews to repent, but also to reassure them that God would remember and vindicate them on the day of atonement, the day of judgment.

The 10 days preceding the day of atonement were not an abstract theological truth, but according to him an existential reality lived out with real trumpet calls to repentance. Trusting in God's mercy to vindicate them.

So, brethren, we are greatly blessed to understand God's truth. You know, the Jews lack understanding in various ways. They lack understanding that God has given us because we did accept Christ as our Savior. We know who He is. We know He's coming back.

And God has opened our mind to truth. That doesn't mean that we can't learn from considering God's chosen people that God had called out and chosen. I mean, there are things that we can learn from our Hebrew roots. There are things in the Bible that we can learn from. So, I wanted to share some of these things with you to get you to consider, to think about some of this.

Perhaps we can have a deeper meaning of what the Feast of Trumpets means by considering some of these things. We are indeed among the firstfruits. We are among those who are called, chosen, and faithful. Now is our day of salvation, and we know we must remain faithful. So, let's again consider this meaning. We don't have 10 days anymore. We've only got, what, seven more days?

Eight more days? Seven days? But we can reflect on what we've talked about today, and we can also look inside, be introspective. Time of Passover isn't the only time we need to examine ourselves. We should do it every day. We should certainly do it at this time of year as well.

So, let's use the rest of the time we have to reflect on our relationship with God the Father and with Jesus Christ. God is indeed loving. He is merciful. He's kind. He's very forgiving, very compassionate. But He does expect us to learn the lessons of the spring holy days so that we will not fear the tumultuous days that are coming. Frankly, we don't know how soon they're coming. We don't know if what's going on in the Middle East now could escalate, and we could be in a real heap of trouble very shortly. We don't know. So, we need to be ready at all times.

God does expect us again to learn the lessons of the spring holy days so that we will not fear the days that are coming and surely not the return of Christ. We need to be anxiously looking forward to Christ's return. If we are right with God, if we're close to Him, if we know our sins are forgiven, if we know that God's Spirit is dwelling in us, motivating us, and guiding us, we will look forward to Christ's return.

So, to us, the blowing of the last trumpet will be a day of great rejoicing.

So, that's how we need to look at the day of trumpets, a day of great rejoicing. It will be a day of great rejoicing because the bride has made herself ready.