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TRUMPETS - 2001

Fred Coulter  -  September 18, 2001

And greetings, brethren.  This is the Feast of Trumpets, 2001.  And as we see world events develop, as we see things happen, this day the Feast of Trumpets, as we will see, pictures the literal return of Jesus Christ and the saints on the earth.  Now as we have seen, all the feasts of God are connected one with the other.  Passover with Unleavened Bread.  Unleavened Bread with Pentecost.  And now Pentecost with Trumpets because there are a lot of events that take place especially in the last year before Christ puts His feet on the earth, and it comes through Pentecost and then right on up into Trumpets.

Now let’s begin by going to Leviticus 23 as we always do.  And here’s a command to keep the Feast of Trumpets.  And of course as we will see and understand that this is very important concerning the plan of God.  Now, Leviticus 23:23, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.  Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD” (Lev. 23:23:24).  Now we always take up an offering on all the holy days because we find in Leviticus 23 that every holy day a special offering was given.

Now, let’s go to Luke 21, and let’s just ask the question, because many times we don’t think of things that God looks at them.  And so let’s look at them the way that God looks at them, and let’s ask the question that we find here as we examine Luke 21.  Because here’s a living principle that is absolutely true, as we covered last time on Pentecost.  If you sow sparingly you will reap sparingly.  Well here in Luke 21 we have another principle which is very important.

“And He [Jesus] looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.  And He saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.  And He said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offering of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had” (Luke 21:1-2).  There are two important things to understand here.  Number one, if you want God to be generous with you, then you be generous with God.  And you have to ask the question in giving offerings: Do you give from what you have left over, or do you give from just your abundance, or do you give because you love God and because God commands an offering to be given?  Now these are the things that we all have to ask ourselves concerning offerings that we give to God, whether it be holy day offerings, or whether it be offerings during the year, or whether it be the tithes that we give to God.  And an old saying is, if you’re going to be a curmudgeon with God, God will be a curmudgeon with you.  And you can find that principle all the way through the scriptures.  So as we take up the offering I just wanted to comment on that and just make things a little bit different for the offering since we take them up every holy day.  So right at this time we’ll take a pause and we’ll take up the offering.

(Pause)

The Feast of Trumpets is actually a feast depicting war.  The trumpet is used in all occasions concerning war.  Now we know from the Feast of Unleavened Bread that during the days of Joshua when the circled Jericho, they blew the trumpet as they circled it.  And they circled it once.  And the priest went out with the Ark and they had seven rams horns which they blew the trumpet.  Those were the trumpets that they blew at this particular occasion called a shofar.  Then we also find that on the last day, the seventh day that they circled it, then they blew the trumpet seven times as they circled seven times.  And isn’t it interesting how that at the seventh time that they blew it that all the people shouted and the walls of Jericho fell in, and Jericho belonged to Israel.  God destroyed the enemy in a day, instantly.  And we will see that there are some parallels when we come to the book of Revelation, but not exactly just in one day that this happens like it did at Jericho.

Now let’s go to the book of Judges 7:15, and we will see another instance where trumpets are used and it’s depicting war.  Now this is the battle of Gideon, and remember what happened.  God said, “I want you to go against the Midianites.  So you get an army Gideon.”  So 30,000 showed up and God said, “That’s too many cause it’s My battle, it’s not your battle.”  So then He said, “All those that lap up water like a dog, they are the once that you are going to use for your troops.”

So we come to Judges 7:15, “And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.  And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers” (Josh. 7:15-16).  So they had empty water pitchers, and they had a lamp.  In other words a little torch in there so they could see where they were going but the light would shine down and the enemy wouldn’t know that they were coming.

“And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp [that is of the Midianites, where they were camped at night], it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do [you shall do the same].  When I blow the trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.  And so Gideon and [the 300 men]…”, I always like this account, this is really a good account here,  “…that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.”  So the flames instantly became seen.  “And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands [what a great way to fight a battle] to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.  And they stood every man in his place round about the camp [they didn’t even draw the sword to go in]: and all the host [that is of the Midian] ran, and cried, and fled.  And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow…” (vs. 17-22).   So God just turned each one of the Midianites against each other and they killed themselves.  So that’s quite a way to fight a battle.  You don’t have to go out there and worry about casualties.  And so that’s what happened.  The battle was God’s.

