We want to examine which trumpet is blown in Zion in Joel 2:1-2.  To examine this, first we’re going to back up a little bit and discuss another trumpet, and see if we can connect them.

There has been a lot of confusion and controversy surrounding three little words – “The Last Trump”.

…in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.  1 Corinthians 15:52 ESV

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  1 Thessalonians 4:16 ESV

Is this “Last Trump” the last of the 7 Trumpet Judgments?  Those who would try to refute a pretribulation rapture claim that Paul was referring to the last in the series of trumpet judgments which John would write about some 20-40 years later.  The difficulty with the Trumpet 7 Judgment interpretation, despite the obvious lack of reference for Paul’s audience at the time he wrote it, is that there are no additional trumpets mentioned in the sequence.  Notable too, is that angels blow the 7 trumpets of judgment, compared to the rapture, in which the trumpet of God is sounded.  The Last Trump isn’t the 7th Trumpet of Revelation.

What is the Last Trump then?  Is this “Last Trump” the last trumpet sounded on the Feast of Trumpets?  Is it the “Last Trump” of a Jubilee year on Yom Kippur?  Is it the “Last Trump” sounded in a feast year on the mysterious Eighth Day after the Feast of Tabernacles?  Or is the “Last Trump” something else?  Could the “Last Trump” be the trumpet blast that is sounded in Mount Zion right before the Day of the Lord???

Last Trump Contenders

Many watchmen have correctly identified that the Feasts of God are a beautiful picture of God’s redemption plan for humanity.  It is commonly assumed that all 4 Spring Feasts have been fulfilled (although we have been challenging that belief about Pentecost in this series).  Thus, focus has mostly been on the Fall Feasts as possible rapture date contenders, so let’s take a moment to examine these:

Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) – I understand the connections that have been made regarding the “last trump” with the Feast of Trumpets.  I mean, the name of that feast alone tends to make it stand out as a strong contender.

Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets [teruah, H8643] , a holy convocation.  Leviticus 23:24 ESV

On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets [teruah, H8643]… Numbers 29:1 ESV

From Hebrew tradition, it seems that the Feast of Trumpets contained the “last trump” and Yom Kippur sounded the “great trump”.  On the Feast of Trumpets, traditionally 100 blasts of the shofar would be sounded, with the last being the Tekiah Gedolah – a specific long blast.  Despite the lack of scriptural corroboration for these blasts, the Jewish traditions seem very compelling.  As such, this feast has remained a “high watch” day for me as a possible shadow fulfillment with the rapture.

The shofar blasts are truly spine tingling and if you’ve never heard them I highly recommend checking them out on YouTube.  Here’s a sample:

Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) – Another Last Trump contender that I have considered as a possibility is Yom Kippur.  The 10 Days between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement are somber and reflective, during which one’s eternal fate is believed to be “sealed”.  It is said in Jewish tradition that books are opened on the day of Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets).  The righteous are written in the Book of Life, the wicked are written in the Book of Death, and those in limbo have ten days to repent before their fate is sealed in one book or the other.  Seal 7 seems to describe the Yom Kippur Temple ceremony in the heavenly temple, right before God’s wrath begins to rain down upon the earth.  Thus,  Yom Kippur could possibly both start and end the Tribulation period (as far as the day counts go, I believe the earth will be rocked back to 360-day-years at the time of the rapture).

The Jubilee Trump – The Trump announcing a Jubilee is a very specific loud trumpet blast [tekiah shophar] found in Leviticus 25:9.  Despite what many are teaching about this trumpet, the Jubilee Trump is sounded on Yom Kippur to mark the START of a Jubilee year, not the end of one.  The main excitement over the Jubilee cycle has come from a so-called prophecy by a Rabbi named Judah ben Samuel.  This prophecy is *HIGHLY SUSPECT* and I have detailed that here: Does Yom Kippur 2017 Mark the Loud Trump of a Jubilee?  Looking at significant dates in Israel’s history would indicate there is a possibility that 2017 could indeed start a Jubilee.  Dan Matson has done a lot of work studying this possibility at WatchForTheDay if you want to check it out.  In my opinion, the Jubilees are about Israel, and releasing her from slavery.  While gentile believers have been freed from our slavery to sin, I’m wondering if the Jubilee has more to do with the fulfillment of Daniel’s 70th week than it does about the snatching of the Bride of Christ.  As such, I personally believe the Jubilee will fall on the 6000th year of human government at the end of the Tribulation period.  (By the way, I believe we are currently in approximately year 5993 – God’s Prophetic Timeline – 7000 Years of Humanity).

The Eighth Day – I personally never found the eighth day compelling as a possible rapture date.  The Feast of Tabernacles clearly is associated with the Millennial Kingdom rule of Christ, although some have suggested it could shadow fulfill by our “tabernacling” with Christ in our “chambers” during the time of tribulation (as per Isaiah 26).  It is true that there is a trumpet blast on the 8th Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which would be the final trumpet blast of that year’s feast cycles.  It would mark the “Last Trump” of the feast year.

