The Rapture and “the Feast of Trumpets” Are Separate and Unrelated

Any attempt to force a connection between the rapture and the so-called “feast of trumpets” is a figment of man’s imagination and is eisegesis to the extreme. Unfortunately, so much of what we believe about the Jewish feasts regarding their relationship to our Gentile age is fanciful thinking (that is what eisegesis is). Much of it is cut from the same cloth that has given us the pretribulational rapture: speculation and the false traditions of man. Sadly, once a lie gets started, it is quite difficult to dissuade people from believing it.

Lacking explicit reference, pretribbers abandon any pretense of sound exegesis and go on to espouse conclusions that simply make no sense concerning the Jewish Feasts. The comment of Arnold Fruchtenbaum is typical. He states, “The fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets is going to be the Rapture of the Church,” (www.ariel.org/mbs118m.pdf).” Wow! There can be no doubt about it –the rapture is the ultimate fulfillment of the “Feast of Trumpets.” Fruchtenbaum is typical of those who take this position, but he, like others, offers no biblical evidence for the claim. The single proof among all those who take this position is Paul’s reference to “the trump of God” (I Thessalonians 4:13-18).

These interpreters conclude that this classic First Thessalonians passage connects with the “feast of trumpets,” because that is when the trumpet is blown. Simple, right? After all, the “feast of trumpets” is about trumpets blowing, they say. Supposedly, the “last trumpet” is somehow connected to the trumpets blown during the “feast of trumpets.” However, there is not one shred of evidence to support this claim. This whole line of reasoning is a lie, and without any biblical basis whatsoever. Yet people teach it and believe it as if it were “gospel.” I will prove that the rapture has nothing to do with the so-called “feast of trumpets.” There are three reasons why I know this to be true.

First: It Violates the Fulfillment Pattern

That the rapture occurs in connection with the so-called “feast of trumpets” completely violates the pattern of fulfillment established by the Lord’s relationship to the first four feasts. The only real point of correspondence between the spring feasts and the events of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, followed by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, is the time sequence—the temporal parallel. Christ died and was buried on Nisan 14. On the night before the Lord died, he instituted a new memorial – the Lord’s Supper – that incorporated wine (blood of Passover) and bread (Unleavened Bread). On the first Sunday following Passover, the Jews were to celebrate the Feast of Firstfruits. During the week of our Lord’s death, Sunday fell on the 17^th of Nisan. Fifty days later, the Feast of Pentecost occurred – at which time God poured out his Spirit.

Since the three fall feasts (the first feast of Tishri, Atonement, and Booths) occur during the month of Tishri, we are better able to argue our case that, just as the four spring feasts follow the traditional Jewish temporal sequence, the three fall feasts will do the same. In other words, I fully expect the three fall feasts to occur on Tishri 1, 10, and 15, just as God determined in Leviticus 23. The three fall feasts cover a 21-day period during the month of Tishri. Therefore, there is no justifiable biblical basis to argue anything other than that the same sequence precision as seen in the spring feasts will occur later with the fall feasts. Yet, many continue to insist that the so-called “feast of trumpets” will find ultimate fulfillment in the rapture of the church, which they further insist will happen even before Daniel’s final week starts. If this is true, then the so-called “feast of trumpets” will occur seven years before the Feast of Atonement finds its ultimate significance for the Jewish people. This would effectively rule out any significance of the so-called “feast of trumpets” for the Jewish people.

Just as there is symmetry and unity with the first four feasts of the spring, there is also unity between the fall feasts. Regarding the unity of the Jewish feasts, Timothy K. Hui states,

The feasts may be grouped into three units. The first two feasts belong together…The second two feasts are also to be taken together. The last three would naturally be taken together because they are in the seventh month.^[1]

Scholars recognize that the first two spring feasts (Passover and Unleavened Bread) are complementary to each other, which is also clear in that Christ combined them both in the Lord’s Supper, which we Gentiles now celebrate. Both resulted from God’s work of releasing Israel from bondage in Egypt—physical deliverance. Deliverance and celebration are the marks of the first two feasts. The second two spring feasts (Firstfruits and Pentecost) are also a unit. Both celebrate the harvest in Israel. The barley and wheat harvests bracket these two celebrations and help identify the unity that exists between them. The close relationship between the three feasts of the fall (the first feast of Tishri, Atonement, and Booths) is also recognizable.