Well, we have battles that God is going to fight for us.  We’re going to see some other things here concerning the trumpet, that it’s always at a time of war.  Let’s come to Jeremiah 4, and here’s part of the warning that God gave to Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem during his warning.

Let’s pick it up beginning in verse 3.  Now when these things come, when war comes it is a judgment for sin.  So this feast, the Feast of Trumpets is not only a war feast, it is a judgment feast.  And it also is a feast of the Day of the Lord.  Before God does anything He always calls the people to repentance, like He did here.  But He warned them and He said, “For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.  Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart…” In other words your stubbornness and your wretchedness and your rebellion against God.  “…Ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest My fury come forth like fire…” And we’re going to see that fire has an awful lot to do with God’s judgment.   “…And burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings” (Jer. 4:3-4).  So God gave the warning.

So He says, “Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.  Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north…” Now He’s saying in this case, “You go try and defend yourselves.  You blow the trumpet but I am bringing the army from the north.”  “…And a great destruction.  The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate [that’s Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon]; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.  For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us” (vs. 5-8).

And then it says the priest were astonished, and the prophets, that is all the prophets - the false ones.  They were wondering what was going on because they were saying, verse 10, “Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely Thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul” (vs. 9-10).  No, it was they deceived themselves.  What God did was not deceive them, but this expression means that God let them deceive themselves with their own devices.

Now let’s come down here to verse 14.  “O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.  How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?”  Now it’s the same way with us today brethren, in this society.  How long is it going to be that this world is going the way that it is?  In it’s sin and it’s rebellion and the whole world.  Well, God is going to use this day to send Christ back to straighten out the whole world and prepare for the rule of the Kingdom of God.

Now let’s come over here to verse 19.  “My bowels [Jeremiah says], my bowels!”  Just seeing in prophecy and in vision all these things that are going to take place.  “I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.  Destruction upon destruction…” And when it happens at the end time God says that the dead will be from one end of the horizon to the other end of the horizon.  God is going to execute His judgment in vengeance and in power and in understanding, and in glory.  “…Suddenly are My tents spoiled, and My curtains in a moment.  How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?  For My people is foolish [God says], they have not known Me; they are sottish [rebellious, stubborn] children, and they have no understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.  I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void…”, because of war.  There was another time when it was without form and void and that was after the war between Satan and his angels and God and His angels, and left the earth in great destruction and that was the judgment of God upon Satan and the angels that fell with him, the demons.  Now we have the same thing here, without form and void.  “…And they had no light” (vs. 19-23).

“I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.  I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.  I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by His fierce anger” (vs. 24-26).  And we’re going to see that’s going to happen to the whole world as this Feast of Trumpets pictures.

Now let’s see how that this Feast of Trumpets pictures the Day of the Lord.  Let’s go to Joel 1.  And in the book of Joel it talks about the Day of the Lord.  And the Day of the Lord means the literal day in which Christ and the saints are going to put their feet on the earth.  It means the last year of prophecy as the events take place beginning with the trumpet plagues, and it also means the whole 3 ½ years of the Tribulation period.  So from the context of the scripture we’re reading then we’ll understand which Day of the Lord it’s talking about here.

Now, let’s come here to Joel 1:14, and I want you to understand why does God do these things.  One, for judgment, and two for repentance.  Because you see when everything is smooth and nice people see no need to change.  People see no need to repent.  But when things are in upheaval, when there is trouble and difficulty and war and destruction, and death and starvation, and famine and pestilence then people begin to examine their lives and say, “Oh, God, what have I been doing.”  So God calls for a fast.

“Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come” (Joel 1:14-15).

“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;” (Joel 2:1).  And brethren let me just tell you one thing, very important.  It’s nearer than when we first believed, as Paul said.  And also another thing to keep in mind is this: is that for many of the seniors the Day of the LORD will not be one that they will see until they are resurrected, but the Day of the LORD comes when they are brought into their rest and their final sleep to be in the grave and wait the resurrection.  And so we need to keep that in mind too.  So while it’s all peaceful and nice and we have all the blessings that God has given us, we need to understand that all of those things are all temporary.  And remember, when they say “Peace, peace.”, then sudden destruction comes.

