Feast of Trumpets 2025: What is Memorialized?

 The Feast of Trumpets is introduced in Leviticus 23:23-25 as "a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets" (ESV).  There is no mention in these verses of what is being memorialized.  

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on September 20, 2025, Kyle Kettering surveyed the important things that may be memorialized by this festival.  

Since harvest festivals like Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles are prominent in the annual cycle of celebrations, the fall harvest is one thing to celebrate in this season.  

There are a number of themes associated with the Feast of Trumpets in Jewish tradition.  These include 

• creation
• the binding of Isaac in Genesis 22, partly because of the horn of the ram that was a substitute for Isaac.
• a spiritual wake-up call and announcement of coming judgment.
• the coming of the King (Ps 98:6).
• future redemption, including the coming of Messiah (Zech 9:14) and the ingathering of exiles (Isa 27:13).  

Several of these themes are continued in the New Testament, especially that of future redemption.  The imagery of trumpets is prominent in the book of Revelation and in descriptions of the return of Jesus (Rev 11:15-18; Mt 24:29-31; 1 Co 15:51-57; 1 Th 4:13-18).  

Seder 156: Psalm 47---Praise for the King!

 In Psalm 47, all peoples are called upon to hail the God of Israel as king over all the earth.  

Commentator Willem Van Gemeren points out that in the Ancient Near East, rulers loved to be called, and to call themselves, "the great king."  One example is the Assyrian ruler Sennacherib (2 Ki 18:28; Isa 36:4).  Kings who gave themselves this title could not tolerate competition.  But God is the real "great king,' and he has no rival (v 2).  

God is to be praised for his mighty deeds on behalf of his people---for example, in freeing the Israelites from Egypt and granting them the land he had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (vv 3-4).  

In verses 5-8 of the psalm, he is pictured ascending to his throne in heaven accompanied by the sound of the shofar.  (Because of verse 5, this psalm is associated with the Feast of Trumpets in Jewish worship and with Ascension Day in Christian worship.)  Again, all are encouraged to sing praises to him.  

Verse 9 looks forward to the time when all peoples become "the people of the God of Abraham."  This verse goes on to say that "the shields of the earth belong to God."  The Septuagint has "kings" instead of "shields." Indeed, the two are basically synonymous; they are presented in parallel in Psalm 89:18:  "For our shield belongs to the Lord,; our king to the Holy One of Israel."  God is highly exalted as the ruler of all.