A Memorial of What?

A little bit of an anomaly among the Holy Days. If you think about the Feast of Trumpets, there are things about this day that are just kind of different. And if you look back at Leviticus 23, where it lists all the Holy Days, let's turn there. Let's turn to Leviticus 23. You know this section of Scripture. And in Leviticus 23, 23, it talks about this day, this special Holy Day of God that is a little bit different. We had this beautiful special music and a beautiful offering that pointed to the fact that through God's calling, we have a wonderful opportunity to come together because of what God has done in our lives, how He's opened our minds to His truth. And Trumpets has a connection to that very thing. And as God told ancient Israel, He spoke to us as well, we find out a little bit something different about Trumpets. Let's see if we notice it in verse 23 of Leviticus 23. Here it says, The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a Sabbath? So that's today, according to the Hebrew calendar. That's today, the first day of the seventh month.

And then it says, It's a day, a memorial of blowing of trumpets and a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein, but you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. So we don't do sacrifices anymore, but we did give an offering. We are assembling. This is a commanded assembly, a required gathering. It is a time that we worship and praise God. But there's something different about this holy day. Did you catch anything a little bit different? Well, the unusual thing is there's a blowing of trumpets. Now, if you know any trumpet players, trumpets are a little different, aren't they? In fact, one of the little ones came up to me this morning and said, Mr. Myers, what do you call a berry that plays the trumpet? I don't know. What do you call a berry that plays the trumpet? A tutti-fruitti. Okay, then I had to respond. We were cheering trumpet jokes then after that. Do you know what you call a cow that plays the trumpet? A musician. Right? A musician.

Do you know how many second trumpet players it takes to change the light bulb? How many second trumpet players does it take to change the light bulb? Zero. They can't go up that high.

How many first trumpeters does it take to change the light bulb? Just one. But they do it really loudly.

That's what they do. Okay, bad jokes are not what's different about this holy day. That's something that's kind of the same when it comes to me. But the unusual thing is this idea of trumpets, and yet it says it's a memorial of the blowing of trumpets. Now it doesn't say it's a memorial because of whatever. It doesn't say, well, they blew trumpets at this time, and so now you're going to blow trumpets again on the Feast of Trumpets. Or as you blow the trumpets, remember this. It doesn't really say that here. Yes, it says it's a holy Sabbath. It's commanded. It is a memorial. But what is it a memorial of? What kind of memorial is it? A memorial means we're supposed to remember something. We're supposed to commemorate and observe something. But if we only read Leviticus 23, it doesn't tell us what. It doesn't tell us what we're supposed to remember. What is supposed to come to mind on this specific day. In fact, if you look throughout the Old Testament, trumpets, that first day of the seventh month is mentioned four times. But those occurrences don't tell us much either about what this memorial is all about. And so what should we think of when we consider this memorial of the blowing of trumpets? It's also interesting. Here in Leviticus 23, did you know the word trumpets is not even there? It's just a memorial of blowing. They call this an ellipsis in the Hebrew, an ellipsis, which means it's implied that the trumpets are blown. It's just understood that the blowing goes along with the trumpets. So it was a day of blasting or blowing trumpets. But what's the symbolism? Is there any typology of what we should think of when it comes to the memorial of blowing trumpets? And the answer is absolutely. There are many things that should come to mind, especially for us as we consider the blowing of trumpets. This feast of trumpets should focus us on not just Old Testament things, not just even New Testament things, but it should point to us some spiritual lessons that we can learn as we consider the memorial of blowing of trumpets. So let's think about that for a little bit. What is this day a memorial of? Well, first, it is a memorial of God's presence with His people. It's a memorial of God's presence. His appearance. His coming down and making Himself known to His people. There's a great example of this that probably came to the mind of the people, even in Leviticus 23, that hearkens back to Exodus 19. Turn there with me. Join me over in Exodus 19 verse 16 as it points to a time of the blowing of trumpets that probably came to the Israelites' mind as God rehearsed this special day with them. Exodus 19.16. You'll recognize where we are in time as soon as you get to Exodus 19. Let's read it. Exodus 19.16. It says, it came to pass on the third day in the morning. There were thunderings and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain. This is where God is going to give His law to His people. And notice what it says. Not only was there thunderings and lightnings, but there was also the sound of a trumpet. Very loud!

