The Feast of Trumpets is known by the Jews as Rosh Hashanah (head of the year) because it is the start of the Jewish New Year and also as Yom Teruah (a day of shouting and blasting).

The date for the Feast of Trumpets, the first day of the seventh month, is found in Leviticus 23 and Numbers 29.

Lev 23:24  “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
Lev 23:25  You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.’ “

Num 29:1  ‘And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets.

It is a Sabbath day, that is, a day of rest where no customary work is done.  It is a day when trumpets are blown.  How many and how often is not specified, but “a day of blowing the trumpets” sounds like blowing trumpets throughout the day.

There is nothing more in the Bible directly relating to the Feast of Trumpets.  So, indirect references have to be used when trying to understand the meaning of this Feast.

With this in mind, let us consider what trumpets were used for and what they are associated with.

Use of Trumpets

There are three main purposes of trumpets mentioned in the Bible.

1) Trumpets were used for gathering people.

Num 10:2  “Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps.
Num 10:3  When they blow both of them, all the congregation shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

2) Trumpets were used for sounding an alarm when going to war.

Num 10:9  “When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God, and you will be saved from your enemies.

An example of trumpets being used during war is Joshua and the battle of Jericho; at the blast of trumpets the walls fell down.  Another is Gideon and the defeat of the Midianites; at the blast of trumpets God caused the Midianites to turn on each other.

3) Trumpets were used on the Feast days (not just the Feast of Trumpets) and the beginning of months when offerings were made.

Num 10:10  Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the LORD your God.”

What Trumpets are Associated with

1) Trumpets are associated with the day of the Lord.

Joe 2:1  Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand:

Zep 1:14  The great day of the LORD is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out.
Zep 1:15  That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zep 1:16  A day of trumpet and alarm Against the fortified cities And against the high towers.

2) Trumpets are associated with the seven trumpets of Revelation and the seven angels who blow them.

Rev 8:2  And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

The 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th trumpets are found in Revelation 8, the 5^th and 6^th in Revelation 9, and the 7^th in Revelation 11.

3) A trumpet blast (a single trumpet) is associated with the resurrection of the saints.

1Co 15:52  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.

1Th 4:16  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.
1Th 4:17  Then we 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 Explanation

Before giving an explanation it is necessary to establish some preliminary observations.

1) The seven trumpets of Revelation are the Day of the Lord.

The seven trumpets of Revelation are understood to be the Day of the Lord, because the descriptor “great day of His wrath” is declared just before the opening of the seventh seal which expands into the seven Trumpets.  The last verse of Revelation 6 states:

Rev 6:17  For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

Revelation 7 is an interlude.  Then the first two verses of Revelation 8 state:

Rev 8:1  When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
Rev 8:2  And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

2) When Jesus Christ returns He will fight and defeat the armies of the world who come against him.

Zec 14:1  Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst.
Zec 14:2  For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Zec 14:3  Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle.

Rev 19:19  And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
Rev 19:20  Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19:21  And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.

3) The Day of the Lord is about one year.

The Day of the Lord is clearly not one day (24 hours) as too many things happen on the seven trumpet blasts to fit in one 24 hour period.  Using the Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:5-6 as an example of how God has used “a day” for “a year” we can make an educated guess that the Day of the Lord lasts about a year.

Num 14:34  According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection.

Eze 4:5  For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
Eze 4:6  And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year.

The simplest and most obvious explanation for the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets is that it portrays the seven trumpets of Revelation which describe the terrible events of the Day of the Lord.  Here are ways in which it fits.

• The use of trumpets for gathering people fits with the Day of the Lord when He gathers the nations to battle.
• The use of trumpets for war fits with the Day of the Lord culminating in Jesus Christ defeating the armies of the world.
• The blowing of trumpets throughout the Feast of Trumpets fits with the seven trumpets of the Day of the Lord.

But as noted above there is also an association of trumpets with the resurrection of the saints.  At the last trumpet the dead will be raised incorruptible.  This last trumpet is the 7^th trumpet when Jesus Christ takes over the kingdoms of the world.

Rev 11:15  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!”

It is natural to associate the last trumpet (on which the saints are resurrected) with the Feast of Trumpets.  Indeed this is one view.  Another view is that the Feast of Pentecost pictures the resurrection of the saints.  For a discussion on this see “Which Feast Day Pictures the Resurrection of the Saints?”

Conclusion

The Feast of Trumpets portrays the seven trumpets of Revelation which describe the terrible events of the Day of the Lord.

Depending on your persuasion it could also picture the “first resurrection”.