How to Watch for the Second Coming (This is a rewrite and update from a column of the same title originally written in 2008)
We are about to start the most exciting month in God’s calendar – a month that teaches us what to expect when our Saviour returns to this earth. Just as Jesus’ first coming and his death and resurrection fulfilled the spring holy days, many Bible scholars believe that the second coming will fulfill the fall holy days. These days occur in the seventh Biblical month and consist of the Day of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
Currently, we are nearing the end of the sixth Biblical month. Our Creator’s calendar calculates months based on phases of the moon, beginning in the spring. As soon as the current moon cycle finishes waning and we see our first glimpse of the sliver of the new moon, probably around sundown September 10, we start the first day of the seventh Biblical month, a day that is called the Day of Trumpets.
The Day of Trumpets is called Yom Teruah in Hebrew. Teruah is defined in the
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew lexicon as: alarm, blast, war-cry, and shout of joy.
The root word, ruwa, is defined in Strong’s concordance as: to split the ears
with sound, to shout for alarm or joy, make a joyful noise, and triumph. This is
a day that we will celebrate the return of our Saviour, shouting for joy that he
has come back for us like he promised.
Many times trumpets are associated with the second coming. Matthew 24:31 says
that he comes “with a great sound of a trumpet”, 1 Thessalonians 4:16 says that
he comes “with the trump of God”, and 1 Corinthians 15:52, “…at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound...” In Revelation 11:15, the final trumpet signals
our world becoming the “kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall
reign for ever and ever.” All of these passages are clues for us to watch for
the second coming during this time of year.
Paradoxically, even when Scripture tells us to “Watch therefore, for ye know
neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 25:13),
that could be a clue pointing to the Day of Trumpets, as it is the one annual
Sabbath day that no man knows the day or hour until that sliver of moon is seen.
Of all the holy feast days laid out in Leviticus 23, the Day of Trumpets is the
only one that falls on the first of the month. Every other holy day falls at
least ten days after the first of the month, so there is at least ten days
advance notice from the moment the new moon is sighted. But the Day of Trumpets
comes a bit like a thief in the night. Those watching for it will know it is
close, but until you actually see that first sliver of the new moon, we don’t
know precisely when it will be.
Revelation 3:3 tells us that “if therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come as
a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” Doesn’t that
imply that those who do watch, will know? In fact, Jesus calls those who do not
discern the time hypocrites (Luke 12:56).
Between the Day of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, there is a ten day
period called the Days of Awe. During these ten days, we are to search our
hearts diligently, earnestly seeking to remove all known sin from our lives.
While Scripture doesn’t give a specific reason for this being a ten day period,
some Biblical scholars have hypothesized that we are to spend one day on each of
the Ten Commandments and their related statutes, searching to be sure that we
have no remaining unconfessed sin in each area of God’s holy law.
I invite you to watch the western sky each evening around sunset, watching for
the glimpse of the new moon. When you see it, give a shout for joy (or blast of
the trumpet) to your Redeemer, keep the day holy for Him, and during each of the
next ten days, search your heart like you never have before. Begin to rehearse
now for the final Day of Trumpets, which may be coming sooner than any of us
might imagine.
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