Q297 : Will the Rapture Fulfill the Feast of Trumpets?
My question is in regards to the feast of trumpets. Some reputed Bible scholars have posited that the rapture of the church will be the fulfilment of the feast of trumpets in line with 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Some others have said, however, that the national regathering of Israel at the second coming of Christ will be the fulfilment of this feast, in line with Isaiah 27:13 and Matthew 24:31. Others combine both ideas. My major challenge with the view that the rapture will fulfil this feast is that it opens the door to date-setting since it is usually possible to know the date when this feast is celebrated yearly among the Jews, a clear violation of Matthew 24:36. What are your thoughts on this issue? Also, does the church fulfil Israel’s feasts? I know that the birthday of the church took place on Pentecost, a Jewish feast. But does this fact alone necessitate the fulfilment of other Jewish feasts by the church?
| A297 : by Tony Garland
I hold a view very similar to yours: while it seems clear there is a relationship between some feasts and prophetic events (e.g., the Feast of Weeks and the Day of Pentecost), I would be reticent to assume the Rapture will have a similar correlation. As you observe, this would seem to destroy a key attribute of the return of Jesus for the Church: that His return for the Church is imminenta.
Every fall, it seems, there are various Christian teachers out there who try to tie some event or another on the prophetic horizon to a specific date of the Jewish Calendar. I really don't pay much attention to this sort of discussion, whether it concerns the Rapture or some other claimed prophetic event. So I think your discernment is guiding you well on this question.
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