No lightbulbs being changed here. Just a blasting of the trumpet. In fact, it says, it was so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was completely in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. It says, its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace. The whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered by voice.

The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, the top of the mountain, and called Moses to the top of the mountain, and He went up. And so this trumpet, this shofar associated with a ram's horn, it wasn't a ram's horn, but it was kind of like a ram's horn sound. But imagine a ram's horn, a shofar, probably on steroids, would have been what this had sounded like. Just this monstrous blasting. And so imagine the people, their first opportunity to meet with God, personally. How is it announced? By the blast of a trumpet.

And so when Leviticus 23 comes along, do you think this might have come to mind for the people? That it would be a memorial of the blasting or blowing of trumpets. Get ready for the presence of God in your life.

That certainly would have come to mind for the people. It certainly comes to mind for us. We have to be ready to meet God.

We have to be ready to be in His presence. And so here on the Feast of Trumpets, we come together in that very presence of God.

Later on, David even thought of this. I wonder if he had this in mind when he wrote Psalm 29.

Psalm 29, if you'll turn there with me, right at the very beginning of that song.

I think David had this meeting with God in mind and the impact of that colossal trumpet as we consider God's presence. Notice the way David describes it in Psalm 29. It says, It says, Of course, that's what we do. We do that every day. We do it on special occasions like God's Sabbath. We do it on His holy days, on this Feast of Trumpets.

And so verse 3 says, Seems like it's hearkening back to that voice of God that was presented like that trumpet. This incredible blasting in connection with God's voice and His very presence. In fact, look at verse 4. The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. And oftentimes we don't get that impact today because we don't consider this memorial. It should be a thing that causes us to fall to our knees in worship. It causes us to tremble before the mighty hand of God. We are coming into His very presence. And this Feast of Trumpets also hearkens to what lies ahead. When God will literally come down and shake this earth. So imagine an earthquake that will again occur. Not just like Mount Sinai, but it's going to shake this earth. And it's not going to be like Mount St. Helens. It's not going to be like the St. Andreas Fault. It's not going to be like the earthquake that happened in Japan a while ago. Yeah, trees are going to be laid flat, but this volcanic blasting of the trumpet is going to be the presence of God coming to this earth. And so no wonder it's described like this. Verse 6, He makes them also to skip like a calf. It says Lebanon and Sirian like a young calf. The Lord shakes the wilderness. Verse 9, The voice for the Lord makes the deer give birth. The strips of the forest are bare. And in His temple, everyone says, glory. That's the impact of the presence of God. That points to this typology of the symbolism of the Feast of Trumpets. It's the appearance of God. It's the presence of God. And we come into His very presence, recognizing what He did in the past is symbolic and pointing to what He will do in the future as He makes Himself known to all. What a powerful day we celebrate today. In fact, it points to a second powerful symbol, that very message of God's plan. God brought His message. God brought His law at Sinai. It also points to the fact He brings a powerful message to all the earth. Israel certainly understood the call of that trumpet, and it meant something to them. And oftentimes, trumpets were not only used on these holy days, but they were used to send a message. If you turn with me over to Numbers 10, it points to the use of trumpets and this connection to the Feast of Trumpets as well. In Numbers 10, verse 1, God gave instructions to His people through Moses to use trumpets, to use these trumpets as a physical representation of something far more important spiritually. Numbers 10, verse 1, rehearses some of those physical aspects of what God wanted for His people.

So in Numbers 10, verse 1, here's God speaking to Moses. Here's what He says. So by blowing these trumpets, a message had to be understood of what was supposed to happen.

Verse 3, when they blow both of them, all the congregations shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. But if they blow only one, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall gather to you.

So depending how the trumpets sounded, different messages were sent. Different messages were understood. In fact, if we skip down to verse 8, it says, The sons of Aaron, the priest, shall blow the trumpet. It shall be an ordinance forever throughout your generations. If you go to war in your land against an enemy that oppresses you, you shall blow as an alarm with the trumpets. And you shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.

