davidbowerkingwood

Will the 2024 Feast of Trumpets Signal the End of the Church Age?

This year, the Feast of Trumpets begins on Octomber 3rd and continues through October 4th. There has once again been a great deal of speculation that this year could be very special to the true church, all born-again believers. There is a great deal of discussion that associates this Feast of Trumpets with the Rapture of the Church.

Those who pursue this line of thought, see a number of prophetic lines converging on this date; while I find this interesting, I’m not convinced the church will be taken up at this Feast of Trumpets or any other Feast of Trumpets for that matter. I do admit proponents of this view can produce some compelling arguments.

The Feasts of the Lord

In the Bible, there are seven feasts established as special feasts of the Lord. Four of those have already been fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ at the time of his First Advent; the fulfillment of the remaining three are yet future. While the first four had a clear application to the church and its creation, the fifth, the Feast of Trumpets has been the subject of much speculation as to whether it belongs to the church or to Israel.

The Spring Feasts Fulfilled

At the time of our Lord’s First Advent, He fulfilled the prophecies associated with the spring feasts.

Passover, fulfilled at the crucifixion of our Lord on April 3, AD 33

Unleavened Bread, fulfilled by the life and death of our Lord on April 4, AD33

First Fruits, fulfilled by the resurrection of our Lord on April 5, AD 33

Pentecost, the Lord sends the Holy Spirit to indwell Christians on May 25, AD 33

These dates are based on the work of Dr. Harold Hoehner in his book, “Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ.”

The Fall Feasts Await Fulfillment

What is of particular interest is the spring feasts were fulfilled on the exact day of the feast; one may make the reasonable assumption the fall feasts will also be fulfilled on the exact day of the feast.

Should that be the case, the fall feasts this year would occur in October and begin on the following dates. May I remind you the Hebrew day begins at sundown of the preceding day.

The Feast of Trumpets, (Rosh Hashanah) on October 3-4

The Feast of Atonement, (Yom Kippur) on  October 12

The Feast of Tabernacles, (Sukkot) on October 17-23

Needless to say, I, personally, would welcome the Rapture before I finish typing this sentence, but, unfortunately, that was not to be the case! I have complete confidence in the certainty of the Rapture; I am convinced the Rapture will take place before the beginning of the Tribulation as the last seven years, before Christ’s bodily return to earth at the Second Advent, belong exclusively to Israel as per God’s promise to Israel.

The exact timing of the Rapture is not specified but the signs surrounding the Rapture are already in place with no unfulfilled prophecies remaining before the Rapture can take place.

There is one thing that is certain, we don’t have long to wait before the observance of the Feast of Trumpets in 2024; then, we shall discover whether this particular Feast of Trumpets is special to the church or not.

Even so, come Lord Jesus!