There are two prevailing views regarding which Feast Day pictures the resurrection of the saints.  One view is that the Feast of Trumpets does and the other that the Feast of Pentecost does.  This short paper attempts to objectively examine both views.

The Feast of Trumpets Pictures the Resurrection of the Saints

Trumpets Claim 1

The last trumpet (on which the saints are resurrected) occurs on the Feast of Trumpets.  The argument is that the correspondence between the last trumpet and the Feast of Trumpets is so strong, it must be so.

Trumpets Claim 2

Pentecost is linked to Jesus Christ’s first coming and not His second coming and thus cannot picture the resurrection of the saints (which happens at His second coming).  The argument is that Pentecost is linked to the wave sheaf offering, through the counting fifty days from the wave sheaf offering to Pentecost.  The wave sheaf offering pictures the accession of Jesus Christ (which happened at His first coming) and thus Pentecost is linked to Jesus Christ’s first coming.

Trumpets Claim 3

The two loaves of the Pentecost offering do not picture the resurrected saints and thus Pentecost cannot picture the resurrection of the saints.  The argument is that the two loaves are leavened and leaven pictures sin and thus the two loaves picture the saints in their sinful human state and not in their sinless resurrected state.  The two loaves being “waved before the Lord” picture the saints being able to come before God with Jesus Christ as the high priest.

Trumpets Claim 4

The duration of the seven bowls of God’s wrath (which follow immediately after the seventh trumpet blast) is only a few days at most.  The argument is that the third bowl (the rivers and springs becoming blood) destroys sources of drinkable water making it impossible for life to exist for more than a few days. 

Irrelevant Trumpets Arguments

Some arguments are irrelevant because they misrepresent what the Pentecost view claims.  A few examples are listed here.

The Pentecost view does not claim that wave offerings (whether the sheaf or the loaves) picture resurrections.  Thus arguments such as: “The wave offering of the two loaves of Pentecost symbolises a presentation to God and not a resurrection and so Pentecost does not picture the resurrection”, are irrelevant.

The Pentecost view does not claim that there are two returns of Jesus Christ to earth.  Thus arguments such as: “The Pentecost view is a type of rapture theory”, are irrelevant.

Trumpets View Summary

The seventh Trumpet is blown on the Feast of Trumpets and the saints are resurrected.  The resurrected saints rise to meet Jesus Christ and then descend (the same day) to touch down on the earth with Jesus Christ and rule for 1000 years.

The Feast of Pentecost Pictures the Resurrection of the Saints

Pentecost Claim 1

The last trumpet (on which the saints are resurrected) occurs on the Feast of Pentecost.  The argument is that Pentecost is called the Day of Firstfruits (Numbers 28:26) and Christians are a kind of firstfruits (James 1:18) and thus Pentecost pictures the day Christians are resurrected (as a type of firstfruits harvest).

Num 28:26  ‘Also on the day of the firstfruits, when you bring a new grain offering to the LORD at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work.

James 1:18  Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Pentecost Claim 2

The two leavened loaves of the Pentecost offering picture the resurrected saints.

The first argument is that the leaven pictures the expansion of the kingdom of God when the saints are resurrected.  Leaven can picture sin, but it can also picture the kingdom of God.

Mat 13:33  Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

Just as leaven spreads throughout the whole lump of dough so the kingdom of God will spread and grow. 

The second argument is that the two loaves were loaves of wheat and that wheat pictures God’s people.  In support of this Exodus 9 is used which explains barley was an early harvest and wheat a later harvest.

Exo 9:31  Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud.
Exo 9:32  But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late crops.

And also, in the parable of the tares, wheat is pictured as God’s people (sons of the kingdom).

Mat 13:29  “But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
Mat 13:38  “The field is the world, the good seeds [wheat] are the sons of the kingdom, …

Pentecost Claim 3

When Jesus Christ returns, the resurrected saints rise to meet Him in the clouds.  They all stay in the clouds on the sea of glass for several months until Jesus descends to the Mount of Olives (probably on the Feast of Trumpets).  The argument is that time is required for

• Briefing the resurrected saints on events on earth since their death and on their future role
• The wedding feast
• The seven bowls of God’s wrath

Pentecost Claim 4

The three Feast seasons, which coincide with the three harvests seasons in ancient Israel, picture the three “harvests” of souls.

The first part of the argument is that the Feasts listed in Leviticus 23 are grouped together as three Feast seasons which are summarised in Exodus 23, Deuteronomy 16, and 2 Chronicles 8.

Exo 23:14  “Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year:
Exo 23:15  You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty);
Exo 23:16  and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.
Exo 23:17  “Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

Deu 16:16  “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.

2Ch 8:12  Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD which he had built before the vestibule,
2Ch 8:13  according to the daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three appointed yearly feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

The three Feast seasons coincide with the three harvests seasons in ancient Israel.  There were two in the spring (an early barley and a later wheat), and the third in late summer stretching into early autumn. 

The second part of the argument is that grain harvests picture a “harvesting” of souls to eternal life.  For example:

Mat 9:37  Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Joh 12:24  Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.

Also, the parable of the Sower, Matthew 13:1-9 and the parable of the Weeds, Matthew 13:24-30.  And thus, the three Feast seasons picture the three “harvests” of souls listed below.

Harvest 1: The Feast of Unleavened Bread is closely associated with the wave sheaf offering.  The harvested sheaf (of barley) pictures the resurrected Jesus Christ.   The waving of this sheaf pictures Jesus Christ’s ascension to the Father and His sacrifice for our sins being accepted by God.  (See “What is the meaning of the wave sheaf offering?”)

Harvest 2: The Feast of Pentecost pictures the resurrection of the saints at the last Trumpet when Jesus Christ returns.

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.

Harvest 3: The Feast of Tabernacles contains the last day (the eighth day) of the Feast which pictures the resurrection of the rest of the dead which is the vast majority of humanity.  They are resurrected to a physical life and offered salvation.  This is their “harvest” time.  See (“What is the meaning of the Eighth Day of the Feast of Tabernacles?”)

Pentecost View Summary

The seventh Trumpet is blown on the Feast of Pentecost and the saints are resurrected.  (Perhaps the first Trumpet is blown on the Feast of Trumpets about 9 months earlier.)  The resurrected saints rise to meet Jesus Christ in the clouds where they stay for about 3 months while the seven bowls of God’s wrath are poured out until the Feast of Trumpets, which is the completion of the Day of the Lord, at which point they touch down on the earth with Jesus Christ and rule for 1000 years.

Conclusion

This paper has endeavoured to objectively examine the two main views of which Feast Day pictures the resurrection of the saints.  Regardless of our own persuasion, hopefully we can recognise that people have different understandings, and allow discussion and differences of opinion, particularly where there is insufficient Scriptural support to be dogmatic.