And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven. Matthew 24:30
Tonight begins the Feast of Trumpets. It is a day of solemn assembly, remembrance, expectation and longing for a king. One night, one day, the King of this City is returning. He is coming back for His Bride, and He will roar over Jerusalem like a lion roars over its prey. Pursued and bought, protected and caught. There are several things that happen among the Jewish people in these days of feasting. We are only beginning to learn the mystery of a people who hold a day of remembrance for something, but don’t know what.
I sat in a room full of people who follow Yeshua tonight. And my heart swelled with longing as I looked east out toward the Mt. of Olives, where He left from, going up into the clouds, leaving us with the promise that He would come back for us the same way He left.
How long, oh Lord? How long Yeshua, until you come back for your bride? How many years will we wait, longing, working the fields, watching, buying the oil of your presence, staying sober?
The feasts are an enacted passion play, the cycle of a year, they are the feasts of remembrance of Messiah, but most Jewish people do not know how the symbols they use yearly, the actions they take, the scriptures they read, even the traditions, are prophetic pronouncements to help them recognize and remember Yeshua Hamashiach.
Tonight, they sound the trumpets as a call to return to God, but one night, one day, a trumpet will sound and the night will have come. The window of time to repent and return through Messiah will be over, and those whose names are written in the Book of Life will be with Him forever.
Tonight they remember Isaac, who was saved by a substitutionary ram in the thicket, the same ram with horns we blow as shofars, as trumpets. Tonight we remember Yeshua, the Passover lamb, the willing “Isaac,” the obedient one to the will of the Father. The only promised son who was the only hope for a people set apart for God.
Tonight, our neighbors enter into the “ten days of awe” when we will be opening our hearts up to God to to be seen by His piercing love, to repent, to turn back toward God. During this feast, the people say that the book of life is open for ten days. Who’s names will be written inside? They can only hope but have no assurance. They can remain optimistic and enjoy the fresh start of the New Year, but to live, we must all have our names writtenin the Lamb’s Book of Life. We all must keep our hearts open all the time to be seen by God. We must come under and stay under the authority of the blood of atonement, and and live our lives under the tabernacle (Sukkot) covering of Yeshua, the one who pitched His tent in flesh and made His dwelling among humankind. Yes. Yeshua is the fulfillment of all the feasts of Israel.
We know that only those who believe in Yeshua will find this life because He IS the ram in the thicket who saved all of the obedient sons of Israel, those who would repent. If the heart of repentance is still alive in His people today, then we have much hope. He is the one who told His followers that no one would come to the Father except through Him.
How close you are, veiled Bride of God, to understanding the mysteries of Messiah! They are as close as the rituals you perform, as the foods you eat, as the songs you sing, as the rams’ horns you sound. Tonight, we pray that Yeshua will reveal Himself as the substitutionary son, slain before the foundations of the world, that you would mourn His death and repent, calling out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” That you would rejoice confident that your name is written in the Book of Life!
Yeshua, give dreams and visions tonight. Open your New Testament to Jewish readers. Let prophetic words of knowledge go forth from the lips of your people. Wake the Bride this year, Yeshua, and we will train her to recognize you at your return. We long for you as friends of the Bridegroom tonight. You must increase and we must decrease. And still…we long for you for ourselves.
Tonight, we eat apples, pomegranates, honey, and are these not the same fruits that remind us of the Song of Solomon, the prophetic song of longing of Bride and Groom?
“Refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love.” Song of Solomon 2:5
“The taste of honey is on your lips, my darling; your tongue is milk and honey for me.” Song of Solomon 4:11
Like pomegranate fruit are the sides of your head under your veil. Song of Solomon 6:7
Daughters of Jerusalem, tell me if you find Him, I am love sick. (Song of Solomon 5:8) For tonight, the friends of the bridegroom go to bed again, the longing still strong for You, Yeshua, a God-man we’ve never met face to face. Tonight, we enter your rest, still hoping, still sober, still remembering You, still aging, still eyes to the skies, still working this soil, still with these thorns in our flesh, still tasked to disciple the nations, and still waiting for the trumpet to sound. Wake the Bride, You are coming.
As Jesus taught in Matthew 24, first will come the abomination that causes desecration. When that happens, those in Judea should flee to the hills. There will be great anguish in those days, but do not look in the desert for the Messiah, where there will be false prophets and miracle workers to deceive even the elect. Look up. As the lightning flashes in the east and is seen in the west, His coming will be seen by all, so look up to the clouds, not out into the desert. The sun and moon will be darkened and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then, IMMEDIATELY after that, look up because the sign of His coming will appear in the heavens and people will mourn in fulfillment of the prophecy (Zechariah 12:10)! That final trumpet call will be gathering us together from the corners of the earth to meet Jesus in the air, and we will be with Him forever.
Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Matthew 26:64
And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Mark 14:62
After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!” Acts 1:9-11
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the TRUMPET CALL of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.
Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 4-5
FLY ME AWAY (lyrics)
I walked into the stillness of night
Summer squandered, daylight dying
With heavy heart I looked up to the skies
And heaven’s heartbeat filled my ears
Stars of promise, rest within the blankets of blue
Fly me away to somewhere I can be free
Your Words flood my soul
And bring you back to me
The way that it should be
Looking out into the great divide
Fields of glory, tell a story
Of the morning that you said goodbye
Was it yesterday or years ago
Here I stay, You left me working in the fields of gold
Fly me away to somewhere I can be free
Your words flood my soul
And bring you back to me
The way that it should be
Once again the sunlight fades away
Light a candle, in the window
Looking through the purple and the gray
Could it be my eyes deceiving me
A shadow, but how can shadows knock upon my door
Lift the latch and gaze into your eyes
Tender passion brimming over
Tears of joy as I begin to cry
Wipe them quick to prove it’s not a dream
You whisper, I told you that I would come back for you.
Fly me away to somewhere I can be free
Your words flood my soul
And bring you back to me
The way that it should be
The Spirit and the Bride say come
And the one who hears says come
Oh Come.