Now let’s continue on.  This day is going to be a day like none other.  “A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.”  Going right on into the millennium.  So this army is going to be vast.  It is going to be great.  And we’re going to see it here as we go back and review some of the events in Revelation 8 and 9.  “A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them” (vs. 2-3).  And it talks about the appearance of them as horses and horsemen, so they run.  And it’s going to be awesome.  Maybe… I’m going to ring my cowbell here [ring].  Many of you know I have a cowbell when I give my opinion.  But could it be that a lot of these troops are not only programmed to do the things that they are doing, but also that there are demons who possess them, and also could it be that they have some sort of microchip in them to cause them to do the things that they do, to where when they are wounded they don’t drop dead they just keep going?  Who knows what they can do between now and the time when the final Feast of Trumpets comes.  We don’t know.

Now continuing, verse 5.  “Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.  Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.  They shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:” (vs. 5-7).  Now, you stop and think about some of the movies that they are putting out today.  Don’t they show men running up on walls and leaping from buildings and climbing up and jumping through windows, and all of that sort of…just picture right here.

“Neither shall one thrust another…” In other words they are going to be almost impregnable.  You’re not going to have a spear to thrust through them or anything.  “…They shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded” (vs. 8).  That’s quite a thing, isn’t it?  How can you fall on a sword and not be wounded?  Well that’s something that they are trying to work on to have it so that men in battle will not die.  Now we’re also going to see then, what weapon does God use?  Well God has some very powerful weapons that He uses.

“They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.  The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:” Now we’re going to see that’s an accurate description of things in the book of Revelation as they take place.  “And the LORD shall utter His voice before His army: for His camp is very great: for He is strong that executeth His word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (vs. 9-11).  That is, who can live in it?  So then once again God calls to repentance.  And as we will see, as we did on Pentecost, that the seals are opened and all of the terrible things take place of that, and all of a sudden there’s a respite.  And then there’s a call to repentance.

Is this in verse 12 here, when Israel in captivity repents, as we covered leading up to the day of Pentecost?  Very likely, look at what it says here, verse 12.  “Therefore also now, saith the LORD, Turn ye even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart…”, that is in true repentance.  And that is why God seals the 144,000.  Listen, when Israel goes into captivity, God is going to lead all the 12 tribes into repentance, so that the purpose of the captivity will be that they will return to God.  And the purpose of Christ coming is to return the whole world to God.  So that’s why we have these calls to repentance.  So while we have life and while we have time we need to think about that in our lives.  Are there things that you need to repent of?  Are there things in your life that you need to change so that the judgment of God does not come upon you as it is coming upon the people here that are going to go into the great tribulation, as we will see.  “…Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for He is gracious and merciful, and slow to anger, and of great kindness, an repenteth him of the evil.  Who knoweth if He will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind Him;…” (vs. 12-14).  So that’s the whole purpose of it.

Now verse 15, “Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:…”  So this is the reason why these things take place.  And I think during the tribulation there are going to be pockets of people here, and pockets of people there who are going to be repenting, who are going to be turning to God.  After all there’s the whole great innumerable multitude as well as the 144,000 of Revelation 7.

Now notice, He says, “Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.  Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O LORD, and give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?”  And so God is going to intervene.  “Then will the LORD be jealous for His land, and pity His people.”   And that’s when they repent.  “Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto His people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine…” (vs. 16-19), then it goes right on in to the millennium from there.

Now let’s come to Matthew 24.  Let’s understand that these times Jesus prophesied about.  And there are some tremendous things that are going to happen.  Matthew 24 is a very key and focal prophetic chapter in the book of Matthew.  Now we know that the things are going to take place, they are going to lead up to the end.  So what I want to do is lead up to, and show the events in sequence right to the last Feast of Trumpets, that is, not the last one that will be observed, but the last one as Christ comes down to the earth.

