Dear United Church of God,

You don't know me, but I have read about your organization in the Feb. 8, 2006, edition of the Italian newspaper Libero. I found the interview with one of your ministers when I was doing a Google search for Christians who observe the festivals of the Bible.

You see, although I live in a country where it is very dangerous to become a Christian, I have become very interested in the Bible. I am beginning to believe that Jesus Christ truly is the Savior. As I read the Bible I find that Jesus Christ is called our Passover, and I find that the Church of God started on the Day of Pentecost.

If these two festivals are so important, I suspect the other festivals must be as well. But as I learn about many Christian churches, I do not find them observing these days. Many of them say the meaning of these festivals has been fulfilled and therefore it is no longer necessary to observe them.

In the Libero interview, your minister said, "What distinguishes us is the observance of the biblical feasts . . ." Since this is so, please tell me, what does the next biblical festival of the year, the Feast of Trumpets, mean? Also, is there future meaning behind these festivals or are they simply memorials of historical events?

Sincerely,
Abdul

Dear Abdul,

Thank you very much for your message and interest in the meaning of the biblical Feast of Trumpets. We applaud your courage and desire for the truth even in difficult circumstances. You've asked some profound questions about matters that few understand.

To begin answering your questions, let me quote from a booklet we publish called God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind.

A turning point in history

"The Feast of Trumpets depicts nothing less than the return of Jesus Christ to earth to establish the Kingdom of God! The book of Revelation reveals a sequence of earth-shaking events depicted by angels sounding a series of seven trumpet blasts. The seventh angel's sounding of the last trumpet signifies that 'the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ' (Revelation 11:15).

"The return of Jesus Christ stands as the final and most significant event associated with the blowing of the prophetic trumpets. Of all the prophecies in the Bible, this one surely heralds the most exciting news possible for this weary, sin-filled world!

"The Feast of Trumpets also marks the future fulfillment of the many Old Testament prophecies that speak of a Messiah coming as a king who will rule with power and authority. The concept of a conquering Messiah was on the minds of the apostles immediately after Jesus' resurrection. When He appeared to them in those early days, they asked questions such as: 'Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?' (Acts 1:6).

"Even in His earthly ministry, Jesus had spoken of distinctions between His first and second coming. When Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, questioned Jesus just before the crucifixion, Jesus stated clearly that He had not come to rule at that time.

"'My kingdom is not of this world,' Jesus told the government official. 'If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.' Then Pilate asked Him, 'Are You a king then?' Jesus answered in the affirmative: 'You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth' (John 18:36-37)."

The Bible, Abdul, shows trumpets were used to communicate important messages, such as calling people to meetings or giving an alarm of war. Trumpets could also furnish a festive sound (Numbers 10:10). With their ability to transmit sound over long distances, trumpets were ideal for attracting people's attention.

The New Testament gives additional understanding of the significance of the blowing of trumpets. The apostle Paul described the return of Jesus Christ this way: "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 will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Paul also wrote of the people God has called now (pictured by Pentecost) being resurrected to immortal life. In 1 Corinthians 15:52 he says this will happen "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

The apostle John also linked the blowing of a trumpet with Christ's return: "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!'" (Revelation 11:15). These passages dramatically show the significance of the Feast of Trumpets.

Real life offered to all

There is much more in the booklet about this Holy Day, as well as about the three festivals that follow soon after it: the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles and the eighth day that we call the Last Great Day. These festivals help decode the mystery of God's plan for all human beings—for life itself! Briefly, these mean:

The Day of Atonement teaches us that Jesus Christ gave His life to pay the penalty for—to atone for—the sins of all mankind. It also points to the time when Satan, the ultimate source of sinful thoughts and attitudes, will be bound for 1,000 years (Leviticus 16:29-30, 20-22; Revelation 20:1-3).

The Feast of Tabernacles teaches us that when Jesus Christ returns, a new society will be set up to rule the earth for 1,000 years (Revelation 19:11-16; 20:4; Leviticus 23:39-43; Matthew 17:1-4; Hebrews 11:8-9). God's laws will spread throughout the world to bring a period of peace and prosperity never seen before (Isaiah 2:2-4; Daniel 2:35, 44; 7:13-14).

Finally, a separate one-day festival, now referred to as the Last Great Day, immediately follows the Feast of Tabernacles. This Holy Day pictures the Great White Throne Judgment, the seventh step in God's plan as described in Revelation 20:11-13. People who have died having never heard about their incredible potential will have their true destiny revealed to them.

All the dead who have ever lived—people like the queen of Sheba, inhabitants of ancient Nineveh and the people of Christ's own time—will be resurrected together (Matthew 12:41-42). That resurrection of billions of people back to physical life is detailed in Ezekiel 37:1-14. These are the "rest of the dead" spoken of in Revelation 20:5. Billions of human beings will repent of their past sins and receive the gift of everlasting life.

Though few understand it, this important step in God's plan has always been in the Bible. And understanding the biblical Holy Days helps unlock this code.

God "desires all men to be saved" and is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). Through His wonderful plan, all of humanity will be given the opportunity to learn God's truth, come to repentance and receive salvation. 

So, Abdul, the meaning of life, of the universe and of our future is tied up in these biblical festivals! These observances lay out the plan by which Jesus Christ is going to return to earth to establish the Kingdom of God, and they reveal how we can be part of it. What an incredible gift of God to allow us to understand these as we read and believe His Bible and obediently celebrate His commanded days! VT

Lost Festivals?

Why do so few Christian churches keep the festivals of the Bible? That is another story, and a long one. But in short, it goes back to the first few centuries after Christ, when Christians were considered a scet of Judaism and were being persecuted along with the Jews. Many sought to distance themselves from those customs considered Jewish.

This culminated, by the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine, in the complete rejection of many of the laws of the Old Testament. Then, in order to attract and assimilate those of other religions into the church now supported by the Roman Empire, other holidays were adopted and the biblical Holy Days were rejected.