Also in the day of your gladness, in your solemn days, in the beginning of your months. And so at the beginning of the month, on the first day of the month, whether it was the first day of the seventh month or the first day of the first, whatever first day of the month, there was a blowing of trumpets. In fact, he says, You shall blow with trumpets over your burnt offerings and the sacrifices of your peace offerings, that they may be to you a memorial before the Lord your God. And so the trumpet calls were used to send powerful, critical messages.

And all of Israel would understand what it meant. They would understand the meaning to the call. And perhaps if you were ever in the military, you could associate with the trumpet call, especially if you were in the Navy. There were different calls for different things. We probably all heard of revelry, right? Revel-y. Not revelry, revel-y. Yeah, they're not partying. But mostly when revel-y was played, it was like, Oh, I got to drag myself out of bed in the morning, right? That means I got to get up. That's revel-y.

I think they changed the words. I hate to get up. I hate to get up. I hate to get up in the morning. Well, that was one of the calls. There was a call when it's time to eat. There was a time that the blast of the trumpet was heard to the colors when they would present the flag. There was an officer's call, much like we read here in verse 4.

When they would blow that, all the officers would assemble. Probably the most startling was when they called General Quarters. General Quarters. Anyone in the Navy? When General Quarters were sounded, that was probably the most blood-curdling sound. They would ring the bells along with the trumpet sound. I've heard stories that it would just make the hair on the back of your neck rise because that meant something critical.

It meant you better get to your post. It got your adrenaline flowing. And so every sailor would know what that sounded like and what was necessary to happen. Get to your station as fast as you can. It meant something. It was a powerful message to be prepared for battle. And of course, after the day was done, there was also taps. Taps was played night after night after night. But the point being, these messages were understood.

Is there a message that God is going to send this world through the sound of a trumpet? God is going to tell this world He's ready for war. And it's not even going to be a battle. He is going to come against our enemies. And He will fight for us. There's a wonderful passage you might just write down, Isaiah 18.3. It says, all the inhabitants of the world, the dwellers on the earth, when He lifts up a banner on the mountains, you'll see it.

He blows a trumpet. You hear it. You see, and God will have a powerful message through the sounding of a trumpet. That brings us to a third aspect of the memorial of blowing of trumpets. The blasting of the trumpets was also to bring about worship. It was to bring about praise. Trumpets are always associated with a celebration to recognize God's presence and worship. One of the wonderful psalms points to this very fact.

It's Psalm 81. If you turn to Psalm 81, let's see if you recognize this song. Psalm 81 is a remarkable song that perhaps comes to mind on this feast of trumpets. Look at Psalm 81 and see if you recognize this song. It says, Sing aloud unto God our strength.

Make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob. Raise a song. Strike the timbrel. The pleasant harp of the sultry. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon. And in the time appointed on our solemn feast day. Well, the solemn feast day that you blow the trumpet on the new moon is today. It's the feast of trumpets. In fact, the only new moon that is a feast day is today.

It's the feast of trumpets. And we may read through this, and maybe you don't recognize this as much. But page 42 in our hymnal, you probably can sing it from memory of that. Can't you? Praise the eternal with a psalm. Sing to the God of Jacob. Raise the chorus. Make a joyful noise. Bring out the harp and timbrel. Blow on the trumpet. Sound the drum. On our solemn feast day, this is a statute, And on which God had put it, for Israel.

You know it. You know it. That's the song. That's where that comes from. All of these things would have been on the minds of the Israelites, that this is a solemn feast day. When they read Leviticus 23, 23, and 24, the first day of the seventh month, you will have a memorial, the blowing of the trumpets, the blast of the shofar, the blast of those silver trumpets, would have meant it's time to praise and worship our awesome God.

And what a remarkable time that is. Blow! Blast that trumpet. Blast and sing your praises to God. Don't just hum the tune, but sing it out and praise Him. This is the only new moon we get to do this. It is a solemn feast day because it also points to the solemnity of what occurs in the future on this day as well.

And that brings us to point number four. Point number four was a memorial of the Exodus. Of course, Exodus seems to point backwards, but it's not just the past Exodus. It also points to the future Exodus. There's a future Exodus that's coming, and trumpets reminds us that the first Exodus was just a type. It's not just about history, but it's also about prophecy. Trumpets reminds us of the Exodus past and what's coming in the future.