Now let’s come here to Matthew 24:12, so we can pick it up as it is in the society today.  “And because iniquity shall abound [multiply], the love of many shall wax cold.”  And brethren that is the challenge for us today.  Living with so much iniquity and lawlessness around us, living in a time of plenty and affluence, living in the Laodicean age, can we repent?  Can we change?  Can we love God and not let the love in us grow cold to where we become callused and unfeeling, and having not the love of God.  Not only the love of many toward each other, but the worse kind of love going cold is the love of God, because if you let the love of God grow cold and you become so lukewarm, you see, whereas when you’re called you’re zealous for God, then your love grows cold and you become what?  Lukewarm.  And then God spews you out of His mouth while the world is in a total cold situation, as God said, “I would you were hot or cold.”  But you see, as it grows cold in you it becomes lukewarm.

Now let’s continue on, verse 13.  “But he [the one who] that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”  So there is the enduring that we need to do.  “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world…” And that means right at the end it’s going to be preached again.  Now it’s been preached in every age, every century, all the way down from the time of Christ.  God has made sure that the gospel has been preached.  But here at the end-time now it has to be preached to the whole world.  Not only is the Church going to be involved, but the two witnesses are going to be involved.  And they are going to start their ministry just before the tribulation begins.

Now notice it says the gospel is going to be “…preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations…” And that has to be for all nations and all inhabitants on the earth that are living at that time.  God is not going to have it so that not one person is going to be able to say to God, “God, I never heard.  God, I never knew.  Why didn’t you tell me these things were coming?”  No, it isn’t going to be.  He says, “…then shall the end come” (vs. 14).

Now, hold your place here in Matthew 24 and let’s come to Revelation 11, and let’s look at the two witnesses.  Now let’s also understand something that’s important when we’re talking about the two witnesses.  That God is not going to leave all the preaching to them.  Now I’ve heard a lot of ministers say, “Well, you know we really don’t need to preach the gospel to all the world yet because you see the two witnesses are going to do that.”  And so they lie down on the job and become lukewarm.  No, we are to preach with whatever means, with whatever method, with whatever God gives us to do.

And it’s not just for the ministers to do.  It’s for the brethren also to do, because it talks about there in Hebrews 10 that we have the laws and commandments of God written in our hearts and in our minds.  And the day is coming that we’re going to have to go out and we’re going to have to do just exactly like the disciples did when the persecution did when the persecution came on them in the book of Acts, and they scattered everywhere and the Church grew as all the brethren went out because they preached the gospel, they understood it.  It was a one to one relationship with people.  So let’s not back away and say, “Oh well, we don’t need to preach any of the gospel anywhere because the two witnesses are coming.  Well the two witnesses are coming.  And if we do what we’re supposed to do perhaps some of those people that you communicated with and talked to and were able to give a witness to will say, “Aha, I heard that someplace before.”, and repent and be in the Kingdom of God as one of the last ones who repent, you see.

Now let’s pick it up here in Revelation 11:1.  “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.  But the court which is without the temple [that is, separate from the temple] leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months” (Rev. 11:1-2).  Now if you do not have the two tapes that I did, it’s from the series of Revelation - Revelation 1 and Revelation 2 - I have some charts which go through and show the approximate time frame when these things take place.  But the long and the short of it is, is that there is a difference in the beginning and the ending of the 42 months for the Beast, and the beginning and the ending of the 1260 days for the two witnesses.  Because the two witnesses start before the Beast receives the deadly wound.  And the two witnesses 3 ½ years plus 3 ½ days ends on the last Pentecost before the last Trumpets.  So let’s see.

One more thing on the Temple.  It is now quite well established that where the El-Aksa Mosque and the Mosque of Omar are, that’s not where the Temple was.  The Temple was south of that.  Those are to the north.  And the big stones that you see on the western Wailing Wall are not the stones from the Temple, but those are the stones from the foundation of the Antonio Fort, which was legally the property of the Romans, and the Roman soldiers were garrisoned there.  So everything coming south from the western Wailing Wall has been scraped bare.  And true to what Jesus said, not one stone was left upon another.  So they’re going to build a Temple and they’re going to find out that that is the area and that will be the ultimate solution to the Mosque of Omar and the El-Aksa Mosque problem and the Temple that they will build.

