The Great Trumpet and the Feast of Atonement*

Yom Kippur, or the Feast of Atonement, is approaching this week. There is a great trumpet that plays a role in this feast. The Atonement is also often referred to as the "At-One-Ment", where man is reconciled with God by the blood of Atonement, which in the fulfillment of this feast, is the blood of Jesus. Adam and Eve had this "oneness" in their relationship with God in the garden, walking and talking with Him, before they disobeyed God and fell. The prophet Isaiah connected the reconciliation in man's relationship with God with the sound of a great trumpet: "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river into the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem." (Isa. 27:12-13). The coming of Christ is also described with the same great trumpet: "Immediately after the tribulation...the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 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. 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." (Mt. 24:29-31). As Isaiah referred to a threshing and gathering of Israel at the sound of the great trumpet, Jesus also taught of a gathering done at the sound of a great blast of a trumpet. The Feast of Atonement is the call to examine ourselves, and to come back into the status of righteousness in God: "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth...Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright." (Ps. 11:3-7). We are seeing the nation's foundations being destroyed, more each day. This affects the righteousness of the nation. The LORD's temple is holy, and we read in scripture that His temple is a living temple, and that we are that living temple of God. The wicked will suffer great snares and punishments, while the countenance, or face, of the LORD is turned to the righteous. The Word of God tells us to "seek His face". This time leading up to the Day of Atonement is the time to seek the LORD's face. The verses from the Psalms above point out the important role played in the life of the righteous by "the foundations". The foundation not only establishes the steadiness and squareness of a building, but unifies the components that are being built together upon it. The apostle Paul wrote concerning the foundation of this living holy temple of God: "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth into a holy temple in the Lord: In whom you also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit." (Eph. 2:19-22, see also 1 Cor. 3:9-11). The building being constructed is the holy temple of God, and it is built upon the foundation of the Word of God established by the apostles and prophets, with Christ being the cornerstone. This holy temple cannot be constructed on any other type of foundation. The components being united in this building according to the verses above are Israel and the Gentiles. The Gentiles were strangers and aliens without the covenant of promise, and without the hope of God (v. 11-14). However, now through the blood of Jesus Christ, the barrier between the two peoples, and between the Gentiles and God, has been dissolved. From these separated parts, Jesus has made one new man, reconciled together into one body by the work of the cross (v. 15-16). This is the Atonement that reconciles and unites into One. Why then is the Church so divided? Instead of building upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with the cornerstone being Christ, many churches have been built on the interpretations and doctrines of men. Ephesians 4:11-16 states that the ministers that have been supplied to the Church by Jesus, which include apostles and prophets as well as many other gifts of ministry (see 1 Cor. 12:27-28 also), cause the Body of Christ to be edified to do the work of the ministry, and perfected until the Church comes into "the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ...". This necessary foundation of the apostles and prophets has not passed away, although some in the Church erroneously believe that it has. The Church still is not unified, or perfected, nor has it attained the full stature of Christ. This foundation, as gifted to us by Christ, is to prevent us from being like children, "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." (v. 14). We see this today, as so many believers are deceived into following strange and divisive doctrines. The Lord wants us to be established in truth (v. 15), if we are to grow up into our Head, and the Head of all things, Jesus Christ. This is the purpose in the Atonement. The apostle Peter urged the Church to remember their foundation, "...the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour." (2 Peter 3:1-2). Keeping this foundation is especially important to the Church in these laat days, according to Peter, as pressure mounts to follow false doctrines, and having to face the challenges to truth from scoffers. The great trumpet of the Day of Atonement, like the great trumpet that is sounded at the return of Christ, is to cause the Church, the Bride, to unite with the Holy Spirit in saying to all who hear, to all who thirst, and to the Lord Himself, "Come" (Rev. 22:17, 20). The Book of Revelation also warns that the words of prophecy in this book cannot be added to, or removed, without severe consequences from plague to removal from the book of life for the one who does so (Rev. 22:18-19). These are the consequences for those who would destroy the true foundation, and the goal of Atonement - unity with God in Christ, unity with each other in the Body as the holy temple of God, and unity of the faith: "At-One-Ment". *Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 9/12/21 message to the Church. To contact us, submit a prayer request or praise report, or to support the ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and endtimeschool.com.