Look at what Isaiah 27 prophesies. Isaiah 27 verse 12. Let's recognize another aspect of the memorial of this very day. Exodus, I'm sorry, Isaiah 27 verse 12. Notice the terminology that's used here as Isaiah was inspired to record this for us. Isaiah 27, 12. And it shall come to pass in that day. In that day, the day of the Lord. We're going to hear a lot about that later today.

But in that day, Isaiah records for us, the Lord will thresh. King James says the Lord will beat. What is he going to thresh? What is he going to beat on? Well, it says from the channel of the river to the brook of Egypt, you will be gathered one by one. O you children of Israel. He says so it will be in that day. So there's coming a time that there's going to be a gathering. When does it happen? He says the great trumpet will be blown.

They will come who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, and they who were outcast in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. You see, here we see Isaiah is telling us there's going to be a threshing. There's going to be a harvest. And so in a sense, these heads of grain, you know, you have these long stalks of grain, and on top of them is where the heads of grain are. And the custom was you put them down, and then you beat on them. And then the grain comes off the stalk.

And that's this threshing process. So Isaiah is using this imagery to conjure something up in our minds, to help us to recognize something that God is going to take a great stick in His hand. And He's going to beat on this world. And the wheat is going to be laid out. And as He threshes it and beats on it, He's going to break loose the wheat from the chaff. And He's going to thrash it.

And one by one, Israel are going to be gathered together. This is at the return of Christ. At that time, they're going to gather together. Verse 13 says, So it shall be in that day. The great trumpet will be blown.

And not just any trumpet, but the great one. And they shall come who are ready to perish in the land of Assyria. We know there's going to be a time of tribulation. The great tribulation and the day of the Lord, it looks like all will be lost. All flesh will die. But God's going to intervene.

And so He says, And so here, Isaiah is telling us, he's telling Israel as well, from the top of your head to the sole of your feet, you're sick. You are sick. You are living in a sick world. Your government, your way of life is just rotten and putrefying and it's corruption.

Your religion is corrupt. Your way of thinking is corrupt. And God has to come and thrash this world. This world who is holding you captive. And He's going to take back His people. Of course, it's not by the truckloads. He says He's going to do it one person at a time. And He says, that's going to happen at the blowing of the great trumpet. And so, Trumpets certainly remind us of what God is about to do. That there will be another exodus that will bring His people together back at Jerusalem.

It also reminds us, as God is going to thrash this earth, point number five is we need an intervention.

God will intervene. And maybe it's not a bad thing to think of an intervention. Oftentimes, we think of an intervention when someone's hooked on drugs, or they're addicted to alcohol, or whatever it may be, and you have an intervention. But what do you do?

You come and you rescue them, and you make them get the help that they need.

Well, think about the intervention that this world needs. What is this world addicted to?

Sin.

This world is addicted to sin. Trumpets reminds us that God will intervene. There will be an intervention. Another song that we sing is found in Joel 2, returning to all the hymns that we sing, I guess, today. Joel 2, verse 1.

See if you recognize this one. This prophecy from Joel points to this day as well. And it points to God's great intervention that will come. Joel 2, verse 1. Part of what Christ harkened back to in Matthew 24. So look at Joel, one of the minor prophets, sometimes a little bit harder to find here.

Joel 2, verse 1. Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm in my holy mountain. We know this one. Blow the horn, let Zion hear. Yeah, this is it. I can't remember the rest of the words, so I won't sing it. But it takes off on this particular passage. Sound the alarm. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It's at hand, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains, maybe like the clouds some of us had to drive through to get here this morning.

It's hard to see. It says, Even for many successive generations, a fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, and behind them desolate wilderness. Surely nothing shall escape. So here we are on the precipice of the kingdom of God. We're looking forward to that time when it will be like the garden of Eden. But before that, there's coming a day like none other, a day like none before or none after, a day unique. A day unique in all of human history. The day of the Lord. And it's ushered in by... Blow the trumpet in Zion.

It's ushered in by that blasting, by that blowing, that voice of the trumpet blast. Cities will be thrown down. Governments will be changed. And all of it's ushered in by that blasting, that blowing of the trumpets. Now you read those things and you wonder how thoroughly would have ancient Israel understood all of these amazing associations with the trumpets. The day of the Lord, the presence of God, the coming of God, God's intervention in the affairs of humanity.

