1 Cor. 15:51-54 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet will sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
This Wednesday, we will celebrate the biblical festival of Yom Teruah, also known as the Feast of Trumpets or Rosh HaShanah. Interestingly, Rosh HaShanah, which marks the Jewish New Year, doesn’t occur on the first day of the first month, but rather on the first day of the seventh month! This concept can be confusing to those unfamiliar with it, but it becomes clearer when we study how the Jewish year is structured and how God reveals His prophetic timeline through the Jewish feasts.
The first month of the Jewish year begins with Passover. Two thousand years ago, the new age began with the crucifixion of Yeshua (Jesus) on the Cross on Passover! Next, Messiah rose from the dead precisely on the day of the celebration of the first fruits. Then, fifty days later, the Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost) began the celebration of the harvest season. This day marked the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the beginnings of the first harvest right here in Jerusalem as three thousand souls came into the kingdom!
Now, here we are, in the midst of the summer harvest — the harvest of souls, awaiting the great sound of the trumpet! When the trumpet sounds — it shall be the beginning of a new age when “this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality!”
So, as we celebrate Rosh Ha Shana or Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets), it’s a reminder that this age is coming to a close — that the summer will soon end, and there will be no more days to work. Let’s take heed to the sound of the shofar and rise to this awesome occasion!
We live this life only once, so let’s do what we need to do while we still can! Let’s not put off the good we are called to do! Don’t put off forgiving others — forgive now! Don’t put off sharing with that neighbor with whom you’ve wanted to share for years — share now! Don’t put off going forth and doing the great things God has called you to do — do them now! These are the final days of the harvest — let’s get out into the field and finish the work that needs to be done so that we might all be able to rejoice together in the end!!
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
More Devotions
A century ago, Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, was a thriving center of Christianity, earning the nickname “Jerusalem of the East.” The early 1900s saw rapid Christian growth, especially after the 1907 Pyongyang Revival, sparked by a meeting between Western missionaries and local believers. At its peak, about 30% of the population were practicing Christians, and the city was filled with thousands of churches.
With the war breaking out in Ukraine there is a lot of speculation that we are in the end of days with the apocalypse on the horizon. Everyone who knows me knows I’m not a gloom and doomer, that I do acknowledge the days we are living in, but remain expectant and focused on the birth of the Kingdom.
This interesting passage speaks of a time when Israel had no blacksmiths to make weapons and was without any armament to defend themselves. The enemy had succeeded to disarm Israel by removing their weapons, and those who forged them! He’s attempting the same tactic today.
The children of Israel were delivered into the hands of the Philistines for 40 years for doing evil in the sight of YHVH. Then a wonderful event takes place: an announcement to a barren and childless woman that she will conceive and bear a son. The announcement is given by one who is called “malach-YHVH”, literally “Angel (of) YHVH. This messenger, in two separate appearances, reveals God’s commandments concerning the boy to be born. At the angel’s behest, the couple offers a sacrifice to YHVH, then they ask to be told his name.
A large group of European pastors came to one of D. L. Moody’s Northfield Bible Conferences in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. Following the European custom of the time, each guest put his shoes outside his room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight. But of course this was America and there were no hall servants.
An interesting parallel exists between these two passages of scripture: Isaiah 53:9 and Acts 3:15. Isaiah renders the “death” of the messiah in the plural form, “deaths” (“motav”). Acts renders the life of the Prince of Life as “lives” (“chaim”). Some scholars suggest that the plurality of the word death indicates a violent death this servant would suffer, and that making the noun plural is a way of emphasizing the terrible intensity of his experience. Jewish counter-missionaries suggest that the “death” in plural shows that the suffering servant is not an individual man, but a group of people, specifically the nation of Israel, thus denying that the passage refers to an individual messianic figure.
In his letter to the Colossians, Paul reveals the prophetic nature of Shabbat and the Biblical Feasts as “shadows of things to come”, whose substance is the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). My study of the feasts therefore seeks to discover their relevance to the Lord, His identity, work, and purpose for my life in relationship to Him.