Monday, September 17, 2012

Trumpets

Well, we've made it past our first holiday alone.  Today was Rosh Hashanah- the Feast of Trumpets.

In our family, we celebrate the festivals in the Bible.  They tell such a rich story of God's plan for His people. Bryan especially loved studying the feasts and teaching others, particularly our children, about them.

Bryan and the Kids at the Feast of Trumpets 2009

Checking out the Shofar- the Ram's Horn
The great thing is that Bryan wrote many of his Bible studies down.  He wanted me- one of these days- to put his festival studies into a book.  And maybe I will, but for now, here is a piece of Bryan's reflection on the Feast of Trumpets from the Bible study series he taught.

"Before we head into the New Testament prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets, I want to take a few minutes to look at some of the symbolism involved with the time of year during which this feast occurs.  Fall is the time of harvest, the end-of-the-year harvest when everything is brought into the storehouse.



Jesus talks about a harvest in Matthew 13.  In verse 39, He tells us the harvest is the end of the age.  Those of us who claim Christ are likened to a harvest of wheat; the sons of the enemy are weeds.  Similarly, in Isaiah 40:6-7, the prophet says that men are like grass.

So we are compared to grass, land, crops- and we're all part of a great harvest that will take place one day.  In Hebrews 6:7-8, the author tells us,

"For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God;  
but if it bears thorns and briers, 
it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned." 

Here's a question for us to think about:  What burns: dry grass or wet grass?

The answer is, of course, dry grass.  How can we keep from being dried grass?  We're wandering around in the "desert" of this world, not yet in the Promised Land.  How do we prevent the burning that the author of Hebrews warns about?

Isaiah gives a glimpse of God's provision for us in the desert:

For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
And My blessing on your offspring;
They will spring up among the grass
Like willows by the watercourses.’
(Isaiah 44:3-4)

The water that we need to get us through our desert wanderings is an outpouring of the Spirit of God.  Only the Holy Spirit can protect us from the harsh conditions of a dry and barren land.

Just as the Israelites in the wilderness drank water from the rock, we as believers must get water from the Rock, the Rock that Paul tells us, is Christ."

And there you have it:  A few paragraphs from Bryan's much longer study.  We look forward to the time when we'll hear the final trumpet blast, when Jesus comes back, and Bryan- and the others who are the dead in Christ- will rise.

Amen.  Come quickly, Lord Jesus.










1 comment:

Debbie M said...

Thanks for sharing with us as always, Aimee.