No one is going to convince me that God has no plans to bring the ultimate significance of the three fall feasts to his Jewish people. I repeat, “NO ONE!”

Second: There is No Such Thing as a “Feast of Trumpets”

The second reason I know that the rapture has nothing to do with the so-called “feast of trumpets” is because there is no such thing as a “feast of trumpets.” Even my good friend and brother Marvin Rosenthal admits, “This designation [i.e. feast of trumpets] was not applied to this feast until at least the second century A.D., more than 1,500 years after the institution of the holiday.^[2] Additionally, this first feast of Tishri is never called “the Feast of Trumpets” in the Bible. The title Rosh Hashanah, which the Jews now call the first feast of Tishri, does not occur in Scripture in connection with this feast either. Thus, the whole line of arguments built on the notion that the rapture will occur at the “feast of trumpets” is built upon misapplying a lie.

Unlike Passover or Atonement, the first feast of Tishri has no biblical examples in Scripture. How the Jews were to celebrate this feast is unknown and completely lost to history. There is not one recorded example in the Bible of the children of Israel celebrating this feast. Nor is there a record in Jewish writings outside the Bible of an actual celebration of this feast before the second century A.D. That is two hundred years after the death of the Lord Jesus. One writer states regarding the first two feasts of Tishri, “Neither holiday is mentioned by Josephus, except for paraphrases of Biblical passages. If Josephus were are (sic) only evidence, we might conclude the holidays were not even celebrated in his day.”^[3]

Reader, please understand what I am saying here. The Bible does not call the first feast of the month of Tishri the feast of trumpets nor Rosh Hashanah. These attempts to rename this feast have no biblical basis whatsoever.[4] Making the first feast of Tishri about trumpets is an invention of second century Jews and is now perpetuated by faulty translations. Together, these things lead to this false doctrine being taught as truth, but clearly apart from sound biblical exegesis.

According to Leviticus 23:23-25, God instructed Moses thus:

Speak to the people of Israel, saying, in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the LORD [italics added],” (ESV).

Numbers 29:1 adds,

On the first day of the seventh month, you are to hold a holy assembly. You must not do your ordinary work, for it is a day of blowing trumpets for you [italic added].

Concerning Leviticus 23:24, notice the difference in the NASB’s translation. The term “trumpet” is in italics, which means it does not appear in the original Hebrew. The translators offer it to help the reader understand his or her personal interpretation of this verse. Notice:

Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. ‘ You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD.’”

The Holman Christian Standard Bible offers this translation:

The LORD spoke to Moses: “Tell the Israelites: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you are to have a day of complete rest, commemoration, and joyful shouting—a sacred assembly. You must not do any daily work, but you must present a fire offering to the LORD,” [italics added].

The best reflection of the Hebrew is Young’s Literal Translation. It states,

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, ‘Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first of the month, ye have a sabbath, a memorial of shouting, a holy convocation; ye do no servile work, and ye have brought near a fire-offering to Jehovah,’ [italics added].

Notice Numbers 29:1 in YLT:

And in the seventh month, in the first of the month, a holy convocation ye have, ye do no servile work; a day of shouting it is to you, [italics added].

Young’s Literal Translation, as well as footnotes in other translations, makes clear that the Hebrew term has something to do with a “shouting noise,” made with the mouth. The term itself has nothing (for emphasis again, NOTHING) to do with “trumpet” blowing. Modern translations are clearly allowing themselves to be influenced by second century Jewish tradition, which lacks divine authorization.