Now let’s continue on here, verse 3.  “And I will give power unto My two witnesses…” Now if you don’t have the tape on “The Two Witnesses and Elijah”, write in for it.  So you’ve got two things to write in for: the series on Revelation, and “The Two Witnesses and Elijah”.  “…And they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”  Now God is going to take two men with no apparent power, have them clothed in sackcloth and ashes, and they are going to be the two most powerful men in the world up against the Beast and the False Prophet, and their weapons are going to be the power of God.  It’s not going to be in armaments.  It’s not going to be in armies.  It’s not going to be in multitudes of people.  But two men standing against the whole world.  And you see the reason God does that is because God delights in weakness.  And God uses the small things.  So here He’s going to raise them up and give them His power.  And that’s why He does it, so that everyone will know this is from God.

Now notice verse 4.  “These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.”  And the sermon on the “Two Witnesses and Elijah” explains clearly who the two witnesses will probably be.  Now verse 5, “And if any man will hurt them [that means, attempt to hurt them], fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies;…”  Now you see this is much more powerful then when God intervened to call the children of Israel out of Egypt, and sent Moses and Aaron.  Now there were plagues and miracles that took place, but these two men are going to stand face to face with the Beast and the False Prophet.  Now notice, “And if any man will hurt them [and that is, I am sure, attempt to hurt them], he must in this manner be killed.  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will” (vs. 4-6).  Now these are in addition to the plagues that we are going to read about in Revelation 8, 9, and 16.  These are in addition.  But these are the tools that God uses.  God uses weapons that men cannot fight.  It’s not like dueling with a sword.  He’s going to send His power.  He’s going to send fire.  He’s going to send plagues.  He’s going to turn water to blood.

Now notice, “…as often as they will.”  Whenever God inspires them to say, “It’s not going to rain over here.”  There’s going to be a drought.  When there’s going to be rain over here and flooded out, it’s going to be there.  And if they continue to rebel and not repent their drinking water is turned into blood.  Now you know what happened.  We’ll compare some of that with the plagues in Egypt.  But these are the plagues that God always uses.  These are the weapons of God.  They’re fantastic.

Now notice God also does another thing.  God let’s the wicked think that they have won.  Verse 7, “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out to the bottomless pit [the abyss] shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.”  So God is going to let think, “Boy, we have finally gotten rid of these two men.”  And they’re going to be so happy about it that they’re going to display their bodies in the streets of Jerusalem.  “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.  And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half…” (vs. 7-9).  Now that is… God does it for 3 ½ days so that the world will know that they are dead.  You see there’s also a law that the Jews followed, which I’m sure came from God, that a person has to be dead for more than three days in order to be completely legally dead.

So here God let’s them lie there for 3½ days.  Didn’t let their bodies be put into the graves.  “And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them…”  Now you see, instead of having this pause to use for repentance the world is going to rejoice, “…and make merry and send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth” (vs. 10).  And now God’s surprise.  God is going to literally, at the resurrection of the last Pentecost before Trumpets, He’s going to raise the two witnesses from the dead and the very last that died and were martyred for Christ will be the first raised from the dead to fulfill another principle of God.  The last shall be first, and the first shall be last.

Now notice verse 11.  “And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.”  Now notice.  “And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither.  And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.”  I imagine some of them had the binoculars trained on them as they saw them disappear into the clouds.  “And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.  The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly” (vs. 11-14).

Now then we’re right at the point of the resurrection when the seventh trumpet is sounded.  And that seventh trumpet is blown, not on the Feast of Trumpets, but on the Day of Pentecost.  For the resurrection, as we saw, that the trumpet was blown when the law was given.  The trumpet is always blown on the Feast of Pentecost.  And when God sent the Holy Spirit to the apostles on the Day of Pentecost, there was the trumpet blown, and then I’m sure that’s when the Holy Spirit came and they began to speak in tongues.  So here the trumpet is going to be blown and all the dead will be raised in this last Pentecost before the last Trumpets when Christ and the saints put their feet on earth.

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