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The Shofar, the Rapture and the Feast of Trumpets

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What do these terms have to do with Christ's return? You need to separate truth from fiction.

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Every autumn the Jewish community observes a holiday called Rosh Hashanah, also called the Feast of Trumpets. On this day a shofar, or ram’s horn, is blown.
Most Christians find little meaning in the Feast of Trumpets, but this day holds an important message for you and your future?
There are connections between this ancient holy day, the idea of the Christian Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Join us on Beyond Today as we explore The Shofar, the Rapture and the Feast of Trumpets.
Jackie has been a Christian all of her life. She believes that we are fast approaching a time of massive war, disease epidemics and natural calamities.
She also believes that God is going to save her by the “Rapture.” Many Christians believe that the Rapture is a prophesied event where Christ “raptures” away Christians into the clouds before the time of the Great Tribulation.
She worries about her husband, who isn’t concerned with any church or the Bible. Will he be left behind to suffer and possibly die?
At a synagogue down the street a group of Orthodox Jews meet to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets.
Part of this ceremony will be the blowing of the shofar, or ram’s horn. In ancient times the shofar was blown for various reasons, including a call to waror the heralding of an important event.
It would appear that these two events: a Christian woman thinking about the Rapture and a group of Orthodox Jews observing the Feast of Trumpets have nothing in common.
The truth is that the Feast of Trumpets is a celebration of one of the most important times for both Jews and Christians. It is a day that celebrates events that are yet to happen!
On Beyond Today we’re going to explore the wonderful meaning of the Feast of Trumpets and how—for Christians—understanding what this day pictures can change your understanding of God’s plan for all humanity…and for you personally.
The book of Revelation tells of a time when seven angels will blast seven trumpets, each one heralds a great event during the time leading to the return of Jesus Christ as the King of Kings.
A careful study of these events shows that Jackie’s concern about the Rapture is based on a wrong understanding of the prophecies.
If you’re a Christian who believes in the Rapture, about this time you’re saying, “I know this guy is wrong. The Rapture is mentioned in the Bible by the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians.”
Let’s take a look at those verses. If you don’t have a Bible in front of you get one and follow along. Let’s turn to 1 Thessalonians:4:13But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.. Here the Apostle Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica
Let’s look at what Jesus taught about His Second Coming and the gathering of the saints: Matthew:24:29-31 [29] Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
[30] And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
[31] And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other..
We can see that there are remarkable similarities between what Paul wrote and what Jesus says about the events that take place at the end of the tribulation.
Are Jesus and Paul talking of two different events? Are they contradicting themselves?
To answer these questions we have two other passages to explore, but before we do I want to personally offer you a free booklet that explains what the Bible really teaches about the Feast of Trumpets and its importance for Christians.

Did God take Enoch and Elijah to heaven?

From http://el-paso.ucg.org/  or call 1-888-886-8632.

Did God take Enoch and Elijah to heaven?

The Bible talks of Enoch being "translated" and Elijah being taken up in a chariot of fire. What do these passages mean?



Answer:



Hebrews 11:5By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.



See All... tells us, "Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death." The verse continues with a quotation from Genesis 5, saying that he "was not found." The wording implies that someone was looking for him to cause him harm, and that God protected him by removing him to a safe place. Some assumed that God took him to heaven, but the verse does not say that. "Taken away" ("translated" in the King James Version) is from the Greek word metatithemi and it means "to transfer to another place" ( Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words , 1985).



What of Elijah—did God take him to heaven? Without reading the full account of the history of Judah and Israel, one might easily assume that 2 Kings 2:11And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.



See All... reports the death of Elijah and his subsequent removal from earth to heaven. Actually, the prophet did not die, as is borne out by the astonishing record of a letter that he wrote some years later! You can read this letter in 2 Chronicles 21:12-15 [12] And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

[13] But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than thyself:

[14] Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods:

[15] And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.





See All....



What was the "heaven" to which Elijah was taken? Scriptures speak of three heavens:



•The first, the atmosphere that envelops the earth (Genesis 1:8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.



See All...).

•The second, what we call "space" (Genesis 15:5And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.



See All...).

•The third, the location of God's throne (2 Corinthians 12:2I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.



See All...).





The prophet was supernaturally transported to a different location—through the "heaven" of earth's atmosphere—allowing his associate, Elisha to step into the office of the chief prophet to Israel.



The Bible teaches that "no one has ascended to heaven" (John 3:13And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.



See All...). What we find in Acts 2:29Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.



See All... and 34 clearly illustrates this fact. It says that righteous King David was still in his grave about 1,000 years after his death! Remember Jesus' comment in John 10:35If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;



See All..., "the Scripture cannot be broken." That is, its teachings are consistent throughout. The biblical teaching is that heaven is not the reward or the destiny of the saved.



A more complete explanation of all that the Bible teaches about the afterlife is available in our booklets Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach? and What Happens After Death?

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