Therefore, in most translations, the authors are offering their biased interpretation. It depends on the translator’s sense of the author’s intent. However, most modern translations are influenced by a tradition outside the Bible. One critical Hebrew term is the center of our discussion in both Leviticus and Numbers—the Hebrew feminine noun teruah (תְּרוּעָה). What is the correct meaning and translation of this noun? It occurs in Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29:1. To understand the issue clearly, notice the following note from the UBS Handbook on the proper translation of the book of Leviticus. It states,

A memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets: literally, “a remembrance of acclamation,” representing only two Hebrew words. These two words indicate the two special features of this festival: (1) it was to be a memorial or a day of “remembrance.” (2) It was also a day of “acclamation.” The same word is translated “a great shout” in Leviticus 6:5. This ritual shout or perhaps the blowing of trumpets was to welcome in the new year. While the use of a musical instrument in making the loud noise is not essential to the meaning of the word, many modern translations see this as a reference to trumpets (NIV, NAB, AT, JB, MFT, and NASB, as well as RSV and TEV). It is worthy of note, however, that NJB omits any reference to the use of trumpets.^[5]

It is critical to discern the point that the UBS Handbook is making here. The Hebrew feminine noun teruah (תְּרוּעָה) as defined by Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon of the Old Testament literally means tumult, loud noise.^[6] The type of tumult or loud noise must be defined by the context. Whether the tumult or loud noise comes from an instrument, the human voice, or something else must be defined by the context. Whether the occasion is one of joyful celebration, mourning, or a war cry cannot be discerned from the context in either the Leviticus or Numbers passage that forms the basis of the first feast of Tishri.

Moses recorded the command regarding the feast in two ways. In Leviticus 23:24 – a memorial shout, is how he states it. In Numbers 29:1 – a day of shout is the way he states it.

Teruah (shout – תְּרוּעָה) is the term that both verses have in common. The specific feminine noun occurs in the Old Testament 36 times in 33 verses. The decision to translate this word “blast of trumpets” in Leviticus 23:24 is totally unwarranted and reflects the decision of the translators to allow themselves to be influenced by the second century Jewish decision to equate this day with trumpet blasts. It reflects the decision of the translators to assign the verse a sense not supported by the lexical meaning of the term or the historical practice of the feast. If the situation warrants, it is acceptable to do this type of thing to express better the exegetical intent of the text. However, no such basis exists here.

If we set aside Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29:1 for now and look at the remaining 34 occurrences of this term, we find an important pattern. In Psalm 150:5, a cymbal makes the (shout – תְּרוּעָה). A trumpet or shofar makes the (shout – תְּרוּעָה) in Leviticus 25:9; Numbers 10:5, 6 and 31:6; and II Chronicles 13:12. In each case, the instrument that makes the sound is explicitly identified. In the remaining 27 usages, the term refers to the (shout – תְּרוּעָה) made by the human mouth.[7]

In every reference where teruah refers to an instrument making the “loud sound,” the object is indicated in the text, i.e., if it is a shofar, a trumpet, or cymbals and in some cases has a verb meaning, “to blow,” then the instrument is explicitly identified in the context. In all the other passages, the human voice is intended. In a few of the passages where the human voice is intended there is a word used for the mouth, tongue, or lips. None of the passages where an instrument is intended – whether trumpet or shofar – is the instrument that makes the “loud noise” left unclear. In those passages, we do not have to guess the source of the noise. However, in a majority of the passages where the instrument that makes the “loud noise” is the human voice, the instrument is left undefined. In other words, no mention is made of the mouth, lips, or tongue as the source of the teruah (shout).

Therefore, when teruah appears alone in a passage, i.e., when it does not have an explicit instrument identified, it does not and should not be translated as “blast of trumpets.” This prejudices the text unnecessarily. There must be a clear and unambiguous contextual clue to warrant such a translation. Notice what Amos 2:2 says,

So I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth, and Moab shall die amid uproar, amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet.

