GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD!

Today, the Jews celebrate their fifth of the Feasts of Israel, the Feast of Trumpets, also known as Rosh Hashanah.  On the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah is their New Year's Day.  In Ezekiel 40:1, the only time the Hebrew Bible contains the two words together, it is translated "in the beginning of the year."  It is described in Leviticus 23:24-25: 

"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."

Many students of the Scriptures believe this feast is a prophetic picture of the first of Christ's two-part Second Coming.  Let me try to explain.  Because the feasts calls for "trumpets," plural, it is believed that one sounding occurs at the Rapture of the Church, prior to the Tribulation.  The Apostle Paul wrote about this in 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17:

"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.  For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

Notice that those who believe Jesus died and rose again, will be "caught up together with them in the clouds."  As I said, this is the first of His two-part Second Coming; the second part will involve Jesus returning to remain and rule on this earth (Rev. 19:11 - 20:15)!  Born again believers know Jesus died and rose again; it is the Gospel that saves (1 Cor. 15:3-4; Rom. 1:16)!

We believe the Tribulation, also known as "the Time of Jacob's Trouble," and "Daniel's Seventieth Week" (Jer. 30:7; Dan. 9:27; Mt. 24:4-28; Rev. 6:1 - 19:10), begins with the Feast of Trumpets, a calling of Israel to gather in their land.  It signals the beginning of the seven-year peace agreement between Israel and the Antichrist (Dan. 9:26-27).  Seven years later, it is Christ's Second Coming (phase two) that ends the Tribulation (Mt. 24:29; Rev. 19:11).

Will this Rosh Hashanah be the Rapture and the Re-gathering?  I pray it is!