Many people have a very limited perspective of Jesus Christ. They think only of His first coming as the suffering Saviour and Lamb of God, but when Jesus Christ returns the second time, it will be as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” to establish His rule and true peace on earth.
The end-time sequence of events leading up to Christ’s return is pictured by Christ unrolling a scroll and breaking open its seven seals one by one (Revelation 5). The sequence of the seals is the same sequence of events Jesus described in His prophecy about His return recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21.
The Resurrection of the Saints
A major event occurring at Christ’s return is the resurrection of God’s faithful servants — the saints. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament frequently use the word “saints” to refer to the faithful followers of God. In the New Testament, they are also called the “elect,” those selected or chosen (as in Matthew 24:31).
The apostle Paul describes this in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ [the saints who have died] will rise first. Then we [saints] who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
The Symbolism of the Feast of Trumpets
The Feast of Trumpets symbolises everything that happens from the angel blowing the first of seven trumpets, mentioned in the book of Revelation, to Christ conquering resistance at the time of His return.
It warns of global catastrophes and war while, at the same time, celebrating the coming of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the saints, paving the way for peace on earth when Jesus sets up His Kingdom and begins to rule the world!
The inspiring events pictured by the Feast of Trumpets, is part of the reason Christ taught us to pray to the Father, “Thy kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10, KJV). How urgently we need the answer to that prayer!
(In 2020 the annual observance of the Feast of Trumpets begins at sundown on Friday, September 18 and ends at sundown on Saturday, September 19. Normally church services marking this important holy day would be held in United Church of God congregations but, because of the pandemic other arrangements may have to be made in some areas.)