Three nouns in this verse describe the conditions present when Moab will die. The text states Moab will die amid:

1. Uproar (šāʾôn) – the Hebrew word means “the noise caused by a great crowd of people.” It is often compared to the rushing, roaring, tumultuous noise of the sea.
2. Shouting (ṯ^erû·ʿā(h)) – the Hebrew word means “to raise a noise.” The human voice or an instrument, i.e. trumpet or shofar, can make the noise. The context is the key to the correct translation. In this case, since “shofar” occurs in the next verse, the context makes clear that “to raise a noise” with the human voice is the correct sense here.
3. The voice of the shofar – the Hebrew terms for both “voice” and “shofar” are used.

Because teruah and “shofar” appear in this verse, no scholar translates teruah as a “blast of trumpets” in this verse, because the context will not allow it. Yet, it is the very same word as in Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29:1. This example of multiple words occurring in a verse to indicate multiple sounds that accompany an event also occurs in Zephaniah 1:16 and II Chronicles 15:14. In neither of these verses is teruah translated “blast of trumpets.” Because the actual term shofar occurs in each of these verses, teruah must be given its normal, natural, and customary meaning, “loud noise,” as expressed with the human voice.

In both Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29:1, teruah occurs with no context-defining traits. That is, nothing in the verse itself defines the kind of noise to be made. Based on something other than the passage, scholars presume to define teruah as “blast of trumpets.” However, Young’s Literal Translation offers the best and most natural translation – “a shouting.” Therefore, neither Leviticus 23:24 or Numbers 29:1 has anything to do with “trumpet blasts.” At this point, we can concern ourselves with the purpose of the “shout.” What is a memorial or day of shouting? Was it a joyful shout? Was it a somber and sober shout? Was it a loud shout of grief or lament? About what were the Jews supposed to shout?

What the Jews were supposed to do in connection with the first feast of the mouth of Tishri is now lost. After the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile during the mouth of Tishri, evidently between the first feast of Tishri and the beginning of the Feast of Booths, the returnees were re-educated about their responsibilities regarding the Feast of Booths. There is no record that the people observed either the first feast of the month of Tishri or the second—Atonement. Both Ezra and Nehemiah record that the people celebrated the Feast of Booths. However, neither one records any festival events connected with Tishri 1 or 10. Nehemiah 8:2 and 13 specifically mention the days of Tishri 1 and 2, but nothing is said about the first two feasts of the month of Tishri. If the returnees celebrated these first two feasts, it is inexplicable that they did not mention anything about it.

Were it not for Ezra’s ability to read the Hebrew Scripture, the people would not have known or understood the Feast of Booths. Of interest at this point is Nehemiah 8:17b, which says, “The Israelites had not done so [i.e., celebrated the Feast of Booths] from the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day.” Given that the Scriptures say so very little about the first feast of Tishri, it is not hard to believe that the original reason for celebrating this feast was lost to Ezra. He was able to explain the Feast of Booths only because of the lengthy discussion contained in the Scriptures. That the majority of returnees from Babylon (the Jewish people) were ignorant of their traditions regarding the feasts is conclusive.

Third: the Bible Does Not State the Reason for the Feast

The third reason the rapture will not occur in connection with the first feast of Tishri is that no explicit reason is given for the celebration. Unlike Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Atonement, and Booths, the first feast of Tishri does not have a specific purpose behind it. God does not record the reason for the celebration in his Word.

The Jews were told what to do, but they were not told why. First, the feast must occur on the first day of the seventh month. Second, that day is a day of solemn rest. Third, it was a memorial of shouting. Fourth, there was to be a holy convocation. Fifth, there was to be a discontinuance of ordinary work. Sixth, the people presented a food offering to the Lord.

The feast receives more focused attention by Moses in Numbers 29:1-5. Here he focuses on the sacrifices to accompany the feast. However, again there is no explanation as to why the Jews were to celebrate on the first day of Tishri.

Therefore, to suggest that the rapture will occur on Tishri 1 has no biblical basis whatsoever. It is an invention of man without biblical justification. To follow the ungodly practices and habits of second century unchristian Jewish writers regarding the feasts results in a complete abandonment of the explicit teachings of Scripture. Ignorant Christians seeking to honor the Jewish roots of our faith blindly follow these modern practices, which clearly have no biblical authorization. How God’s heart must suppurate!