That's certainly what it points to and reminds us that we need, this world needs, an intervention. And God has intervened for us. And that's an important part for us to remember. He's intervened. He's working with us. God's into us. He wants us to come out of the addiction of sin. And trumpets should be that reminder. Because it also points to the fact how that's possible. How that intervention is possible.

That's point number six. Point number six. The bowing of trumpets is also a memorial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's a memorial of our coming resurrection as well. And in a way, our resurrection to new life, which symbolically has already taken place. 1 Corinthians 15 is the resurrection chapter. We'll just look at one small little passage here as we consider this memorial of the resurrection. You know this section of Scripture? Yes, we even have a song that's associated with 1 Corinthians 15 as well. See if you connect with this one as well. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 12. It says, if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead.

That's a critical connection. The resurrection of Christ from the dead. He says, how do some of you say there's no resurrection? If there's no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. If Christ isn't risen, it's all useless. Why bother preaching? Why have any faith? And so he points to how we can understand this resurrection and some of the typology, some of the connections here, especially with the Feast of Trumpets. So he says in verse 50, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

So he says, in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, and one jewel said, the great trumpet, says the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. He says this corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. Of course, it's certainly a reminder of 1 Thessalonians 4.16, that with the trump of God, Christ will return. It points to the resurrection of Christ, that without it, we have no hope.

But because of it, we will be resurrected as well at that last trumpet. And the Feast of Trumpets is such a great reminder for us that we will be able to be together with all the saints, all those faithful who went before us at the sound of the first trumpets. The first fruits will be raised incorruptible. What a remarkable time. What an earth-shattering time when death will be swallowed up in victory. That's what verse 54 reminds us of. Well, I guess that's it. That's what Feast of Trumpets...

Well, maybe I better do a seventh one, just in case, right? We come to that point, well, there better be, so I had to come up with something. No, it's probably the most obvious one. It's a memorial of the establishment of the kingdom. God's kingdom will be established. So because of the resurrection, Christ will return. It's a memorial of that time the pronouncement will be made. The kingdoms of this earth are going to be blown away.

They're going to be blasted out of existence. If you thought of it that way, that's what's going to happen. Christ will return, and those kingdoms don't stand a chance. They're going to gather for war. That's nothing. That is nothing to God. It's not going to be a battle. It's described that way because that's the way the inhabitants of the earth think it's going to happen. But it's going to be like a trumpet blast.

And all the little pieces on the game board are going to be like you just bumped the table, and they're all going to fall over. They're going to be blasted out of existence. Revelation 11, verse 15 reminds us of that very thing. Revelation 11, 15. You know this section of Scripture. It certainly reminds us of that very fact. The kingdoms of this earth are going to be blown away. Revelation 11, 15. It says, The seventh angel sounded. What was he playing? What was he blowing? Oh, yeah, a trumpet, right?

It says, There were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. It says, The twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshipped God. They were saying, We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was and who is to come.

Because you've taken your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and your wrath has come, in the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that you should reward your servants, the prophets, and the saints, and those who fear your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth. And so it points to that blasting away of this world's government, its system, the blasting away of this sinful system this world perpetuates.

And so God tells us the time is coming when that blasting will happen. In fact, it's going to be such a blast, the mountains will split in two, and Christ's feet will rest on the mount, and it will break the cedars of Lebanon. And so what an amazing time that this points to. And so as you consider this memorial, this awesome, tremendous time in the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets, let's remember these things. It's so critical for us because the significance of this typology should remind us. Not that just, well, okay, it means that God's presence will be here.

God's going to make himself known to us. Yeah, it means there's going to come a time of judgments. There's coming a time that everyone will praise and worship God. It's a time when this pronouncement will be made on the sin of this world and its kingdoms, and they're going to be blasted away.

But it should also remind us, am I going to be there? Am I going to be there to experience these things? That becomes most critical. The Feast of Trumpets should remind us that as a memorial, we must be spiritually ready for the blasting and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Most importantly, let's not just know these things, but let's be doers of the Word.

And as the best memorial, let's commemorate these things in our lives by changing and becoming more and more Christ-like. So we will be spiritually ready for the blasting of the Great Trumpet.