The Fall Feasts – Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles – point to the future completion of God’s redemptive program.  I believe the complete fulfillment of all 3 fall feasts will occur in the same year, at the Second Coming. What we don’t know is if there will be a Shadow fulfillment of these feasts, or not.  I have studied them in the past here:

1. The Feasts of God – His Appointed Times
2. The Harvest of the Church and the Fulfillment of the Feasts of God 
3. Jewish Traditions in the Fall Feasts
4. Yom Kippur – Do We Go Up As Wrath Comes Down?

With the fall feasts discussed, let’s examine the possibility that the “Last Trump” is not connected to a Feast of God at all.

No Feast – Hillary MC recently posted an interesting study in which she suggests that BOTH the First and Last Trumps will sound at the time of the rapture, perhaps not in connection with any Feast Date:

Look at the order:

1. The dead in Christ rise first
2. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds

Or, look at it another way:

1. The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible (the dead rise before we do)
2. We who are alive and remain shall be changed at the last trump

See it?

1. The trumpet shall sound (this is the first trump): the dead rise and the corruptible puts on incorruptible
2. The trumpet sounds again (this is the last trump) and we shall be changed: this mortal puts on immortality and we are caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.

There are two trumpets for the rapture. Or two trumpet blasts: a first one and a last one. The first, for the dead in Christ. The last, for we who are alive and remain.

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.” (Numbers 10:1-3)

Who is The Door?

Source: https://www.facebook.com/notes/hillary-mc/what-is-the-last-trump-of-the-rapture-of-the-church/187206301889451/

With all these possibilities discussed, I personally believe that the “Last Trump” is connected to the Feasts of God as well as to the Rapture of the Church.  The challenge has been how to demonstrate this connection in scripture.  I believe the key might be contained in Joel chapter 2, with the Trumpet being blown in Zion.

What’s That You’re Blowing?

When we examined the Feast of Trumpets earlier, we noted that the “day of blowing” was to be with the trumpets, or with shouting [teruah, H8643].  

Original Word: תְּרוּעָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: teruah
Phonetic Spelling: (ter-oo-aw’)
Short Definition: shout

Word Origin
from rua
Definition
a shout or blast of war, alarm, or joy
NASB Translation
alarm (5), battle cry (2), blowing (1), blowing trumpets (1), joy (1), joyful sound (1), resounding (1), shout (10), shout of alarm (1), shout of joy (1), shouted (1), shouting (4), shouts of joy (1), signal (1), trumpet blast (1), war cries (2), war cry (1).

Source: http://biblehub.com/hebrew/8643.htm

This word is used on a number of occasions in scripture, and is translated “the Jubilee”, blowing of trumpets, an alarm, the shout, an alarm is to be blown, a great shout (Joshua with the walls of Jericho), shouting, rejoicing, war cry, and shouts of joy.  Sometimes the blowing is via ram’s horn (shofar), sometimes by human voices, sometimes by a pair of silver trumpets, and sometimes it is unspecified.

Digging deeper, we find that there are TWO different types of trumpets.  First, is a ram’s horn shophar.  Second, is a pair of silver trumpets.

The ram’s horn is the shophar [H7782].

Original Word: שׁוֹפָר
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: shophar
Phonetic Spelling: (sho-far’)
Short Definition: trumpet

Word Origin
from shaphar
Definition
a horn (for blowing)
NASB Translation
horn (4), horns (1), ram’s horn (1), trumpet (46), trumpeter* (1), trumpets (19).

Source: http://biblehub.com/hebrew/7782.htm

This pair of silver trumpets is the chatsotsrah [H2689].

Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: chatsotsrah
Phonetic Spelling: (khats-o-tser-aw’)
Short Definition: trumpets

Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
(an ancient) trumpet
NASB Translation
trumpet (1), trumpeters (3), trumpets (26).

Source: http://biblehub.com/hebrew/2689.htm

Let’s go to a key passage in Numbers 10, which informs us that trumpets are involved in ALL the Feasts of God:

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,  “Make two silver trumpets. Of hammered work you shall make them, and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp…  On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets [chatsotsrah, H2689] over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I am the Lord your God.  Numbers 10:1,10 ESV

The trumpets used to be used at the Feasts of God are the chatsotsrah, the two silver trumpets.

That’s all very nice and good, but what we really want to know is which type of trumpet is the Last Trump????  Is the Last Trump a chatsotrsrah, that will sound on a Feast Day?

For this, we need to find out what kind of trumpet the First Trump was, and when it was sounded.  I do not believe that the First and Last Trump will both be sounded at the rapture, because I believe the First Trump has already sounded – on Pentecost!

Pentecost Part 10 – The First Trump and the Last Trump – On Pentecost?

Main Pentecost Study Menu: Everything You Need to Know About Pentecost, the Feast that Ties It All Together For The Church